Success Stories

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Monica Meriweather headshot
Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management
Meriweather was one of two full-time students in the Master of Arts Program in Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management and had worked as a conflicts assistant at a law firm after graduating with her BA. She sought out Crown to build a career that would involve nonprofits, community-building, and education.
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Tawa Mitchell in a red dress shirt and black suit jacket in front of a blue and gold backdrop
Education
Mitchell used her experience at Crown Family School to help her succeed as an administrator in educational institutions and other public and social service agencies.
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Samantha Moog
Samantha Moog's first job after completing her undergraduate studies was at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, and international organization supporting citizen participation and accountability in government worldwide.
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Amzie Moore
Children, Adolescents, and Families
Following the legacy of his father, a civil rights activist, Moore kept his job as case manager for the screening assessment support services program with the Community Mental Health Council while taking classes at Crown Family School.
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Victoria Moreno
While obtaining her first master's degree studying the history of immigration from Mexico to the U.S. in her mother's home state of Guanajuato, Mexico, Victoria Moreno, AM '17, conducted fieldwork within a migrant-sending community.
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Caitlin Morris
Global/International Social Work
Morris was a recipient of the Crown Family School’s Social Innovation Fellowship in which her work in Kenya strove to partner local community members to build sustainable social businesses through the leverage of their existing resources and talent; her interests are now centered upon macro-level education policy, programming, and administration.
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Liz Mullen
Global/International Social Work
Mullen was a recipient of the Crown Family School’s Social Innovation Fellowship in which she worked in a children’s home in Johannesburg, South Africa; she now aspires to improve the allocation of youth development programming and services to public schools.
Healthcare, Community Health, and Advocacy
Munala had her field placement at The Enterprising Kitchen, a nonprofit social enterprise that provides workforce development and support services to women working toward self-sufficiency and economic independence.
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A dark-skinned male presenting person with a beard and braids wearing a gray suit standing outside
Global/International Social Work, Academia
Derek says that "having professors who are literally the leading voices in a lot of conversations within social work is awesome. It’s invaluable. It’s something that I don’t take for granted. Choosing the Crown Family School and applying for the GSDP certificate are decisions that have paid off exponentially."
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Esther Nieves
Foundations and Philanthropy
Nieves worked as a public official, an executive of a social service organization, and as a foundation leader, having worked for Chicago Mayor Harold Washington’s Commission on Latino Affairs, the Field Foundation of Illinois, Erie House, and the Kellogg Foundation.
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Woman in Black sweater with curly hair smiling
Policy, Strategic Initiatives, Affordable Housing Initiatives, Race Equity
Recipient of the 2024 Social Impact Award
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Christian Nsonwu
Global/International Social Work
After spending a year as a volunteer facilitator at Corrymeela in Northern Ireland, he “fell in love with working with people,” and realized that social work was the field for him.
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Chinomso Nwachuku in a blue suit in front of a white backdrop
Mental Health
Nwachuku, co-founder of TalkNaija.org, a non-profit organization for fellow Nigerians interested in discussing mental health.
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Robyn Offenbach
Children, Adolescents, and Families
Offenbach created a grief support group for adolescent girls, provided therapy to clients who experience trauma, and worked with case management for the Chicago Housing Authority through her field placement at UCAN.
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Sharon Osborne in a blue blouse against a blue backdrop
Children, Adolescents, and Families
Osborne was a crucial member of leadership of the Children's Home Society of Washington and served as a liason to the United Nations representing International Forum for Child Welfare; she was fundamentally influential in the Seattle referendum for universal preschool and now serves on the Board of Trustees for the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities International, an independent, nonprofit accreditor of health and human services.
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Ameya Pawar in a suit against a white backdrop
Government and Politics
Pawar is alderman of Chicago's 47th Ward and won with a 1,000 vote margin over 35 year incumbent Eugene Schulter's hand-picked would-be successor, Tom O'Donnell.
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Scott Petersen
Global/International Social Work
Petersen worked with the Heartland Alliance's Integrated Torture Treatment Services in Rural Iraq project.
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Karina Pleitez headshot
Education
Pleitez is currently Director of Operations at Vertex Partnership Academies in the Bronx in New York City.
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David Protess
Academia, Criminal Legal Involvement/Decarceration
Protess's investigative reporting projects helped free four African Americans (dubbed the Ford Heights Four) who served eighteen years in prison for an interracial homicide they did not commit, and helped secure the release of Anthony Porter just two days before he was schedule to be executed for a double murder for which he was wrongfully convicted.