Our Team
Michele Rudy
Co-founder
Michele Rudy has over 20 years of experience working for education equity for immigrant students across policy, practice, and advocacy. Previously, she co-led a national organizing campaign to win DACA, securing legal protection for 700,000 undocumented students and designed a business accelerator for Black, Native, and Latinx entrepreneurs at Arizona State University. Michele recently earned her doctorate in education leadership from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she focused on educational equity for immigrant students.
Derek Niño
Co-founder
Derek Niño is an associate director at Jobs for the Future where he works with regional, state, and national partners to increase access to work-based learning opportunities for African American, Latinx, and low-income youth. His areas of expertise include analyzing and mapping the assets of regional, state, and national systems, developing career pathways, and English language learner education. Derek advised the Corona-Norco Unified School District, the Delaware Department of Education, and the Rhode Island Department of Education on instruction for English language learners. Derek holds an Ed.L.D. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.