As Director of Development and External Affairs, LeShonne provides oversight, strategy, and direction for the Kids First Chicago development program.

Before joining Kids First Chicago, LeShonne served as the Manager of Program Investments at The Chicago Public Education Fund. There, she grew school support programs to their largest cohorts to date and helped launch partner convenings, a signature feature of The Fund’s partner management approach. LeShonne began her career as a Corps Member with City Year at a school in Chicago’s West Side. She then joined Teach For America as the Director of College Counseling in the Noble Network of Charter Schools, later founding the Family and Community Engagement Department at Rowe Elementary.

LeShonne was recently recognized as an Education Pioneers Agent of Change as well as a Negocios Now: 40 Under 40 Latinos in Chicago and a Surge Institute Inagural Fellow. LeShonne is a Chicago native and an alumna of Chicago Public Schools.

She graduated from Amherst College in Massachusetts with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and received a Master’s in Teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education. In her free time, LeShonne enjoys yoga, dancing, reading, and traveling with her family.

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