Michele L. Howard

Michele L. Howard is a data informed and visionary leader born and raised on the south side of Chicago. As the Chief Program Officer of Hope Chicago, a pioneering two-generation

scholarship model offering a debt-free solution for postsecondary pathways, under the

leadership of renowned educator and national leader Dr. Janice K. Jackson, Michele continues to foster new generations of “hope” in Chicago. With a background in supporting, managing and driving systematic change to better serve the 380,000 children of the Chicago Public Schools District, ensuring students had access to scholarship and postsecondary opportunities as the Senior Scholarship Manager within the Office of College Career Success has been her focus for almost a decade with the district. She is a firm believer of a quote shared by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “the function of education is to teach us to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”