Organizations Filed Purposes:
WITS SETS STUDENTS ON A TRAJECTORY FOR SUCCESS BY BUILDING CRITICAL LITERACY SKILLS AND DEVELOPING POSITIVE SELF-IDENTITY THROUGH TEACHER LED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND VOLUNTEER POWERED MENTORSHIP PROGRAMS. WITS IS A MOVEMENT OF EDUCATORS, VOLUNTEERS AND INVESTORS COMING TOGETHER TO SUPPORT A BETTER PUBLIC EDUCATION FOR EVERY STUDENT. FOR THE YEAR BEGINNING JULY 1, 2018 AND ENDING JUNE 30, 2019, WITS SERVED STUDENTS IN 92 SCHOOLS THROUGH ACTIVATING 1,549 VOLUNTEERS AND PROVIDING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR 151 TEACHERS. WITS WORKED WITH 67 PARTNERING ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDING CORPORATIONS, UNIVERSITIES AND CITY AGENCIES.
TUTORING AND MENTORING PROGRAMS THAT SUPPORT THE EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS.
ROCHELLE LEE TEACHER AWARD: THE ROCHELLE LEE TEACHER AWARD (RLTA) IS NAMED IN HONOR OF ROCHELLE LEE, CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS (CPS) EDUCATOR AND LIBRARIAN WHO INSPIRED GENERATIONS OF STUDENTS TO BE IMPASSIONED READERS. ROCHELLE LEE TEACHER AWARDEES ARE CPS TEACHERS THAT EMBODY THE SAME DRIVE AS ROCHELLE LEE TO DEVELOP THEIR STUDENTS INTO PEOPLE WHO WILL FOSTER A LIFE-LONG RELATIONSHIP TO LEARNING AND READING. THE COMPETITIVE ESSAY-BASED APPLICATION PROCESS DRAWS CPS TEACHER APPLICANTS ACROSS SUBJECT MATTERS IN GRADES PRE-KINDERGARTEN THROUGH EIGHTH. TEACHERS APPLY EITHER AS A POTENTIAL INDIVIDUAL AWARDEE OR PART OF A STUDY GROUP. TEACHERS MAY BE SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN RLTA FOR A MAXIMUM OF FOUR YEARS. THE FIRST TWO YEARS CAN BE AS AN INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPANT; THE LAST TWO MUST BE AS A MEMBER OF A STUDY GROUP. TEACHERS ATTEND SELF-SELECTED LITERACY WORKSHOPS DURING WITS' SUMMER INSTITUTE AND RECEIVE ACCREDITED CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT HOURS FOR EACH COMPLETED WORKSHOP. ONCE TEACHERS COMPLETE THE REQUIRED NUMBER OF WORKSHOP HOURS, THEY ARE AWARDED BOOK GRANTS TO PURCHASE NEW BOOKS FOR THEIR CLASSROOM LIBRARIES.
MID-DAY MENTORING: MID-DAY MENTORING IS A SCHOOL DAY LITERACY AND MENTORING PROGRAM THAT PAIRS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS AND BUSINESS VOLUNTEERS FOR ONE-ON-ONE, 45 MINUTE READING SESSIONS. MID-DAY MENTORING PROMOTES FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY SKILLS AND LOVE OF READING THROUGH READING ALOUD, SHARING FAVORITE STORIES, AND TALKING ABOUT BOOKS.
WORKPLACE MENTORING: WORKPLACE MENTORING IS AN AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM THAT PROVIDES FOR THIRD THROUGH SIXTH GRADE STUDENTS TO BE TRANSPORTED BY BUS TO CORPORATE OFFICES WHERE THEY ARE MATCHED WITH EMPLOYEES FOR ONE-ON-ONE, 60 MINUTE MENTORING SESSIONS.
Executives Listed on Filing
Total Salary includes financial earnings, benefits, and all related organization earnings listed on tax filing
| Name | Title | Hours Per Week | Total Salary |
|---|
| Brenda Langstraat | CEO - PAST | 50 | $157,075 |
| Tena Kunik | CEO - NEW | 50 | $103,365 |
| Kanika Chakavorti | DIRECTOR - NEW | 1 | $0 |
| Girish Mirchandani | DIRECTOR | 1 | $0 |
| Stephanie Braming | DIRECTOR | 1 | $0 |
| Scott Lehman | VICE PRESIDENT | 3 | $0 |
| Kristine Schaffner | DIRECTOR | 1 | $0 |
| Jesus Gonzalez | DIRECTOR | 1 | $0 |
| Craig Thessin | DIRECTOR | 1 | $0 |
| Stephanie Curulewski | DIRECTOR - NEW | 1 | $0 |
| Doug Buchler | DIRECTOR - NEW | 1 | $0 |
| John Martin | TREASURER | 5 | $0 |
| Diane Graham-Henry | DIRECTOR | 1 | $0 |
| Dorne Eastwood | DIRECTOR | 1 | $0 |
| Brian Chmiel | DIRECTOR | 1 | $0 |
| Cher Keck | DIRECTOR - PAST | 1 | $0 |
| Carey Mendes | DIRECTOR - PAST | 1 | $0 |
| Catherine Levitt | DIRECTOR | 1 | $0 |
| Brook Jay | DIRECTOR | 1 | $0 |
| Edward Tilly | DIRECTOR | 1 | $0 |
| Alice Rooks | DIRECTOR | 1 | $0 |
| Lauren Rocklin | SECRETARY | 3 | $0 |
| Carl Tannenbaum | PAST PRESIDENT | 1 | $0 |
| Thru Shivakumar | DIRECTOR | 1 | $0 |
| Stephen O'Neil | DIRECTOR | 1 | $0 |
| Lisa Kastigar | DIRECTOR | 1 | $0 |
| Patrick Hatton | DIRECTOR | 1 | $0 |
| Jennifer Alter Warden | DIRECTOR | 1 | $0 |
| Matthew A'Hearn | DIRECTOR | 1 | $0 |
| Amy Best | DIRECTOR | 1 | $0 |
| Sydney Golliday | DIRECTOR | 1 | $0 |
| Federico Flores | DIRECTOR | 1 | $0 |
| Roger Carlson | PAST PRESIDENT | 1 | $0 |
| Ginny Carlson | PAST PRESIDENT | 1 | $0 |
| Olimpia Bahena | DIRECTOR | 1 | $0 |
| Laura Shroyer Liss | SECOND VICE PRESIDENT - LE | 3 | $0 |
| Jeremy Cole | PRESIDENT | 4 | $0 |
| Carolyn Goldhaber | VICE PRESIDENT - FINANCE | 3 | $0 |
| Philip Hildebrandt | CHAIRMAN | 1 | $0 |
| Ronald Sonenthal | PAST PRESIDENT | 1 | $0 |
| Marion Stone | CO-FOUNDER | 1 | $0 |
Data for this page was sourced from XML published by IRS (
public 990 form dataset) from:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/irs-form-990/202011919349302286_public.xml