North Lawndale College Prep will have a voice among some of the region’s top civic leaders as Jemia Cunningham-Elder, the school’s CEO, has been selected for Leadership Greater Chicago’s 2027 Class of Signature Fellows. The 10-month program focuses on education, workforce development and equity.
North Lawndale College Prep is a West Side charter high school serving students in grades 9-12, providing young people with a pathway to college and career success for more than 25 years.
Cunningham-Elder noted that the program is designed to bring civic leaders together from different places, including nonprofits, businesses and small businesses, to use Chicago as their classroom and find ways to solve some of our city’s greatest issues.
“I want to make sure that this city is viable in 10, 20 and 100 years from now and that my kids can grow up and raise their own families here. This is just the perfect time for this and I’m really excited,” Cunningham-Elder said.
She said she expects that the fellowship will expand her perspective beyond the traditional lens of education by helping her better understand the broader factors that influence students and families.
“This program is going to be excellent in helping us figure out how we tie those things together. I would also say the lack of ability to own a home impacts upward mobility. The steps toward achieving upward mobility are just so much more difficult in North Lawndale,” Cunningham-Elder said.
She said the program will allow her to connect issues such as healthcare, housing, violence prevention and other community challenges to create a stronger support system and make a greater impact for North Lawndale College Prep students.
“If I’m an expert in education, I want to hear from experts in other fields. I’m really excited about that opportunity to absorb their knowledge, but I’m also hoping to make greater connections with people. Leadership in general can be lonely and in some ways it is because you are often working in a silo, trying to solve issues that other people may not fully understand,” Cunningham-Elder said. “I’m looking forward to building connections across the city with people who truly understand the dynamics and complexities of being a leader.”
Cunningham-Elder plans to bring lessons and connections from the fellowship back to North Lawndale College Prep by applying what she learns from other leaders and communities. She believes one of the valuable parts of the program will be exploring different neighborhoods, including North Lawndale, to learn from successful models and share those experiences with others.
“I think businesses need to support education, and education needs to support businesses so we can both provide our students with internships and externships. We know there is a financial crisis in education, so being able to invest money into schools is important,” Cunningham-Elder said.
She emphasized the importance of community involvement, noting that while young people are often brought into conversations about issues affecting them, their voices and needs are not always fully heard. She believes that stronger collaboration among community members, organizations and leaders is necessary to address complex challenges, as meaningful solutions require all parts of the community to work together.
Cunningham-Elder said that her leadership philosophy was shaped by her studies in African American history and the influential texts she read in college, including slave narratives and the works of Malcolm X.
She said those readings highlighted the power of education and how knowledge can transform lives and credited Malcolm X’s journey of self-education as a key inspiration for pursuing a career in education and empowering others through learning.
“This, coupled with me being on the Black Student Achievement Committee of the Chicago Public School Board, came just two or three weeks apart. Both announcements are really going to change and shape the way we do education in North Lawndale at the high school level,” Cunningham-Elder said.