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Since 1926, our school has been a close-knit community of students, faculty, and staff committed to improving lives for individuals and communities. See what makes us special.
SESP students, faculty, and alumni are catalysts of broad and meaningful change for individuals and systems alike. Meet some of our people making a difference in SESP and beyond, through both their work and service.
At SESP, we partner with the community, where our research findings can make the greatest difference. These mutually beneficial collaborations let us to test new ideas, develop better practices, and spread discoveries to benefit as many people as possible.
The Morton Schapiro Northwestern Academy for Chicago Public Schools increases access and successful matriculation of underrepresented, academically motivated Chicago Public Schools students. Thanks to the Academy, these talented students are put on a path to attend some of the country’s top-tier colleges and universities. To date, graduates have attended more than 115 different colleges and universities, including Northwestern, Harvard, Yale, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Black Kids Predict gets students interested in data science to revamp the pipeline of talent. The curriculum expands 6th-12th grade kids' idea of data and computer sciences from a geeky desk job they don’t want, to a superpower. Led by college-aged students from diverse backgrounds, the program emphasizes the practical uses of STEM education and learning to see data differently.
STEAMbassadors trains college-bound 18 to 24-year-olds from under resourced communities to work with youngsters whose neighborhoods lack learning opportunities and role models in the fields of computer science, engineering, and the arts. STEAMbassadors are assigned to a neighborhood organization that partners with Chicago Department of Family Support Services programs in parks, libraries, and schools to help build an out-of-school learning ecosystem across the city.
Avery Hirschfield, who studied learning and organizational change and minored in psychology, received the School of Education and Social Policy’s Alumni Leadership Award for her work as president and co-director of the Global Engagement Summit, a student-led conference uniting entrepreneurs across the world.
Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Mitchell S. Jackson encouraged graduates to reflect on the meaning of “human” and use it as a verb during his 2024 convocation address at Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy (SESP).
Lillian Fu and Eden Moore were honored for their research at Northwestern University’s Undergraduate Research & Arts Expo, which celebrates the accomplishments and discoveries of undergraduates through poster presentations and curated student panel talks.
Difficult ethical and moral questions will play a central role in whether artificial intelligence will expand opportunities and equity in STEM education or make things worse, professor Sepehr Vakil said during his closing keynote at a National Science Foundation convening of principal investigators.
On the 70th anniversary of the Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education decision, Northwestern’s School of Education and Social Policy and the Pritzker School of Law explore the lingering impact of 1950s integration policies on today’s students.