Duane Davis
Duane Davis has spent almost three decades as an educator in Chicago and the Chicagoland area. Born and raised on the southside of Chicago. Duane grew up in South Shore and attended St. Philip Neri Elementary School and Whitney M. Young Magnet High School.
After completing his undergraduate degree in English with honors at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, he began the Teachers for Chicago program which at the time was an alternative certification program partnering local universities with the Golden Apple Foundation and Chicago Public Schools to address the teacher shortage in Chicago.
His first assignment was as an 8th grade Reading and Math teacher at Walter H. Dyett Middle School while attending Columbia College Chicago for a Master in the Art of Teaching. Duane, also while teaching full time, obtained his Masters in English from Loyola University Chicago. On the K-12 level, Duane went on to hold teaching or coaching positions at Pershing Elementary, Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, North Lawndale College Preparatory Charter High School, Perspectives Charter Schools, Kelly High School and as an Instructional Support Lead with CPS Network 5 on the westside of Chicago.
Duane has worked with and coached teachers through various school improvement initiatives and at the postsecondary level through the Teachers Academy of Math
and Science, Kaplan K12 Services (The High School Transformation Project), The New Teacher Center, Lewis University, Illinois State University, National Louis University and Elmhurst College. Duane has full time faculty, administrative and consulting experience at Malcolm X
College, Kennedy King College, Governors State University, University of Illinois at Chicago, Academy for Urban School Leadership, Mika Challenge, the University of Chicago, Dewey, Hill Pedagogies, Black Male Evaluation Collaborative, Square One Foundation and Grow Greater
Englewood.
He recently served as the Executive Director K12 Education Initiatives in the Office of the President at the University of Chicago which includes directing the Chicago Public Schools My Very Own Library Program with 17 local elementary schools and connecting local schools to resources at the university while also supporting faculty and K12 initiatives in the Office of the Provost. He also ran the national My Very Own Library Program that focuses on literacy, equity and families in five states and in the Dominican Republic.
He resides in Bronzeville with his wife of over 20 years, Tamara and son, Ethan, a senior in the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri at Columbia. He recently completed his Ph.D. in Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago with a focus on early career teachers and runs Raising Expectations LLC, a consulting firm that works with schools, nonprofits and businesses around the country.