The Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL) is celebrating 20 years of innovation in educating students and training new teachers at the Annual Benefit Dinner - “Transforming Lives in and Beyond the Classroom.” 

AUSL is an equity-focused non-profit that works tirelessly with the belief that all students should have access to an excellent education right in their own neighborhoods. AUSL's two decades of work in the Chicago Public Schools has impacted thousands of students and families from under-resourced communities and trained more than 1,200 new teachers. This year, we began our transition from successfully managing 31 CPS schools to focusing on teacher training for high-need settings. Proceeds from our Annual Benefit Dinner allow AUSL to offer programs like the Chicago Teacher Residency (CTR}, which recruits and trains highly qualified diverse teachers. Over 80% of the graduates of our 2021 CTR class are teachers of color, and 54% are special needs teachers.

The 2021 AUSL Benefit Dinner will be held Wednesday, November 3rd, at the Four Seasons Chicago. Over 300 business leaders, civic-minded individuals, and community partners attend this annual event. This year, AUSL honors the leadership and commitment of philanthropists Mike and Robin Zafirovski and corporate champion Greg Case, CEO of Aon. 

Our Annual Benefit Dinner fills a critical role in our ability to raise the funds that allow us to develop high-quality teachers to serve in schools with the greatest need and face higher levels of teacher turnover. Of course the true beneficiaries are the hundreds of neighborhood students these educators will be serving over the course of their new careers.