Welcome Richard Nettles
Richard Nettles
January 24, 2024
We are pleased to announce that Richard Nettles has joined the Grow Your Own Illinois team as a Program Director for the Chicago/Lake County consortium.
Most recently, Richard served as the Manager of Field Experience and Curriculum at Chicago Public Schools (CPS), where he defined strategies for pre-service teacher training and managed the teacher pathways training team.
Prior to CPS, Richard held teacher candidate support roles at Northeastern Illinois University and Roosevelt University. He began his career in education as an African American History teacher at CPS’s Urban Prep Academy High School.
“Richard brings a strong commitment to social justice and community investment, as well as deep knowledge of teacher licensure processes to manage GYO-IL’s Chicago and Lake County consortium,” said Dr. Liza Pappas, Executive Director of GYO-IL. “Richard’s experience in teacher education and his alignment with GYO-IL’s mission makes him a great addition to our team.”
“I am beyond excited to join the extraordinary team at Grow Your Own Illinois! As a Waukegan native and a resident of Chicago’s South Side, this work is very close to my heart. GYO-IL represents an opportunity to turn the tide of education exponentially,” said Richard. “Beyond bridging the gap between what is and what could be, as the new Chicago/Lake County Program Director, I look forward to ensuring Black and Brown people have GYO-IL’s full support on their path to teacher licensure and that our communities are recognized for our assets, character, and contributions to this world.”