Rebecca Nieves Huffman

Having been the first in her family to graduate college, Huffman understands the importance of a quality education. Since graduating, she has been a passionate advocate for proving all kids access to high quality, college preparatory education options, especially for disadvantaged students. For the last 10 years, she has worked across the country for organizations with national scopes and local reach into many states, so she is thrilled to apply her national experience in her home turf as the Illinois State Director of Democrats for Education Reform. Most recently Huffman was a Vice President at the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) where she managed the communications and outreach efforts of the organization. Before joining NACSA, Huffman served for 5 years as President and CEO of the Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options (Hispanic CREO). Prior to serving as Hispanic CREO's President and CEO, Huffman was the Associate Director of Recruitment and Selection for the KIPP Foundation. Huffman serves on the boards of Education Sector, Noble Network of Charter Schools, 50CAN, and City Year Chicago. She is also a proud alum of the Aspen Institute's Entrepreneurial Leadership for Public Education fellowship program which identifies and strengthens the next generation of leaders within the K-12 education sector. A native of Chicago, Huffman resides in her lovely Windy City with her husband, Craig, and their children Sofia and Solomon. - See more at: http://www.dfer.org/branches/il/staff/#sthash.rUjwKMzR.dpuf