Looking Ahead: Michael P. Moriarty, Co-Chair, Chicagoland Manufacturing Renaissance Council

As a longtime educator, Michael P. Moriarty has not only focused on students and their teachers – he has worked to teach and promote ways that what students learn is relevant to the workforce and world of manufacturing. Moriarty is a high school mathematics educator who taught for seven years in the Chicago Public Schools […]
Profile: Sarah Mercado, MR’s New Director of Career Pathway Services

Sarah Mercado started her position as Director of Career Pathways Services at Manufacturing Renaissance in August of this year. However, her family background and career path prepared her for this work well before this year. She was born in the Dominican Republic; her life there and here has often been tied to social justice issues, […]
Andrew Crowe: Bringing Youth and Manufacturing Communities Together

Andrew Crowe has seen it all – enough to fill a very long story about his life. These days, he is doing something else: sharing his story and what he has learned to inspire young people in underserved communities about the great potential of working in the manufacturing sector. Andrew “the Mfg” Crowe works to […]
Welcome to the Team! New MR Board Member John Scheflow

John Scheflow, who recently joined the Board of Directors of Manufacturing Renaissance, has had a wide-ranging career as an attorney as well as a variety of personal experiences and memories that connect him to the Renaissance. “I saw in Manufacturing Renaissance the opportunity to put my professional skills to use,” he says. “I think their […]
Profile: Dee Dee Jones, Industry Coordinator, Extraordinaire!

Dee Dee Jones, Industry Coordinator for Manufacturing Renaissance works closely with companies and students to make our programs work. She is responsible for recruiting companies for field trips, job shadowing experiences, internships, and career opportunities. She also prepares students for careers in manufacturing. We asked her to share her perspective about what we do – […]
Brence Turner: A Passion for Teaching and Expanding Opportunities for Youth

Brence Turner, Senior Machining Instructor at Manufacturing Renaissance, grew up in a family where numerous people worked in manufacturing. “I have seen the opportunities it gave them for a solid income, insurance, a paycheck – and a career,” he says. Turner is a native of Chicago’s South Side. After high school, he attended Daley College […]
Profile: Jim Piper, CMRC Welcomes Newest Leadership Committee Member

As a kid growing up west of Cleveland, in Elyria, Ohio, Jim Piper was closely acquainted with the benefits of vocational education. His dad was an assistant principal at a school that provided many options for students to pursue a wide range of trades. ”My dad would tell these stories of kids having great success […]
Profile: Carmen Curet, MR Welcomes Newest Board Member

Carmen Curet vividly remembers her first job: As a high school junior, she started working full-time in various capacities for a pediatrician on Chicago and Wolcott avenues in Chicago. “I was a receptionist, did medical billing, I even learned to give injections. Having that job helped me help my family,” says Curet, who grew up in a poor family […]
Profile: Rev. Anthony Haynes, Chairman, Ministers for Manufacturing

As a teenager on Chicago’s South Side in the 1970s, Rev. Anthony Haynes trained to be a minister at the African Methodist Episcopalian Church. Now, more than four decades later, he is serving as associate minister for the River Jordan Ministries on the city’s South Side. Meanwhile, Rev. Haynes has had a wide variety of […]
Profile: MR’s Longest Serving Board Member, Doug Gamble

For several decades, Doug Gamble often focused on the continuing challenge of fighting plant closings as a key way to save jobs, communities, and manufacturing companies. Now, he is also part of Manufacturing Renaissance’s growing efforts to help forge a strong and equitable industrial policy on a national scale. Gamble is the secretary and longest-serving […]