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: 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 – […]
Damron: West Side Company Keeps Eye on Equity, Jobs and Community
For more than 35 years, Damron Corporation on Chicago’s west side has manufactured and distributed tea products, sourced from the most famous tea-growing areas in the world. Companies that Damron supplies its products to include McDonald’s. In fact, Damron was the first African-American owned company to become a national supplier to McDonald’s. Recently, the company […]
Success Story: Marla “…learns something everyday…”
Shipping, receiving, operating machines, working in a company’s quality department. In nearly a decade of working in the manufacturing field, Marla Sanders has had many responsibilities over the years. Sanders participated in the Manufacturing Renaissance training program at the Austin Polytechnical Academy, graduating from the program in 2012 in its second graduating class. Sanders grew […]
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: 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 […]
Success Story: Brandi’s Road to Success
Brandi S., participated in the Manufacturing Connect (MC) program as a high school student to get work experience and learn professionalism skills, graduating in 2013 from Austin Polytechnical Academy with career goals of being a medical assistant. In the Fall of 2013, Brandi registered for school at a local college with a major of medical […]
Profile: MR’s Newest Board Member, Montez King
Montez King, who joined the Manufacturing Renaissance board in March 2021, is Executive Director of the National Institute of Metalworking Skills (NIMS), a nationally-recognized validator of performance through practical experiences that reflect the manufacturing industry. NIMS provides excellent, industry-developed and validated standards, credentials, training frameworks, methods, and tools that dynamically respond to our fast-paced, technology, technology-driven […]