Celebrating an Exciting New Chapter for Aneesh Sohoni and OMD

Celebrating an Exciting New Chapter for Aneesh Sohoni and OMD

On behalf of the One Million Degrees (OMD) Board of Directors, we are sharing the bittersweet news that our CEO, Aneesh Sohoni, will transition into a new role as CEO of Teach For America, the nationally recognized nonprofit that has mobilized over 70,000 leaders to inspire change in classrooms and communities nationwide. Aneesh will remain at One Million Degrees until March 14th to support a smooth transition before taking on this new challenge. 

 

Since becoming CEO in 2021, Aneesh has brought extraordinary leadership to OMD, ushering in a new era of impact while building on OMD’s legacy in Chicagoland. We are proud of what we have accomplished together. The number of students we serve has grown from 650 in 2022 to over 2,000 in 2024 today, on a pathway to 3,500+ annually through our integrated partnership with the City Colleges of Chicago.

 

Together, we have secured major funding commitments from private, public, and philanthropic sources, raising over $20 million –a testament to the collective commitment to Chicago’s community college students. OMD has strengthened its focus on data-driven excellence, deepening our partnership with the University of Chicago’s Inclusive Economy Lab to rigorously evaluate the impact of our programs.

 

OMD is stronger than ever, with a talented team and a clear vision for the future. The organization now serves thousands more students and is emerging as a national model for scaling holistic student support through sustainable, community-based partnerships. We are deeply grateful to Chancellor Juan Salgado and the leadership and board of City Colleges of Chicago, whose support has been instrumental in advancing our shared goal of serving more students across Chicago.

 

Looking ahead, we are confident that OMD will continue to grow, innovate, and transform the lives of thousands of students. The OMD Board will launch a national search for our next CEO, and an interim CEO will be named in the next few weeks.

 

Thank you for your continued partnership in advancing our mission of unlocking pathways to social and economic mobility for high-potential and hardworking students.

 

With gratitude and optimism,

 

Thania Panopoulos
Co-Chair, Board of Directors
One Million Degrees

 

Andrew Beideman
Co-Chair, Board of Directors
One Million Degrees

David Scherer

David Scherer, Treasurer

One Million Degrees Co-founder 

David is principal of Origin, co-chairs the Investment Committee, and oversees investment analysis, acquisition and asset management. He has more than 20 years of experience in real estate investing, finance, and asset management. In 2006, he co-founded One Million Degrees, which has raised $20 million to help low-income community college students graduate and successfully enter the workforce. David has served as the organization’s Board Chair for the past 12 years, as the organization has grown from 30 to 1,000 students served per year. He also serves as the President of the Harvard Club of Chicago and is on the Advisory Board of Invest for Kids.  

Rose Lizarraga

Rose Lizarraga

OMD CO-Founder & President & CEO, Lysa LLC

An award-winning documentary filmmaker and freelance writer, Rose’s career also includes 10 years spent developing new product and brand strategies as well as marketing and advertising campaigns at Leo Burnett, Foote, Cone & Belding, M&M/Mars and other small businesses.  More recently, she worked as a writer/editor for Modern Luxury Inc., publishers of magazines such as CS and Angeleno.  Rose graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with dual degrees in English and Political Science.  She is a founding member of the Daniel M. Kerrane, Jr. Foundation, former Board Vice President of the Fairy Godmother Foundation, and currently serves on the Chicago committee for Human Rights Watch.

Michael B Golden

Michael B. Golden

One Million Degrees Co-Founder 

A former national award-winning broadcast journalist, Michael Golden has also served as a political campaign manager and communications strategist for U.S. Presidential, Senate and Congressional races. Michael is a fellow at the British-American Project and the Open Society Institute. In 1999, Michael’s investigative and public affairs reporting for NBC earned him honors from the Society of Professional Journalists, the AP, and the Edward R. Murrow Awards. In 2011, Michael co-founded Newsbound, Inc., a media and software company based in San Francisco, CA. He is also a co-founder of the Complete the Degree back-to-college initiative in Chicago, Illinois. Michael serves on the board of the ADL and on the governing board of the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, as well as the Illinois Commission to Eliminate Poverty. He received his B.A. from Indiana University, and his M.S. in Public Services Management from DePaul University.