Andrea Ortez, Program Officer
Originally from Los Angeles, Andrea Camila Ortez, moved to Chicago in 2007 to pursue her degree at Loyola University Chicago. While completing her bachelors in History, she began organizing on the southwest side of the city with the Southwest Organizing Project. For 9 years she worked with students, parents, families and educators to improve and change systems within educational institutions throughout Illinois. In 2015, Andrea participated in the inaugural cohort with the University of Chicago’s Civic Leadership Academy.
Eager to continue to serve young people, she transitioned to work for the Partnership for Resilience (PfR), leading their work in the south suburbs of Chicago. There she partnered with various agencies who serve young people daily as they strived to become trauma responsive institutions. This work allowed Andrea to utilize her organizing skills by bringing together multiple sectors motivated by an unwavering desire to see children thrive. During her time with the PfR, she began to serve on the Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative Advisory Council.
Most recently, she served as the National Program Manager and Coach for Success Bound. During her time, she supported the national expansion of Success Bound, a program geared to help middle school students explore their identities, passions & interests as they aim to reach their high school and career goals. Since 2021, she has served on the Illinois State Board of Education’s Professional Review Panel.
As a mother of 2 young boys, Andrea is joining Woods Fund Chicago highly motivated to serve her community, uplift their solutions and support the exceptional organizing and advocacy work taking place throughout the city of Chicago.