Events & Outreach
The objectives of the Events Committee are to support the Gray Matter Experience staff in planning events and workshops for TGME and other events throughout the year that amplify the organization’s mission.
Chair
Jessica Gahungu
Jessica is from Burundi, east Africa, and her family came to the US in the early 90s. She graduated from Chicago State University with a degree in Biology Pre-med. During her time there she volunteered for several organizations targeted towards the enrichment of students of color in STEM and she served as the President of the Predental Society. Jessica went on to get a Masters of Biomedical Sciences from Roosevelt University which ignited her passion for healthcare technology. Her first role in telehealth was a Program Associate for a major digital chronic condition management company providing their members with personalized health plans.
Currently, Jessica works as a Customer Success Manager at SWORD Health, a leading virtual musculoskeletal care provider.
Jessica’s volunteer experience include event planning, volunteer recruitment, and fundraising. She has always had a passion for developing and empowering Black youth and is very excited to join TGME's Associate Board making a lasting impact.
Adrienne Bradford
Adrienne is a burgeoning behavioral scientist, 3rd-year doctoral student, and DEI practitioner. Routinely, she deploys evidence-based strategies to help her clients disrupt inequitable systems that routinely produce disparities in employment outcomes for underrepresented communities. She is also an anti-racism educator deeply committed to eradicating systemic oppression through the dismantling of white supremacy. Her goal is to use her work to actively amplify Black voices and interrupt the academic echo chamber that often presents a homogenous picture within scientific research.
Cameron Merritt
Cameron Merritt is a Marketing Manager at Ford Motor Company where he executes extensive market data analysis, develops pricing strategy, and helps manage vehicle variable marketing spend across the Great Lakes Market Area (Twin Cities, Chicago Cincinnati, Detroit, & Pittsburgh markets). During his tenure at Ford, Cameron has held several Marketing and Sales roles including Business Development Specialist, where he worked with dealerships across the Midwest on their operations to increase vehicles sales and service. In addition to creating and executing strategies to grow sales, Cameron oversaw the execution of dealership and public-related events including the 2018 and 2019 Chicago Auto Shows.
In 2019, Cameron was named as Ford Motor Company’s Thirty Under 30, an honor started by Bill Ford to recognize and develop young leaders across the company. As a Thirty Under 30 Fellow, Cameron completed a Design Thinking Fellowship and partnered with Habitat for Humanity of Huron Valley, which serves the Ypsilanti Township in Michigan. The goal with Habitat for Humanity is to increase community engagement and build a new community center for the West Willow neighborhood residents.
Cameron graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Marketing and Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Government. While at UT-Austin, he studied abroad for a semester at The University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. His part-time job in college was a Student Recruiter where he worked with administration in diversity, equity, and inclusion. In this role he developed a strong desire to serve Black students. Cameron is currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. At Kellogg, Cameron serves as the Senior Vice President of the Evening & Weekend Program’s Black Managers Association (BMA)
Chloe Johnston
Chloe Johnston is a first-generation college graduate from the Southside of Chicago. She has spent the last 5 years in the corporate, non-profit and tech space. Chloe was with the Obama Foundation where she worked cross functionally within strategy and operations! She currently is a Program Manager for Twitter’s Global Inclusion & Diversity team, specifically focusing on the management of their programming for people of color.
Chloe is the immediate past President of the University of Illinois Black Alumni Network. When Chloe is not volunteering her time to non-profit boards, she enjoys curating content to her virtual platform called 'Lips + Hoops'.
Matthew Harris
Matthew is a Chicago native who works at Cleveland Avenue as a Business Management Associate. He graduated from Northwestern University in 2017, where he majored in Learning and Organizational Change in the School of Education and Social Policy.
Upon graduation from Northwestern, Matthew went on to pursue a career working for non-profits and social enterprises, where he worked as a Lead Advisor and Program Manager.
During his time at Northwestern, Matthew became a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., was a four-year starter on the football team, David Kabiller Award winner, SAAC Co-President, Varsity football captain (2016-17), All-B1G player, and a 3x Academic All-B1G honoree.
Tosh Chandy
Tosh Chandy, Founder of the Law Offices of Tosh Chandy, represents clients with all Real Estate Needs. In addition, the office assists clients with criminal, tax, and civil matters. In addition, Tosh has represented hundreds of clients as a licensed Realtor in their acquisition and sale of single family and multi-unit properties. His clients included first time buyers to professional investors. Prior to his work as a Realtor, Mr. Chandy founded a web development firm in college that successfully grew over a decade assisting small business, political, and non profit clients. Mr. Chandy has also traded equities and options, and worked in numerous political campaigns.
Mr. Chandy grew up in Chicago, and really takes pride in being a resident of this city. He holds both a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Finance from DePaul University, and he is a graduate of Loyola University School of Law.
Tosh has served on several non profit Boards in the past, and currently serves on the Board of Epic Arts Academy, and the President of his Condo Association.
Jeremiah Evans
For the past 3.5 years, Jeremiah has worked at Ferrara as a Virtual Factory Manager with responsibility for 10 manufacturing facilities across North America. Prior to Ferrara, Jeremiah held positions of increasing responsibility in engineering and operations at Abbott and Coca-Cola. Jeremiah grew up in Oakland, CA, but has lived most of his adult life in Chicago after he attended Howard University for Mechanical Engineering. Jeremiah received his MBA at University of Illinois in Chicago. Outside of work he likes to be active, so depending on the season you will find him biking, rollerblading, ice skating, snowboarding, and spending time with his family. He enjoys investing, traveling, eating at new restaurants, and learning about or pursuing passive income opportunities.
Quinn Bryant
Quinn Bryant is a native of the southside of Chicago and a graduate of University of Illinois at Chicago.
For over a decade, Bryant has worked with several organizatoons that garnered top ten rankings in US business polls including PepsiCo and Ogilvy & Mather. Her professional accomplishments include taking established brands to the next level by understanding the specific needs of its targeted audience and developing strategies to execute goals.
Bryant has also launched multiple entrepreneurial ventures, including the launch of her debut novel WWJZD - What Would Jay-Z Do? - a book of daily affirmations inspired by the lyrics of JAY-Z. The book successfully purges her years of therapeutic journaling and translates them into a universal understanding of insight into life’s lessons that communities can connect with.
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Sam Thousand
Best known as 'Sam Trump', Sam Thousand is a multidisciplinary artist and a 3Arts Recipient with 15+ years of experience in live performance art, curation, and self management. Since picking up the trumpet at age 7, music has allowed him the opportunity to perform all over North America and overseas.
Since moving to Chicago from Houston in 2009 to obtain his fine arts degree in music, he has become heavily involved in Chicago's live music scene, and is widely known as a performing artist, curator, & entrepreneur. He is Co-founder of two Chicago-based performance-art organizations, 'ChiBrations' & 'Production:COLORS' and band, Sidewalk Chalk.
Along with original works, Sam Thousand has also composed soundtracks for theatrical dance and film. His collaborations have premiered at the Chicago Cultural Center and MCA, and he has composer credits for the web series FUNNY MARRIED STUFF(2016), and documentaries HIPLET: BECAUSE WE CAN(2020) and UNAPOLOGETIC(2020).