Roderick Wilson is the Executive Director of the Lugenia Burns Hope Center. He has been with the Hope Center for 7 years. He has taken the organization from having no staff with a budget of $10,000 to 5 staff with a budget of nearly $600,000. While at that Hope Center he helped found that LSC’s.4. ALL Coalition and the Lift the BAN Coalition. Currently he is also serving as Interim Executive at United Congress of Community and Religious Organizations. He is also a board member of the governance board of Chicago Housing Initiative. He was one of the senior organizers and program coordinators at the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO) from 2000 - 2012. While at KOCO he coordinated the 2012 Elected School Board Citywide Referendum. He has Bachelors of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Northeastern Illinois University. He is a professional photographer and founded the company Photographic Opportunities, Inc. He was certified as Residential Real Estate Appraiser with the state of Illinois in 2006 and has been a Community Representative on the Local School Councils at Jackie Robinson Elementary School and Betsy Ross Elementary School in the Kenwood and Washington Park communities. Mr. Wilson is the Chairperson of People United for Action and a Local School Council Trainer certified by the Chicago Public Schools.
Rod Wilson has provided legislative strategy for Grow Your Own Teachers Illinois (GYO). This is includes coordinating legislative communication and education activities. He has done national outreach for the GYO program that has included meetings with groups from New Jersey, California, Mississippi and presenting on GYO at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Conference, the National Association of Multicultural Education (NAME) Conference and at the NAACP National Education Conference.
Rod wore many hats at KOCO; Rod was the Founder and President of the Bronzeville Anti-Hunger Network (BAN). BAN is a network of 15 emergency food providers (mostly churches) in the Mid South Communities. Rod organized the members of BAN to begin to provide health/nutrition awareness sessions, health screenings and fresh produce for low-income and working families in the Bronzeville community, all free of charge. This initiative is called the Mid South Health Market.
Before moving to Chicago Rod attended school at Parkland College in Champaign, IL. Rod was President of the Black Student Association and member of the Dean's List at Parkland. He coordinated an African dance class for students at the University of Illinois and Parkland College. This dance class included annual performances on the University of Illinois campus. While in Champaign, Rod coordinated summer camps for pre-schoolers in public housing developments. In addition, he worked for the Urban League of Champaign County as a Site Coordinator and Curriculum Specialist. His last job in Champaign was at the Cunningham Children's as a Night Cottage Counselor.
Rod then moved to Chicago in 1997 and worked as an African Dance Instructor with the Youth and Family Resource Center at a local park district facility. He worked for KOCO briefly as a GED Tutor and Volunteer Coordinator. He then began working with residents in the Chicago Housing Authority developments of Statewide Gardens and the Robert Taylor Homes with Urban Relocation Services. Before coming to KOCO Rod worked with the Chicago Urban League's Quantum Opportunities Program. This pilot program was a federal initiative to transition national workforce policy from Job Training and Partnership Act (JTPA) to the current Workforce Investment Act (WIA).