Kim Zalent
Director, Public Education Program

Kim Zalent joined BPI as Director of the Public Education Program in 2003. Prior to joining BPI, Kim served as the Executive Director/Lead Organizer for the South Bronx Churches/IAF, where she co-led a project to create 19 small public high schools.  A founding organizer for Lower Manhattan Together, an Industrial Areas Foundation organization in New York, Kim led a number of Chicago-based initiatives, including the Organization of the NorthEast (ONE) and the Pilsen Resurrection Project.  Kim holds a BA from Valparaiso University.

kzalent@bpichicago.org

Aya Barnea

Aya Barnea joined BPI’s staff as a Polikoff-Gautreaux Fellow in August 2010. Aya received her JD magna cum laude in May 2010 from the DePaul University College of Law, where she was a member of the DePaul Law Review and served on the Public Interest Law Committee. Before entering law school, she taught first grade for two years through Teach for America in Baltimore and received a Master of Arts in Teaching from Johns Hopkins University. As a law student, Aya served as a law clerk with the Cook County Public Guardian and the Family Defense Center and held internships at BPI and the Citizen Advocacy Center. Aya was awarded a BA in Public Policy Studies with Honors from the University of Chicago in 2005.

abarnea@bpichicago.org