Background:
Erica Choi is a summer fellow at Bellwether in the Strategic Advising practice area.
Prior to Bellwether, Erica spent four years at a community-based nonprofit in the East Harlem area of New York City that provides wraparound services to under-resourced children and families. There, she served on the development team, where she navigated the uncertain fundraising landscape of COVID-19 and increased the organization’s private revenue. She then pivoted to direct service and ran an academic intervention program for children failing school to help improve their academic outcomes and regain confidence. Erica also has experience as a graduate impact fellow at the University of Chicago’s Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab, where she analyzed the market viability of its emerging ed tech product designed to promote language development for low-income children.
Erica holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and is pursuing a joint master’s degree in public policy and business administration from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, respectively. There, she is an Edwardson Civic Scholar, a Knas Scholar, and a Leopold Schepp Scholar.
Why I do this work:
I found my calling while teaching financial literacy to survivors of domestic violence in an emergency shelter, where infants and toddlers played on the floor of the shelter’s common space. I was struck by how many cards were stacked against those children at such an early age. I do this work because I envision a world where all children have the opportunity to reach their limitless potential.
