Chanse Sonsalla, Stevenson Center Fellow

Chanse joined NACEDA in June 2022 as a Paul D. Coverdell Fellow from the Stevenson Center for Applied Community and Economic Development at Illinois State University. Her primary responsibilities include supporting NACEDA’s outreach for the Grounding Values Study of Community Based Development Organizations, fundraising initiatives, and policy advocacy efforts. Chanse is passionate about data equity, applied research, and continuing education. She is excited to bring new perspectives on information and data accessibility, as well as a passion for service and community growth, to NACEDA.

Chanse has a diversity of experience in many different education and development settings. As a certified English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher, she volunteered with her university’s ESL mission, and has continued to help develop academic community events to support accessible learning for all ages and educational environments. She previously served as a Peace Corps Education Volunteer, teaching English and Economics to secondary students in Bunumbu, Sierra Leone. More recently, she helped to revise and implement digital literacy curricula with Baker Ripley in Houston, Texas. She is currently working on completing her thesis and final academic year in the Masters of Sociology program at Illinois State University.