Tutoring at CCDOC

In 2020, The Harvard Club of Chicago began working with the Cook County Department of Corrections’ (CCDOC) Alternative Programs & Education Department on developing and delivering a tutoring program for qualifying detainees. The initial session launched in March 2021 with 13 alumni volunteers serving as tutors.

Over the past five years, the program has expanded substantially with an increase in volunteers and offerings to more than 250 incarcerated men and women students. We are currently seeking additional team members for our GED Prep, Financial Literacy, Current Affairs, Conscious Leadership and Re-Entering the Workforce when these next sessions for these courses begin in the Spring and Summer of 2025 .

Please see below to learn more.

The Tutoring Program

The program assists detainee students in preparing for the High School Equivalency or GED with support offered in the broad subjects of math, social studies, language arts (reading and writing), and science. In addition, we provide instruction in these other popular courses listed above: Financial Literacy, Current Affairs, and Conscious Leadership.

Leadership and Oversight

An HCC Steering Committee, co-chaired by HCC Director and former President Bruce Hochstadt (AB ’81) and Director Diane Marks Longoria (AB ’99) provides programmatic oversight and makes recommendations for future enhancements and expansion.

Kismet Lantos-Swett, M Ed '21 leads our day-to-day operations as Program Manager, having recently succeeded Brianna Suslovic (AB '16 and PhD candidate at The Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice at the University of Chicago) in this key coordination role. The Honorable Deval L. Patrick (AB’76, JD’82), Professor and Co-Director, Center for Public Leadership at the Kennedy School, and former Governor of Massachusetts serves as senior advisor to the program.

Results

Our 2022 GED-prep course resulted in 58% of students initially passing the exam and receiving their High School Equivalency degree. The remaining 42% of students passed all but one subject test (initially satisfying four of the five tests) and went on to pass the needed subject test upon retesting. As a result, 100% of this class of students have earned their degree.

Our 2023 GED-prep course resulted in 31% of students initially passing the exam, and another 46% passing all but one or two of the five subjects. And our 2024 GED prep course resulted in 50 - 90% of students initially passing the various subject courses. Smaller classes are currently underway to assist our students in preparing for their remaining subject exams this Spring.

These positive results reflect our students’ strong efforts and our tutors’ significant impact.

Financial Literacy

HCC volunteers completed courses on Financial Literacy for 15 detainee students in the summers of 2022 and 2023. This popular, highly sought after 10-week course at the jail has since been offered an additional four times, with a new cycle scheduled for April 2025. The curriculum entitled "Key Concepts to Understand to Develop Financial Literacy" was created by our tutoring team, including a member of the Harvard College Class of 2025. The sessions feature relevant articles along with content on budgeting, saving, investing, taxes, credit/debit, fraud, insurance, entrepreneurship and economic issues, e.g., inflation and interest rates, and conclude with individual presentations by our students. The course has included guest presenters from the community with relevant backgrounds and success in investments, entrepreneurship and real estate development. 

Re-entering the Workforce

In March of 2025, HCC volunteers launched our newest course as part of a program for job training and placement of select detainees. This program has begun to provide preparation in the form of education and skills focused on successful re-entry into employment taught by qualified members of the Chicago Harvard Alumni Community. The DOC Programs staff has identified detainees with pending release dates who have prior experience and/or interest in and qualifications for potential jobs that partner employers are prepared to offer. The Harvard Club has been in discussions with Chicagoland businesses willing to hire recently released detainees from the Cook County Jail and to assist with applicable onboarding and other support to optimize the chances of success in this transition. Businesses in landscape contracting, construction and food services have expressed interest in this program. We have selected Urban Roots, Inc., an award-winning Chicago-based commercial landscape company, as a strong partner to serve as our initial employer participant. Its founder and owner Jimmie Williams has a keen understanding of the challenges that ex-felons face securing employment post- release. Through several meetings with Mr. Williams, the Harvard Club believes that his organization and he personally are positioned to ensure needed mentoring and guidance for a successful transition and the possibility of career growth and development.

Volunteer Instructors Needed: We are seeking additional team members for our GED Prep tutoring, Conscious Leadership, Current Affairs and Workforce Re-entry classes.

Learn More/Volunteer

Please email our Program Manager Kismet Lantos-Swett, and Program Co-directors Bruce Hochstadt and Diane Longoria if you are interested in learning more and potentially serving as a volunteer instructor for this initiative. 

We are excited to offer this important program for an underserved segment of our Chicago community! 

Please NOTE that participants must be Harvard graduates, current Harvard students or immediate family members.