Raising Expectations Inc.

Where we deal in possibilities

Meet the Team

May 2015

Tangee Allen
Co-Founder

tangee@raisingexpectations.org

As a co-founder of Raising Expectations, Tangee Allen has worked alongside Maria Armstrong (the two met while both were enrolled as students at Georgia State University) to create and develop our nonprofit youth development organization into the award-winning program and resource it is today. In addition to Tangee’s experience working in the nonprofit sector, she has also worked for local government for over nine years. As a Program Manager in the Mayor’s Office for the community-focused Department of Weed and Seed—an innovative, comprehensive multiagency approach to law enforcement, crime prevention, and community revitalization—Tangee was responsible for working with the designated Weed and Seed sites to develop and implement their 5 year strategy under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Justice. As an active participant in her community and staunch advocate for Atlanta’s youth, Tangee has been recognized by a variety of organizations and has received a host of community awards from the City of Atlanta, Spelman College, Enterprise Foundation, Morehouse College and the WB Channel 36.

Maria Armstrong
Co-Founder

maria@raisingexpectations.org

Maria Armstrong has served the Atlanta area for nearly two decades in a variety of academic and service-oriented capacities. In addition to her primary role as co-founder of Raising Expectations, growing and guiding our organization alongside Tangee Allen, Maria’s diverse educational experiences have also included working as a high school teacher, mentor, teaching in alternative educational settings and serving as an administrator in a public charter school. A graduate of Georgia State University, Maria was also the creator, director and administrator of a collaborative after school program model that served over 400 students with interactive academic and enrichment activities. Her comprehensive experience extends to resource development with community organizations and program development in elementary, middle and high schools. Maria was a runner up for the MTV Brick Award and was featured in the inspirational book As I Am. She was also honored with a Sisters Who Serve Award from Spelman College and an Unsung Hero Award from the WB 36 television station as one of Atlanta’s top young leaders along with an Unsung Heroine Award from the Atlanta Chapter of National Coalition of 100 Black Women.

Staff

Faith Porter

Program Director, fporter@raisingexpectations.org

Faith Porter is an educator, researcher, and activist currently serving as Program Director at Raising Expectations, Inc. An alumna of Spelman College where she served as a Bonner Community Service Scholar, Faith holds degrees in International Studies and Spanish. Through the Bonner Scholars Program, she gained hands-on experience through internships at several Atlanta-based non-profits, as well as those located throughout the United States and in the Dominican Republic and received a certificate in non-profit management.  

Faith is a 2016 recipient of the U.S. Department of Education’s Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (FLAS), through which she studied Portuguese language and Brazilian culture at Middlebury College. She possesses years of classroom experience through her positions as a lead English Language Development and Spanish teacher as well as a teacher’s assistant during her tenure at Summer Institute for the Gifted. The 2022-23 academic year signals Faith’s fourth year as a member of the Raising Expectations team, where she previously served as Project DREAM Elementary Coordinator and Program Director at RE’s main site. 

Empathy and cultural competence are at the core of Faith’s personal and educational philosophies. She is passionate about child advocacy and is committed to using her skills to assist RE in the fulfillment of its mission.  

 

Jenill Jackson

Jenill Jackson

Assistant Program Director, jjackson@raisingexpectations.org

Jenill Jackson is a native of Washington, DC, who has lived in Dallas, Texas, for over ten years and is now an educator in the Fulton & Clayton Public school systems, researcher, and activist currently serving as the Project STEMWARE Highschool Coordinator at Raising Expectations. An alumna of the illustrious Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, she holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology.

Jenill advocates for girls/women in STEAM/STEM fields, specifically in healthcare and industry. At Raising Expectations, she oversees and is responsible for five staff members and over ten volunteers. She directly supports our high school youth via our collaborative partnership with Booker T. Washington and the Families First Center. She also supports the high schoolers with their academic and educational retention and collegiate / career readiness plans. She possesses over eight years of classroom experience through her positions as a STEAM Academic Leader, a Teaching Assistant, and a Special Education and Early Intervention Teacher during her tenure in both Fulton and Clayton County public schools. Empathy, Structure and Cultural identity, Awareness, and Relativism are at the core of Jenill’s personal and educational philosophies. She is passionate about child advocacy and is committed to using her skills to assist RE in fulfilling its mission. Her motto is that “One Day ALL children in this nation will have an opportunity to attain a fair, equitable, and excellent education.”

S.T.E.A.M Academic Leaders (SAL’s)

Project DREAM (3rd-6th)

**COMING SOON**

Project DREAM-At Promise Center (7th-12th)

**COMING SOON**

Project STEMWARE (9th-12th)

**COMING SOON**