FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Gillian Linden
703.402.6507
gillian@rosengrouppr.com
MINNEAPOLIS (March 18, 2025)—Bolstering its senior leadership team, Jeremiah Program (JP)—a national nonprofit with one of the most successful strategies for disrupting generational poverty among single mothers and their children—is pleased to announce the appointments of Michera Brooks as Chief of Staff and Melea Nalli as Chief Operating Officer. These strategic hires come at a pivotal moment for the organization, as it embarks on an ambitious new strategic plan aimed at increasing investment in and doubling its impact.
“Both Michera and Melea bring with them decades of experience in leadership roles focused on educational equity, nonprofit development and transformative community impact,” said Chastity Lord, president and CEO, Jeremiah Program. “We’re at a critical inflection point in our work to serve our families, and we need the right leadership to help guide our organization as we double our efforts to support single mothers and their children across the nation. We’re thrilled to have Michera and Melea on board.”
Michera Brooks, Chief of Staff
Deeply committed to supporting the growth and success of others, Brooks joins Jeremiah Program with more than 20 years of experience in education and nonprofit leadership. As the former executive director of Leadership ISD, a North Texas nonprofit working to strengthen school board trustees and community leaders, Brooks is well-versed in advocating for educational equity and community empowerment. She has worked as a public-school teacher, education law attorney, and nonprofit leader with several organizations, including Advocates for Children, Ramapo for Children, Achievement First, and Leadership for Educational Equity. Brooks holds a B.A. from Duke University and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.
“Parenting children is a universal challenge no matter your place or privilege, but we know it’s even more deeply felt by single moms already living on the edge,” said Brooks. “Education is key in changing a family’s trajectory. Jeremiah Program is incredible at putting education and empowerment first to support so many single moms and their children in creating the lives of their dreams. I’m thrilled to join the Jeremiah Program team to support this extraordinary work and mission.”
Melea Nalli, Chief Operating Officer
Throughout her career, Nalli has worked to challenge and address the systemic barriers that create inequities throughout institutions. She brings more than 25 years of experience in educational equity and nonprofit leadership to her new role as Chief Operating Officer at Jeremiah Program. She began her career as a special education teacher and went on to hold senior leadership positions at national non-profits including Teach for America and The Achievement Network, working to align, scale and deepen impact. Before joining JP, Nalli served as the Assistant Superintendent and Interim Co-Superintendent for Portland Public Schools in Maine. Nalli holds a B.A. in sociology and Africana studies from Bowdoin College and a master’s degree in education leadership from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She also co-founded a nonprofit dedicated to providing trauma-informed and healing-centered yoga inside prisons, domestic shelters, and recovery clinics.
“My experience as an educator and as a mom drew me to JP’s guiding principles of disrupting poverty two generations at a time, and the belief that mothers should not have to make the untenable choice between investing in themselves or their children,” said Nalli. “As we work to dig deeper into the communities we serve and expand our impact, I’m thrilled to work alongside Chastity and the incredible team to drive our new strategic plan forward and create a future where everybody thrives.”
Headquartered in Minneapolis, JP serves nine communities around the country and is committed to dismantling systemic barriers to education, housing, and child care for single mothers and their children, helping them reach economic mobility through five core pillars: college access and career support; quality early childhood education; safe and affordable housing; empowerment and leadership training; and supportive community.
About Jeremiah Program: Jeremiah Program (JP) is a national organization whose mission is to disrupt the cycle of poverty for single mothers and their children, two generations at a time. By investing simultaneously in a mother’s vision for her personal and professional goals and the education of her children, she simultaneously reauthors her family’s outcome as well her community’s — proof points matter. In 2024, JP actively served over 2,000 moms and children across nine cities in Austin, TX; Baltimore, MD; Boston, MA; Brooklyn, NY; Fargo, ND-Moorhead, MN; Las Vegas, NV; Minneapolis, MN; Rochester, MN; and St. Paul, MN.