---

Kentucky State University will honor its scholars during the Academic Honors Convocation April 04 at 10 a.m. in the Carl H. Smith Auditorium of David H. Bradford Hall.

Chaundra J. Van Dyk-McGee, speaker, social justice advocate, and public policy reformist, will provide the keynote address.

After graduating from Kentucky State in 2015, Van Dyk-McGee returned home to Chicago determined to positively impact communities across Chicago. Initially, she worked as an outreach coordinator for a K-12 charter school on the Southwest side of Chicago.

While pursuing her graduate degree, Van Dyk-McGee realized she wanted to have a more direct impact on changing the criminal justice system because of how it affects the lives of those who become caught up in it. To accomplish this, she served as a workforce development coach, connecting low-income and justice-involved residents to improve employment opportunities by offering one-on-one career counseling, job development, and placement assistance.

Van Dyk-McGee later worked as a community outreach and engagement manager in Chicago’s West side neighborhood of North Lawndale. In this role, she helped connect formerly incarcerated people and those experiencing significant barriers to employment programs and job opportunities to help better their lives and circumstances.

As Van Dyk-McGee worked to improve her community and those most impacted by the criminal justice system, she realized that the criminal justice system's functions are set and altered through the enactment of policies and laws and so she sought work to help improve policies and laws.

Van Dyk-McGee began work at CHANGE Illinois to strengthen the redistricting procedures that are the foundation of the governmental systems that impact citizens’ daily lives.

Van Dyk-McGee serves as an influencer advocating for the enactment of policies that focus on election reforms, ethics, and redistricting reform including advocating for the proper implementation of the end prison gerrymandering in Illinois.

Today, Van Dyk-McGee continues advocating for people power, including for people who are incarcerated as CHANGE Illinois' advocacy director. The Daily Line, WGN Chicago, WTTW, Crain’s Chicago Business, the Chicago Sun-Times, and other regional and national media outlets are just a few of the outlets where she has been highlighted. 

Van Dyk-McGee received her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Kentucky State and is a member of the Kentucky State University National Alumni Association. She also earned a Master of Arts degree in criminal justice and criminology with a concentration in women and gender studies from Loyola University Chicago and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.

The Academic Honors Convocation can also be viewed via Zoom.