Julie Kwong (she/her) believes that every child, regardless of identity, immigration status, income level, and academic achievement, deserves an equitable education that provides them the tools to define their own life paths.
She currently serves as the Associate Director of Communications and Alumni Affairs at MESA Charter High School where she leads Alumni Lab, a program designed to advise and empower high school graduates from across NYC to access upwardly mobile career pathways in order to achieve a financially independent future. In this role, she has developed partnerships with over 10 schools and 50 postsecondary organizations to expand options for high school graduates and transformed Alumni Lab from its pilot phase to full implementation reaching over 90 young people in 2023-2024.

She spent the first five years of her career teaching Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and AP Calculus in Bushwick, some of whom she had the honor of advising from 9th grade through graduation and even some whom she has been coaching in her current role. After a year of remote teaching in 2021, Julie pivoted out of the classroom to explore new ways to make an impact in education. She was selected to become a NYC Chapter Fellow with the New Leaders Council and soon after served as the Product Manager and eventually Chief Product Officer at SubjectToClimate, where she led critical changes to improve teacher usability of their climate education platform. Seeking to keep her foot in the classroom, she also served as the NYC Program Facilitator for ImmSchools, where she facilitated workshops with educators and students to raise awareness and debunk misconceptions about the rights and resources available to immigrant and undocumented communities. Julie’s commitment to education was inspired by her early experiences attending K-12 in Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland. There, she found role models in her teachers, new perspectives through her peers, and exposure to the world through her studies.

Julie attended Princeton University as a first-generation low-income student and graduated cum laude in 2016 with a B.A. in Psychology and a secondary math teaching certificate with advanced standing. She is proud to be the Cantonese American daughter of two hard working immigrant parents from Southern China. She lives in Jersey City with her husband where she enjoys taking long walks by the water, dabbling in pickleball, and exploring new cuisines in the city. Inspired by Priya Parker’s work, she also seeks and creates meaningful gatherings in both her personal and professional life.