Abel Ochoa

Abel Ochoa serves as Associate Vice President for Programs and Development. In this role, he provides leadership, direction, and resources to the following Office of Civic Engagement (OCE) portfolio of programs: College and Career Readiness, Student Civic Engagement, Education Partnerships, Nonprofit Capacity Building, Civic Leadership and Program Development and Evaluation. Abel works across the University and with the broader community to create meaningful and sustainable partnerships that increase civic participation, expand educational access, and create economic and social opportunity on the South Side of Chicago. He also serves as one of OCE’s primary liaisons to external funders, including foundations and other philanthropic partners.

Since joining the University of Chicago in 2011, Abel has driven transformative community outreach and engagement initiatives that have strengthened the University’s commitment to expand educational opportunities for youth throughout the City of Chicago and our neighboring South Side communities, which includes leadership of OCE’s suite of college and career readiness programs. Abel holds a B.A. in Political Science and Spanish from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an M.A. in Public Policy and Administration from Northwestern University. He is an alumnus of the Latino Policy Forum’s inaugural 2016-2017 Multicultural Leadership Academy, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business 2017 Executive Program for Emerging Leaders, and a 2018 – 2019 Civic Fellow of the Square One Foundation.