One Million Degrees

🌟 Tomorrow.🌟

Twenty years of scholars, stories, and community, all in one room.

Friday, May 29 | Morgan Manufacturing | Doors + cocktails at 6:30 PM

Featuring Dr. Janice K. Jackson and honoring Jarrett Adams with the Alumni Legacy Award, with our scholars at the center of it all. Last chance to join us: https://zurl.co/Sac7Y

Tomorrow, we celebrate them and everything they make possible.

Three days out, and a gala like this doesn't happen without partners who believe in the work.

Thank you to the following partners for being our presenting sponsor for the Degrees of Impact Gala. Your partnership is making it possible to celebrate Chicago's community college scholars the way they deserve, and to invest in everything that comes next.

If you haven't grabbed your seat yet, there's still time: https://zurl.co/NAncj

Community college is a launchpad. Neffer's story is one of thousands that prove it.

Twenty years in, OMD's work still comes back to this: meeting scholars where they are, surrounding them with people who actually show up, and trusting them to build the life they want from there. That's what the Degrees of Impact Gala is about: celebrating what gets built when someone is given the right runway.

Join us May 29 at Morgan Manufacturing. https://zurl.co/mYMcS

Two weeks until we gather at Morgan Manufacturing to celebrate twenty years of OMD Scholars!

Twenty years of scholars choosing to keep going. Twenty years of scholars turning community college into a launchpad, a credential, a career, a next chapter. Twenty years of scholars who showed up for themselves and for each other.

On May 29, we honor them. We'll also recognize Jarrett Adams with the Alumni Legacy Award, and Dr. Janice K. Jackson delivers the Keynote: two voices that reflect what's possible when belief meets opportunity. But the night belongs to the scholars.

Join us as we celebrate with our community. Tickets available here: https://zurl.co/aTRDk

Two weeks until we gather at Morgan Manufacturing to celebrate twenty years of OMD Scholars!

Twenty years of scholars choosing to keep going. Twenty years of scholars turning community college into a launchpad, a credential, a career, a next chapter. Twenty years of scholars who showed up for themselves and for each other.

On May 29, we honor them. We'll also recognize Jarrett Adams with the Alumni Legacy Award and hear from featured speaker Dr. Janice K. Jackson: two voices that reflect what's possible when belief meets opportunity. But the night belongs to the scholars.

Join us as we celebrate with our community. Tickets available here: https://zurl.co/mf186

Twenty years of OMD has been twenty years of providing supports to people the world too often overlooks. That belief is at the heart of why we're honoring Jarrett Adams with this year's Alumni Legacy Award.

Jarrett is an attorney, advocate, and author whose career has been shaped by a deep commitment to justice and second chances. After being wrongfully convicted as a teenager and later exonerated, he earned his law degree and now leads a practice dedicated to representing others navigating the same system. His work is a powerful reminder of what becomes possible when someone is given room to grow into the fullness of who they are.

Join us in celebrating Jarrett and twenty years of OMD scholars at the Degrees of Impact Gala on May 29. https://zurl.co/NAhlL

Twenty years of OMD has been twenty years of standing alongside scholars like Stacy, not in front of them.

The team she's talking about is real: coaches, fellow scholars, staff, families, donors, friends. People who show up for each other and trust each other to keep going. Stacy is part of what makes that team work. So is every scholar who's walked through this community over two decades.

Join us in celebrating them at the 20th Anniversary Degrees of Impact Gala on May 29. Grab your tickets today: onemilliondegrees.org/degrees-of-impact-2026/

In three weeks, seats will fill with the people who built OMD over twenty years: scholars, coaches, supporters, board members, and friends.

Twenty years of believing that community college is a launchpad. Twenty years of meeting scholars where they are and walking alongside them toward where they're going. Twenty years of a city deciding, again and again, that its scholars are worth investing in.

The Degrees of Impact Gala on May 29 is our chance to honor what's been built, and to celebrate the scholars carrying it forward. Join us for a night of celebration and education. Get your tickets today: onemilliondegrees.org/degrees-of-impact-2026/

JUST ANNOUNCED: One Million Degrees is honored to announce Dr. Janice K. Jackson as the featured speaker at our 20th Anniversary Degrees of Impact Gala on Friday, May 29.

Dr. Jackson previously served as CEO of Chicago Public Schools, where she oversaw record-high graduation and college enrollment rates and earned national acclaim for her transformative leadership. Her career has been defined by a sustained commitment to expanding educational access and outcomes for students across the city—work that intersects directly with the scholars OMD has supported for two decades.

As we mark twenty years of impact, Dr. Jackson's leadership and perspective on community college as a vehicle for economic mobility make her a fitting voice for this milestone moment.

Join us at Morgan Manufacturing on May 29: https://zurl.co/fQ0eJ