Bryan Stokes II

Bryan Stokes serves as Education Portfolio Director at the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. In this role he leads the foundation’s investments in programs and initiatives serving families with children birth through kindergarten. Prior to joining McCormick, he most recently served as Chief of Early Childhood Education at Chicago Public Schools and worked to build a universal preschool system that ensures that every child in Chicago is ready for school success. Bryan began his career as a classroom teacher at the Carole Robertson Center for Learning before spending six years leading early childhood and youth development programs at Gads Hill Center, which serves more than 4,500 children on Chicago’s Southwest Side. His range of professional experience in the early childhood sector includes managing implementation of the state’s Preschool Development Funder-to-Funder Conversation – Panelist Bios March 21, 2023 Grant in the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development and serving as Vice President of Early Learning at Illinois Action for Children. Bryan holds a Master’s degree in English Literature from Penn State. Originally from Detroit, Michigan, he came to Chicago as a Teach for America corps member in 2007. He is a member of the Illinois Early Learning Council as well as a board member of the Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (INCCRRA) and the HighScope Educational Research Foundation.