Haki B. Perry

Born in Camden, New Jersey and raised in Philadelphia, I have always felt a deep commitment and desire to improving my community. Growing up, I saw firsthand how communities primarily composed of Black people and people of color have been institutional negligence by America.

While attending Morehouse College, I founded an on-campus organization, named Top10AUC, which set out to better the relationships between the West End community of Atlanta and the Atlanta University Consortium (Morehouse College, Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University) through creative and intentional community service. During this time, I developed a love for social work, but knew that the small initiatives advocated for while in school would not bring about the much larger institutional and structural transformation those communities needed. As both a Ronald E. McNair scholar and Bonner Scholar of Community Service, I was also able to learn how research, data and policy aid in setting the conditions for which most communities in America reside. Graduating from Morehouse College in 2019, I wanted to bring this understanding and skillset back to Philadelphia to help spur change.

As the Specialist, CRM and School Support at Elevate 215, I primarily work on the implementation of Apply Philly Charter (APC). In addition to APC, I provide ongoing data and technical support to its participating schools, while also providing data for families as to make information more transparent and accessible.