Paul Kendrick is a proven neighborhood leader who is driven by serving communities.

As Director of Program Strategy at Hope Chicago, he helps transform South and West Side neighborhoods by providing debt-free college to students and their parents. 

Previously, he led Rust Belt Rising, a grassroots organization that trains and elects Democratic candidates across the Midwest. 

Paul also served in the Obama White House and on the Pritzker for Governor campaign.

As a leader of the Lakeview, Lincoln Park, and Old Town Indivisible chapter, he has engaged neighbors to have an impact on key national and local issues like protecting health and reproductive care. During his tenure leading Rust Belt Rising, Paul mobilized Chicago volunteers to register over 130,000 battleground state voters. 

Paul is passionate about high-quality education and brings deep expertise from a policy and community-led perspective. Serving in the U.S. Department of Education under President Obama, Kendrick elevated the best data-driven strategies from around the country to better serve our students. 

As a Community Representative for the Lincoln Park High School Local School Council (LSC), Paul volunteers his educational background to strengthen his neighborhood school, after previously serving on Alcott Elementary’s LSC. Paul is on the Board of the Park West Neighbors Association.

Kendrick graduated from George Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Public Administration. He believes in learning from history to shape the future, and is the co-author of three books with his father, most recently publishing Nine Days: The Race to Save Martin Luther King’s Life and Win the 1960 Election. He is also an adjunct professor at National Louis University. 

Kendrick and his wife Kori Schulman have two daughters, and he can often be seen at our beloved neighborhood playgrounds.