Latisa Kindred is a Career and Technical Education (CTE) instructor at Simeon Career Academy High School in Chicago, IL, where she teaches Electricity. She successfully completed her apprenticeship with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local #134 in Chicago, and earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Workforce Education Development from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. In 2007, she began teaching the only high school Electricity program in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system at Simeon, which is the largest CTE school in the l system. Latisa transformed Simeon’s Electricity shop and, today, it serves as preparation for the post-secondary options offered in the Electrical and Construction industries. She developed two and three-year high school Electricity course syllabi for CPS, and works continuously to develop course work that supports her student’s needs.  Having introduced countless students to opportunities offered by Local #134, her mission to prepare youth for the electrical construction industry has been fulfilled; her former students include IBEW Local #134 Trainees, Apprentices, Journeymen, a Project Engineer, , and Junior Electrical Estimator, in addition to those who pursued careers in other industries. She is very proud of the success of her former students.

In June of 2014, Latisa attended the Midwest School for Women Workers in Champaign-Urbana, Il, which sparked a passion for Women’s Labor Leadership and Labor Education. Since that time, she has attended the Midwest School, the Regina V. Polk Women’s Labor Leadership Conference in 2016, the AFL-CIO’s Women’s Global Leadership program in 2017, and the Polk Women and Power School in 2019.

In recent years, Latisa has expanded her teaching by working as a labor educator and trainer.  She has co-presented and led workshops at the Midwest School in 2015 and 2016, the Women Build Nations Conference in 2015 and 2016, the Labor and Research Action Network in 2016, the United Association for Labor Leadership in 2016, and served as a Teacher in Training at the 2018 Polk School.

Latisa was born in Altgeld Gardens, a housing project on the far southside of Chicago. She spent her school aged years in Waukegan, Il, a far north suburb of Chicago. Her varied experiences in both communities nurtured and cultivated her activism. She served as Simeon’s school delegate to the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), and during the 2012 CTU strike, she organized the school’s picket line. She also served on the joint board between CTU and the CPS CTE department, and participated in contract bargaining for article 18 of the CTU contract, which covers Career and Technical Education. Today, she serves as Treasurer for The Sisters of IBEW Local #134, the union’s women’s committee and co-chairs the membership committee of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) at McDade Classical School in Chicago.