Evan Teplensky

Evan Teplensky’s guiding principles center around social justice, youth civic engagement, and ensuring all LGBTQ+ students have access to safe and supportive learning environments. He holds a Master in Education Policy and Analysis from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he advocated for student-workers’ rights as a graduate representative on Harvard’s Undergraduate Workers Union bargaining committee.

Prior to Harvard, Evan earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics and international relations from Boston University. There, he served as a two-term College of Arts & Sciences Student Body President where he championed initiatives for student rights, promoted wellness initiatives, and introduced new traditions. His efforts to improve campus culture included helping organize protests to demand better support for student sexual assault survivors, which resulted in an increased budget for the university’s Sexual Assault & Response Prevention Center. In recognition of his scholarly accomplishments and extracurricular contributions to the university, Evan received the Harold C. Case Scholarship.

Evan aims to continue his passion for social and educational justice through local government, focusing on community representation and amplifying youth voices.

Initial Fellowship Focus: The fellow will play a key role in identifying gaps in departmental data collection and analysis and will contribute to a framework for evaluating the economic and social impact of past and future investments in Downtown Champaign.