Ladders of Opportunity expands with new team members
This year, Ladders of Opportunity welcomes three new Ladders Universal coaches to continue supporting parent mentors with their education and who are on pathways to become teachers, administrators and other school leaders.
Indigo Niznik-Darden, Ladders Universal Coach
Indigo Niznik-Darden joined us in February 2026 as a Ladders Universal Coach, working one-on-one with parent mentors at all schools except those that participate in the Ladders Pilot site program. They previously worked at Prosper Chicago, a nonprofit focused on food justice with CPS students and families.
Indigo has been part of community work their entire life, growing up volunteering with their mom for organizations helping people get access to food and housing. “Civic engagement was just so much a part of my life when I was young that I kind of thought that everybody did it,” they say.
As a coach, Indigo guides parents through transcripts, fees, and certifications—but sees the real work as helping people recognize what they already bring: “It's the radical reframing of what we consider to be a valuable skill,” they say.
Fun fact: Indigo plays center and flanker on several Chicago-area rugby teams.
Tania Hernandez, Ladders Universal Coach
A recent graduate from Loyola University with a B.A. in Psychology, new Ladders Universal Coach Tania Hernandez says she's helping people the same way other Ladders coaches supported and inspired her.
“In eighth grade, we were given this ‘what is going to be your career?’ assignment,” Tania says. Even then, she remembers, psychology and helping care for others interested her most. “[So,] I thought nonprofit [work] was the best way to go. [Nonprofit people are] always looking to inspire people, to make sure we're able to be more than we think we are capable of.”
Tania became a parent and took a break from her first college after the school withdrew her financial aid. She stayed home to care for her children for a few years, and found the Parent Mentor Program after they started school in Cicero’s District 99.
After succeeding as a Parent Mentor, she joined Ladders with the thought of becoming a substitute teacher. She changed course after learning about the opportunity to serve as a coach with the Parent Engagement Institute Ladders of Opportunity program.
“Having support from [the Ladders team] made me identify skills that I didn't even know that I had,” she says. Now, she’ll be the one providing the inspiration and support, Tania adds: “I love uplifting people. It just comes easily to me.”
A fun fact about Tania: she lives in her google calendar, which is color coded by activity (work time: maroon).
Carolina Vázquez Torres, Ladders of Opportunity Testing Coordinator
Carolina Vázquez Torres joined PEI in April as a Testing Coordinator for Ladders of Opportunity, helping parent mentors prepare for the exams that lead to careers in education.
Carolina studied computer science at Northeastern Illinois University. She thought of a career in tech, but the people she met as a community organizer on immigration and other issues during college led her to a job at Little Village Environmental Justice Organization coordinating a training program for construction workers learning to install solar panels.
“I really enjoyed working with adults who were re-emerging into different careers,” Carolina says. “It was great to see the impact.”
She has also worked as a teacher among other roles—all of which transfer well to her new position supporting Ladders of Opportunity participants as they prepare to take the tests they must pass to attain the credential they are seeking. “Now as a testing coordinator I get to see the parents in different parts of their journey. Many of them have been through a lot [and I get to support them, sort of saying] ‘so what's our next plan?”
Fun fact: Carolina is a certified construction specialist including a certification installing photovoltaic panels. She also once read all seven Harry Potter books in a single week.