CULTURETECHLENSAaron Smoot
VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)
Combined Graph record U-07490 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-6304.
Aaron Smoot is Community Engagement & Advancement Manager at The CAFE Group (the Cleveland Avenue Foundation for Education), a Chicago-founded national nonprofit established in 2014 by Don and Liz Thompson that supports students and education leaders of color; its 1954 Project awards $1 million grants to Black-led education nonprofits. Smoot was named a Surge Fellowship Chicago 2027 Fellow under that title. He was named to WVON's 40 Under 40 Game Changers Class of 2026.
Answer summary · this record in brief, from its own record text
Aaron Smoot is Community Engagement & Advancement Manager at The CAFE Group (the Cleveland Avenue Foundation for Education), a Chicago-founded national nonprofit established in 2014 by Don and Liz Thompson that supports students and education leaders of color; its 1954 Project awards $1 million grants to Black-led education nonprofits. Smoot was named a Surge Fellowship Chicago 2027 Fellow under that title. He was named to WVON's 40 Under 40 Game Changers Class of 2026.
Notes
Organization edge: The CAFE Group is not homed; an affiliated_with edge is BLOCKED until homed. Photo HELD: no Commons/LOC file located 2026-10-21.
Relationships
- WVON 40 Under 40 Game Changers — related to
Named to the WVON 40 Under 40 Game Changers Class of 2026 as Community Engagement & Advancement Manager, Cleveland Avenue – The CAFE Group.
Sources
- WVON 40 Under 40 Game Changers, 'The Class of 2026,' 40gamechangers.com/gamechangers (accessed 2026-10-21): lists Aaron Smoot as Community Engagement & Advancement Manager, Cleveland Avenue – The CAFE Group, among the 43 honorees named and pictured under the Class of 2026 heading. (primary source · build store)
- Surge Institute release, 'Surge Fellowship Chicago Announces Its 2027 Cohort' (accessed 2026-10-21): names Aaron Smoot, Community Engagement & Advancement Manager at The CAFE Group, among the 2027 Fellows. (primary source · build store)
- The CAFE Group, 'About' (accessed 2026-10-21), and the MacArthur Foundation grantee page for the Cleveland Avenue Foundation for Education (accessed 2026-10-21): the Chicago-founded nonprofit supports students and professionals of color in education; its 1954 Project awards $1 million grants to Black education nonprofit leaders. (primary source · build store)
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Record CTL-E-6304 · Combined Graph record U-07490 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 3 sources · 1 mapped relationship.
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Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.
Cite this record
Chicago: CultureTechLens. “Aaron Smoot (CTL-E-6304).” CultureTechLens Combined Graph. Chicago, IL: CultureTechLens, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-6304/
APA: CultureTechLens. (2026). Aaron Smoot (CTL-E-6304) [Entity record]. CultureTechLens Combined Graph. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-6304/
MLA: CultureTechLens. “Aaron Smoot (CTL-E-6304).” CultureTechLens Combined Graph, 2026, https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-6304/
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