About Jose Manuel

“Nothing changes. Nothing ever will.”

That belief followed me throughout my childhood. Growing up Latino in a neighborhood shaped by deep, generational poverty, I watched that poverty pull people under again and again. I saw friends whose potential was destroyed by forces they never chose.

I escaped only because the right people crossed my path at the right moments. Parents who, escaping the poverty of their home country, sacrificed everything for a better life for their children. A middle school gym teacher who pulled me aside and handed me $100 so I could buy my first pair of running shoes and join the cross country team. A friend who pushed back on the school counselor to get me into an advanced math class. Another friend who introduced me to QuestBridge, where I eventually earned a full-ride scholarship to the University of Chicago. A mentor who trusted me enough to let me serve her organization—first as CFO, and now as Director of Place-Based Initiatives.

But when I look back, too much remains the same. Poverty persists. Hope feels scarce. And we’re often handed small, incremental fixes for problems that demand bold, transformative solutions. And that’s just poverty—never mind the other issues we’ve quietly labeled “impossible”: housing, climate change, health, and more.

We need a paradigm shift—a new look. We need solutions that are ten times better, not 1% better.

This is what drives me. My mission is to find others like me, people who believe in defying what everyone else calls “impossible.”

If that’s you, welcome.
Let’s dream out loud.
Let’s build what doesn’t exist yet.
Let’s defy the impossible—together.

-- Jose Manuel Murillo