Charity Freeman

My CSTA Story

Charity’s journey as “unofficial brand ambassador for CSTA” began when she received a scholarship to attend the 2019 CSTA Annual Conference. There, she learned about CSTA’s then–brand new Equity Fellowship and went on to join its first cohort! Since then, Charity has written several articles for CSTA’s The Voice, served as the first Equity Strand Lead of the Annual Conference Committee, and led CSTA’s Nominations and Elections Committee. She became chair of the Board of Directors in July 2023. “#iLoveMyCSTA, and I’m passionately committed to our organization’s growth as we support and advocate for our teachers to be seen, heard, and valued.”

My Story

As part of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s computer science department, Charity Freeman is supporting the launch of two new graduate degree programs in her hometown of Chicago. Tried and true, she’s a diehard Bears fan, staunch supporter of the “Sears Tower,” and a firm believer that ketchup doesn’t belong on hot dogs. Her determined spirit carries into her work in CS education throughout the state of Illinois, where she helps lead the newly formed ECEP Illinois team. As a governor-appointed member of the Illinois P–20 Council, she co-chairs a project-based working group on scaling K–12 CS education. Charity is also the lead instructor of the Teaching Methods in Computer Science endorsement course for in-service teachers at UIUC’s College of Education.

In her spare time… That’s funny. Charity’s rarely-enjoyed hobbies include watching football, playing tennis, and enjoying dinner with her family. Meanwhile, she’ll continue focusing on building and sustaining K–20 CS education ecosystems that systematically identify and address disparities in opportunities, outcomes, and representation in computing education.