Meet our alumni leaders

Veronica Stachurski was a member of several clubs and athletic teams, including National Honors Society during her time at Hazel Park High School. Through NHS, she was elected to sitas a board member of Hazel Park Youth Assistance, along with another student, SamanthaTomlinson, for her senior year. During her year on the Board, Samantha and Veronica workedwith the Hazel Park Memorial Library to establish the Teen Leadership Board. Participatingstudents completed volunteer and community-service oriented projects after school.

Ms. Stachurski is a graduate of Michigan State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science Pre-Law, with an additional degree in History, in 2016. Ms. Stachurskiwent on to attend Michigan State University College of Law. While attending law school, she wasa Student Clinician for the Immigration Clinic. As a Student Clinician, Ms. Stachurski practiced law under the guidance of a licensed attorney. During her time with the Clinic, Ms. Stachurskiwas able to close a case for asylum that had been with the clinic for several years, resulting in the granting of asylum for a victim of human trafficking, and for her son. Additionally, during herthird year of law school, Ms. Stachurski completed a Fellowship with the Dominic OngwenDefense Team at the International Criminal Court (The Hague, Netherlands), funded by the LoriE. Talsky Center for Human Rights of Women and Children.

After graduating from MSU College of Law, Ms. Stachurski sat for and passed both the Minnesota and Michigan bar exams. She currently practices at a small firm just outside of Lansing, where she handles employment and labor law, civil rights discrimination, unemployment, licenserestoration, and criminal record expungement cases. In the year and a half that she has beenlicensed in Michigan, Ms. Stachurski has also participated in several pro bono clinics, throughwhich she volunteered for legal aid services in Michigan to help hundreds of individuals submit applications to have their criminal records expunged.

Jared Gajos is a lifelong resident of the City of Hazel Park, and he has been through all areas of the Hazel Park school system. From being in the last graduating class of Ford Elementary, before moving on to Hazel Park Junior High and Hazel Park High School, he admits that he did not see himself going away to college, let alone completing a master’s degree and associated certifications too. Through the resources provided by the Promise Zone, and assistance from several teachers and the Promise Zone Executive Director at the time, Mrs. Kayla Roney Smith, Jared, a first-generation college student, was able to apply, and get accepted into, his alma mater - Michigan State University for his undergraduate degrees. Following graduation from MSU, Jared was able to join a few boards and commissions, obtain a job working for the City of Hazel Park, and complete his master’s degree from Wayne State Law School. He hopes to create his own business one day, eventually being able to give back to first generation students the way the Promise Zone has been able to give to him.

Michael Sterner