Shawn T. Sorsby is an award winning Math Teacher and Chess Coach. He is a Sister Cities Distinguished Citizen Award recipient for his work as a Chess Coach, and was recognized with an Outstanding Math Teaching Award for excellent results on national exams. Sorsby teaches with the philosophy that every child has the potential to excel, and for 4 consecutive years his Bahamian students have had a 100% A-C pass rate on the Bahamas Junior Certificate Mathematics National Examination.

A scholar, Sorsby earned Bachelors and Master Degrees in Architecture, and a MBA at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After managing millions of dollars in assets, he had a change of heart while volunteering as a wrestling coach at his alma mater, Morgan Park High School on the south side of Chicago. That same year several students who attended the school lost their lives to violence, and it changed Sorsby’s outlook on life itself, and the purpose he was fulfilling with his own life. Concluding his individual success meant nothing if the condition of youth only seemed to worsen, Sorsby knew he needed to take action.

"Coach" as our students call him, has now taught students from the South Side of Chicago, where he was born and raised, Gary, Indiana; Harlem, New York; Freeport, Bahamas and currently coaches students virtually all around the world. Sorsby is the Director of A Step Ahead Chess, a nonprofit organization that creates life changing experiences for young chess players by exposing them to international travel and competition, then enriching their lives with chess lessons beyond the board. Additionally, Sorsby is the Director of Ahead of the Game Academy, which commits to becoming the world’s class for change agents.