Joe Brewer is a 2024-2025 Illinois Policy Fellow and 9th-12th history and social studies teacher at Cuba High School in Cuba, Illinois. He serves as union president and manages a local public history podcast with students called “The Forgottonia Project.” He is a passionate supporter of student teachers, having served as a mentor to more than 20 student teachers in the western Illinois region. Joe was selected to serve as a facilitator for the Smithsonian Democracy in Dialogue Virtual Exchange program (2024) and as a participant since 2022 in the National Council for History Education’s Rural Experience in America grant program. He leads workshops funded by the Library of Congress on the teaching of local history and serves on the Illinois Humanities Foreground Rural Initiative Advisory Committee. Joe earned his BA in social science education from Olivet Nazarene University and a MS in sociology from Western Illinois University.
