Claudette G. Baker is Vice President of Library and Nonprofit
Services at the Donors Forum of Chicago. Her career has spanned the
for-profit, government and nonprofit sectors for more than 25 years. She
also served as the Senior Director of Center Development for the YMCA of
Metropolitan Chicago.
Harry Chandler is a computer consultant and President of the
Board of Directors of Access Living, a local organization that provides
services and advocates at the public policy level for people with
disabilities. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Chicago
Transit Authority.
Demetris Giannoulias, Chief Financial Officer of Broadway Bank
in Chicago, is interested and involved in community organizing and
economic development in low-income communities.
Linda J. Harlan recently served as the Program
Director at Chicago Foundation for Women, and board president of Haven
Towers Development Corporation, a non-profit organization devoted to the
development of senior housing in the South Chicago community. She is also
active in a number of philanthropic organizations.
Robert (Bob) Horton worked in the finance and
investment management business for over 25 years and currently volunteers
for various organizations including the Lincoln Park Zoo and the Center on
Halsted. Bob received his Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 1994,
his Masters of Management degree from Northwestern University and his
undergraduate degree in economics and political science from Stanford
University. He has served on the Crossroads Fund Finance Committee for the
last year.
Barbara Kemmis, Board Co-Chair, is the Director of
Member Services for the American Theological Library Association. Prior to
this, she served as Vice President of Library Services at the Donors Forum
of Chicago, and gained experience in the philanthropic sector at the
Jewish Federation of Chicago.
Christopher Long is a Fee-Only Certified Financial Planner and a
Registered Investment Advisor. Prior to founding Long & Associates LLC,
Chris had a 15-year career in marketing and general management. Chris has
led a demonstration project to bring financial planning services to
low-income residents in Chicago and volunteers with Financial Links for
Low Income People.
Rene David Luna is a research and policy
analyst studying the Ticket to Work program as part of a collaborative
research project between Access Living and DePaul University. He has
worked at the Center for Independent Living for over 18 years as a
disability rights activist and as a program director. He also served as a
Commissioner on the Cook County Commission on Human Rights in Illinois
from 1993 to 1997.
Tony Phillips, Treasurer, is an information technology
consultant with CGI. He is an active volunteer fundraiser, having most
recently served on the Alumni Fund Steering Committee for his alma mater
Knox College.
Lisa Marie Pickens, Board Co-Chair, is a Chicago-based
independent consultant for nonprofit organizations. She is a founding
member of Affinity, an African American lesbian activist group on
Chicago’s South side.
Christine Kim-Tai Plautz has an extensive background in
philanthropy. She was a staff member at Girl's Best Friend Foundation from
2002 until they closed their doors in 2008. She is a member of the
steering committee of the Chicago Chapter of Asian Americans/Pacific
Islanders in Philanthropy, and is one of the co-chairs of the Asian Giving
Circle at the Chicago Community Trust.
Ellen Schumer, Executive Director of COFI (Community Organizing
for Family Issues), has extensive experience across a range of organizing
styles.
Todd SJ Simmer is a Senior Consultant at Orange
& Grey, a technology consultancy that helps organizations meld
process and technology. Prior to this, Simmer helped build the non-profit, financial services,
IT consulting practices of onShore Networks.
Christina Smith, LCSW, has more than 20 years
of professional experience in the private and public human service field.
She has served on numerous boards, including Affinity Community Services,
Lesbian Community Cancer Project, Women in the Director's Chair, and the
Advisory Council for the Office of Gay and Lesbian Health for the Chicago
Department of Public Health.
K. Sujata is a Program Officer at the
Eleanor Foundation, which focuses on helping working women determined to
achieve sustainable economic independence. She is also former Executive
Director of the Continuum of Care and of Apna Ghar, the Midwest’s first
domestic violence shelter primarily serving Asian women and children.
Martha Wright is currently pursuing graduate studies. She has
worked for the Mayer & Morris Kaplan Family Foundation and the Elizabeth
Morse Charitable Trust and has been involved in Chicago’s non-profit
community for over ten years.
Jackie Zevin is an artist and art educator currently teaching
for the Chicago Department of Senior Services. She has focused on developing
and teaching art classes and special programs in college, school and
community settings. Jackie is a founding member of the Lisa Fittko
Internship Committee.
STAFF
Jeanne Kracher, Executive Director, has a wealth
of experience in community organizing and nonprofit management. The 2008
recipient of the Louis T. Delgado Social Justice in Philanthropy Award
from the Nonprofit Management and Philanthropy Sector
Program at Loyola University Chicago, she was a
founding member of ACT-UP/Chicago, executive director of Women in the
Director’s Chair, and a member of the Women’s Health Education
Project. She has produced films and videos addressing a variety of
subjects from healthcare in prisons to a history of the women’s global
justice movement. She also served on the board of Crossroads from 1996 to
1998. She has been the Executive Director at Crossroads Fund since March
of 2000.
Lisa Avila, Lisa Fittko Intern, joins us through
the Public Allies Program. She holds a bachelor's degree in Spanish and
Latin American Latino Studies from DePaul University with M.A. course work
in American Culture Studies from Bowling Green State University. In her
downtime, Lisa teaches bike mechanics and safety to adults at The
Recyclery in Evanston and supports local events and shops in her stomping
grounds of Pilsen.
Inhe Choi, Special Projects Director, has been with the
Crossroads Fund for over 8 years. Among other activist work, she is a
founding member of KAN-WIN, a collective providing services for Korean
women who are victims of domestic violence. She is also a founder of Oo-ri
So-ri, a Korean women’s percussion group that takes back a tradition of
collective action traditionally dominated by men.
Judith Cooper-Baird, Development and
Administrative Assistant, has
over 10 years' experience in nonprofit development, having worked for the
Infant Welfare Society of Chicago and the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of
America. An animal rights advocate, Judith joined Crossroads Fund in
October 2006.
Tricia Hendricks, Development Officer, joined
the Crossroads Fund staff in September 2004. She previously served
as Development Coordinator for Ox-Bow, a summer school of art.
Tricia holds a Master's Degree in the humanities with a concentration in
cinema and media studies from the University of Chicago.
Tim Jones-Yelvington, Program Associate,
graduated from DePaul University with a
degree in Women's and Gender Studies. As a writer and activist, he works
to address the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality and
ability. He participates in the Queer Transformative Justice working group
to promote community-based responses to violence that are not reliant on
the criminal-legal system and facilitates a group for Queer persons with
disabilities.
Jane Kimondo, Program Director, comes to Crossroads Fund from the Chicago Foundation for
Women, where she worked in their program department for four years. She
holds two Master's Degrees in Organizational Development and Human
Resources and a Certificate in Advanced Study in Philanthropy &
Non-Profit Sector from Loyola University Chicago. Jane has extensive
international and nonprofit experience in both Chicago and her native
country, Kenya.
Sheila O'Donnell, Development Director, was
involved with Crossroads Fund as a Board member and volunteer prior to
joining the staff. She has a background in fundraising and arts
administration and experience working with community arts groups. Sheila
holds an MFA in writing from The School of the Art Institute
of Chicago.
FOUNDERS
Lucy and Peter Ascoli
Maggi Atterbury
Kay Berkson
Ashley Bullitt
Susan Coleman
Jean Hardisty
Paul Lehman & Ronna Stamm
Nancy Meyer
Bob Weissbourd
Ben Wolf