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