Speakers
Paul Baker
Paul Baker is a web designer and design researcher at Webitects in Chicago. During the last couple of months of the presidential race, he and his colleague, Billy Belchev, traveled to swing states studying the Obama campaign “ground game.” They filmed meetings, took photos of artifacts, recorded campaign software as it was being used, and interviewed Obama staff and volunteers. In April, they presented the results of their research, and recommendations for improvements, to campaign software vendors and the DNC/OFA. Other Webitects projects include www.communitycollab.org, a site for organizers and community developers to learn from each other and exchange ideas, www.newcommunities.org, the New Communities Program in Chicago, and the Grassroots website content management and design platform, used by many CDCs and nonprofits in Chicago and elsewhere.
Bonnifer BallardBonnifer Ballard is the Director of Marketing and Communications for Gateway for Cancer Research. Ms. Ballard joined the organization in October 2006 and immediately led the organization through a brand optimization process. The organization is in the midst of implementing this brand optimization plan. Along with brand management, Ms. Ballard is responsible for developing and implementing marketing strategy, including media relations, as well as supporting the organization’s fundraising activity.
Ms. Ballard was formerly with Heartland Alliance as Director of Strategic Communications where she developed and implemented their identity program, overhauled their publications, and strengthened overall communications strategy. Ms. Ballard’s leadership brought Heartland greater notoriety within target audience groups, supported revenue growth of the organization’s annual fund, and enhanced the organization’s ability to address complex communication challenges among its key constituents. She holds a degree in Business and has nearly two decades of association and nonprofit marketing and communications experience.
Chris BeebeChris has extensive non-profit, design, event planning, corporate training, sales and fund raising experience. She was selected as one of six people nationally for the March of Dimes executive management training program. While with the March of Dimes, Chris was Director of Walk America which raised $1.2 million for the organization. She also opened the Long Beach, CA office of the Arthritis Foundation, secured three years of free office space and built its Board of Directors. While there she was responsible for developing and administering the budget, developing marketing materials, coordinating publicity and public speaking opportunities, spearheading volunteer development and training, and directing organizational planning and event strategy.
In the for-profit world, Chris utilized her Advertising and Design degree from the American Academy of Art serving five years as a packaging and merchandising designer. For 12 years, Chris has focused on business development, account management and driving sales to Fortune 500 companies. Chris brings to The Visionary Agency a wide array of sales and account management experience including: strategic and consultative selling, Corporate Visions sales messaging, creative selling techniques, sales presentation skills and training, RFI creation and delivery, cold calling and plain old pavement pounding. Chris sits on the Board of Directors for the Greater Aurora, Illinois Chamber of Commerce.
Clark Bell
Clark Bell is the McCormick Foundation’s Journalism Program Director. Clark, who joined the foundation in October 2005, oversees journalism grant-making initiatives and shapes the program’s focus on critical issues facing the news media.
Clark is a veteran reporter, editor, publisher and communications consultant. Prior to joining the McCormick Foundation, he was managing director for American Healthcare Solutions, where he developed communications strategies for hospitals, medical foundations and technology firms.
His extensive journalistic background includes serving as publisher of Modern Physician magazine, editor and associate publisher of Modern Healthcare magazine, executive business editor of the Dallas Times Herald and business columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. Earlier, he served as a consumer affairs reporter for the Chicago Daily News and sports writer for the Des Moines Register.
Clark earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Drake University and a master’s degree in urban studies from Loyola University of Chicago. He was among the first group of journalists awarded a Sloan Fellowship to study economics at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Bell serves on the board of the Chicago Journalists Association.
Claire BushyClaire Bushey is a freelance journalist in Chicago, although her parents still hope she might go to law school. Her work has appeared in Crain’s Chicago Business, the Chi-Town Daily News, Women’s eNews and regional lifestyle magazines based in Delaware and Indiana. She tries to strike a balance between writing fun stories about pet psychics and Joffrey dancers and covering serious concerns like workers’ rights and women’s issues.
Dominic CalabreseDominic Calabrese is Public Relations Director at The Chicago Lighthouse for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia College Chicago.
Calabrese, who joined the Lighthouse in 2004, supervises a department of three people responsible for media relations, publications, tours and maintenance of the agency’s website.
Among his major accomplishments was placing a front-page profile of the Lighthouse’s clock-making operation in the Wall Street Journal. He also generated coverage about the agency in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, ABC Evening News, Chronicle of Philanthropy, Associated Press as well as all major Chicago media outlets.
Under his leadership, the Lighthouse’s Public Relations Department won three consecutive Golden Trumpet Awards in 2006, 2007 and 2008 from the Publicity Club of Chicago (PCC) for outstanding achievement. For those efforts, he was promoted in 2008 to the Lighthouse’s Management Team, which works with the Executive Director in designing and implementing policies to help the agency successfully carry out its mission.
Previously, Calabrese served as deputy press secretary with the Illinois Department of Human Services and director of public relations for both the Gateway Foundation and Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine in Chicago.
He has also done free-lance writing for the Council of State Governments Magazine, Inland Shores Magazine, Pioneer Press/Lerner Newspapers and other publications.
A former VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) volunteer engaged in anti-poverty work, Calabrese earned a B.A. degree (cum laude) from Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois and also did graduate study at the University of Cincinnati.
Cate CahanCate Cahan is Chicago Public Radio’s senior metro desk editor, Cate conceives and researches stories, edits scripts and organizes long-term projects including investigations and series.Cate joined the staff of Chicago Public Radio in May 1998 as an editor for Eight Forty-Eight, Chicago Public Radio’s weekday morning newsmagazine. She later became a contributing editor for Eight Forty-Eight and interim news director for the news department.
Cate has received more than a dozen Peter Lisagor awards and three Sigma Delta Chi awards, most recently as editor on a project that examined abuses among children at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. Prior to joining Chicago Public Radio, Cate worked as editorial director and planning editor for WBBM 780 AM. She’s also worked as a newspaper reporter and magazine editor.
Cate has a M.A. in Journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.A. in English from Mundelein College. Originally from Joliet, Cate resides in Skokie with her husband, Richard. They have four children and a granddaughter, Madeline.
Richard CahanRichard Cahan is a program officer with the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. His job is to run the MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at the Driehaus Foundation, a program that awards grants to arts organizations with budgets under $500,000. He is also a journalist who worked for the Chicago Sun-Times, and is the author of several books—including Richard Nickel’s Chicago and Who We Were: A Snapshot History of America.
Shawn CampbellShawn Campbell is the president and founder of the Chicago Independent Radio Project (CHIRP), a non-profit organization working to bring a new music- and arts-focused community radio station to Chicago. The station will launch in online form in summer 2009, and the group continues to work at the federal level to influence legislation that would allow CHIRP to obtain a broadcast license as well.
Campbell previously worked as a producer on the award-winning Chicago Public Radio morning magazine program Eight-Forty-Eight. From 1999-2007, she was the program director of 88.7 WLUW, Chicago’s listener supported community radio station. During her time there, she more than doubled listenership, increased volunteer participation fourfold, and built a successful fundraising program that covered the station’s nearly $200,000 annual budget.
Prior to her stint at WLUW, Campbell worked at a number of different radio stations in northern Illinois and northwest Indiana as a reporter, writer, music director, DJ, and producer. She has a master’s degree in Radio/TV/Film from Northwestern University. Her bachelor’s degree in Speech/Communication/Theatre is from North Central College in Naperville, IL.
Monique Caradine As a media professional for 15 years, Monique Caradine has worked in every aspect of the business–including television, advertising, public relations and radio. In 2004, she embarked on a new endeavor by launching Momentum Media Group, a media development and consulting company.
Throughout her career Monique has proven herself to be a media visionary. For two years (2004-2006), her company independently produced and funded a weekly television program. Currently, Monique is the host of a new community affairs TV program called “Perspective,” which airs Sundays on FOX affiliate WPWR My50 in Chicago.
In 2003, Mo ended her tenure as host of a daily, award-winning talk show on Chicago’s only black-owned radio station, WVON 1450 AM. Known as Mo in the Midday, she discussed a wide range of issues. She also interviewed such notables as Tavis Smiley, Patti LaBelle, Maya Angelou, Magic Johnson, Queen Latifah, Les Brown and many more. Mo in the Midday was twice named Best Midday Talk Show in Chicago and Monique was also recognized three consecutive times by TALKERS Magazine as one of the top 100 radio talk show hosts in the nation.
Monique has appeared as a frequent guest on the nation’s largest television and radio networks, including CNN, FOX News and National Public Radio. She has also been featured in the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, The Chicago Defender, N’DIGO and a variety of other local and national media outlets. Monique is known as a gifted speaker and workshop presenter and has delivered keynote addresses to local and national organizations.
These days, Monique loves coaching entrepreneurs on how to tap into their unique gifts and expertise as a way to get publicity. “I thrive in an environment where I can teach, inspire and share my media experience with people who want to get to the next level in their business,” she says. Monique offers group and individual media training, she regularly facilitates publicity workshops and she speaks to corporate groups often.
Cate has received more than a dozen Peter Lisagor awards and three Sigma Delta Chi awards, most recently as editor on a project that examined abuses among children at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. Prior to joining Chicago Public Radio, Cate worked as editorial director and planning editor for WBBM 780 AM. She’s also worked as a newspaper reporter and magazine editor.
Cate has a M.A. in Journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.A. in English from Mundelein College. Originally from Joliet, Cate resides in Skokie with her husband, Richard. They have four children and a granddaughter, Madeline.
Michael A. ChihakMichael A. Chihak is Executive Director of the Communications Leadership Institute, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that includes The SPIN Project. CLI and The SPIN Project provide communications consulting and training to other nonprofit organizations across the United States and globally. Chihak has held the position since July 2008.
He serves as CLI’s chief strategist, lead trainer and fund-raiser. He has expertise in communications and media relations; marketing and public relations; fund development and endowment building. He has extensive experience as a corporate and nonprofit trainer for strategic planning, leadership and managerial development, communications and diversity in the workforce.
Before his work for CLI, Chihak spent more than three decades in the news and media industry, including eight years as editor and publisher of the Tucson (Arizona) Citizen and www.tucsoncitizen.com. He previously was executive editor and then publisher of The Salinas Californian newspaper and the Spanish-language newspaper El Sol de Salinas. He worked as an assistant national editor at USA Today for eight years and as a correspondent for The Associated Press for 10 years. He began his career as a photographer and reporter.
Thom ClarkThom Clark is co-founder and president of the Community Media Workshop, a Chicago-based nonprofit that has trained over 2,000 organizations to use media more effectively. Clark teaches in the graduate journalism program at Columbia College Chicago; produces and hosts a weekly cable TV and and separate radio program. He has worked in Chicago’s nonprofit sector for 30 years, ranging from community development and city-wide coalition work to award-winning magazine editing and photojournalism. He currently serves as chair of WTTW public television’s Community Advisory Board, and the Progressive Communicators Network leadership council. As the Workshop’s lead trainer, he is a popular conference presenter and communications coach.
Deb ClappDeb Clapp began her career in theatre management at Hartford Stage Company in Hartford, CT. At Hartford Stage she rose from Assistant House Manager to Operations Manager to Associate Business Manager. In 1996 she moved to Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven where, as general manager, she oversaw the day to day operation of this theatre with a $5 million annual budget. In 2001 Deb became the Director of Management for Goodman Theatre where she streamlined operations, cut operating costs and increased lobby sales by over 500 percent over the course of her tenure. In addition she oversaw box office, front of house and facilities operations as well as negotiated and executed all artists contracts for the theatre. In 2007 Deb left Goodman to do consulting work with some of the small Chicago theatre companies. She worked with such companies as Teatro Vista…Theatre with a View, About Face Theatre and Chicago Children’s Theatre. In all cases she worked with the management and interim management of the companies on budgeting income and expense. In addition, she gave the companies the tools to continue with good financial planning. In July of 2008, Deb Clapp joined the League of Chicago Theatres as the Executive Director.
Burt ConstableBurt Constable went to Northwestern and got his first byline in a real newspaper in 1978 at the Lafayette Indiana Journal & Courier. He worked as a Sports Editor for The Washington Evening Journal, which sounds impressive until people discover that is in Washington, Iowa. He has been at the Daily Herald since 1981 and a columnist since 1988 when he was fortunate enough to be allowed to write three columns a week alongside Chicago legend Jack Mabley. They were a column team sitting next to each other until Mabley’s death in 2006.
He has won a few awards and has covered everything from Princess Di’s visit to Cubs playoff runs and was the first media person to suggest way back on March 2 of 2004 that this bright, young Barack Obama fellow could be our first African-American president some day. But mostly he is looking for interesting stories in the suburbs that need somebody to tell them.
He is married to Cheryl Horst, who is a medical writer. We live in Oak Park and have three sons, 13-year-old twins and one who just turned 10 and grew up on a farm in Goodland, IN.
Christine CupaiuoloChristine Cupaiuolo is a former newspaper reporter turned online publisher and blogger. She currently covers women’s health and politics for Our Bodies Ourselves and contributes to other publications. Combining her media and technical background, she helps nonprofit organizations figure out how to make the most out of blogs and navigate Web 2.0.
Emily Culbertson
Since 1997, Emily Culbertson has provided Web strategy, planning and project management services for a variety of health, nonprofit and philanthropic organizations. Before moving to Chicago in August 2008, Culbertson was Web Managing Director at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, where she co-led a relaunch of RWJF.org in June 2008 and helped coordinate RWJF’s first forays into social media.
Prior to working at RWJF, Culbertson was a senior account manager and eHealth strategist at I-SITE, a Philadephia-based web agency that focuses on health and nutrition projects. Culbertson began her web career as a multimedia editor for the University of Pennsylvania Health System’s consumer Web site, pennhealth.com. Before working in corporate communications, she covered federal courts for the Associated Press, several Philadelphia suburban daily newspapers and Philadelphia’s legal daily newspaper, The Legal Intelligencer, as a free-lance journalist. Culbertson is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in urban studies.
Valerie Denney, PresidentValerie Denney established Valerie Denney Communications (VDC) in 1989 to offer professional public relations services to organizations and individuals working for positive social change. Valerie works with government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector to develop communications strategies for complex issues such as the environment, affordable housing, community development, education, community finance, and solutions to poverty. Valerie has worked with Chicago’s leading policy organizations and many governmental agencies. Clients have included Metropolitan Planning Council, Chicago Metropolis 2020, City of Chicago, Department of Planning and Development, Urban Land Institute, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnnelly Foundation and others. Valerie brings a broad experience base to her work at Valerie Denney Communications. Prior to establishing her firm, Valerie served in Mayor Harold Washington’s press office, worked for U.S. Steel, served as a union representative and teacher, and participated in numerous electoral and community-based campaigns. Valerie conducts media trainings for a wide variety of organizations including National Community Capital Association, National Legal Aid and Defenders Association, and the Chicago-based Community Media Workshop. Valerie has a Master’s degree in English from Indiana University.
Geoff Dougherty
Geoff is the editor of the Daily News and CEO of PublicMedia, Inc. Prior to founding the ChiTown Daily News, he was an investigative reporter at the Chicago Tribune. Before that, he served in similar roles at the Miami Herald and St. Petersburg Times. He has 16 years of journalism experience, has won numerous national awards for his work. While at the Miami Herald, he spearheaded the newspaper’s effort to review, count and analyze discarded ballots from the 2000 presidential election
Mike DoyleMike is a communications strategist and editor & publisher of the blog, CHICAGO CARLESS, where he scribes about his adopted Chicago life. A frank ex-New Yorker, trained urban planner, and Adult ADDer, he’s happily called the Windy City home since 2003. Mike is a regular constributor to Huffington Post Chicago and the Chicago Journal and sits on the adviory boards of the The Chicago Reader and the Reeling LGBT Chicago Film Festival. Like Studs Terkel before him, he intends to go to his grave without learning how to drive a car. He’s been pursuing that goal for 38 years and counting.
Demond DrummerAfter graduating from the New Organizing Institute Summer Boot Camp in 2007, Demond Drummer went on to work as a field organizer for the Obama campaign in the South Carolina and Virginia primaries. He is currently a Master of Arts candidate at the University of Chicago Divinity School and coordinates the City Youth and Government Program at the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago. This summer, as a New Organizing Institute Fellow, he will explore ways to enhance organizing methods with web technology.
Laura FletcherLaura Fletcher is the communications and advocacy manager at Chicago Foundation for Women. Laura edits the Foundation’s weekly email newsletter, the Tuesday Blast, and also works on the website, publications, media relations and outreach materials related to public education and advocacy. Before joining the Foundation in 2006, Laura worked at the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law as an AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteer and later as development associate. She is originally from West Virginia and graduated from Carleton College in Minnesota in 2004.
Brad Flora
Brad Flora is an entrepreneur, journalist, and web developer. His writing has been published in Slate Magazine and several Chicago papers. He is the founder of The Windy Citizen the first local, social news site, which lets Chicagoans rate, share and discuss links to news about their city, its newsmakers and the issues they face. He has appeared on Chicago Public Radio, Chicago Tonight and in the pages of Crain’s Chicago Business and the Chicago Tribune to talk about his plan to expand the local conversation beyond the handful of sources that dominate it. Flora studied at the Medill School of Journalism’s graduate program where he focused on online publishing and finding an audience for news via social media marketing. He lives in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood with a revolving cast of characters subletting via Craigslist.
Stephen FranklinStephen Franklin is an award-winning journalist and former foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune. He covered the Middle East for the Tribune as a bureau chief and on numerous assignments in the region. He has also reported from Central and Latin America. Besides the Tribune, he worked for the Detroit Free Press, the Philadelphia Bulletin, the Miami Herald, and the Washington Daily News. He was a runner-up for the Pulitzer prize, and a series of his articles were among the top investigative stories cited by the Society of Business Editors and Writers in 2007. Steve Franklin also works with the Community Media Workshop on outreach to and support for Chicago’s 300 print, broadcast, and on-line ethnic news outlets. He has trained Egyptian journalists for the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and for the Cairo-based Media Development Program.
Franklin has a bachelor’s degree from Penn State University in political science and a master’s degree in political science from American University, Washington, D.C. He was a journalism fellow at the University of Michigan, where he studied Arabic and Middle Eastern politics and society. He has taught journalism at Columbia College in Chicago. He was a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Turkey. He is the author of “Three Strikes,” a book examining the impact of globalization on businesses, workers and workers’ rights. He has written for the Columbia Journalism Review, Smithsonian Magazine, and The Nation.
Jesus GarciaJesus G. Garcia – CEO, Enlace Chicago (formerly LVCDC)
A resident of Little Village for 38 years, Mr. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia dedicated his career to serving this community. Mr. Garcia represented the neighborhood first on as one of the first Latinos elected to Chicago’s City Council in 1986 and later as the first Mexican-American elected to the Illinois Senate.
Mr. Jesus Garcia was brought on as the first Executive Director of Little Village Community Development Corporation (LVCDC) in 1998. Ten years later, Mr. Garcia has taken on a more strategic role as CEO of the organization. From his start as the first LVCDC staff employee, Mr. Garcia has grown the organization to 28 full-time employees and 100 part-time employees who work in four priority areas: Access to Education, Community Enrichment, Economic Development, and Violence Prevention.
Mr. Garcia serves on the boards of local and national organizations. He is the Vice President of a local foundation, the Woods Fund of Chicago. Mr. Garcia also served as the Founding Board President of the Latino Policy Forum (a new metro area policy center) and continues to serve on the board. He also sits on the board of the Community Justice for Youth Initiative, and is a national board member of the Development Training Institute. He was a former board member of the Jazz Institute of Chicago. Mr. Garcia holds a BA in Political Science from University of Illinois at Chicago and a Masters in Urban Planning from University of Illinois at Chicago.
Mr. Garcia’s commitment to community has been recognized by a number of awards, the most recent being chosen as one of the first annual honorees for the John H. Stroger, Jr. Humanitarian for Healthcare Awards.
Monica Garreton ChavezMónica Chávez has been at the Logan Square Neighborhood Association for a little over 4 years. She started as an Education Organizer, working for 2 years with the Parent Mentor and Literacy Ambassador programs in the local schools, along with the Grow Your Own Teachers statewide initiative. In May of 2007, her position changed and she is now Community Organizer and Technology and Communications Coordinator. She is also the assistant to the Executive Director at LSNA. Among her responsibilities are maintaining the organization’s website, designing communications such as the monthly newsletter, and providing support for office technology including computers, printers and copiers. Her organizing work is now concentrated in the areas of immigration and housing. She has also received training in translation and interpretation and is bilingual in Spanish and English.
Laurie GlennLaurie R. Glenn has a well-earned reputation for making things happen. Currently, as the President of Thinkinc.™, a strategic public affairs consulting firm, Glenn is always involved in the development of strategies that enable her clients to take on the challenges inherent in promoting social and public policy issues.
Her career began as a California-based political consultant in the early 1980’s. After several years of campaign management she created her first firm, Laurie Glenn and Associates, and was one of the first women in the nation to serve as a campaign strategist that planned and managed local and statewide campaigns for public office. The Glenn Group provided a complete range of communications products including strategic planning, issue campaigns, media relations and training, marketing, video production, crisis communications management, and event planning services. The firm specialized in affordable housing, economic development, school reform, health care, the homeless, AIDS-related issues, campaign finance reform, regionalism, the environment, and other public policy issues related to social and community development.
Through The Glenn Group, Glenn was able to be a part of positive change by working with a diverse group of talented and committed people who care about their communities. The Glenn Group’s clients included financial institutions, corporations and government agencies as well as civic, community, and religious groups, foundations, social service agencies, and think tanks.
Carolyn GriskoCarolyn Grisko is president of communications firm Carolyn Grisko & Associates Inc., which she founded in 1995. Since that time, CG&A has been consistently recognized in local and national awards for its creativity, innovation and success. The Holmes Report of PR Agencies describes her firm as “a boutique business that delivers impact all out of proportion to its size”.
Carolyn worked for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley for five years, beginning in 1990. She served as deputy press secretary and later ran a loaned executive program that leveraged expertise from the private sector. Carolyn was Mayor Daley’s campaign manager in his 1995
re-election bid.
Before entering government, Carolyn was a familiar voice on WBEZ-FM, Chicago’s public radio station. She worked there for 10 years as an award-winning political reporter, news director, and host of a weekday news program. Carolyn also worked at WLS-AM and WGN-TV and was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio.
Carolyn serves on the Chicago Committee of Human Rights Watch, the Leadership Greater Chicago Foundation board, and the Mercy Home for Boys and Girls Leader Council.
Ray HananiaRay Hanania was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New America Media in 2007 and is a three-time Lisagor Award winner. He is a syndicated columnist, standup comedian and host of Radio Chicagoland, broadcast on WCEV 1450 AM Radio Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 to 6 PM (www.RadioChicagoland.com). He is also the publisher of the National Arab American Times Newspaper, distributed to 600 Arab American grocery stores in the 48 continental states. His web page is www.hanania.com.
Dawn Hancock
As creative director and owner of Firebelly, Dawn cultivates the studio’s design culture and inspires the best work with vision, compassion and an infallible gut instinct.
It’s that gut feeling—the fire in the belly—that motivates Dawn to take risks and challenge the status quo. And it’s ultimately what caused her to renounce the safety net of corporate America and do her own thing.
From fledgling nonprofits and hungry startups to major corporations looking for complete brand overhauls, clients of every size and industry trust Dawn’s independence, ingenuity and proven approach to authentic, broad scope branding.
Under Dawn’s guidance, the studio has won awards in nearly every American design journal and was made part of The Newberry Library’s permanent collection and the Society of Typographic Arts’ Chicago Design Archive.
But Dawn doesn’t dwell on awards and achievements: she trusts the work to stand on its own and believes success comes from listening to clients not listing them.
When she’s not designing for world change, Dawn mentors the next generation of maverick problem solvers through job shadowing, studio tours, portfolio reviews and her latest venture Camp Firebelly. She also spends time on the lecture circuit, speaking at design schools and conferences as far away as Doha, Qatar and teaching workshops on sustainable design.
In addition to inspiring young designers, her other endeavors include: the annual Firebelly Design + Marketing Grant, the Firebelly Foundation, and its first nonprofit program Reason to Give.
Betsy HarmonBetsy Harman is the founder and principal of Harman Interactive, LLC., a consulting practice dedicated to working with non-profit organizations and associations to help them increase individual giving revenue and build relationships with donors and prospects by using e-mail and the Internet in concert with traditional fundraising and marketing techniques. She helps organizations develop and implement strategies utilizing all their marketing and development tools effectively to meet desired outcomes.
Betsy Harman has worked in development for nearly 20 years. Prior to starting her consulting practice, Betsy worked as Director of Development at Chicago Public Radio from 1995-2001. Under her leadership, the station experienced significant growth, won awards for outstanding membership and major gifts fundraising, and was a pioneer in online fundraising initiatives. Betsy’s development career has also included positions at KUOW in Seattle, Washington, Variety Club Children’s Charities, and The Muscular Dystrophy Association.
As a consultant, Betsy has worked with a variety of large and small nonprofit organizations including The ALS Association, Ronald McDonald House Charities, National Public Radio, The Arts and Business Council of Chicago, WWOZ radio in New Orleans, KPLU radio in Tacoma, Washington, WYCC-TV20 in Chicago, The Inner City Muslim Action Network in Chicago and Dominican University in River Forest.
Betsy is one of less than 50 individuals in the world to be certified as an ePhilanthropy Master Trainer by the ePhilanthropy Foundation. She presents regularly on topics related to ePhilanthropy. She has presented recently for The Arts and Business Council of Chicago, The Association of Fundraising Professionals Chicago Chapter, The National Federation of Community Broadcasters, Young Nonprofit Professionals, NTEN – Nonprofit Technology Network, and the Chicago Area Direct Marketing Association’s Direct From the Heart Nonprofit seminar.
Michael HoffmanMichael Hoffman, CEO, is an experienced entrepreneur and marketing executive focused on the needs of nonprofit organizations. Hoffman developed internet companies internationally as a Managing Director of a venture capital investment group. In 2001, he founded a web development company that continues to build advanced web applications for nonprofits. Hoffman is the former Institutional Grants Director for the New Israel Fund, where he raised $10 million annually. He is a frequent speaker on internet marketing and media strategy for nonprofits.
Barbara K. IversonBarbara K. Iverson, Journalism faculty at Columbia College Chicago, teaches online publishing and production. Iverson, a blogger since 1999, writes about blogging, citizen journalism, digital technology, and online media in Chicago, and around the world. A “late life” journalist, Barbara Iverson taught interactive multimedia design and production, before moving to journalism in 1999. Iverson puts theory into practice these days as site administrator, publisher and editor of the community/citizen journalism website, Chicagotalks.org, which she co-founded with Suzanne McBride.
Iverson is the organizer of Chicago Blogger Meetups, a blogging consultant, a technology reporter for Poynter’s E-Media Tidbits, VP for Technology for Association of Women Journalists(AWJ), a mmeber of Media Bloggers Association (MBA,) and the Online News Association (ONA.)
Barbara is currently writing about the evolution of business models for online news sites and exploring geo-tagging and locative tools for mobile devices. She is actively involved in looking at the future of the news business as a speaker and organizer of a series of townhall meetings about journalism’s future, held in Chicago.
“On one level, a blog or content management system is nothing but a database with a pretty face. What’s fascinating is that our standards for what is pretty, change with our technology and the tools we use to connect with each other.”
Mark JacobMark Jacob is currently the Chicago Tribune’s first deputy metro editor since June of last year. Pr He has also worked as a foreign/national news editor since December 2002. Before that, assistant news editor with frequent duties as Page 1 editor. Edited special section on first anniversary of Sept. 11 attacks. Winner of the Tribune’s Johnrae Earl editing award.
He has also worked with the Chicago Sun-Times as the Sunday editor (in charge of all aspects of managing the Sunday paper), executive news editor (Page 1 designer and ranking editor in the newsroom at night), copy editor. Edited Sun-Times’ 50th anniversary special section. Other newspapers include: Arkansas Gazette – Sports news editor (designing sports section), news copy editor, Arkansas Democrat – News copy editor, Pine Bluff (Arkansas) Commercial – Sportswriter. Other jobs include: Baseball umpire, shipping clerk, International House of Pancakes dishwasher, copy editor for Northwestern University Press.
Phil KadnerPhil Kadner is an award winning page 2 news columnist and associate editor for the SouthtownStar, which covers the South Side of Chicago and surrounding south suburban metropolitan area.
Kadner began writing his column, which appears five times a week, in 1985. He has twice won the statewide Associated Press Editors Association award for column writing and has received eight first place awards for column writing and public service from the Chicago Headline Club, the largest professional chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists in the nation.
In 2002, Kadner was named a recipient of the Studs Terkel Award by the Community Media Workshop at Columbia College in recognition of his “long-standing excellence in reporting.”
Kadner has also been honored by the Illinois Press Association with its highest honor, the James C. Craven Freedom of the Press Award, “for his commitment to the principles of a free and open press.” In 2003, Kadner received an Ethics in Journalism Award from the Chicago Headline Club.
As vice president for freedom of information for the Headline Club, Kadner worked closely with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to create a new public access counselor¹s office. For the first time in the history of Illinois an assistant attorney general is assigned specifically to investigate citizen allegations of government violations of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act and Illinois Open Meetings Act. The access counselor is also assigned to lead free public workshops about these laws.
Kadner is the only Chicago newspaper reporter to receive the Illinois PTA¹s highest award, an honorary lifetime membership, for his columns on public education funding. He was also named a “Hero of Public Education,” by the Illinois Education Association, which cited him for “exceptional leadership, perseverance, dedication and courage.”
Kadner has also won a Life Safety Award from the Illinois Firefighters Alliance for a series of columns that resulted in a state law requiring fire sprinklers in all new or remodeled public school buildings. A series of columns by Kadner on the theft of $1 million from the Dixmoor Park District resulted in prison sentences for two former park district presidents, a park district police chief and the dissolution of the district.
In 2007, a series of columns about predatory tow truck firms operating in Chicago resulted in the creation of the “Towing Safety Law” to protect motorists at accident scenes. Kadner has also received column writing awards from the Illinois Press Association, Suburban Newspaper Association and now defunct United Press International (UPI). In 2004 he was inducted into the hall of fame for the Northern Star, the student newspaper at Northern Illinois University.
Before becoming a full-time columnist, Kadner was editorial page editor of the Daily Southtown from 1983 to 1985 and Chicago edition editor from 1978 to 1983. Kadner graduated in 1974 with a bachelor of science degree in journalism from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL. He and his wife, Jeannie, live in Orland Park, IL.
Beth KanterBeth is the author of Beth’s Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media, one of the longest running and most popular blogs for nonprofits. A frequent contributor to many nonprofit technology web sites and magazines and in-demand speaker and trainer, she has trained nonprofits in social media techniques around the world. In 2009, she was named by Fast Company Magazine as one of the most influential women in technology and one of Business Week’s “Voices of Innovation for Social Media.” In March, 2009, she will serve as the 2009 Scholar in Residence for Social Media and Nonprofits for the Packard Foundation. Find out why folks at last year’s Making Media Connections said, “Beth is probably the best presenter I’ve ever had at any conference I’ve attended” and “Get Beth back!”
Kelly KleimanKelly Kleiman is a freelance writer on the arts, feminism, travel and social justice. Her reportage and essays appear in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and the Christian Science Monitor, among other dailies; in magazines including In These Times and Dance; in the alternative press; and on Chicago Public Radio, where she’s one of the “Dueling Critics.” She is also editor and publisher of The Nonprofiteer, a blog about charity, philanthropy and nonprofit management: www.nonprofiteer.net. In addition she serves as principal of NFP Consulting, which provides strategic planning and fundraising advice to charities of all kinds. She holds undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Chicago.
Emily LonigroEmily Lonigro is the owner of LimeRed Studio, a creative firm that specializes in concepting and producing marketing and branding creative for community- and environmentally-focused organizations and businesses. She has both in-house and agency experience orchestrating on- and off-line design strategy and execution for multinational corporations, boutique businesses, prestige consumer brands, and e-commerce websites. Her body of work has successfully engaged all audiences from the environmentally conscious to the teen and young adult consumer to the affluent to the masses. In her spare time Emily actively supports her nonprofits by volunteering and doing pro bono work for worthy causes. She is as comfortable planting trees as she is presenting to a board of directors. Also active within her industry, Emily has worked with Community Media Workshop since 2004 as the lead designer and also as an all-around sounding board and consultant for marketing and brand strategy questions.
Tony MartinezJose “Tony” Martinez, who has been executive producer of the 5 and 10 p.m. newscasts at Telemundo Chicago WSNS, has been promoted to news director of the TelemundoSpanish-language station. Martinez replaces Esteban Creste who left Chicago in July to serve as news director for Telemundo’s West Coast flagship KVEA-Channel 52 in Los Angeles. Martinez hails from Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.
His professional career in TV news began in the early 1990’s as an on-air reporter/producer for Telemundo in Dallas. Later Martinez went on to serve as executive producer of KMEX-TV news in Los Angeles – the #1 Spanish TV market; followed by positions as executive producer for the Tournament of Roses Parade National Broadcast, Telefutura TelevisionNetwork, and KUVS-TV News in Sacramento. He came to Telemundo Chicago in January 2007 where he has served as executive producer of the station’s 10PM new En Contexto. Among Martinez’ career highlights include executive producer of international coverage of the passing of Pope John Paul II; and recipient of countless awards including a Peabody for a 19-part series about the Latino Community in the USA, the “Governor’s Award” / Los Angeles Emmy, and the Edward R. Murrow regional award for “overall excellence – executive producer.”
Arif MamdaniArif Mamdani became PTP’s Executive Director on February 1, 2009. Arif brings exceptional expertise, commitment, and passion to this position. For over a decade he has worked with community organizing groups to help them gain the skills and vision to use technology more effectively to advance their goals.
Arif joined the PTP staff in 2003 as our Capacity Building Program Director at a time when PTP was known primarily as a re-granting organization. His thoughtful program development combined with his pedagogical skills helped guide our transition to an organization focusing on training and technical assistance.
Under Arif’s leadership PTP has developed our signature training programs — the Community Organizing and Technology Institue COaTI, and TechCamp (including one held solely in Spanish) – as well as individual trainings designed to significantly deepen skills in areas like databases and voter data integration. Arif is a well liked and respected facilitator who led more than sixty training events in the last five years.
Prior to joining the PTP staff, Arif worked as a Circuit Rider at the Low Income Networking and Communications (LINC) Project at the Welfare Law Center. At LINC, Arif worked with welfare rights organizers to identify and implement technology to support and enhance their organizing campaigns.
Justin MasaJustin’s time is split among NetSquared.org (where he is the Program and Technical Coordinator), MoveSmart.org (where he is the executive director), and as consultant with Navigators Guild (website coming soon). MoveSmart.org, which he co-founded, is a start-up organization dedicated to fostering vibrant and diverse neighborhoods by empowering housing seekers through technology to move to opportunity. Justin is a member of the National Advisory Board of NeighborScapes, the Reader’s Bureau of the Chicago Reporter, and the Program Committee of the Community Media Workshop. He is also a co-covener of Chicago Net Tuesdays and helps organize Illinois Data Exchange Affiliates.
Previously, Justin was the Fair Housing Testing and Outreach Coordinator for the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where he has supervised the testing program, handled intake and investigation, and conducted fair housing trainings for 3.5 years. At CLCCRUL, his work focused on the intersection of fair housing and technology, and he the led the investigation into craigslist’s publication of discriminatory advertisements. He just concluded serving a two terms as Vice President and a partial term as an at-large director of the Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance. Justin holds a BA in Political Science, with a minor in Womens’ Studies, from Loyola University of Chicago and a MA in Teaching from National Louis University. Born and raised in New Orleans, Justin now lives in Chicago’s South Loop with his wife Abbie and dog beast Reggie.
Gordon MayerGordon Mayer is Vice President/Senior Trainer for the Community Media Workshop. He has worked as a writer and reporter, communications consultant and director and has managed nonprofit agencies’ programs. Since starting at Community Media Workshop in 2005, Gordon has increased custom workshop collaborations and helped broaden the Workshop’s scope from the Chicago area to a more regional focus. His training and coaching of nonprofits on communications-related issues have produced headlines on NBC Nightly News and in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today as well as coverage on-line and in trade papers and local and regional media.
Tom McNameeTom McNamee, a life-long Chicagoan who came to the Chicago Sun-Times as an intern in 1982, has been Editorial Page Editor since February, 2008. Prior to that, he was a co-creator and editor of the Sun-Times’ now-defunct Sunday Controversy section, and he served for several years as the paper’s Sunday Editor. For three years, McNamee also wrote a weekly column called “The Chicago Way.”
McNamee is co-author, along with Sun-Times Editor Don Hayner, of three books with Chicago themes. They are “Streetwise Chicago,” which tells the stories behind the city’s street names; “The Stadium,” a history of the old Chicago Stadium; and “The Metro Chicago Almanac.” He and Hayner hosted a Saturday morning talk show on WLS radio for five years.
McNamee was editor of North Shore magazine for several years, and has been an adjunct professor of journalism at Loyola University.
In 2008, in recognition of his years of work as a reporter covering Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods, he was honored with the prestigious Studs Terkel Award by the Community Media Workshop. The Sun-Times Editorial Board, under his direction, was honored in April with a Peter Lisagor Award from the Chicago Headline Club for “Best Editorials.”
Carlos MendezA 2003 graduate of Columbia College Chicago, Carlos began his radio career in 2001 working for the stations of HBC(now univision Radio) as a remote technician and eventually moved to Big City Radio’s WXXY/WYXX Viva 103.1FM in the same capacity. During this time he also produced and hosted radio on the Columbia College radio station WCRX while honing his skills. In 2003 he made his way to the TV field at WGBO-TV 66, an affiliate of Univision where he was chief sports producer for all local sports segments within newscasts including covering the historic 2005 World Series in Chicago.
During this period he also followed his passion of radio, volunteering and hosting at comnmunity radio stations WHPK and WIIT in Chicago while also founding in 2004 a now defunct online radio station focused on an urban tropical format which would soon be followed by commerical radio in Chicago. In 2005 and into 2006 Carlos would begin two new chapters marking a return to radio working at Clearchannel radio producing for their “Total Traffic” department in addition to promotions and on air duties for WKSC 103.5 Kiss FM. The second chapter brought him
to the Latino based community youth driven inititiative of the National Museum of Mexican Art known as 90.5FM WRTE Radio Arte where he currently works as programming director of its main FM and HD2 signals amongst other duties in addition to doing freelance work.
Toure MuhammadToure Muhammad is the chief creative strategist for Bean Soup Society, a marketing, public relations and entertainment company. For two and a half years, he served as the Communications Director and Press Secretary for Congressman Bobby L. Rush. Eager to share, he has conducted trainings and sat on panels with and for The SPIN Project, Community Media Workshop and the Black Public Relations Society. A graduate of Morehouse College, he is an activist, communicator, and comedy writer. Muhammad started his career as a journalist for The Final Call newspaper and since then, has ran national communication campaigns-including media outreach, website development, newsletter production for various organizations, causes, and individuals including organized labor, elected-officials (including President Barack Obama when he was a State Senator), religious and civil rights leaders, nonprofit organizations, and entertainers. He has landed articles in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the International Herald-Tribune, Dateline, Nightline, CNN, and many TV, radio and print media outlets. Muhammad is the creator of Bean Soup Times, a satire and entertainment news multi-media outlet and has produced live stand up and sketch comedy shows. He is a former board member of the Community Media Workshop. He’s also the publisher of the Chronology of Nation of Islam History. He’s been heard on Tavis Smiley’s radio show on NPR, on Chicago’s WBEZ (Chicago public radio) and for two years appeared weekly on Black Chicago’s historic WVON radio station. He’s also been featured in the Chicago Reader, Upscale magazine, rolling out newspaper, and N’Digo.
Carlo Navarro
Carlo Navarro is Founder & CEO of IndieCollision; an online music platform where fans discover new music from Independent & Unsigned Artists by city and genre. IndieCollision also provides musicians with the technology to pinpoint their audience across the country.
Additionally, after 7 years of experience in the advertising industry, Carlo now lends time as a social media and advertising consultant. His clients range from small businesses, musicians and web publishers. His most recent project is Denizen Ads, an advertising network representing local web publishers in Chicago such as GapersBlock.com and TheLocalTourist.com.
Carlo previously held positions at OMD Chicago, Fox Interactive Media / IGN.com and Pandora Internet Radio. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Advertising at Ball State University.
He is an avid musician, photographer, self-proclaimed chef and overall technology junkie. Carlo currently resides in downtown Chicago with his beautiful wife Leasa, who is an Interior Design Consultant to residential and commercial clients.
Susan O’HalloranSusan O’Halloran works frequently with Community Media Workshop to present storytelling for nonprofit communicators. She is a writer, story artist, television host and keynote speaker. She is author of several books and diversity curriculums plus a producer of multi-cultural performances and films including Black, White and Brown: Tribes & Bridges at the Steppenwolf Theatre and More Alike Than Not: Stories of Three Americans – Catholic, Jewish and Muslim. . The Chicago Reader’s Critic Choice said of Sue’s storytelling “O’Halloran has mastered the Irish art of telling stories that are funny and heart-wrenching at the same time.”
Margo O’HaraMargo O’Hara is the communications director at the Active Transportation Alliance, a non-profit organization that advocates for better biking, walking and transit in the region. She develops and manages all of its communication and has enjoyed working to execute the organization’s rebranding transition from the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation to the Active Transportation Alliance. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and currently lives in Chicago. Margo’s enjoys following any of the Chicago Reader’s recommendations, riding her bike and getting geeked out on critiqueing news coverage.
Daniel X. O’NeilDaniel X. O’Neil is a co-founder of and People Person for EveryBlock, a neighborhood news site serving 11 cities. He is responsible for researching for data and working with local governments to uncover new data sets. He also writes poetry books, has a weblog, and maintains a number of other Web sites.
Kristine OstilKristine Ostil serves as a reporter for KBC-TV’s Asian American Network News on Mondays at 7:30 PM. She recently joined the station in September 2008. Previously, she worked as the editor in chief for Chicago Flame, University of Illinois at Chicago’s independent newspaper and interned with WBBM-TV CBS 2 (2006-2007). Ostil is also the 2006 Bernard Shaw Award recipient. She was born in the Philippines and moved to Chicago when she was five years old. Ostil graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and a minor in International Studies She enjoys volunteering for community organizations and spending time with her family.
Lori PattersonLori co-founded OJC Technologies in 1998. Since then, the staff size has grown from 5 to 16 people, and annual gross revenue has increased forty-fold.A Mechanical Engineering graduate from the University of Illinois, Lori brings the experience of working in corporate management to the entrepreneurial adventure of being the business mind behind a team of bright, bohemian artists and software engineers at OJC Technologies. She spent the first 10 years of her career in corporate America working for Andersen Consulting in Chicago for 4 years as a systems consultant before she was hired away by Caterpillar to head up a 20 person product development team and then moved on to join Solo Cup for 5 years as a Project Manager. Lori has managed projects as large as $4.5M and has been responsible for up to 75 staff at once. For the past 10 years Lori has been enmeshed in the entrepreneurial world, founding and growing three companies and providing business consulting to numerous startups and established organizations. She specializes in loosening the stuffy and grounding the chaotic and turning good ideas into extremely profitable, sustainable entities.
Alex PopeAlex Pope is Executive Development Officer, Operations, for Advocate Charitable Foundation, the fundraising arm of Advocate Health Care, the Chicago area’s largest health care provider. At Advocate, he is responsible for the strategic direction and management of centralized fundraising operations teams (board relations, administration, direct marketing, special events, corporate relations, prospect research, prospect management, information systems and donor relations/stewardship) supporting the 11 hospitals.
Alex has been a development officer for the 18 years, and been privileged to serve in leadership roles with a number of not-for-profit organizations, including the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the Earthwatch Institute, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Additionally, Alex serves as President-Elect for the Chicago Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and on the Board of Directors for the Community Media Workshop.
Alex is a graduate of Northern Illinois University. He resides in Naperville, Illinois, with his wife Carla, their son, Nicholas, and two daughters, Madison and Dylan.
Leslie RamykLeslie Ramyk is a consultant to philanthropy and the nonprofit sector. She was the founding director of CCBI, the Chicago Community Organizing Capacity Building Initiative, a funders collaborative designed to increase the ability of grassroots community organizing groups to impact public policy. Leslie currently serves as the executive director of the Ravenswood Health Care Foundation, supporting healthcare for the under-and uninsured on the north and northwest sides of Chicago. A graduate of Northwestern University, Leslie holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and American Literature and a Master’s in Liberal Studies, focused on the history of race and racism in the United States. On the weekends, she’s rehabbing a certified historic bungalow in West Rogers Park with her husband, and chasing after her twin toddlers.
Dawn ReissDawn Reiss is an independent mobile journalist and a former St. Petersburg Times and Dallas Morning News staff writer. She is known for her quirky, off-beat feature stories from eating crickets in Cambodia to dog sledding in Alaska. Her work has been published in more than 25 outlets including: Travel + Leisure, CNN.com, MS N.com, American Way, Chicago magazine and Chicago Tribune. At the St. Petersburg Times, Reiss recruited and managed 12 freelance reporters and decided the content for a bureau section. For The Sporting News, Reiss and two other reporters drove to every NFL city in the country for “The Ultimate NFL Road Trip.” Reiss is the president of the Chicago Headline Club, the largest Society of Professional Journalist chapter in the country. She co-founded the Society of Professional Journalists’ national freelance committee in 2004 and served as a founding board member of SPJ’s North Central Florida Chapter. Her feature repor ting
at the St. Petersburg Times won a Florida SPJ Award of Excellence in 2006.
Steve RhodesSteve Rhodes spent 20 years as a newspaper and magazine reporter before launching beachwoodreporter.com, a Chicago-centric news and culture review, three years ago. His experience includes small dailies in Florida and Iowa, a reporting residency at the Chicago Tribune, five years as a freelancer for Newsweek, USA Weekend magazine and other clients, and six years as the political and media writer for Chicago magazine. He was the managing editor of The Minnesota Daily at the University of Minnesota, where he earned his bachelor’s in journalism, and designed his own master’s degree in newspaper management at Northwestern University.
Bernadette Ryan Director of Development, Harborquest, Inc.Bernie is responsible for all of Harborquest’s fundraising, marketing, and public relations activities. Having worked in the corporate, consulting, and not-for-profit sectors, she has more than 25 years of experience in the fields of development, public relations, marketing, event planning, and customer service. She holds a B.A. in Communication from Saint Mary’s College (at Notre Dame, IN) and an M.S. in Corporate Public Relations from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
Barbara RozgonyiBarbara Rozgonyi is the founder of CoryWest Media, LLC, a virtual public relations and marketing consultancy that gets new media to work for you. As publisher of wiredPRworks.com, Barbara reports on ways to use marketing, social media and public relations to grow contributions, build brands, share stories and connect communities. A founding member of Social Media Club Chicago, Barbara loves to speak and share her passion for communicating effectively online with everyone, including her three techno-savvy teens.
Jean RusselJean Russell founded Nurture.biz in 2006. She has worked with grassroots co-ops and traditional corporations alike, helping them understand how communicating, fundraising, and publishing can be redesigned to embrace human values like warmth, clarity, and faith in others’ potential. Jean has facilitated social benefit conferences, cooperating with colleagues in fields ranging from technology (esp social media), to philanthropy, currencies, green/sustainable design, and community development.
She holds a twitter “grade” of over 99.9% and a “retweet rank” of 98%. As a social media contributor since 2000, Jean understands online community dynamics from a successful participant perspective.
She is the co-founder of inspired Legacies, a philanthropic education organization; Guildsmiths LLC; a social media collective for the enterprise; and Navigator’s Guild, a social media collaborative for social benefit organizations based in Chicago.
She also sits on the board for Catalytic Communities (nonprofit using technology sharing community solutions), advises the wagn.org project (wiki+database software), and co-organizes Chicago Net Tuesdays (nonprofit social media meetup).
Ernie SandersErnest “Ernie” Sanders functions as the New Communities Program Organizer for the Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation (GADC). Ernie is a business professional of nearly 30 years and has worked on a national cause to reduce Recidivism and promote Re-entry for ex-offenders. He is a community activist and a candidate for a Masters Degree in the areas of Workplace & Traffic Safety. Ernie recently attended Harvard University’s Divinity School and earned a certification in Faith Based Community and Economic Development.
Ernie has authored two Christian self-help books and has extensive knowledge in capacity building, strategic planning, leadership and team development, property management and communications. Ernie functions as inner-office technical advisor, and coordinates and directs the communications effort for the organization. His strengths are mostly demonstrated through interpersonal and project management skills.
Doug SchenkelbergDoug Schenkelberg is the Associate Director of Policy and Advocacy for Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights, a service-based human rights organization attending to the needs of the most vulnerable in our society. Founded in 1888, Heartland works with over 200,000 program participants a year on housing, health care, legal protection, and economic security issues. Doug coordinates the From Poverty to Opportunity Campaign: Realizing Human Rights in Illinois, a statewide, human rights campaign focused on ending poverty in Illinois. The campaign successfully advocated for the establishment of the Commission on the Elimination of Poverty in Illinois, the nation’s first permanent poverty commission tied to international human rights standards. Prior to joining Heartland Alliance, Doug worked on a variety of housing policy and development issues at Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing and and the Chicago Mutual Housing Network. Doug serves on the Advisory Committee of the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law’s Federal Poverty Report Card and the Steering Committee for The Developing Government Accountability Coalition. He received his bachelor’s degree from Grinnell College and his Masters in Urban Planning and Policy for the University of Illinois-Chicago.
Mary Schmich Mary Theresa Schmich was born in Savannah, Ga., the oldest of eight children, and spent her childhood in Georgia. She attended high school in Phoenix then earned a B.A. at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif.
After working in college admissions for three years and living for a year and a half in France, she attended journalism school at Stanford. She has worked at the Peninsula Times Tribune in Palo Alto, Calif., at the Orlando Sentinel and, since 1985, at the Chicago Tribune, where she has been a features writer, national correspondent and columnist.
She has been a Pultizer Prize finalist and winner of a Studs Terkel award, was named the Illinois Author of the Year by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English and has been a Nieman fellow at Harvard.
She also teaches yoga, writes the “Brenda Starr” comic strip and plays a decent barroom piano. She lives in Chicago.
Yesenia SoteloYesenia Sotelo has been breaking websites since 1997. She is the Manager of Interactive and New Media at Heartland Alliance and Executive Co-Chair of Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of Chicago. Yesenia gets geeked about helping nonprofits use the internet for fundraising, communications and advocacy. You can find her online at http://www.silverbell.org or send her a tweet @ silverbell.
Javier SalasJavier Salas is an EMMY winner and Marconi Awards Nominee host of the morning Radio and TV show “Un Nuevo Día” and is one of the most listened-to Spanish broadcasters in Chicago Illinois. He is a veteran of the Chicago radio airwaves having been on the air since 1992. Every morning he brings the newsmakers to the audience and keeps his listeners glued to the radio. His radio style is fresh, funny, upbeat, and innovative. It is down to earth but also irreverent and controversial.
Javier Salas provides the listeners with opinions and discussions about the important news of the day and showcases interviews, topics, debates, and correspondents from South and Central America, Mexico, and the US. He is considered one of the best communicators in the local Spanish Chicago market.
The Illinois Secretary of State, The Governor of Illinois and several Mexican Federations have awarded him for the work that he has accomplished in working with his community.
Javier Salas is very proud to be of Mexican origin. He was named Community Hero for lighting up the Chicago Skylight with the colors of the Mexican flag during the independence celebration. Recently he along with the Zacatecas Federation collected money to erect a billboard in support of Immigration Reform. He is an avid advocate of comprehensive immigration reform issues especially given the fact that he is an immigrant who lived through the maze of the current immigration laws culminating in his citizenship in 2003. His community considers him a voice for them.
Javier Salas is very interested in the Mexico-US politics that affects and benefits the immigrant communities. Javier Salas lives in Chicago with his wife, Roberta, and their children, Inez and Elijah.
Carrie SpitlerCarrie Spitler, Executive Director/ Publisher, Journal of Ordinary Thought Carrie Spitler joined NWA in September 2002. During her time at NWA, Spitler led the organization through a strategic planning process, increased its budget by 20%, and expanded its outreach initiatives. During her tenure, new workshops have been developed in Albany Park, Chicago Lawn, Humboldt Park, West Englewood, and with Project Hope and St. Leonard’s House. Spitler serves on the Steering Committee for the Southside Arts & Humanities Network. Prior to joining the NWA staff, Spitler was the Director of Development at Access Living from 1997-2002 where she increased government support, organized record-setting annual galas, and facilitated the creation of a major gift program and Access Living’s first endowment effort. Spitler holds a BS in Political Science from Central Michigan University.
Sara SpoonheimSara Spoonheim is the Deputy Director for Faith in Place in Chicago. Faith in Place gives religious people the tools to be good stewards of the earth. Since 1999, they have helped more than 500 faith communities — including Baha’i, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Unitarian, and Zoroastrian – to improve their environmental practices. As Deputy Director, she leads the organization’s fundraising efforts and oversees several programs. Sara also helped an Illinois mosque become the first solar mosque in the nation and led Interfaith Power & Light’s effort to launch an on-line energy store for congregations nationwide. Before joining Faith in Place in 2004, she developed nationally-acclaimed sustainable housing for low-income Montana families. In 2003, Sara was named one of the country’s most promising environmental leaders by the Environmental Leadership Program. She serves on the board of the Illinois Environmental Council. She has Masters degrees in theology and community development from North Park Theological Seminary (2004) and a B.A. in Economics from Connecticut College (1995).
Scarlett SwerdlowScarlett Swerdlow oversees activism and communications at the Illinois Arts Alliance, our state’s arts advocacy and service organization. Scarlett’s communications portfolio includes everything from media relations to marketing to Web 2.0 initiatives. Scarlett’s mission is to inform and mobilize IAA stakeholders and increase IAA’s public profile
Prior to 2008, when Scarlett joined the IAA team, she lived and worked in Washington, DC. From 2004 to 2006, Scarlett served as executive director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, one of the largest student-based advocacy organizations in the country. From 2006 up until her move to Chicago, Scarlett worked with a number of nonprofits as a consultant, assisting with the development of new issue campaigns. Scarlett studied history at the University of California at Berkeley and earned a B.A. after graduating with honors.
Silvana TabaresSilvana Tabares is managing editor for EXTRA newspaper, Chicago’s largest bilingual and community newspaper to serve Latinos. As managing editor, Tabares researches and edits stories, conducts interviews on community news and manages editorial staff and freelancers.
She joined EXTRA in January 2007 as an intern. She later worked as a freelancer before becoming managing editor in May 2008. Prior to EXTRA, Tabares worked at The Columbia Chronicle newspaper at her alma mater, Columbia College.
Her passion for journalism began when she enrolled in a two-year training program at WRTE Radioarte 90.5FM, a youth initiative of the National Museum of Mexican Art. She worked as a radio producer and led a weekly youth affairs audio magazine. She was also part of the mentorship program with Chicago Public Radio and produced a report for the Chicago Matters Series: Inside Housing. Along with a group of students from Radioarte, she also helped produced a documentary for a series on mental illness.
Tabares has received awards such as the 2007 College Broadcasters, Inc., for best audio documentary as well as a 2008 Communicator Award for best documentary and student-produced work. Tabares received her B.A. in broadcast journalism from Columbia College Chicago.
Patrice TuohyFounder and co-publisher of TrueQuest, received her degrees in english, history and theology from St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana. She is an award-winning editor and designer and author of a number of articles on Catholic life. Prior to forming TrueQuest Communications, she served as managing editor of U.S. Catholic magazine. She has served on the Catholic Press Association Board and works on various Catholic task forces.
Dawn Turner TriceDawn Turner Trice is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune and the moderator of its online forum, “Exploring Race,” at www.chicagotribune.com/race. Trice has been a regular commentator for WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight” show and has written commentary for National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” program. She is currently a regular contributor to NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” show. She is the author of two novels, Only Twice I’ve Wished for Heaven (Random House, 1997), which is being made into a movie, and An Eighth of August (Random House, 2000). The recipient of the 2008 Studs Terkel Media award, she has won two Illinois Arts Council awards, an American Library Association Alex award and a 2006 National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. She lives outside Chicago with her husband of nearly 20 years and their 14-year-old daughter.
Tracy Van SlykeTracy Van Slyke has dedicate her career as a journalist, communications professional and media producer to building a strong independent media infrastructure. She is currently the Program Director of The Media Consortium–a network of the nation’s leading, independent progressive media outlets. Through The Media Consortium she organizes effective partnerships and innovative projects that will change the terms of the American political and cultural debate as well as create a cooperative infrastructure that supports a sustainable future for independent media.
Van Slyke is the former publisher of In These Times magazine, a national, award-winning monthly magazine of progressive news, analysis and cultural reporting. In 2005 and 2006, she and Jessica Clark co-authored the landmark articles on strengthening the progressive media landscape including, “Making Connections: Why is the news so bad? What can progressives do to fix it?” and “Welcome to the Media Revolution: How today’s media makers are shaping tomorrow’s news.” Van Slyke and Clark’s book “Escaping the Echo Chamber: How Networked Progressive Media is Transforming Politics,” will be published in Fall 2009 (The New Press).
Van Slyke is on the Leadership Council for the Progressive Communicator’s Network–a network of professional strategic communications professionals working with grassroots and social justice organizations. She is also on the board for the National Training and Information Center–a national organization committed to supporting community organizing.
Prior to joining In These Times, she was the Communications Director for the National Training and Information Center, a national non-profit organization dedicated to strengthening grassroots organizations. In 2000, she worked in Knight Ridder’s Washington, D.C. bureau during the presidential campaign, covering national politics and events. She also covered city and county government for the Iowa City Gazette in Iowa City, IA in 1999 and 2000. She holds a double BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and Literature, Science and the Arts from the University of Iowa.
Elizabeth VassoloElizabeth Vassolo is a reporter for Chicago Tribune’s Triblocal.com. Triblocal.com is a Web site and weekly print section covering hyperlocal news that is both reporter written and citizen submitted. She also does a weekly appearance on CLTV to discuss Triblocal.com stories.
Annie WilliamsDirector of Business Development, Emma Email Marketing
Emma is the Web’s most stylish email marketing and communications company.Annie has lead Emma’s business development team for over 6 years, overseeing sales efforts targeting small businesses, midsize organizations and agencies around the U.S. and beyond. A summa cum laude graduate of Webster University Conservatory in St. Louis, she’s worked in business development for the last 12 years.
She was in two off-Broadway shows and once took a class called “Circus Skills” in which she learned trapeze, high-wire walking and the unicycle. Annie was Emma’s very first employee.
