President, Board of Directors
Kate Nardin, Chief Development Officer, Chicago Public Library Foundation
With more than 15 years of development and nonprofit experience, Kate leads the Chicago Public Library Foundation’s strategic planning, is a primary liaison to Library leadership, and manages the development team in advancing all activities related to Library Foundation donors. Prior to the Library Foundation, she built relationships with local and national funders to advance the missions of the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago, the Chicago History Museum, and the Museum of Science, Boston. She currently serves on the boards of the Smith College Business Network and Social Responsibility Chicago (President, 2023-Present). She earned her B.A. from Smith College and Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Treasurer
Tim Liston, Director, Corporate Responsibility Leader – US Central Region, EY
Growing up on Chicago’s Southwest Side, Tim Liston is a lifelong Chicagoan, who takes pride in this city and has worked most of his life to make a positive impact in any way he can.
With more than 14 years of development experience at historic institutions such as, WXRT, Old St. Pat’s, and Navy Pier – focused on donor relations, board development/management, and corporate partnerships – he knows the importance of building strong relationships and engagement.
Tim currently serves as the Director, Donor Engagement & Partnerships at Big Shoulders Fund, in which he works to support scholarships, academic programs, operational improvements, and leadership development for 72 schools serving 20,000 students in inner-city Chicago. This role allows him to serve the values-based schools that helped raise him, and he believes in this mission wholeheartedly.
Tim graduated as a Broadcast/Journalism major from Marquette University, and he lives in Humboldt Park with his wife and two daughters. He loves exploring and learning more about this great city, especially Chicago’s music and food scene. When he is not serving his mission professionally, you can usually find him volunteering elsewhere.
Secretary and Vice President of Membership
Julia Hynes, Senior Director, CCS Fundraising
Julia joined the Chicago Council on Global Affairs in 2015 and is the director of corporate relations. In this role, she develops relationships with company representatives and creates engaging outreach strategies for employee involvement. Prior to joining the Council, she worked in external relations at the Field Museum and Marillac St. Vincent Family Services and received her BA from Ohio University in psychology and history
Vice President of Marketing & Communications
Raissa Correa, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, CNA
Raissa Correa serves as the Corporate Social Responsibility Manager for CNA. In this role, she works closely with key internal and external stakeholders, nonprofit organizations, and CNA colleagues around the globe to create and deliver programs for charitable giving that support the firm’s corporate social responsibility strategies.
Before joining CNA in 2019, Raissa was the Event Marketing Specialist at Aon. While at Aon, Raissa planned and executed large-scale symposia and events for Commercial Risk. Prior to working at Aon, Raissa worked for the American Red Cross on the development team working with individual and corporate donors. In these roles, she supported fundraising and communication efforts while building relationships with community partners. Raissa also serves on the Central Division Board of Junior Achievement of Chicago. She received her B.A. in journalism, public relations and advertising from DePaul University.
Vice President of Programs
Crystal Coates, Founder, Legacy Consulting Group, LLC
Crystal Coats is the Founder of Legacy Consulting Group, LLC. A 20+ year professional, Crystal’s work focuses on creating sustainable social impact through strategy, training, and advising.
Crystal creates programs that are data-informed, culturally inclusive, and carry strategic value to the organizations and the communities they serve. Her work has spanned the arts, higher education, government, and financial sectors. She has experience leading staff teams and engaging with philanthropy, along with supporting executive leaders in designing and implementing strategy.
Crystal is an avid speaker, facilitator, and coach. She creates shared experiences that focus on using interactive engagement to develop skills like active listening, data-informed approaches, and decision making. She has presented at conferences such as the Points of Light Conference, and the Illinois Conference on Volunteer Administration (ICOVA), as well as facilitated workshops for organizations like the Experimental Sounds Studio and the Emergency Nurses Association.
Crystal graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with her bachelors degree in English and a minor in Black Studies. She received her Masters Degree from the University of Chicago’s Master of Arts in Humanities program. In 2016 she was a Fellow in the University of Chicago’s Civic Leadership Academy and holds a certificate in nonprofit board leadership.
Nominating Committee Chair
Jake Gross, Vice President, CRA Officer, Byline Bank
Jake has spent the majority of his professional career as an adult educator. In 2015, he transitioned into his current role, and focuses on ensuring that bank resources are directed into low- and moderate-income communities throughout the Chicago and Milwaukee areas. Jake’s professional passions lie in fair and affordable housing, community outreach, neighborhood building, and in providing equitable educational opportunities to all students regardless of socioeconomic status.
Director David Chudy, Senior Manager, Corporate Partnerships at Habitat for Humanity Chicago
As Senior Manager, Corporate Partnerships, David supervises a team of fundraisers who cultivate and steward relationships with corporate partners. Dave also leads strategic planning for the team and serves as the relationship manager for all of Habitat Chicago’s major corporate donors. He has been a judge for Exelon’s Employee Volunteer Awards for the last six years and is a member of Habitat Chicago’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. Dave lives in the Portage Park neighborhood with his wife and daughter.
Director Paul Feith, President, Paul Gregory Media
Paul Feith founded Paul Gregory Media (PGM) in 2006, a mission-driven digital marketing agency devoted to nonprofit organizations – especially those that represent underserved communities and marginalized populations. Serving mostly DuPage and Cook counties, their clients span the country, with a roster that includes Habitat for Humanity, United Way, American Hearing Research Foundation, Benedictine University, CASA, and Serve Illinois.
PGM became a Certified B-Corporation in 2000, putting people and the planet over profit – and supporting a collective vision of an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy. Paul has served on the Board of Directors for Habitat for Humanity of Illinois (2011-2022), the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce (NACC) (2011-2013) and Giving DuPage (2008-present) as both Board Vice President and Board President. He currently serves on several nonprofit and marketing committees, and is a member of Social Enterprise Alliance, the Association of Consultants to Nonprofits, The Rotary Club of Naperville, and the West Suburban Philanthropic Network (WSPN).
In addition to being recognized as the Philanthropic Business of the Year by WSPN, and Crain’s Chicago Business Notable Entrepreneurs, his company was featured as one of the top impact companies of 2023 in Real Leaders Magazine. To date, PGM has earned over 168 marketing and business impact awards.
In his free time, Paul collects cigars and enjoys playing the piano. He has two daughters in their mid-20s and resides in Aurora with his wife.
Director
Patricia Harris, Manager, Social Impact, Best Buy
Within her time at Best Buy Patricia has overseen implementation and execution of Best Buy’s signature programs, Best Buy Teen Tech Centers, and Geek Squad Academy. In her current role, she manages the Best Buy Foundation’s Community Grants Program and leads Community Disaster Response for her team. Her additional experiences include successful employee engagement strategies with dollars for doers’ programs, sponsorships, as well as developing digital literacy trainings. Patricia also has experience with public and private partnership partners with partners such as the White House ConnectHome initiative, an initiative to bring high-speed Internet to low-income households with school-aged children in HUD-assisted housing.
Patricia earned a bachelor’s degree in organizational development from DePaul University. She is a socially responsible individual committed to promoting philanthropic, community, and diversity initiatives, as well as advocating for human equality.
Director
Cynthia “CJ” Jones, Senior Manager, Corporate Citizenship, Abbott Laboratories
Cynthia (CJ) has spent 15-plus years in CSR/Social Impact roles. As Senior Manager, Corporate Citizenship, Abbott Laboratories, CJ, leads the Future Well Kids signature program, offered in six countries, which inspires children to avoid developing NCDs through healthy lifestyles curriculum mostly taught by employees. She also manages the company’s Employee Giving and Engagement programs, which includes matching gifts, annual employee giving campaign, and global volunteering, as well as STEM education.
CJ’s corporate social responsibility experience ranges from varied industries including food manufacturing (Kraft Foods/Mondelez International), industrial supply (Grainger), manufacturing (Tuthill Corporation), pharmaceutical (Astellas) and technology (ServiceNow). CJ has served as a Points of Light Faculty Member, Co-Chair of the Forefront Employee North Suburban Network, member of the International Association of Volunteer Efforts’ Global Corporate Volunteer Council’s Steering Committee, and Chicago Cares Corporate Council.
Director
Megan Lynch, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, Loaves & Fishes Community Services
Megan Lynch is a social impact leader with experience across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. She is the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships for Loaves & Fishes Community Services, one of the largest food pantries in Illinois serving DuPage, Kane, Kendall, and Will Counties. In this role, she collaborates with partners to advance food security and help people access the food and resources needed to thrive.
Prior to joining Loaves & Fishes, Megan managed the Charitable Fund for Duly Health and Care, where she oversaw grantmaking, community investments, and volunteerism initiatives in collaboration with Duly’s stakeholders and nonprofit partners. She previously served as Director of Corporate Relations for North Central College in Naperville and earlier managed corporate partner relationships for two global policy think tanks — The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City. She began her career at the U.S. Department of State at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.
Megan has served on multiple nonprofit boards and advisory committees, including with Loaves & Fishes Community Services, Impact DuPage, the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce (NACC), the Next Generation Initiative of DuPage Foundation, and the Young Leaders Fund of the Chicago Community Trust. She received the 2023 Grantmaker of the Year Award from the West Suburban Philanthropic Network and was selected as a 2021 NACC 4 Under 40 Award winner. Megan earned her MA in Politics from New York University and is a Certified Fund-Raising Executive (CFRE). She lives in the suburb of West Chicago with her husband and two children.
Director Phylicia Manley, Vice President and Program Officer in Global Philanthropy for JPMorgan Chase
Phylicia Manley’s desire to work in and with communities began early on. After serving nearly three years as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Community and Economic Development in rural Paraguay, South America, Phylicia transitioned back home to the U.S. to continue working in neighborhood revitalization and development in underserved spaces. She spent three years as Community Development Specialist for Global Communities, an international nonprofit delivering essential solutions to complex challenges from the intersection of humanitarian assistance, sustainable development, and financial inclusion. In 2019, she returned to her beloved Chicago and began working for JPMorgan Chase as an underwriter in the Commercial Bank supporting CDFIs through impact finance. Currently, she is a Vice President and Program Officer in Global Philanthropy leading the small business work in Chicago and guiding grant making in Indiana and Wisconsin. Phylicia has her BS in Public Relations and Business Administration from Illinois State University and a MA in Economics and Community Development & Planning from Western Illinois University.
Director Tovah McCord, Executive Director, Northern Illinois Communities Initiatives
Tovah McCord’s passion for helping vulnerable embers of her community has taken her career to unexpected places. In February 2021, McCord was named Executive Director of Northern Illinois Community Initiatives where she oversees NICI’s strategic planning, operations and grantmaking.
She has over 15 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, most recently as Foundation Director for the Chicago Blackhawks. During her tenure, Tovah served as the public face of the foundation and raised awareness of its engagement in the community, especially with diverse audiences. She launched six individually branded programs and pioneered innovative fundraising campaigns that included professional hockey players and Chicago’s top chefs.
Tovah has worked in a variety of industries including public education, health, professional sports, and energy. Each step has provided her with the opportunity to serve more people, from teaching in a classroom to developing and leading foundations that have a direct social impact. Tovah has also created numerous programs that focus on STEM, social emotional learning, and developing relationships between communities of color and first responders. Tovah’s passion is the creation of multi-sector partnerships that create a collective impact.
Tovah has previously volunteered with the Taproot Foundation and Night Ministry. When she’s not working, Tovah enjoys family time, biking, live music and taking piano lessons.
Director
Daniel Moss, CFRE – Vice President of Advancement, The Chicago Academy of Sciences/ Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum (CAS/PNNM)
Dan serves as the chief philanthropic strategist for CAS/PNNM, working closely with the President & CEO, Board of Trustees, and senior management team in the creation, articulation, and implementation of organizational goals and objectives, accountable for all contributed revenue. He leads the fundraising team in developing, cultivating, and nurturing deep and lasting relationships with key constituents, including individual and institutional donors, Board members, volunteers, and community leaders, in order to maximize philanthropic engagement for the future well-being of the organization.
Prior to joining the Nature Museum in 2020, Dan served as Senior Director of Development at Lyric Opera of Chicago, overseeing all corporate, foundation, and government relationships, and he was a 2019 participant in OPERA America’s Leadership Intensive. Dan received his bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance from Indiana University and his master’s degree in Violin Performance from DePaul University. He lives in Chicago and is an active member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Dan is a volunteer recipe tester for a major publishing house as well.
Director Morlie Patel, Director of Civic & Partner Engagement, United Way of Metro Chicago
As an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, Morlie was very involved in student-led political and community service organizations. Upon graduation, she went on to receive her master’s in accounting from U of M’s Ross School of Business, and then began her career in the corporate sector at PwC and then Deloitte. While the training and lessons from the business world proved to be invaluable, Morlie began to feel the itch to become more civically engaged again, but this time as a full-time career. To that end, she had the opportunity to meet Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, who offered her the position of Deputy Director of External Affairs with his office. In that role, Morlie oversaw the Cook County Performance Management Initiative the Sheriff’s Office, worked on reentry initiatives, and also worked on the Cook County Human Trafficking Initiative. After 7 years in the public sector, Morlie became Associate Director of Chinese Mutual Aid Association (CMAA), a nonprofit dedicated to supporting low-income immigrants and refugees with direct services. Founded by Chinese refugees, CMAA serves individuals from over 90 countries.
In her current role of Director of Civic & Partner Engagement, Morlie supervises the Volunteer Services Department which provides volunteer activities for corporations and individuals throughout the Metro Chicago region. Morlie also oversees the management of both of UWMC’s affinity groups, Women United, and Young Leaders United. Both groups consist of year-round corporate donors interested in further engagement with UWMC’s mission of strengthening neighborhoods in Metro Chicago. Morlie works with each group to provide engagement opportunities such as speaker events, panels, fundraisers, and volunteer activities. Morlie is also the Development Chair for Indo-American Center, a non-profit in Westridge dedicated to helping the low-income immigrant and refugee community there. She has also served on the boards of New Leaders Council, Asian American Action Fund, and Network of Indian Professionals.
Director and General Counsel
David Ritter, Partner, Barnes & Thornburg LLP
A direct communicator, David is valued by clients and colleagues alike for providing practical and on-point legal advice, clear answers to complex questions, and workable business solutions. With more than 30 years of experience representing public and private companies, as well as nonprofit entities, David has counseled clients in service and manufacturing industries, ranging from hospitality to healthcare to logistics, financial services and auto.
David defends employers faced with state or federal claims under a wide range of employment laws, including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, restrictive covenants, breach of contract and employment torts. David routinely represents clients before governmental agencies, including the National Labor Relations Board, the Department of Labor, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and similar state agencies. David has handled matters in most of the 50 United States.
David counsels and advises high-level executives on issues related to employment agreements, separation agreements and restrictive covenants. In addition, he handles affirmative action plans and employment issues related to corporate transactions. He counsels employers on day-to-day employment issues, as well as assists in employee training related to employment issues. David is experienced at resolving complicated legal issues and disputes in a timely and efficient manner.
With an undergraduate degree in human resources from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, David worked as an employee relations assistant at Exxon Mobil (f/k/a Mobil Oil Corporation) prior to his legal career. This experience provides David credibility with human resources and other in-house professionals because he understands, from hands-on experience, the challenges that managing a workforce presents.
In addition, David co-chairs the firm’s national Logistics and Transportation practice group. David is a regular contributor to presentations and publications, providing thought leadership on a wide range of employment law topics. He is a frequent writer and lecturer for the Illinois Manufacturers Association, the International Personnel Management Association-Human Resources, LexisNexis and many other organizations.
Director
Steven Shaw, Community Engagement Director State Government Affairs, Verizon
Steven Shaw has over 20 years of experience spanning the private, government and nonprofit sectors, particularly providing administration and advisory services. Steven is currently the Community Engagement Director for the Chicago and Milwaukee markets within the Public Policy & Government Affairs practice at Verizon. This Community Engagement role encompasses three primary areas: Education & Advocacy, Partnership (grantmaking), and Thought Leadership.
Prior to Verizon, Steven was the Interim Executive Director of the KLEO Center, a Southside community-based nonprofit organization. In his most recent government work, Steven served as the Deputy Chief of Staff to Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle; this role included external responsibilities such as representing the President at government forums and community events, and internally advising the Bureau of Economic Development and the Office of the Chief Information Officer in executing a billion-dollar project portfolio. Prior to working for the County, Steven was an Associate Principal at Civic Consulting Alliance, providing strategy and management advisory services for public sector clients; one of his Civic Consulting clients was Cook County and Steven’s consulting team created the County’s Economic Development strategy. Steven began his career as a Strategy & Operations Business Analyst at Deloitte Consulting.
Steven earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Morehouse College, and a master’s in public administration degree with a focus on nonprofit organizations and social enterprise from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Director Maggie Sugrue, Community Health Senior Program Manager at Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC)
Maggie oversees enterprise-wide community engagement operations at Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC). Prior to this role, Maggie served in several corporate social responsibility and community relations positions at HCSC and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from Marquette University and Master of Public Health degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Director
Monica Tijerina, Senior Director, Community Impact & Philanthropy, McDonald’s Corporation
Monica has been with McDonald’s since 2012. With over a decade of diverse professional experience in corporate, government and not-for-profit settings, Monica joined McDonald’s as a member of the Global Marketing Team. Currently, Monica serves as the Director of Global People Strategy overseeing McDonald’s Global Youth Opportunity program and Global Employee Volunteer Strategy. In this role, she is responsible for delivering on McDonald’s Scale for Good commitment to reduce barriers to employment for two million young people as well as harness the passion of employee volunteers to give back to McDonald’s communities.
Prior to joining McDonald’s, Monica worked in Corporate Responsibility and Reputation for Pfizer, Inc where she managed local and global philanthropic and volunteer initiatives. Monica started her career in Washington, DC working in Professional and Government Affairs with the American Association for Clinical Chemistry and moved to the public sector with the Washtenaw County Human Services Collaborative in Ann Arbor, MI before joining Pfizer.
Monica is a licensed foster care parent and has served on numerous not-for-profit boards. In 2016, she was recognized as a Young Hispanic Corporate Achiever by the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility. In 2011, Monica was named the United Way of Southeastern Connecticut Campaign Coordinator of the Year after helping to raise over $2 million for the organization.
Monica is a die-hard University of Michigan (U of M) fan and received both her master’s degree in public policy and her bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology from U of M.