Category: past board of directors

Senior Corporate Relations Specialist, Partnerships & Events, Exelon

Passionate about corporate responsibility, Sean strengthens the Exelon community by acting as a change agent and understands that successful CSR programming must align with business goals and purpose.  He is a liaison between Exelon, its employees, and nonprofit partners and drives employee engagement by managing major volunteer initiatives across Exelon and its operating companies.  He currently sits on the board of two of Exelon’s Employee Resource Groups, the Developing Young Professionals, promoting service and professional development opportunities; and the ECO Team, where he serves as Director of Events Planning.  He also serves on the Auxiliary Board at the Shedd Aquarium.  Prior to Exelon, Sean worked for two Chicago-based environmental nonprofits, Friends of the Chicago River and Openlands.  He earned a Master’s degree in Conservation from James Cook University and a Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from DePaul University.

Senior Director, Institutional Giving, John G. Shedd Aquarium 

Eric brings more than 12 years of experience in leading fundraising, advocacy, political and social movement campaigns on behalf of human rights and environmental causes. Joining Shedd Aquarium in 2018 as Senior Director of Institutional Giving, Eric leads strategic initiatives dedicated to advancing the organization’s mission to spark compassion, curiosity and conservation for the aquatic animal world through corporate partnerships, government and foundation relations and cause marketing efforts. Today, Eric serves as a national Board member for Victory Institute, as a co-chair for the Emerging Leaders Circle at Equality Illinois and is actively involved in statewide and local political campaigns and social justice initiatives.

Director, Community Relations, Morningstar

Kate works within the Corporate Communications team at Morningstar, Inc.  As Director of Community Relations, she manages the firm’s various partnerships with nonprofit organizations and acts as resource on volunteerism for Morningstar’s offices, internationally.  In the Chicago headquarters, she coordinates volunteer opportunities focusing on education and financial literacy. Kate joined Morningstar in 2011, after working as Director of Development at the Chicago Math and Science Academy.  Kate began her career as a Chicago Public School teacher.  She has a Bachelor’s degree in Education and a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Ohio University.  Kate enjoys spending time on Lake Michigan, with her husband, Ryan and two sons, Cameron and Oliver.

Public Affairs Manager, U.S. Cellular

Kristin works to advance the position of the company as a responsible corporate citizen by supporting core community relations initiatives nationwide. In this role, Kristin executes the company’s $1 million national partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the localized implementation with associates at 67 Clubs in 21 markets. She also supports leadership non-profit board appointments, large scale volunteerism, in-kind donations and the company’s associate matching program. Kristin provides creative support and strategic direction in developing communications to tout the company’s commitment to community via presentations, social media, uscellular.com and internal communications. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio she graduated from Loyola University of Chicago and now lives in Logan Square with her husband and rescue dog.

Philanthropy Director, Northwestern Medicine

Ann is Philanthropy Director for Northwestern Memorial Foundation of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where she has been for 17 years. Ann served as the Director of Development for the Block Museum of Art and the Medill School of Journalism, both at Northwestern University, and Alumni and Development Director for The John Marshall Law School. Ann earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois and graduate degree from Indiana University. She has served in leadership roles for and continues to be involved with the Apollo Chorus of Chicago and Fourth Presbyterian Church.

George Nelson has a background in marketing, communications, fundraising, business development and creative writing. He first became involved with the Corporate Responsibility Group in 2005 while an Associate Director of Corporate Relations at Northwestern University. He joined the board of CRG in 2009. George Nelson has worked with start-up companies, consulting on sales, communication and marketing positioning. Prior, he worked as a Proposal Manager with Anexsys (an e-Government solution provider, formerly a joint venture with JP Morgan Chase and U.S. Bank), and also in the business publishing field and printing and graphic arts sector, in business development and marketing roles. He earned his BA from Kenyon College in English Literature and a Masters of Science in Communication from Northwestern University (where he has served on the MSC steering committee). He is also involved with the Evanston Tennis Association, Chicago Dramatists Theatre and a soccer league.

Central Midwest Community Relations and Marketing Senior Manager, PwC

Amy leads the firm’s community initiatives in Chicago, Milwaukee, Peoria and Des Moines.  In this role, Amy works to build PwC’s community brand in the marketplace by managing the firm’s charitable contributions, board placement of partners and staff, event sponsorships, holiday giving, volunteerism, and local corporate responsibility efforts.  Prior to this role, Amy served as Community Investment Manager at United Way or Greater St. Louis and as Fundraising Manager at United Way of Metropolitan Chicago.  Amy earned her bachelor of social work from Arizona State University and master of social work, with a concentration in nonprofit management, from Washington University of St. Louis.  Amy is a native of Grand Haven, Michigan and resides with her husband in Frankfort, Illinois.

Senior Public Affairs Specialist, Health Care Service Corporation

Jeffrey is passionate about addressing the world’s most pressing social and environmental problems through collaboration between the corporate, government, and nonprofit sectors. In his current role as Senior Public Affairs Specialist for Health Care Service Corporation, he oversees company-wide volunteer engagement strategy and execution for 23,000 employees across five states. This includes supporting all corporate community involvement initiatives, including corporate gifts, volunteerism, environmental sustainability, sponsorships, reporting, and internal communications.

Jeffrey has contributed to a robust portfolio of social-environmental initiatives at the local, state, national, and international levels. He has managed over 100 community sustainability leadership projects while working at the City of Chicago Department of Environment; coordinated training events reaching 3,000 international participants; and managed a $4 million public sector grant portfolio that has leveraged $12 million in local community investment.

Outside of work, Jeffrey loves teaching yoga in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. He has travelled to more than 17 countries (most recently to Cuba) with little more than a backpack and his trusted copy of The Lonely Planet guide.

Libby Lai-Bun Chiu, Chief of Staff, Illinois Arts Council

Libby is the Chief of Staff at the Illinois Arts Council, where she also manages the Arts and Foreign Language program, and is advisor to the Education Leaders Institute, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts.  Libby is an adjunct professor at Goucher College where she teaches Arts Education and International Arts Policy.  Libby’s past service includes senior leadership positions at Urban Gateways Center for Arts Education, Harris Theater Chicago, The Boston Conservatory, Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities and Boston Public Schools.  In addition to the CR Group, she is active in community service at Asian American and Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy and is on the Board of Overseers of The Boston Conservatory.

Community Involvement Deloitte Services, LP

Brett Lavery currently works for Deloitte supporting the Community Involvement activities for the Midwest region. In this role, she serves as the liaison between Deloitte and the local nonprofit community identifying opportunities to leverage Deloitte practitioners’ intellectual capital in a manner that strengthens the community and business. She also assists in efforts to use community involvement as a tool to enhance workforce development, talent, teaming, recruitment and retention. Prior to this, Brett was aligned with Deloitte’s Human Capital Consulting practice where she worked with clients around learning and development as well as change management concerns.