Board of Directors
President, Anna May Trala
Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer
GTCR
Vice President, Fellicia Foster
Head of Human Resources–U.S. Personal & Business Banking
BMO Harris Bank
Vice President, Edward Taylor
Chief Customer Officer
Ferrara Candy Company
Treasurer, Sara Staniszewski
Executive Director - Commercial Banking
Chase
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Jennifer Adams
Assistant General Counsel and Assistant Secretary
USG CorporationYolanda Ambriz
Group Director – Human Resource Construction Products Segment
ITWAmiee Bayer-Thomas
Chief Operations Officer
ULTA BeautyFrannie Besztery
Chief of Staff
Morningstar, Inc.Vilma Chan
Heidi Davis
GenslerStacy Davis
Vice President, Assistant Controller
Blackbaud Inc.Denise Demaio
Kathryn Ditmars
General Counsel, Chief Human Resources Officer
CRESA GLOBAL INCMelissa Filipatos
Vice President – Channel Partnerships, Strategic Alliances, and Reseller Programs
W.W. Grainger, Inc.Brenda Fleissner
Partner
EYDanisha Hall
Director of North America Impact Strategy
McDonald’s State & Local Government Relations and Community & Public AffairsGlenda Henderson
Senior Director
VisaShilpa Hingwe
Barb Ingold
Tenisha Jackson
Global Head of Inclusive Experiences & Technology
AmazonMeghan Jankelow
Managing Director
ProtivitiJulie Jefson
Managing Director and Partner
Boston Consulting GroupAbigayil Joseph
Chief Executive Officer
Bolhous FoundationLisa Laws
Vice President, Chicago Operations & Market Growth
JacobsManoj Chandra Mahenthiran
Partner
PwCLisette Martinez
Vice President of Sales and Marketing
ComcastKim Mauller
Director of Marketing Insights-Innovation and Foresight
Molson Coors Beverage CompanyCynthia McCafferty
President & CEO
Hawthorne Strategy Group, IncChelsea McCarthy
Partner
Holland & KnightTracey Mendrek
Chief Financial Offier
Culloton + Bauer LuceDr. Charlotte Owens
Vice President, Head of R&D Center for Health Equity and Patient Affairs
TakedaB. Pagels-Minor
Founder
DVRGNT VenturesBridget Penney
Chief People Officer
Applied SystemsKaren Pittenger
President
Black OliveMichelle Redd-Newell
Principle and Owner
Building Blocks Learning AcademyTameca Reed
Senior Manager Director, Head of Client Portfolio Management
1834, a division of Old National BankJonathan Reinsdorf
CEO
FroogalPay, LLCKeith Sanders
Vice President, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. andTalent Engineering
CDWAudrina Sinclair
Anchor
CBS 2 WBBM-TV ChicagoLetitia Snyder
Vaccine Commercial Sector Lead
Pfizer Inc.Cathy Traczek
Neema Varghese
Managing Director
NV Consulting Services LLCJonathan Williams
Managing Director
West MonroeSharon Zackfia, CFA
Partner
William Blair -
Patti Barnett
Cindy Burrell
Gwendolyn Hatten Butler
Ann Cheeseman
Yolanda Daniel
Melissa Donaldson
Lisa Wilhelm Haag
Beth Hayden
Kimberly Hunter
Nicole Johnson-Scales
JoAnn Lilek
Aletha Noonan
Aurie Pennick
Julie Scott
Kathy Seegebrecht
Deborah Stevens
Karen Tulloch
Joycelyn Winnecke
Executive Team
The YWCA is grateful for the dedication of our entire staff and their commitment to improving our community. Our senior management staff members are:
Nicole Robinson
Chief Executive Officer
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Born and raised on Chicago’s South Side, Nicole R. Robinson has spent her career building bridges between communities, individuals, government and business leaders. Today Nicole serves as the Chief Executive Officer for YWCA Metropolitan Chicago, a human centered organization dedicated to empowering women and eliminating racism. As a fierce advocate for women, girls and justice, Nicole is inspired by the resilience of the families who turn to YWCA for family supports, economic opportunities and collective healing.
Prior to joining YWCA Metropolitan Chicago, Nicole was the Chief Partnership and Program Officer at the Greater Chicago Food Depository where she designed strategies to expand food access while tackling the root causes of poverty, unemployment, and racial inequity. Her food justice advocacy resulted in a $10MM investment in the emergency food system and she inspired the reimagination of Chicago’s entire food system as one the of the co-creators of Chicago’s first ever Food Equity Council. Before joining the social sector, Nicole began her career in corporate finance supporting various business units and would go on to lead the corporate foundation for Kraft Foods and Mondelez International.
Nicole resides in Bronzeville on Chicago’s South Side and is the founding leader of Chicago’s first ever South Side Giving Circle focused on reducing inequities faced by Black women and girls.
Emily Dreke
Chief Development and Brand Inspiration Officer
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As Chief Development and Brand Inspiration Officer, Emily Dreke ensures the people, partnerships, systems and stories across the YWCA enterprise are aligned in order to ensure the organization’s long-term resilience and ability to continue to transform the lives of women, children and families across the Chicago region.
Emily brings nearly 20 years of communications and fundraising experience, primarily focused on issues related to equity and women and girls in the areas of violence prevention, access to healthcare and economic opportunity.
Prior to joining the YWCA, she was the Vice President of Development at the Chicago Architecture Center (CAC), where she provided strategic oversight and execution of the development department. Prior to the CAC, she spent 10 years at Chicago Foundation for Women as the Chief Development Officer where she led fundraising, marketing, and communication functions.
Previously, Emily held roles at The University of Chicago as the assistant director of alumni relations and annual giving and as Deputy Finance Director for United States Senator Russ Feingold, helping raise over $10 million during the 2010 election. Emily received her BA with top honors in Political Science and French from University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Sharon McFeders
Chief People & Culture Officer
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Sharon brings over 20 years of expertise in a combination of business management, human capital management, strategy, process creation, and implementation to her role as Chief People & Culture Officer.
Sharon’s focus is on YWCA’s People. Her work is mission driven and is demonstrated by her passion to create environments where employees can thrive. Her superpower is creating space where human beings are respected, seen, valued, and heard. The application of this secret sauce has proven to foster a culture where employees can be their authentic selves and bring their best selves to work.
Prior to joining the YWCA in 2008, Sharon held positions at Center for Neighborhood Technology and Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation. Sharon received a Bachelor of Science degree in business management from National-Louis University.
Anjanette Brown
Chief Financial Officer
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As the Chief Financial Officer, Anjanette, as the chief financial strategist, manages and oversees all fiscal operations. She is a resourceful problem-solver, effective communicator, and collaborative manager that thrives on building and retaining highly productive work teams in a constantly changing strategic environment.
She brings expertise in scaling up accounting operations for forecasted growth, reacting quickly to unexpected changes in the environment, and managing organizations through crisis, generating operating efficiencies and productivity improvements in a complex organization of multiple business segments, creating a departmental culture of collaboration, continued professional development, and blameless problem-solving and integrating financial reporting and accounting of inter-related departments.
Before joining the YWCA Metro Chicago, Anjanette was the Chief Financial Officer at The Resurrection Project and Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago and before moving to Chicago in 2015, she was the Assistant Vice President of Accounting at Community Housing Partners in Virginia.
She earned a Bachelor of Science, Accounting from Virginia Tech, R.B. Pamplin College of Business and was awarded a certificate of completion for the Achieving Excellence Program, September 2017, John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Executive Education.
Paul Thompson
Chief Economic Empowerment Officer
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Paul has 30 years of business experience across workforce development, affordable housing, and entrepreneurship. Most recently he led a staffing firm matching opportunity youth with employers. Prior to that, Paul served as the Dean of Business and Professional Services at City Colleges of Chicago while leading apprenticeship programs to help move students into high potential careers. Personally, he owned a real estate development firm which developed 475 units of affordable housing. Lending his technical expertise Paul has served on the Illinois Workforce Innovation Board’s Apprenticeship Committee; the National Skills Coalition’s National Apprenticeship Panel, and the Pullman Tech Workshop board of directors where he is currently President.
Loren Simmons
Chief Empowerment Officer
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For more than 25 years, Loren Simmons has provided strategic and tactical program support to several non-profits. She joined YWCA Metropolitan Chicago in 1998, was appointed Chief Program Officer in 2007, and became Chief Empowerment Officer in 2009. Prior to joining the YWCA, Simmons held positions with Shorebank Neighborhood Institute, Bethel New Life, Inc., and the American Heart Association. Additionally, she has provided oversight to four rape crisis centers and a child sexual assault counseling center. Simmons is certified in sexual assault crisis intervention and Challenging Racism, a racial justice curriculum. She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Bradley University and holds a master’s degree in public health from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.
Loukisha Smart-Pennix
Chief Youth and Family Potential Officer
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Loukisha joined the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago in 2019 as the Education Director. In this role, she was responsible for the oversight of the agency's Early Childhood Education programs such as Head Start, Early Head Start-CCP, PreSchool for All Expansion and Prevention Initiative to ensure the educational readiness of children 3-5 years of age. After providing leadership that allowed for the growth of the Head Start program, the YWCA was awarded additional funding to begin services in Lake County, Illinois for an additional 278 children and families. After little over a year, Loukisha was promoted to Vice President over Operations and is now in the role to oversee or collaborate in the oversight of tactical systems including fiscal and grants management. In 2023, Loukisha was appointed to Chief of Youth and Family Potential, where she oversees all programs the YWCA operates for children, youth and families.
You may reach these staff members at 312.372.6600 or info@ywcachicago.org.
Ambassadors Council
The Ambassadors Council is a group of professionals who provide support to YWCA Metropolitan Chicago by raising awareness of the organization’s mission of eliminating racism and empowering women and by raising funds to support our critical programs and services across the region.
1. An Ambassador Council member is mission-connected and dedicated to fundraising. Excited to give their time and talent, this person brings with her/him diversity that is complementary to the other members of the Ambassador Council.
2. Ambassadors are distinguished as key influencers in the City of Chicago working to support the invaluable work of the YWCA, one of the most highly regarded and largest women’s organizations in the city.
3. Ambassadors have access to networking and meaningful relationship-building opportunities with other leaders within the YWCA, including the Board of Directors.
4. Ambassadors have an opportunity to affect change in the lives of women and girls by being a part of the inner circle of the YWCA movement.
5. Ambassadors have the unique opportunity to receive board training and skill building to enhance personal goals including serving on future community boards.
If you would like to become an Ambassador Council member, please contact Emily Dreke via email emily.dreke@ywcachicago.org or call 312-762-2743
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Kyra Lovely
Ulta Beauty -
Coniah Adebayo
MetaVjosa Banushi
Deloitte Tax LLPLauren Connelly
Vestor CapitalSamantha M. Contreras
Christine Cornellier
TargetKara Goodbrand
Legal & General Investment Management AmericaRiley Haemer
PepsiCoCiara Leahy
Wipfli LLPTondalaya Lloyd
Lloyd Law Firm LLCShana O’Conners
Disrupt The ImpossibleAllison Pink
UBSJenise Powell
Fresenius Medical CareTaylor Robinson
Ada Roman
Discover Financial Services -
Sandra Adam, CPA
Melissa Cooper
Linda Hodo
Laticia Holbert
Maureen Flood
Trak Patel
Kristen Prinz, JD
Sandra Talbott, JD
Nura Yanaki, JD
Leadership Academy
The women and men who have received the Outstanding Leader Awards over the past 50 years are considered our Leadership Academy. These individuals serve as role models for women aspiring to personal and professional success, as well as a commitment to racial justice. Since 1972, more than 350 women have been honored by the YWCA. In 2009, the YWCA added the Outstanding Mentor Award and opened the category to include qualified men who have demonstrated a commitment to the mentorship of women.
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Carol L. Adams
Duffie A. Adelson
Anne Aitchison
Luvvie Ajayi
Christine Albright
Elynne Chaplik Aleskow
Jean Allard
Barbara R. Allen
Jeanne Altendorf-McLennan
Joanne H. Alter
Zully Alvarado
Susan Anderson
Irene Antoniou
Phyllis L. Apelbaum
Miriam G. Apter
Mary Jo Arndt
Allison Arwady
Jacqueline T. Atkins
Adrienne C. Austin
Sandra Harden Austin
Lindsay Avner
E. Maurlea Babb
Gloria Jackson Bacon
Myoung Hwa Bae
Irene Bahr
Adrienne Y. Bailey
Lucretia Bailey
Wilma Bain
Barbara Barhamand
Carol Ross Barney
Willie Taplin Barrow
Maureen Beal
Louise Beem
Laurel G. Bellows
Marjorie Craig Benton
Carolyn W. Bergan
Sally Berger
Carol L. Bernick
Chana Bernstein
Joan B. Beugen
Maryka Horsting Bhattacharyya
Judy Biggert
Judith S. Block
Linda Boasmond
Mary Ann Bobosky
Arnita Young Boswell
Rosemary S. Bowen
Barbara Bowles
Barbara Bowman
Betty Bradshaw
Nelvia M. Brady
Barbara Brent
Kathy Brinker
Marca Bristo
Ricki Brock
Judith Brodhead
Gwendolyn Brooks
Abena Joan P. Brown
Rowine Hayes Brown
Geraldine Daniels Brownlee
Joanne Brundage
Shirley R. Brussell
Cheryl Blackwell Bryson
Barbara Burrell
Berlean Miller Burris
Margaret T. Burroughs
Margaret Butler
Susan Butler
Jean M. Butzen
Sherialyn Byrdsong
Pastora San Juan Cafferty
Lillian Calhoun
Denise Callarman
Georgiana Carlson
Dorothy Carpenter
Brenda Carroll
Lenora T. Cartright
Gloria Castillo
Susan Kmetty Catania
Dorothy Dean Cavenaugh
Adela M. Cepeda
Mary Ann Childers
Augusta Clarke
Deborah Leigh Clayton
Michelle L. Collins
Cheryl Conley
Jean Connell
Peggy Connolly
Tarrah Cooper
Adela Coronado-Greeley
Ellen Costello
Sylvia Cotton
Marylou Cowlishaw
Sharie Crain
Barbara Crane
Marylou Crane
Winifred Creamer
Dolores E. Cross
Patricia Crowley
Osie Davenport
Pamela Meyer Davis
Theresa Dear
Merri Dee
Deborah L. DeHaas
Yvonne V. Delk
Marian Alschuler Despres
Shuby Dewan
Toni Dewey
Mary Dillon
Louise Kelly Donovan
Alice Doyle
Connie Duckworth
Ruth Duckworth
Dick Durbin
Mary Ellen Durbin
Rachel Durchslag
Julia Dyer
Betsy Eben
Debra Ebetsch
Evelyn Echols
Emily Ellsworth
Gayle R. Spill Ephraim
Barbara Eychaner
Katherine T. Faber
Michelle M. Faith
Therese K. Fauerbach
Beverly Fawell
Blanche Hill Fawell
Renee Ferguson
Venita Fields
Jennifer Fischer
Jan Fitzsimmons
Nancy Fleming
Ida Mae Fletcher
Louise Florian
Sadie Flucas
Carol Fox
Cheryl Francis
Peggy Frank
Wynetta A. Frazier
Hilda Frontany
Rita Aliese Fry
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Barbara Gaines
Gayle Gamauf-McCoy
Ann Ida Gannon
Helene Gayle
Lisa Gengler
Susan Getzendanner
Dayle Gillett
Susan Gillette
Sue Ling Gin
Sherry B. Goodman
Ellen R. Gordon
Ilene S. Gordon
Jory Graham
Lois Graham
Hanna Holborn Gray
Myrtle Green
Audris Griffith
Edith R. Grimm
Sandra P. Guthman
Ann E. Grube
Joan Hall
Judith DeShong Hall
Patricia Hemingway Hall
Marget Hamilton
Kathy Hopinkah Hannan
Deborah Hanson
Antonia Harlan
Margaret Harrigan
Patricia Harris
Ronne Hartfield
Hermene Hartman
Rita Harvard
Lori Healey
Jane Heckman
Dorothy Irene Height
Natalie Heineman
Terri Hemmert
Marion Henley
Gwen Henry
Hadassah Hickman
Margaret Hillis
Eleanor Himmelfarb
Leslie Hindman
Deborah Hockman
Jane Hodgkinson
Elizabeth Hollander
Jean Holley
Michele J. Hooper
Joyce A. Hughes
Holly Humphrey
Suzanne T. Isaacs
Cheryle Robinson Jackson
Mary Jane Jacobs
Donna Lee Jansen
Valerie B. Jarrett
Nancy B. Jefferson
Lauren Jensen
Beth Johnson
Cheryl Johnson
Hazel Johnson
Janet Johnson
Gladys Styles Johnston
Colette Jolie
Vicky Markell Joseph
Kimberly Jung
Kathryn Karsh
Linda A. Kaste
Janice Kay
Mary Helen Kelly
Gertude Lempp Kerbis
Louise Año Nuevo Kerr
Zainab Khan
Sandra Killingsworth-Finley
Tina Kilmer
Charlotte Kim
Candace McCarthy King
Kristi L. Kirschner
Carole Kleiman
Mary Jane Klinger
Chilton Knudsen
Virginia Knuepfer
Mary Gonzalez Koenig
Kate H. Kohn
Bonnie Kos
Ardis Krainik
Dottie Krejci
Karen Kuchar
Dolores Kunda
Linda Kurzawa
M. Leanne Lachman
Jewel S. Lafontant-Mankarious
Theresa Langfield
Ximena N. Larkin
Linda Laurich
Bernice E. Lavin
Louise Q. Lawson
Mary Ann Leeper
Annette Leiber
Sherren Leigh
Mary Jo Lenert
Arlene Lennox
Sarah Levy
Elaine Libovicz
Lori E. Lightfoot
Connie Lindsey
Alyce Litz
Barbara J. Lockwood
Gerri Long
Ruth B. Love
Jorie Lueloff
Vivian Lund
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Rosemary Mack
Stephen Mack
Eva L. Maddox
Janet M. Madori
Edee Madsen
Mary Ann Madson
Charlotte Main
Jessica Malkin
Mary Ann Malloy
Alice Mansell
Carol Marin
Connie Markiewicz
Stephanie Pace Marshall
Harriett Martin
Joan Martin
Virginia Martinez
Martyl
Linda Mastandrea
Pat Mathis
Beatrice C. Mayer
Michele C. Mayes
Renetta McCann
Sally McCarthy
Geraldine McCullough
McDonald’s Corporation
Helen McGillicuddy
Charlotte McKinstry
Cheryl Mayberry McKissack
Mary Ann G. McMorrow
Patricia Mendoza
Harriet Meyer
Bernice J. Miller
Eva Jane Milligan
Mary Mitchell
Jean Moore
Natalie Moore
Jeannie Morris
Barbara Murphy
Charlotte Mushow
Jolene Mobley Nelson
Mary Nelson
Michael Nemeroff
Ann Nerad
Dawn Clark Netsch
Bernice L. Neugarten
Diana Nicholas
Carole R. Nolan
Dolores G. Norton, Ph.D.
Patricia Norton
Khem Nuth
Harriet O’Donnell
Nancy M. O’Fallon
Karen Oldfield
Lucille Ollendorf
Lufunmilayo (Funmi) Olopade
Sandra Forbes Olson
Chinwe Onyeagoro
Louise Ores
Ruth Page
Sara N. Paretsky
Angelina Pedroso
Audrey R. Peeples
Aurie A. Pennick
Sheila A. Penrose
Sylvia Perez
Sunday Perry
Eleanor Peterson
Mary Petrie
Lee Phillip
Alice Phillips
Maria W. Piers
Rose Mary Pint
Maria Pinto
Betsy Plank
Barbara Poole
Anne R. Pramaggiore
Jennifer N. Pritzker
Penny Pritzker
Barbara Gardner Proctor
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Barbara Radner
Maribeth Rahe
Noor Raheemullah Hasan
Anna Rappaport
Hedy M. Ratner
Barbara Richardson
Ginny Richardson
Julieanna L. Richardson
Laura Ricketts
Salima Rivera
Jolyn Robichaux
Judith Rogala
Angela Rose
Loretta Rosenmayer
Ruth M. Rothstein
Cynthia Rowley
Janet Davison Rowley
Ellen A. Rudnick
Darlene Ruscitti
Marie-Louise Saboungi
Jane Nicholl Sahlins
Miriam Santos
Terry Savage
Deborah M. Sawyer
Dora Schenk
Marianne Schiffer
Margo Schreiber
Iris R. Shannon
Vernice Sheerman
Kathryn Sieberman
Rita Simo
Marion Simon
Alpana Singh
Hasana Sisco
Rebecca Anne Sive
Barbara A. Sizemore
Joyce Sloane
Wilma J. Smelcer
Ann E. Smith
Bessie Smith
Diann DeWeese Smith
Gail T. Smith
Thelma J. Smith
Julie Smolyansky
Melody Spann Cooper
Jane Spirgel
Judith A. Sprieser
LaVonne St. Amand
Julia M. Stasch
Betty Jane Stearns
Salme Steinberg
Margaret Stender
Judy Stevenson
Beverly Stone
Kay Storm
Judy Stratman
Lauren F. Streicher, MD
Pamela Strobel
Ella D. Strubel
Ruth Sweetser
Diane Swonk
Maria Tallchief
Gretta Tameling
Amy Tauchman
Jackie Taylor
Christina M. Tchen
Genevieve Thiers
Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite
Lisa Thornton
Marion Thurnauer
Marcy Thurwachter
Barbara Toney
Margaret Ellen Traxler
Dawn Turner Trice
Nicole Truog
Sallie Tucker Allen
Howard Tullman
Glenette Tilly Turner
Patricia Vaci
Helen Valdez
Joyce Van Der Molen
Patricia Vary
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Norma E. Wagoner
Cindy L. Walker
Mary Eleanor Wall
Sharon Wall
Patricia Wallace-Christian
Darwin Walton
Pat Walton
Sona Wang
Padmasree Warrior
Mary V. Ward
Laura Washington
Linda Ficklin Weber
Augusta Webster
Gary Webster
Karen Strom Webster
Shirley Webster
Cynthia Weese
Lois Weisberg
Bernice Weissbourd
Betty Ross West
Helen Gum Westlake
Bonnie McNaughton Wheaton
Marion Marshall White
Kathy Wiard
Lois Wille
Barbara V. Williams
Jill Wine-Banks
Wilma Wise
Goldie B. Wolfe
Nancy Wolfe
Mary W. Wolkonsky
Bernanda Wong
Bonnie Wood
Nelmatilda Ritchie Woodard
Jessie A. Woods
Kathleen Wright
Nykia Wright
Jane Wu
Alberta I. Wuerfele
Addie Wyatt
Linda Yang
Nicole Yeary
Carol Yesko
Kathleen Yosko
Linda Yu
Claire B. Zeisler
Pamela Zekman
Nikki M. Zollar