Ariel A. Hampton
Legal & Governmental Affairs Manager, Illinois Environmental Council
Ariel (pronounced ah-re-ELLE) is the Legal & Governmental Affairs Manager for the Illinois Environmental Council. She is an attorney with a background in environmental science.
Carlos García León
Individual Giving Manager, Chicago Shakespeare Theater
cgarcialeon@chicagoshakes.com, LinkedIn
Carlos García León is a queer, non-binary, Latiné, Mexican-Statesian, and fundraiser. They were born in Atlixco, Puebla, Mexico, but currently reside in the stolen land of the Peoria, Potawatomi, Kickapoo, and Kaskaskia tribes, also known as Chicago, Illinois and work as the individual giving manager of Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Their work, both in the arts and through writing, is driven by a fight for cultural equity, decolonizing the arts, and social justice.
To find out more about his CCF articles, https://communitycentricfundraising.org/tag/carlos-garcia-leon/
Chris Koos
Mayor, Town of Normal
Chris Koos has served as the Mayor for the Town of Normal since 2003. His current term runs until 2025. He was first elected to the Normal Town Council in April 2001. Koos has the longest running term of any mayor in Normal’s history.
In addition to serving as Mayor for the Town, Koos currently serves as a member of the Advisory Board of Transportation for America, as vice chair for Passenger Rail with the US Conference of Mayors, vice president for the Illinois Municipal League, and was nominated to the Board of Directors for Amtrak.
During his time as the chief elected official for the Town of Normal, Koos has overseen the re-development of the Town’s central business district, including a multimodal transportation center and City Hall, the Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, the Hyatt Place Hotel, the Children’s Discovery Museum and other major multi-use construction.
As mayor, Koos has adopted the following policy priorities for the community:
Koos served as Chairman of the Town of Normal Historic Preservation Commission for ten years. During the restoration of the historic Normal Theater, he served as Chair of the Restoration Advisory Committee and on the Normal Theater Advisory Board.
During his tenure on the Town Council, Koos represented the Town on the Bloomington-Normal Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Committee, Economic Development Council and Illinois Municipal League. He is also very involved with the Bloomington-Normal Japanese Sister Cities Committee. The expertise of Koos in urban development and transportation were provided in testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee in 2014, and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on Transportation and Public Assets in 2016.
David Koehler
David Koehler was born and raised in South Dakota. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Yankton College, in Yankton, South Dakota in 1971. Three years later, he received a Masters of Divinity from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. From 1972 to 1978, was a staff member of the National Farm Worker Ministry (NFWM), working on behalf of migrant farm workers. Upon moving to Peoria in 1978, became a community organizer, and later, the program manager for Peoria Friendship House.
In 1985 was hired as the first Executive Director of PALM, the Peoria Area Labor Management Council, a not-for-profit organization founded to foster cooperation and participation between labor unions and management for both public and private sector groups. In 1992, also became the President for Labor Management Cooperative Health Programs, Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of the PALM. LMC Health Programs is a purchasing cooperative organization dedicated to improving the quality and value of health care for its members and the community.
From 1982 to 1988, served on the Peoria County Board as a Democrat from District 5, and from 1989 to 1997, served on the Peoria City Council (non-partisan) from District 3, serving as Mayor Pro Tem from 1993 to 94. He also served on many boards and commissions with subjects ranging from labor-management relations to health care. He was elected to the Illinois Senate in 2006 and promoted to Majority Caucus Whip in 2018 and Assistant Majority Leader in 2019. He is married with three daughters, two sons-in-law, and one daughter-in-law. He is also the happy grandfather of three granddaughters and one grandson.
Eduardo Salinas
PhD, Research Scientist, NORC at the University of Chicago
salinas-eduardo@norc.org, LinkedIn
Eduardo currently serves as Research Scientist at NORC’s Center on Equity Research. He received his doctorate in political science from the University of Illinois at Chicago, specializing in the social and political effects of racism and discrimination. He has published a variety of academic articles and research reports via avenues such as the Journal of Politics in Latin America, Community Development, and The Routledge Companion to Race and Ethnicity.
Erick Deshaun Dorris
Director of Community Organizing, Arts Alliance Illinois
dorris@artsalliance.org, LinkedIn
Erick is the Director of Community Organizing at Arts Alliance Illinois. He has worked in the arts and education sectors for over 20 years. He most recently served as President of the Joliet Public Schools District #86, passing a $99.5M referendum in April 2023. Dorris also served as the inaugural chairperson of the City of Joliet’s Arts Commission from 2019-2022, establishing the city’s first Local Arts Agency.
Dr. Eve L. Ewing
Dr. Eve L. Ewing is a Chicago-based sociologist of education and an award-winning author of four books, most recently Maya and the Robot (July 2021). She has written several projects for Marvel Comics, most notably the Ironheart series, and is currently at the helm of Black Panther.
John Stremsterfer
President and CEO, Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln
John has served as President & CEO of the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln since 2003. He currently serves as vice chair of the Alliance of Illinois Community Foundations. He was among the inaugural class of the Edgar Fellows, was an American Memorial Marshall Fellow and participated in Leadership Springfield. He holds a BA in Political Science from Illinois College and is a Springfield native.
Julia Fabris McBride
Chief Civic Leadership Development Office, Kansas Leadership Center
Julia Fabris McBride is Chief Civic Leadership Development Officer of the Kansas Leadership Center. She is also a certified coach, co-author of two books, When Everyone Leads (Bard Press, January 2023) and Teaching Leadership: Case-in-Point, Case Teaching, and Coaching, and author of Your Leadership Edge: Teacher Companion. At KLC, she oversees teacher and coach development and has created three professional programs for leadership developers, including an International Coach Federation (ICF)-approved Leadership Coach training program, and an Advanced Leadership Development Intensive that has drawn people to Wichita from four continents. Julia served as KLC’s interim president and CEO from August of 2022 until March of 2023.
Before joining KLC (and while wrapping up a fun and varied career as an actor in Chicago), Julia taught leadership and management at the University of Chicago, Columbia College Chicago, University of Massachusetts and the James P. Shannon Leadership Institute. She holds a certificate in leadership from the University of Chicago’s Graham School of General Studies and completed the Art and Practice of Leadership Development (taught by Marty Linsky, Ron Heifetz and Robert Kegan) at Harvard’s Kennedy School. She is certified to facilitate the Myers-Briggs (MBTI) and Immunity to Change processes, and has trained executives and high potentials at organizations such as Microsoft and United Way of America.
Julia has traveled as far afield as Melbourne, Australia, and Yangon, Mynamar, to teach and share the KLC ideas, first among them the principle that leadership is an activity, available to anyone, anytime, anywhere. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Case Western Reserve University and holds a diploma (signed by Sir John Geilgud) from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Julia lives with her husband, sculptor Bill McBride, and teenager Lake McBride in Matfield Green, Kansas, in the heart of the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie. She is cofounder of the Know Your Worth Women’s Leadership Conference and founding board president of the Pioneer Bluffs Foundation. Julia serves on the advisory committee for the Western Conservation Leadership Development Program and as secretary of the board of directors of the Adaptive Leadership Network. She splits her time between Wichita and Matfield Green.
Julio Rodriguez
Co-founder and Board President, Association of Latina/o/x/e Motivating Action (ALMA)
He is a native of Chicago, Puerto Rican and has a degree in Business from DePaul University. He works for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, as the Deputy Director of the Office of Employment and Training. In 1989, he Co-founded the Association of Latino, x, e Motiving Action (ALMA). He has received a number of awards and recognition for his work in the Latine and LGBTQ + communities as well as in work Development.
Leon T. Andrews, Jr.
President and CEO, Equal Measure
landrews@equalmeasure.org, LinkedIn
Leon T. Andrews, Jr. is the president and CEO of Equal Measure. He has more than 25 years of policy, management, and leadership experience. He guides Equal Measure’s vision, commitment to racial equity and intersectionality, and strategic planning. He also advises project teams and partners on their racial equity focus.
Tina Ramirez Moon
Senior Program Manager, Healing + Resilience, Healthy Communities Foundation
As the Senior Program Manager of Healing + Resilience at the Healthy Communities Foundation, Tina Ramirez Moon weaves practical insights from prior roles across the nonprofit sector and cultural organizing work and seeks to reimagine well-being for youth, families, and communities across Chicagoland. Tina received an M.A. from the University of Chicago’s Crown School of Social Work and a B.A. in literary studies and creative writing at Beloit College.
Ryan Spain
Representative, House of Representatives
repryanspain@gmail.com, bsteinacher@hrs.ilga.gov
Ryan Spain has served as State Representative of the 73rd District since January 2017.
A lifelong Peorian, Spain attended District 150 schools and is a Richwoods High School alumnus. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a double degree in political science and speech communication and Bronze Tablet Honors. Spain also holds an MBA from Bradley University.
In April 2007, Spain was elected to the City Council as the youngest at-large member in Peoria history, a seat he held until Fall of 2016. He is currently employed at OSF Healthcare System as the Vice President of Economic Development. Spain and his wife Ashley have two school-aged daughters.
Since serving in the Illinois House, Spain sponsored landmark legislation allowing volunteer work at Illinois State Parks and Trails as well as working closely on issues related to mental health, hospital and healthcare transformation. On a more local level, Spain has always enjoyed spearheading initiatives to bring jobs and economic growth to our region. In his professional life, as a healthcare manager, he has seen firsthand how government decisions are affecting the private sector and how lessons learned by the private sector can be applied to challenges in government. We all agree our State needs to take a new direction and Ryan Spain welcomes the opportunity to build a better Illinois.
Spain’s service to his community has not gone without recognition as he was honored as an inductee into 40 Leader Under Forty by InterBusiness Issues Magazine in 2007 and he was nominated and served as an Edgar Fellow in 2014.
Representative Spain has received high marks for his voting record from the Illinois Farm Bureau, Tooling & Manufacturing Association, and Illinois Health Care Association. He has been named a Friend of Agriculture by the Illinois Farm Bureau every time he has been eligible and was awarded the 2018 Leadership Award for Improving Telehealth Policy from the Illinois Telehealth Initiative.
Sharon Chung
State Representative, Illinois General Assembly
Sharon Chunghas been a resident of Bloomington for more than a decade where her two children attend district 87 schools. Sharon previously served as a County Board member for district 7 from 2018-2022. Sharon’s professional background is as a teacher and professional musician. She is a member of American Federation of Musicians Local 301. Representative Chung earned a Bachelor’s of Music from Illinois Wesleyan University and a Masters of Music from Northwestern University. Sharon is serving in her first term as Representative for Illinois’ new 91st House district.
Tameeka Christian
Program Officer, J.B. & M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation
tchristian@pritzkerfoundation.org, LinkedIn
Tameeka Christian works with the J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation working on The Pritzker Community Health Initiative. At the foundation, Tameeka leads the development of a multimillion-dollar portfolio focused on the intersection of health, housing and homelessness, as well as the criminal justice system. Under Tameeka’s guidance, the foundation has undertaken an ambitious goal to dramatically improve outcomes for individuals who are frequent utilizers of crisis systems.
Theodia Gillespie
President & CEO, County Urban League
Theodia B. Gillespie has been devoted to the Urban League’s mission for over three decades. She started her career with the Quad County Urban League in 1984 and has dedicated her adult life to advocating for disadvantaged individuals and youth. Being raised by parents who instilled in her the importance of hard work and education, she is committed to sharing these essential principles with others through her mentoring.
Theresa Mah
State Representative, Illinois General Assembly
theresa@theresamah.com, LinkedIn
Rep. Theresa Mah represents the 24th House District, composed of mostly-immigrant neighborhoods located in Chicago’s southwest side. She serves on the Speaker’s leadership team in the role of Majority Conference Chair. Her committees include the House Executive Committee, K-12 Appropriations, Consumer Protection and Health Care Licenses as vice-chair. She also serves as Co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus and Co-Chair of the Asian American Legislative Caucus.
Tony Martinez
President and CEO, Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation
tmartinez@oprfcf.org
Antonio Martinez, Jr is president and CEO of the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation as of
August 2018.
Empowered by his 20-plus years of experience in community engagement, philanthropy and foundation
work, Tony designed a culture shift with board and staff to center a racial justice and equity lens in every
facet of the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation.
Prior to the Community Foundation, Tony held noteworthy positions with Chicago Community Trust, ABA and Chicago Cubs.