Category: board of directors

President, Board of Directors
Brandon Davis – Vice President, Marketing & Communications, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce

Brandon serves as Vice President, Marketing & Communications, for the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. In this role, he is responsible for the oversight, strategy and direction of the Chamber’s brand, marketing and communications.

Prior to joining the Chamber, Brandon served as Corporate Spokesperson and Director of Public Relations & Corporate Social Responsibility for CNA and was responsible for leading and advancing CNA’s strategic external communications, public relations, crisis and issues communications, media relations, awards and recognition, social media and corporate social responsibility initiatives and activities across the organization. Before this, Brandon worked at Jasculca Terman and supported several clients, including the Chicago Community Trust, Urban Prep Academies, the Ford Foundation, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE) and Advocate Christ Medical Group on strategic communications, event management and public relations efforts.

Brandon earned a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations and Advertising from DePaul University.

Vice President, Treasurer
Anne Gross – Senior Director, Community Impact, KPMG, LLP.

 

Anne Gross is an experienced director with KPMG’s Citizenship team and currently leads her firm’s investments in lifelong learning with Junior Achievement, NAF and Enactus.  She has over 20 years of experience as in grantmaking and community engagement, both a practitioner and advisor.  Anne has worked with and for corporate giving programs, grantmaking public charities, universities, private foundation and volunteer service organizations; she works with organizations on local, national and global levels.  She has extensive experience in project management, employee engagement and process design & improvement.

Anne recently earned CREI (Corporate Responsibility Executive Institute) designation from Notre Dame University. She also holds a master’s degree in Education and a B.A. in Political Science from Indiana University – Bloomington.  Anne is active in the Chicago community – consistently serving on one or more nonprofit boards.  She is passionate about education and experiencing new cultures.

Vice President, Nominating
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
Damion Heron – Region Manager, Community Engagement, JPMorgan Chase

 

Damion is a Vice President within JPMorgan Chase’s Office of Nonprofit Engagement. He manages relationships working with nonprofits focused primarily on consumer advocacy, capacity building, civil rights, research, and those aligned with the foundation’s priority areas of workforce development, financial capability, small business, and community development. Prior to JPMorgan Chase, he held roles as a corporate giving analyst with the Boeing Company, a Harris Graduate Fellow at the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications and a parliamentary assistant in the U.K. House of Commons. Damion holds B.A degrees in Political Science and Philosophy from Bradley University and a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Chicago. Damion was a 2015 Edgar Fellow and a member of the 2018 class of Leadership Greater Chicago.

Secretary and Vice President of Membership                                                             Julia Hynes – Director of Corporate Relations, Chicago Council on Global Affairs

 

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

Director
Cynthia (CJ) Jones – Associate Director, CSR USA, Astellas US LLC

 

Cynthia (CJ) has spent 15-plus years in CSR/Social Impact roles.  As Associate Director at Astellas, CJ develops and executes the company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR), volunteerism and philanthropic efforts. She works in close collaboration with other members of the CSR and Corporate Communications groups to ensure regional alignment of efforts.  CJ represents Astellas and the Astellas Global Health Foundation externally with multiple community leaders, for leading communications support for all CSR strategies and programming.

Prior to joining Astellas, CJ was Sr. Strategic Partnerships and Programs Manager at Tuthill Corporation, where she identified, developed and managed cause partnerships, oversaw community giving and employee engagement programs and resources, as well as internal/external recognition programs. CJ also served as a champion across the company’s philanthropic initiatives in partnership with foundations, social enterprises, and communities.

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.

Vice President of Marketing & Communications
Michelle Mahoney – Vice President // Director of Social Impact, Leo Burnett Chicago

 

Michelle is Vice President, Director of Social Impact at Leo Burnett. This role is part of an innovative team approach supporting the company’s overall Diversity, Equity & Inclusion mission. Michelle is responsible for cultivating and executing an integrated strategy built in partnership with executive leadership.

These actions strengthen, streamline and grow the agency’s commitment to corporate social responsibility, focusing on civic engagement, sustainability and charitable giving. Leo Burnett is one of the world’s largest agency networks with 85 global offices, partnering with some of the world’s most iconic and valued brands.

As a member of Publicis Groupe’s Talent, Engagement and Inclusion Lead Team, Michelle collaborates across 35+ Publicis agencies, supporting 7 actions that continually drive positive change for employees, clients and communities. As the parent company of Leo Burnett, Publicis Groupe is built on The Power of One and offers its clients seamless access to the expertise of its 80,000 talents across four solution hubs and has agencies in over 100 countries around the world.

Michelle is currently pursuing her MBA and is a proud Mentor for those inside and outside of the creative industry.  She is a founding member and co-lead of two local employee resource groups and recently helped to grow one of those into a national business resource group. Michelle is also an active volunteer across many local, national and global non-profit organizations.

Director
Daniel Moss, CFRE – Director of Development, The Chicago Academy of Sciences/ Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum

Vice President of Programs
Kate Nardin – Chief Development Officer, Chicago Public Library Foundation

 

Kate Nardin joined the Chicago Public Library Foundation in 2015. With more than 15 years of development and nonprofit experience, she leads the organization’s strategy processes, is a primary liaison to Library leadership, and supervises the Development Team in advancing all activities related to Library Foundation donors. Prior to joining the Chicago Public Library Foundation, she built relationships with local and national funders to advance the mission 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 Alumnae Club of Chicago (President, 2019-present) and the Steppenwolf Associates (President, 2016-2018). She earned her B.A. from Smith College and Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

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.