Month: February 2013

Senior Engagement Manager, Mission Measurement LLC

Shawn Basak approaches his work from the perspective of a consumer in order to answer one question: How can his clients better understand social drivers of consumer behavior to more efficiently drive business value?

As a Senior Engagement Manager with Mission Measurement, Shawn leverages this consumer perspective for corporations, government agencies and nonprofit clients. To do so, he works with clients to determine the kind of impact they are uniquely positioned to create and then develops socially meaningful business strategies to maximize this impact. His client work includes McDonald’s, Walt Disney Company, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Starbucks Coffee Company and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Prior to joining Mission Measurement, Shawn worked at The Cambridge Group, a growth strategy consulting firm. He served numerous Fortune 500 companies across the retail, consumer products and financial services industries, providing his clients with a deep understanding of unmet consumer demand. Now, he’s able to apply an expertise in consumer behavior, brand positioning and analytical consulting to help his clients create real business value and lasting social impact.

Shawn serves as the Director of Impact Measurement for Fields of Growth, a sport-based community development organization. He has also guest lectured at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. Shawn graduated from Northwestern University with a B.S. in Social Policy and Political Science.

Founder and CEO, Mission Measurement LLC

Jason Saul is one of the nation’s leading experts on measuring social impact. He is the founder and CEO of Mission Measurement LLC, a strategy consulting firm that helps corporations, nonprofits and public sector clients to measure and improve their social impact. He has advised some of the world’s largest corporations, government agencies and nonprofits, including: Walmart, Starbucks, McDonald’s, Kraft Foods, Levi Strauss & Co., Easter Seals, American Red Cross, the Smithsonian and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Jason serves on the faculty of Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, where he teaches corporate social responsibility and nonprofit management. He also serves on the faculty of Boston College’s Center for Corporate Citizenship. He is the author of numerous books and articles on social strategy and measurement, including: Benchmarking for Nonprofits: How to Manage, Measure and Improve Performance (Fieldstone Press 2006); Social Innovation, Inc.: Five Strategies to Drive Business Value through Social Change (forthcoming from Jossey-Bass in October 2010); and The End of Fundraising: How to Sell Your Impact in an Era of Outcomes (forthcoming from Jossey-Bass in February 2011).

Jason holds a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, an M.P.P. from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a B.A. in Government and French Literature from Cornell University. He was awarded the Harry S. Truman Scholarship for leadership and public service and was selected as a Leadership Greater Chicago fellow. In 2008, Jason was recognized as one of Crain’s Chicago Business “40 under 40” business leaders, and in 2010 Jason was named by Businessweek Magazine as one of the Nation’s 25 Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs.

Director of Cultural Planning, Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), City of Chicago

Julie Burros is the Director of Cultural Planning for the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Trained as a professional urban planner, Ms. Burros provides technical assistance to cultural organizations focused on strategic growth issues, organizational development, and space and facility development. She serves as a liaison between the arts community and regulatory City departments resolving issues with zoning, licensing, permits and building code. Ms. Burros also works on City of Chicago real estate development projects that involve the redevelopment of vacant spaces for arts uses, such as the Creative Industry District at the Cermak Road Historic District. Ms. Burros oversees operations at the Clarke House Museum. Signature projects have included the Chicago Cultural Plan 2012, the Burnham Plan Centennial Pavilions in Millennium Park in 2009; and the Cultural Landscape survey in 2002.

Ms. Burros previously worked at the City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development as a planner for central downtown and the near west side, overseeing the production and implementation of several plans and wrote and managed over a dozen requests for proposals for the redevelopment of City-owned property.

Ms. Burros did her undergraduate work at the college at the University of Chicago, majoring is sociology and did her graduate work at Columbia University at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, with a focus on planning for the built environment.

Ms. Burros is adjunct faculty at DePaul University, teaching Cultural Policy in Spring of 2013. Civic activities include service on the board of directors of the Glessner House Museum and past service as a Trustee of the Court Theater at the University of Chicago, the board of directors of the League of Chicago Theaters, the European Repertory Company, the Chicago Friends of Downtown and Women in Planning and Development. Ms. Burros has been a volunteer architecture tour docent at the Chicago Architecture Foundation since 1998.

Co-Founder and CEO, GiveForward

Half Costa Rican, half Kansan, Desiree graduated from Yale University in 2004. Prior to founding GiveForward in 2008 with co-founder Ethan Austin, she worked as a specialist in collegiate entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City and as an independent consultant for Arabella Philanthropic Investment Advisors. She is passionate about philanthropy and the role that small-scale donors can have on our communities. Desiree was named Inc. Magazine’s 30 under 30 and Forbes Women to Watch.  When not working, she spends her time with her amazing family and inventing recipes that don’t always work.

Founder and Chief Mission Officer, Imerman Angels

Jonny Imerman is a young adult cancer survivor who founded Imerman Angels, a non-profit organization that connects a cancer fighter (or caregiver) with someone who has fought and survived the same cancer. Here is the story:

At 26 years old in 2001, Jonny was diagnosed with testicular cancer. After doctors surgically removed one of his testicles, he did five months of chemotherapy and became cancer-free. But almost a year later, four tumors popped up again near his spine. After another surgery, an 11-inch incision, and three months of recovery, Jonny was back in remission.

During his cancer fight, he realized what needed to change in the cancer world. Despite loving support from family and friends, he was unable to find a cancer survivor like him. Jonny wondered: “What if every cancer fighter could talk to a cancer survivor, who not only had beaten the same type of cancer, but who also was around the same age and gender as the fighter?” The cancer survivor would be an angel ⎯ walking, living proof that the fighter could win too. That amazing connection would provide inspiration, knowledge, and hope. This is why he created Imerman Angels.

Imerman Angels carefully matches and pairs up a person touched by cancer (a cancer fighter or survivor) with someone who has fought and survived the same type of cancer (a Mentor Angel). Cancer caregivers (spouses, parents, children and other family and friends of fighters) also receive 1-on-1 connections with other caregivers and survivors. These 1-on-1 relationships inspire hope and offer the chance to ask personal questions and receive support from someone who is uniquely familiar with the experience. The service is absolutely free and helps anyone touched by any type of cancer, at any cancer stage level, at any age, living anywhere in the world. Today, Imerman Angels has more than 4,000 cancer survivors and more than 1,500 caregivers in its network.

Imerman Angels was chosen as Haute Living’s #1 Charity in Chicago in 2010; Chicago Scene’s #1 Charity in Chicago in 2010; Chicago Scene’s #1 Charity in Chicago in 2008; and Chicago Social’s #1 Charity in Chicago in 2007. Imerman Angels has been featured by The Wall Street Journal, Harpo Radio’s “Oprah and Friends” with Dr. Oz, Men’s Health, NBC Chicago News, CBS Chicago News, ABC Chicago News, WGN Chicago News, FOX Chicago News, FOX Detroit News, ESPN Radio Chicago, WJR Radio Detroit, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Detroit Free Press, HOUR Detroit, LIVESTRONG Quarterly, CURE Magazine, Oncology Nursing News, Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, and Nonprofit Chicago Magazine.

Jonny received a 2012 CNN Hero Award; 2012 Lincoln Park Young Professionals ‘Chicago Best of The Best’ Award; 2011 Twilight Foundation Detroit’s Civic Leadership Award; 2011 Chicago Social Magazine’s ‘Who is Chicago’ Award; 2010 Jefferson Award for Public Service; 2010 University of Michigan Humanitarian Service Award; 2009 Ulman Cancer Fund For Young Adults ‘Hope Award’; and 2007 Daily Candy ‘Sweetest Thing’ Award.

Jonny has been invited to speak at cancer centers such as MD Anderson, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Mayo Clinic, Dana-Farber, City of Hope, Northwestern, Rush, and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.