Month: September 2014

Executive Director, Get In Chicago

Toni Irving, Ph.D., is Executive Director of Get In Chicago, an innovative public/private partnership that seeks to strengthen communities hardest hit by poverty and violence.  The organization invests in programs targeted at at-risk youth and helps convene public and private organizations to help make Chicago safer and individual lives better.

Previously, Dr. Irving was Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn. She oversaw policy and planning, personnel, legislative and operations issues for public safety and human services agencies with combined budgets of $8 billion. As Senior Advisor, she advised the governor on minority business and workforce development issues and on strategies to assist poverty- and violence-stricken communities.  

Dr. Irving was a member of the faculty at the University of Notre Dame where she conducted research and teaching on law, literature and social policy. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Virginia, Master of Arts degree from the University of Kent at Canterbury, England, and Ph.D. from New York University.  

She is an Aspen Institute Scholar, a member of the National Governor’s Association Center for Best Practices, Juvenile Justice Leadership Council, the executive committee of the Juvenile Justice Commission, The Wayfarers Club, and The Economic Club of Chicago. In 2011, Dr. Irving received the MacArthur Foundation “Champion for Change” award, recognizing her efforts to reform juvenile justice. Born in Philadelphia, she has resided in Chicago since 2000.

Business Columnist, Chicago Tribune

Ms. Harris joined the Chicago Tribune as a business columnist in 2009 after nearly five years as an award-winning metro reporter at The Baltimore Sun. Prior to joining the Sun, she was a metro reporter at The Orlando Sentinel. She is a graduate of Northwestern and Johns Hopkins universities (Bachelor of Science in journalism and Master of Arts in government), and a two-time finalist for the Livingston Award, honoring outstanding reporting by journalists younger than 35.

Executive Vice President, Metropolitan Planning Council

Peter joined MPC as urban development director in 1996. For the past 18 years, he has played a lead role in expanding MPC’s capacity to produce quality research, develop sound policies, and advocate for sensible development in Chicagoland. He was promoted to Vice President of External Relations in 1999, Vice President in 2009, and Executive Vice President in 2013.

He has led several major policy initiatives, including the 1999 rewrite of the Illinois Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Act, massive overhaul of Chicago’s zoning ordinance in 2004, and passage of Illinois’ Public Private Partnerships for Transportation Act in 2011 and is actively working on bringing Bus Rapid Transit to Chicago’s west side. He staffed Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Transportation and Infrastructure transition committee and currently co–chairs the Mayors Pedestrian Advisory Committee. In 2013, he chaired  the Midway Advisory Panel overseeing the proposed long term lease of Midway Airport. He is also a member of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning Transportation Committee and University of Illinois Allumni Association Advocacy Committee.

Prior to joining MPC, from 1994 to 1996, Peter worked for the Chicago Park District as area manager on the southeast side. He also founded and served on the UIC College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs Alumni Association from 1997 to 2003. Peter has received several awards and honors, including the 2005 City Partner Award for outstanding contribution to UIC and the Chicago metropolitan area; and the 2007 Lou Liay Spirit Award for Extraordinary Alumni Service from the University of Illinois.

Peter received a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1993, and a bachelor’s degree in behavioral science from the University of Chicago in 1990. He was born and raised in Chicago’s Hyde Park community and lives on the North Side in the city’s 47th Ward with his wife and children.

Founder and Principal, Latent Design

Architect and educator Katherine Darnstadt is the founder and principal of Latent Design, a collaborative of individuals whose projects focus on social, economic and environmental impact beyond the building. Katherine brings innovative design to those in resource and budget limited environments through a holistic, creative approach to design driven by community needs that leverages other partners and assets to address project challenges. Her passion for public interest design through participatory strategies and diverse background have allowed her to collaborate with change agents in design, science, arts and philosophy. Since founding her practice in 2010, Katherine and her firm have been recognized as an emerging leader in the architecture profession and have been published, exhibited and featured widely, most notably at the International Venice Biennale, Core 77 Design Awards, Architizer A+ Awards, Chicago Ideas Week, NPR, and as the 2013 American Institute of Architects Young Architects Honor Award winner.

Research Director, University of Chicago Crime Lab

Gretchen Cusick is the Research Director. She was previously a Senior Researcher at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. Her work focuses on the transition to adulthood among vulnerable populations, reentry of juvenile offenders, and juvenile justice system efforts to improve service provision and outcomes for youth. She holds a BA in Sociology from Miami University, an MA in Sociology from Cleveland State University, and a PhD in Sociology with an emphasis in crime, law, and justice and a departmental certificate in quantitative methods from the Pennsylvania State University.

President and CEO, YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago

Richard Malone was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, one of the largest nonprofits in Chicago, on Dec. 17, 2009. As CEO, Dick is responsible for the leadership and management of the Association, and oversees its $105 million operating budget. The YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago is comprised of 22 membership centers, five camps and hundreds of extension sites across Chicago and the suburbs, over 3,300 employees, and serves more than 500,000 Chicagoland residents annually.

Dick is the former Senior Vice President at Tribune Company’s Interactive group, a multimarket internet business of Tribune’s diversified media enterprise, supporting the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and the Baltimore Sun, among others.

In his career with Tribune that spanned 28 years, Dick was also Senior Vice President & General Manager of Chicago Tribune, as well as Vice President of Operations for Tribune’s publishing division.

He is past president and a Lifetime Trustee of Have Dreams. He also serves as a Trustee of The Arthur M. Brazier Foundation.

Dick earned his BS in Production Management from Rochester Institute of Technology and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.