Risa Davis

Vice President of  Corporate Development, United Way of Metropolitan Chicago

 

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Risa Davis joined United Way of Metropolitan Chicago (UWMC) in April of 2013 as the Vice President of Corporate Development. In this role, she is responsible for a team of Relationship Managers and other professionals who specialize in creating opportunities for corporations to engage in strategic community building, philanthropy and volunteerism. Under her leadership, United Way’s traditional workplace giving campaign is being strengthened with year round engagement and mutually beneficial community initiatives.

Risa utilizes her experiences in relationship building and new business development in this new role with the goal of deepening established relationships with the Chicagoland business community and creating new ones.

With a background in financial services, Risa most recently served as Senior Vice President, Commercial Banking, for Citibank. In her career there, she was successful in numerous roles including corporate account management, development and management of the small business banking team, managing the Community Relations Department , opening and managing new retail branches and managing Private Banking relationships with High Net Worth clients. While running local philanthropy at Citi, she created strategic community partnerships, led work that resulted in the highest possible Community Reinvestment Act ratings, and increased employee volunteerism to new heights.

Committed to community, Risa has served on the Board of Fifth City Preschool, the Housing Authority of Oak Park, IL and the Small Business Grants Committee of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She has twice served as the Steering Committee Chair for the United Negro College Fund’s Walk for Education and is a member of its Women Who Lead advocacy group. She has twice served as the Advisory Committee Chair for the Museum of Science and Industry’s Black Creativity Program, where she also served as Co-Chair of its African-American Outreach Task Force and a member of its Presidents Council.

Risa is the recipient of numerous awards including the Chicago Defender’s “Women of Excellence” Award, the King Legacy Award from the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boys and Girls Club and the Exemplary Service Award from City Colleges of Chicago. She is a currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Women’s Business Development Center.

She received her B.A. in Economics from Northwestern University and her Masters of Management from Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Jose Rico

Senior Vice President of Community Investment, United Way of Metropolitan Chicago

 

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Jose Rico joined United Way of Metropolitan Chicago (UWMC) in April of 2014 as Senior Vice President of Community Investment. In this position, he oversees engagement with community partners, directs investment, and manages measurement and evaluation. Jose leads United Way in utilizing the Neighborhood Network model to deliver highly coordinated and concentrated services in underserved communities. He also works to advance public policy and systems-level change congruent with the LIVE UNITED 2020 Impact Plan.

Jose is a seasoned community leader and school administrator with extensive public policy and implementation experience. Most recently, he was the Director of the Illinois Center for School Improvement, whose mission is to lead the delivery of high-quality, research-based state-wide support services to raise student performance. Prior to that, he served five years as the Executive Director of the White House Initiative 0n Educational Excellence for Hispanics. In this role, he planned policy, strategic initiatives, outreach, and communications for President Obama’s education agenda and the Latino community. He was also involved in developing the promise neighborhood grants across the country.

In addition, Jose was a Founding Principal at the Multicultural Arts School at the Little Village/Lawndale High School Campus, which opened in 2005. He also served as Director of Community Organizing at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights; and started his career as the Program Director at Public Allies.

Jose attended CPS and graduated from Whitney Young high school, after which he attended University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana on a full scholarship.

the impact of the budget crisis

PLEASE NOTE DATE:

Tuesday, October 27, 2015


Schedule:

8:00am – 8:30am:  Networking and Continental Breakfast

8:30am – 9:30am   Program

Speakers:

Jose Rico: Senior Vice President of Community Investment, United Way of Metropolitan Chicago

Risa Davis: Vice President of Corporate Development, United Way of Metropolitan Chicago

Program:

Join the CR Group and our host the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago for a timely discussion on the impact of the budget crisis on human service programs and also on the advocacy work being done to urge Springfield to act. The UWMC will also provide us with an overview of the work being done along with its partner agencies, in the midst of the ongoing budget crisis, through the collective impact model through their Neighborhood Networks.

Location:

The United Way of Metropolitan Chicago
333 South Wabash Avenue2nd Floor
Chicago, IL

 

 

 

Jeffrey C. Walter – Director

Senior Public Affairs Specialist, Health Care Service Corporation

Jeffrey WalterJeffrey is passionate about addressing the world’s most pressing social and environmental problems through collaboration between the corporate, government, and nonprofit sectors. In his current role as Senior Public Affairs Specialist for Health Care Service Corporation, he oversees company-wide volunteer engagement strategy and execution for 23,000 employees across five states. This includes supporting all corporate community involvement initiatives, including corporate gifts, volunteerism, environmental sustainability, sponsorships, reporting, and internal communications.

Jeffrey has contributed to a robust portfolio of social-environmental initiatives at the local, state, national, and international levels. He has managed over 100 community sustainability leadership projects while working at the City of Chicago Department of Environment; coordinated training events reaching 3,000 international participants; and managed a $4 million public sector grant portfolio that has leveraged $12 million in local community investment.

Outside of work, Jeffrey loves teaching yoga in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. He has travelled to more than 17 countries (most recently to Cuba) with little more than a backpack and his trusted copy of The Lonely Planet guide.