Introduction
Our impact extends beyond our platforms—it is multiplied by the civic leaders who grow through working with us. Individuals in our partners’ pro bono teams and Civic Consulting Alliance’s staff work closely with high-level public and private sector officials to form a deep understanding of the most important issues of the day and develop plans to address them. Because of our unique scope and access, we are an incubator for Chicago’s next generation of civic leaders.
This is more than valuable experience—it often inspires a lifelong passion for service that impacts Chicago long past the end of an individual project. Civic Consulting Alliance alumni go on to get big things done across the public, private, and social sectors.
Incubating Civic Leaders
Civic Consulting Alliance’s staff alumni include:
Christina Anderson
Deputy Commissioner, COVID Response Bureau
City of Chicago Department of Public Health
Elaine Armstrong
Principal
Slalom
“One of the most important lessons I took from my time at Civic Consulting Alliance is to approach
problem-solving with humility and openness to learning. As residents of Chicago and Illinois, it’s easy to project our own experiences as representatives of the larger community. My experience at Civic
Consulting Alliance taught me to develop an understanding of whose voices are (or are not) represented in the room and bring forth those critical voices that are missing – often the people most affected by the problem.”
— Ann Bruton, Senior Associate, Centre for Public Impact
Brian Battle
Chief Finance and Operations Officer
The Handy Kenlin Group
Christopher Bordoni
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Bordoni & Company
Paul Bourdillon
Internal Medicine Resident
University of Washington
Erica Bredle
Ann Bruton
Program Manager, Government
Innovation
Centre for Public Impact
Kelsey Burr
Financial Market Utilities Supervision & Regulation
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Joanna Cannizzaro JD
Ernesto Castelnuovo
Senior Vice President and Head of Specialized Risk Group
TransUnion LLC
Lincoln Chandler
Founder and President
Chandler Decision Services, LLC
Hilton Clark
Julia Clemons
Program Analyst
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Andrea Clinton
MBA Candidate
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Celia Cockfield
Senior Associate
Annie E. Casey Foundation
Tracy Cohen
Michael J. Collins
Planning Intern
Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning
Daniel Comeaux
Associate Transportation Policy Analyst
Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning
Liz Coon
Engagement Manager
McKinsey & Company
Karen Corken
Vice President and Chief Operations Officer
Jewish Child and Family Services
Gillian Darlow
Chief Executive Officer
Polk Bros. Foundation
Alfonso de Hoyos y Acosta
Consulting Director
Gartner
Stephanie Dolan
Independent Consultant
Alexandra Dumitriu
Bank Supervision
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Carol Elder
Independent Consultant
Carla Esteva
Area President, Lake Michigan Area
US Foods
Brian Fabes
Managing Director
Corporate Coalition of Chicago
Rose Fealy
Former Vice President - Finance and Administration / Chief Financial Officer
Museum of Science and Industry
Hannah Fine
Pro Bono & Public Interest Coordinator
University of Chicago Law School
Damien Flynn
President and Chief Executive Officer
ACTS-Aviation Security
Kim Forte
Senior Sales Manager
Amazon Web Services
Janet Froetscher
President
J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation
Christian Gallegos
Shoham Geva
National Analytics Manager
America Votes
Leslie Glotzer
Associate
Kearney
Malika Graham-Bailey
Director of Operations
Duke University Talent Identification Program
Helen Hailes
PhD Candidate in Counseling Psychology
Boston College Lynch School
Melanie Halvorson
Vice President of Community Planning and Allocations
Jewish Federation of Cleveland
Melissa Hamann
Partner
Diploma Equity Project
Michael Hanowsky
Director and Practice Lead - Data Analytics
Woolpert Strategic Consulting
Danielle Harbison
Executive Director
Black Chicago Tomorrow
Valerie Hegarty
Stuart Henige
Senior Manager, MassHealth Premium Assistance
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Wallace Hilke
Judicial Law Clerk
United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois
Christian Hines
Law Clerk at U.S. District Court
Southern District of New York
Brock Huebner
JD Candidate
Stanford Law School
Shruti Jayaraman
Chief Investments Officer
Chicago Beyond
Djenaba Kelly
Jeff Kilpatrick
Managing Director
Kaufman Hall
Constance Kresge
Consultant, Chief of Staff
vChief
Donald Laackman
Chief Program Officer
Heartland Alliance
“At Handy Button Machine Co., we have achieved sustainable growth in part by applying a skill I honed at Civic Consulting Alliance: being precise in understanding the problem we are trying to solve. Whether we are talking about a problem that our product solves for the consumer, or a problem that is impeding profitability – we work hard to identify it, define it, and then solve for it.”
— Brian Battle, Chief Finance and Operations Officer, The Handy Kenlin Group
Allyson Laackman
Chief Strategy and Financial Officer
National Conference on Citizenship
Beth Lampson
Managing Associate
Next Street
Sue Lawler, PhD, CPA, MBA
Assistant Director, Comprehensive and Innovative Faculty Development Programs
American College of Surgeons
Samuel Leiter
PhD Candidate, Political Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Marisa Lewis
Chief Policy Officer and Board Liaison
Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership
Zhi Chen Lin
Alison Lo
Associate
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan
Phyllis Lockett
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
LEAP Innovations
Constance McHugh Long
Management Consultant, Independent School Management
Rasmus Lynnerup
Initiative Director and Assistant Vice Provost
Arizona State University
Cathrine Lynnerup
Owner
Pontomos
Charles McCartney
Associate
McKinsey & Company
Wendy McCullough
Independent Consultant
Nell McKitrick
Director of Operations, Center for Childhood Resilience
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
Tom McKone
Chief Administrative Officer
Chicago Transit Authority
Jessica McMiller-Baptiste
COVID-19 Policy and Partnerships Manager
City of Philadelphia - Department of Public Health
N'Gai Merrill
Chief Operating Officer
Triangle Package Machinery Co.
Michael Modak-Truran
JD and MBA Candidate
New York University
Lynne Moore
Court Administrator, Magistrate Court
Fulton County Government
Lydia Murray
Managing Director
Deloitte
Kevin Nigarura
DEI Strategist
Justice Informed
Alec Noggle
MBA Candidate
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Robert Owens
Chief Performance Analyst for Public Safety
Office of the Inspector General
Zarina Parpia
Avani Patel
Senior Director, Digital Innovation
Northwestern Mutual PLEC
Skylar Patterson
Marketing Manager
City of Chicago Mayor's Office
Eric Patton
Senior Advisor
Corporate Coalition of Chicago
Dejah Powell
Midwest Lead Organizer
Sunrise Movement
Patrick Quinn
Supervisor
McMaster-Carr
Daniel Reisner
Member Board of Advisors
BreadCrumb, LLC
Christine Richardson
Director of Administration
Pilot LNG LLC
Kelly Ruppel
Executive Director
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Madison
Sally Park
Andrew Schwarm
Senior Consultant, Strategy and Analytics
Deloitte
Steven Shaw
Community Engagement Director
Verizon Wireless
Alexander Shermansong
Chief Product Technology Officer and Chief Executive Officer of Digital Services
Planet Smart City
Pranav Sidhwani
Director, Commercial Advisory and Strategy
Infrastructure Ontario
Stacia Smith
Owner and President
Seabrook Smith
Haley Sonenthal
MBA Candidate
Kellogg School of Management
Alex Spacht
Resident Doctor
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Gary Spiece
Senior Project Manager
Chicago Transit Authority
Suzy Stock
Executive Assistant
Ancora Associates, Inc.
Daniel Thiel
Associate
Virens & Partners
Jessica Thiesen
US Support Lead
Choco
Meosha Thomas
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
One Savvy Veteran
Yen-Li Thompson
Revenue Operations
ShipBob
Elikem Tomety Archer
Chief Program Officer
Global Citizen Year
Susan Tompkins
Consultant
ThreePoint Consulting
Carmen Tomshack Brenner
Director of Development
Refugee Artisan Initiative
Marie Trzupek Lynch
President and Chief Executive Officer
Skills for Chicagoland's Future
Traci Udofia
Kristen Uyemura
Partner
BCG
Asheley Van Ness
Director of Criminal Justice
Arnold Ventures
Aliza Warwick
Interim Regional Operations Manager for the Americas, Safety
Airbnb
Owen Washburn
Vice President, Global Philanthropy
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Sara Wasserteil
Managing Director of Expansion and Integration
Cara Chicago
Dominique Williams
Senior Development Officer, LISC National
Local Initiatives Support Corporation
Kirstin Williams Smith
Senior Policy Analyst
Health & Medicine Policy Research Group
“My experience at Civic Consulting Alliance taught me to effectively collaborate, solve challenging problems, and think strategically - preparing me for the next step in my career. Today, I'm an MBA student at the Booth School of Business. I recently completed a brand management internship at Kellogg's, where I leveraged these skills to support a strategic project and a public relations / media plan for the Pringles brand”
— Andrea Clinton, MBA Candidate, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Stay in Touch
We love to hear from our alumni! Has your employer, job title, or name changed? Have you recently celebrated a professional accomplishment you’d like us to highlight on Civic Consulting Alliance’s LinkedIn page as part of our Alumni Spotlight series? Contact us below.
