Profile

I am responsible for making sure Camp of Dreams can do everything we want to do – which is to help over 150 Chicago kids from low-income families achieve all they can in their lives. We run a summer camp, school-year programs, high school leadership workshops, and much much more, and all of it is free for the kids who participate. Basically, these are kids whose families can’t afford to give them the “extras” that we think will help that kid become a confident and accomplished adult. We need a lot of money to do that, and so I fundraise. I ask people, businesses, foundations for money. I hire staff, and then make sure they are preparing their lesson plans. I make sure the office runs properly, and that we have everything we need in order to operate.

It’s funny – I work in a garage. I used to work in a fancy office with a beautiful view, and now I work in a garage. And I’m happier than I ever thought I would be.

I work with people who are dedicated to helping people. It’s inspiring. Unfortunately, though, sometimes non-profit work attracts people who aren’t trained in corporate culture, so it means I spend more time than I would like helping people learn how to behave professionally.

The best part of my job is that I don’t have a typical day. But, basically, I come to the office, I sit at my computer and write letters asking for money, or take meetings with people who might be interested in working for Camp of Dreams, or discuss with my staff and Board of Directors how we can do everything we want to do without a lot of money, because that’s the thing about non-profits, you NEVER have enough money!

It’s important at my position to be a good communicator. That means that I have to be comfortable talking to anyone at any time, that I have to be a great writer (I need to convince someone with 1 page of writing why they should give me their money), and that I need to be persuasive. I also need to be very diplomatic. I used to work in a job where I could be loud and bossy, and it was expected and accepted. Now I have to be much more soft-spoken, and get to help people become their best, instead of assuming they are at their best already.

I work basically from 9-5 Monday – Friday, and every other Saturday. I also work weekends when we are doing programs with the kids in our program. There is a myth out there that people who work in non-profits work fewer hours than people in major corporations. I don’t think that’s true – we have more flexibility in a non-profit, but because we are so passionate about what we do, you wind up working longer than is required. In addition, once you reach a level of leadership, you’re never “away from the office.”

Rarely, and only when we do programs with our kids. During the summer time, I spend 3 days of each week at camp with our kids, which hardly feels like work!

I love that almost every day, I help a kid become a better person.

I wish that more people from the corporate world (law, business, banking) worked in non-profits, because the corporate world does an amazing job training people to be meticulous and professional, and I came to expect a certain level of professionalism. Now, I can assume and expect nothing.

A smiling child who has just discovered that doing something new and unexpected can be amazing.

It’s corny but true – my mom is my biggest influence. She went to law school when she and my dad divorced, knowing that she needed to put herself in a position where she could support 2 kids. She has never given up, even when law school or working full-time with 2 kids was hard. She always found a way to come to my basketball games and my school plays, and yet she is the hardest working woman I know. I admire her ability to be a full-time professional and a full-time single parent.

My first few months in a law firm, a female partner told me – at the beginning of a meeting where you’re the only woman in the room, swear, and swear loudly. That way the guys will know they can’t push you around just because you’re a woman. WHAAAAAAAT?! Ok, maybe that worked for her, but I had to learn how to find my own voice, and cussing loudly wasn’t it for me. There are different ways for women to find their place in the work environment, and unfortunately we do have to find a way to announce to the room that we are not to be messed with, but I’m continually bothered by the “conventional wisdom” that says that women can either be (a) pushovers: the quiet types who let men walk all over them; (b) women using their “wiles”: the beautiful women who flirt with men to get recognized, even when their work is high-quality enough to earn recognition on its own; or (c) bitches (see example above of cussing at the beginning of a meeting). Why can’t we simply be qualified, intelligent and hard working? Why isn’t that enough?

The best advice – find your voice and use it.

Never let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. My brother once told me I shouldn’t ski because I wasn’t very good. I told him that I didn’t care if I was any good, I loved to ski and I would keep skiing as long as I could. I am 37, and I’m still a lousy skier, but I absolutely love it and I go skiing every year.

When I was a little girl, someone told me I was smart and that I had a brain for logical thinking. I’m sure more than one person told me those things, but for some reason I remember this particular day. I always remember that day when I wonder if I’m capable of doing something, and it helps give me confidence. So this is a way of saying – you never know when you are going to be influencing a young mind, you never know when your words will have an impact – so choose your words wisely, and give everyone around you a reason to believe in themselves.

Not a single thing. I have taken jobs that others have questioned, and I have rallied behind causes others disagree with. Each and every time, I have learned something from it, and without every bit of action in my past, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

I spend a lot of time at my niece and nephew’s hockey and soccer games. I love cooking dinner with friends, riding my bike to a park and reading a good book for hours, and enjoying the people I have in my life. I also serve on many political and fundraising committees.

I am a passionate about activism. The world is ever-changing, and I want my opinions to be part of the discussion.

Crazy path, definitely. I started my career as a lawyer, then worked in politics as a policy adviser for a handful of years, but ultimately decided that I wanted to work in the non-profit world. Looking back, I think politics helped put me here—one of my employers won a Senate Race and was moving to Washington DC to set up his Senate office (yes, that guy is now the President of the United States). When I was asked if I wanted to move to Washington, I said no. I tortured myself with the decision for a while, but in the end, I knew that I wanted to stay in my community to help people directly. Although a lot can be done for a broad spectrum of people from a powerful Washington political office, I wanted to be more hands-on. That led to a long search for the right organization, the right position within that organization, and although it took me over 3 years to find the right non-profit job (during which time I worked for other politicians and units of local government), it was well worth the wait.

When I was working in law and then in politics, I had the view that each individual who had a stake in the world could either (a) work at a non-profit and directly make a difference, or (b) work somewhere else where you made a lot of money, and make donations to those non-profits. I spent 10 years doing the latter, but have decided to become directly involved in the non-profit community service world.

My greatest challenge has been proving to the non-profit community that I am a good fit. I do not have the typical background for a non-profit leader— although I have been involved as an activist for years, those skills do not necessarily translate into what is needed to effectively run an organization. I had to find what the necessary skills were, decide whether or not I thought I had them (and get the ones I knew were lacking by going to workshops and seminars), and learn how to sell myself. No one in the non-profit world seemed to understand how my skills as a lawyer and policy wonk would benefit the non-profit world, and I had to find the right way to convince them I was well qualified.