Meet The PYP Chicago Members

Saboora Alsikafi

Saboora is passionate about connecting people with brands, to enhance their everyday lives and accelerate small to large businesses’ growth. At Google, Saboora partners with retail advertisers to drive deeper customer relationships and business results using insight-led digital marketing. Prior to Google, Saboora built high performing teams and businesses as a partner lead at Pinterest, global brand manager at Mondelez (across new to iconic $1B+ brands like Oreo, Sour Patch Kids and belVita), equity analyst at Lehman Brothers, and investment banker at JPMorgan. She also devotes her time to coaching women and underrepresented minorities to advance their careers; progressing diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace; and aiding refugee women and children through various organizations. Saboora lives in Winnetka with her husband and two kids. Saboora earned her BS in Finance & History from The University of Virginia and MBA from The University of Chicago, Booth. She loves cooking for friends and family, running along the lake, frequenting the library, and getting out to ski.

Katherine. E. Banich

A Chicagoland native, Katherine attended Carleton College, where in 2005 she received a B.A. in psychology, magna cum laude, and then attended Columbia University in New York where she earned a M.S. in Journalism. She worked at Chicago Magazine and later at Groupon as a staff writer. In 2012, she had her first daughter and became a stay-at-home mom while continuing to write and edit on a freelance basis. Katherine is formerly a member of the Junior League of Chicago and served on the Board of Directors for Willow Wood Preschool. In 2019, she chaired the Willow Wood Ball, raising funds for Willow Wood Preschool. Her true passion is for WINGS, an organization that provides shelter, support and counseling to those fleeing domestic violence. Katherine chaired WINGS Sweet Home Chicago benefit in 2021, 2022, and 2023, an event that has raised over $12.2 million since its inception, and also chaired the inaugural WINGS North Shore Ladies Luncheon in 2022. Katherine helped launch WINGS North Shore Leadership Council in 2023 and will chair WINGS Purple Tie Ball in 2024. Katherine currently serves as PTO Vice President of Programs at Crow Island, her daughter's elementary school, and is a member of the Auxiliary of the Women's Board of Rush University Medical Center. She lives in Winnetka with her husband and two daughters. In her free time, she plays tennis and loves to travel, cook, and read.

Dominique Bircheier

Dominique Birchmeier was born and raised on the Northshore. She attended Texas Christian University where she Master in History. Upon graduation she decided to move to Los Angeles and work in the entertainment industry. She started her career at the Walt Disney Company in Burbank where she concentrated on creative development in the live action film division. She spent 10 years working on dozens of films such as The Kid, National Treasure. In 2005, she decided to move back to the Chicago area and fulfill her dream of getting into the interior design business. She landed a job at the leader in luxury bath design Waterworks. There she master the art of bath design. In 2010 after having her daughter Brette, she started her own interior design company DFB Designs. Dominique has become a leader on the Northshore in luxury interior and bath design. Dominique has served on several boards across the Northshore including Ravinia and Winnetka Community House Woman's Board. Dominique loves to travel and cook with her husband Brad and Brette.

Julie Brandt

Julie grew up in the Chicago area and just moved back to Winnetka in 2019 from living in Hong Kong for 3 years with her husband and 2 daughters. Julie holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing & international business and an MBA from Kelly School of Business, Indiana University. Julie is currently appointed Vice President, Chief Transformation Officer at Otis Elevator Company. Julie leads the global transformation initiative preparing the organization to be a standalone company, separating from United Technologies. She has over 24 years of experience driving organizations to profitable growth. Prior to her current job, she served as the Managing Director for Hong Kong, Macau & Taiwan where she led a $400M business with over 2,300 employees. Earlier in her career, she held positions of increasing responsibility across multiple functions, including sales & marketing, service, and general management in North and South America. A person always in pursuit of being a “Do-Gooder”, she has focused on ensuring her organization is focused on Corporate Social Responsibility within the markets they are present. In Hong Kong she was a strong supporter of Greenshoots program which was an initiative focused on providing training on elevator & fire safety to children with autism. Julie was on the Board of Directors, for American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) in Hong Kong. Another platform that she is very passionate about is female leadership and diversity in the workforce and is often speaking out and mentoring within her organization, around the world to encourage more women to take on larger roles within the corporation.

Amy Chung

Amy Chung is a local Realtor who brings an unexpected, inspired skillset to the buying and selling process at Compass Real Estate. Using her diverse experience across multiple industries and her rooted connection to the community, she puts her clients and personal connections at the forefront. This West Coast transplant has lived in Chicagoland for over a decade, raising her two children, Campbell (9) and Manning (7) in Wilmette. Amy’s goal is to match people to communities where they feel safe and connected. She helps foster this on the North Shore of Chicago through her position on the Executive Winnetka Board of Northwestern Settlement and as former Board Chair of A Joyful Noise preschool in Kenilworth. For this realtor and resident, it’s all about making things better, making people feel welcome, and making them feel at home.

Carolyn Clark

Carolyn grew up in Massachusetts and earned her BS in Economics from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management. During her 20-year career, she has advised Fortune 500 companies as a consultant and managed several $100M+ businesses for both GAP Inc and Kraft Foods. Most recently, she completed 5 years as the Head of Global Marketing for a specialty ingredients company that helped food companies find sustainable and natural food ingredients for everyday products. In 2019, she co-founded Clark Strategic Consulting to help select clients with their marketing and communications while being able to spend more time with her family and community. Carolyn lives in Winnetka with her husband and two kids. She currently serves on the board for Winnetka Children’s Hour and her children’s local PTO and looks forward to getting to know more organizations within the community.

Heather Rae Davis

Heather grew up in Southern Indiana and earned her B.S. in Finance from Indiana University, Kelley School of Business. Upon graduation, Heather embarked on her career in financial services, which she continues to enjoy after more than 20 years in the industry. Heather began her career as a Manager for Bernstein Investment Research and Management supporting high-net-worth individuals in their Minneapolis office. She transitioned to London and lived there for 7 years, working with pension funds, endowments, family offices and investment consultants in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Scandinavia region for AllianceBernstein and later Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo (GMO). Heather was introduced to her husband, Hunter, whilst living in London and moved to Chicago in 2012, where she joined Vanguard and is an RIA Key Account Sales Executive, working primarily with multi-family offices. Upon the growth of their family, she and her husband moved to Winnetka in 2017, where they enjoy life with their three sons, Ryder, Cole and Hayes. Heather is serving on the Board of Directors for the Winnetka Community Nursery School responsible for Fundraising and served on the Board of Women in ETFs (WE) in Chicago as the Head of Membership for three years.

Amanda (Mandy) Day

Mandy is originally from CT and spent the majority of her life growing up and eventually raising a family in the small town of New Fairfield. Recently she moved to IL in the summer of 2019, following her husband Tom as he took a new job in Chicagoland. Mandy has both an undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice and Masters of Public Administration from Marist College. For the last 20 years she has focused her career in the talent acquisition space working for several large companies. She joined her current company Cigna in 2015 as the Head of Talent Acquisition for U.S. Markets and was promoted in 2016 to the Global Head of Talent Acquisition. In her current role as the Head of Global Talent Acquisition she has overall responsibility for the entire recruitment/employment infrastructure including process, policy and procedures, social media, diversity and inclusion, early career, recruitment technology, metrics and measurement, employment branding, assessments, and vendor/search partner management. Mandy lives in Winnetka with her husband Tom, son Lucas, daughter Arabella and bulldogs Surf and Blu. Mandy is passionate about giving back to the community and devotes her time to various philanthropies including Blessings in a Backpack, Boys and Girls Club, American Heart Association, March of Dimes along with local Charities within the communities she lives.

Paige Dooley

Paige is a top producing agent at Compass and has been a leader in North Shore real estate market for more than 20 years, including over a decade with #1 in market share in Winnetka. Paige is listed in Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate, ranked as a top national agent by Wall Street Journal/Real Trends, is part of the LUXEHOME 10 and consistently voted a Five Star Professional. Paige is passionate about Winnetka and the villages of the North Shore. She is an enthusiastic supporter of education, a past chair, vice chair and long member of the Winnetka Public School Foundation, past co-chair of the beloved Winnetka Children’s Fair and a member of the Winnetka Historical Society. She is actively engaged in the Winnetka Music Festival. Paige supports a cross section of local charities often at the sponsorship level. Paige graduated from SMU with a BBA in business and began her career in consumer marketing & advertising.

Kitty Brandtner

Kitty Brandtner is a sales professional turned founder of two nonprofits specializing in advocacy. She grew up in the suburbs of Chicago with her sisters and single working mom, which implanted a feminist “women can do anything” chip on her shoulder from an early age. She earned her BA in English from the University of Iowa where she met her husband. Upon graduating in ‘09 she began her career with LaSalle Network, a recruiting firm based in Chicago. Through her 14 years there she helped build their Technology practice to the largest unit at the firm, and partnered with startups and billion dollar companies alike to help them scale and hire. Following the mass shooting tragedies in Buffalo, Uvalde, and Highland Park, Kitty created a movement called March Fourth, focused exclusively on the federal assault weapons ban. Nine days after the 4th of July shooting in 2022, she mobilized 500+ supporters for a rally and meetings on Capitol Hill. Two weeks later, the House passed the Assault Weapons Ban bill for the first time in nearly 30 years. March Fourth is a nonpartisan nonprofit anchored in the reality that the majority of Americans want to see a federal ban on assault weapons and an end to American mass shootings. Kitty founded her second nonprofit, Aftermath, in the months after founding March Fourth, as she was connected to countless Americans who had been impacted by the mass shooting epidemic. She saw a need for amplification of their stories and uniting communities to help influence healing and change in the aftermath of a mass tragedy. In summer 2023, Kitty left her full-time job of 14 years as a sales executive at the LaSalle Network to focus on ending mass shootings in America by leading March Fourth as a volunteer. She currently lives in the North Shore of Chicago with her husband and three young children.

Julie Ellis

Julie Ellis recently moved to Winnetka from New Canaan Connecticut with her husband Brad and their son Jake who is a sophomore at New Trier High School. Their other son is completing his Senior year in Connecticut and will attend Penn State in 2021 . Julie has a masters degree in elementary education and taught in Connecticut 1998-2002. She continues to raise her sons, being a hockey mom, served on boards in her community where she has resided and taking care of a busy household. Julie and Brad grew up in Lodi, California and went to college together. They have lived in Lake Oswego, OR, New Canaan, CT, Ladue, MO, and now Winnetka, IL.

Isabel Fiore

Isabel grew up in the North Shore, so it was a natural place to settle once she and her husband John (also a Chicagoland native) started their family. Isabel has both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northwestern University, with a focus on secondary education. She has worn many professional “hats” over the years, working not only in schools themselves but also in educational content publishing. Currently, Isabel is an aide at Willow Wood Preschool, a member of the Guild of the Chicago Botanic Garden, and a supporter of Almost Home Kids. Isabel is proud to represent each of the three institutions, but perhaps most excited to introduce fellow PYP members to the less-familiar AHK—an organization providing a broad range of support to families caring for children with complex medical needs.

Kim Frezados

Kim grew up in Connecticut, then moved Virginia, and then again to Ohio. She moved to Chicago following graduation from Washington University in St. Louis where she earned a BA in Art History and a minor in Business. In Chicago she started her professional career in advertising at Leo Burnett working primarily on the General Motors account. She then changed careers and entered the development world. She worked in fundraising for Shedd Aquarium managing the Auxiliary Board events and the Aquarium Council donor society program. She then worked at the University of Chicago where she was responsible for several large Alumni Clubs, primarily the Chicago and NYC alumni. After that, she worked at the Art Institute of Chicago where she oversaw their Sustaining Fellows donor program. She then took on a new role where she managed large-scale donor events, exhibition openings, and the director’s entertaining. The largest and most memorable project she undertook was working on the opening of the Modern Wing. After her twin girls were born in 2013, Kim became a stay at home mom. Two years later she and her family moved to Winnetka. Kim became very involved with her daughters’ preschool and was a board member for their three years. There she planned the school’s annual fall fundraiser and concluded her tenure as VP of Marketing. Kim is currently involved with North Shore Country Day School where her children are in First Grade. She is the room parent, co-chair of lunch duty, and the annual fund representative for her girls’ class. Kim is also an active volunteer for the Art Institute of the Chicago’s Auxiliary Board where she has been a member of the executive committee and for two years co-chaired the annual Treasure Hunt and Tea Party event. Lastly, she is a member of the Winnetka Community House Woman’s Board and has for several years co-chaired a speaker event for the Antiques + Modernism Show.

Lisa Garrison

Lisa grew up in and currently lives Winnetka, Illinois with her husband and their two daughters. She attended New Trier High School and was an All American top 10 in state springboard diver. She went on to get her Bachelors of Science degree in Business and Economics from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA while continuing with diving as a NCAA division one athlete and captain of the team. Lisa then moved back to Chicago to begin her 20-year career as an institutional fixed income sales person. She worked for Salomon Smith Barney, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley selling bonds to money managers, banks and insurance companies. In 2003 a group of young professionals in Chicago, including Lisa decided it was time to give back. They founded the Scholar Board of the William Guy Forbeck Research Foundation. The Forbeck Foundation was founded in 1985 to bring cancer researchers together to focus on driving communications and collaborations between scientists and clinicians. Building these connections are vital facilitators of advancing oncology research. The Junior Board’s mission specifically was to fund the next generation of scientists. The first Scholar Retreat, which brought together more junior scientists in a mentoring and collaboration fostering environment, was in 2005 and this is now a thriving program still today. Thanks to the initiatives of the Scholar Board the future of cancer research and the Forbeck Foundation are breaking new grounds as they enter their 35th year of scientific progress.

Jacqueline Hairston

Jackie grew up in Portland, Oregon and earned her B.A. in psychology and writing at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Upon graduation, Jackie moved to Chicago, where she worked as a paralegal and met her husband, Scott. Jackie went on to attain her J.D. at the University of Illinois College of Law, and thereafter returned to Chicago to practice as a commercial real estate attorney with Sidley Austin LLP for the next 8 years. She eventually decided to step away from legal practice to pursue more exciting endeavors (i.e., raising kids). Jackie and Scott moved to Winnetka in 2019 with their two daughters and Golden Retriever. Jackie serves on the board of Friends of the Children – Chicago, a nonprofit that pairs at-risk kindergarteners with professional, salaried mentors who remain with them for 12 years (until high school graduation). She also served on the board of Willow Wood Preschool and the Family Advisory Council of Cradles to Crayons. Jackie and her family love to travel, ski, golf and explore the outdoors.

Christina Jones-Heiden

Christina recently moved to Winnetka from Louisville Kentucky with her husband Justin and three children Lyla, Layton, and Landry. Christina is a driven results-focused executive with over 23 years experience in B2B consumer sales. Christina began her career in Chicago as a pharmaceutical sales representative. After several years in the profession she decided it was time for a change. She transitioned career paths and began working for Becker professional Education where she worked tirelessly to promote the CPA designation to Universities, Accounting, and Financial firms. Christina led many teams and held many roles throughout her 20 year tenure at Becker. She particularly enjoyed mentoring and motivating her teams to reach their full potential. She stepped away in July of 2022 to focus on her family during their relocation. Christina is a graduate of Transylvania University and holds an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management. Christina is enjoying volunteering at each of her children schools (all 3 attend different schools) and getting to know the area. Thanks to her two Boxers Ginger and Jasper Christina has quickly met all of her neighbors and fellow dog lovers. When Christina is not shuffling her kids here and there you will find her consulting on interior design projects for herself and others looking for ideas and inspiration for their spaces.

Susan Hollender

Susan grew up in Chicago & Glenview and currently lives in Winnetka, Illinois with her husband, Robert and their two sons, Kade and Connor. After earning her B.S. degree heading towards dental school, she fell in love with a marketing & advertising class and switch her career towards a business focus. She has spent the last 20 years in various marketing, communications, and business development and operational roles at global law firms helping to drive growth and revenue. Currently, she is at Michael Best, as Chief Growth Officer, she leads the course for strategic growth by leading and managing the firm’s Strategic Plan. She is involved in geographic and industry growth opportunities by leading aspects of talent and market growth, business development, client value and service, innovation, and overall culture. She works actively to build value- driven partnerships. With her creative mindset and keen sense of business strategy, Susan knows how to brainstorm and translate ideas into action. Susan not only welcomes but encourages new ways to be challenged and make impactful changes and differences through business & civic communities. She has served as the Chair of Busan, Republic of Korea - Chicago Sister Cities International, and is Emeritus Global Chair of the Marketing & Business Development Committee for Lex Mundi. She is a founding member of the Associate Board member of LINK Unlimited Scholars where she championed and founded the Associate Board. Throughout her career, she has served on many foundations and organizations specifically towards education and mentor involvement for kid’s in at-risk environments, women’s rights and safety, equality and inclusion, and cultural differences & exchange. On weekends, she’s cheering her boys at their sports games or working outside in her in her yard or garden. She enjoys cooking for friends and family and browsing any marketplace for a unique find!

Laura Katselic

Laura is a Chicago area native, growing up in Naperville, Illinois. She lives in Winnetka, Illinois with her husband, Frank and three daughters. During her professional career, she worked in advertising sales management with Crain Communications and International Data Group, an information technology publisher. She earned her B.S. Commerce from DePaul University. Laura served on the Board of Winnetka Community Nursery School and the Winnetka Central PTO. Laura actively volunteers for the Winnetka Congregational Church Rummage, which raises nearly $400,000 annually to support women, children, families and seniors in the Chicagoland area. She values the environmental impact of recycling and reusing while helping others in the community.

Megan Lively

Megan has spent her career in the advertising and technology sectors, cultivating and growing high performing brands. Megan began her career in advertising at Mindshare concentrated on media strategy. She then shifted her focus to digital media, sales and partnerships at NBCUniversal and Discovery Communications, representing Food Network, HGTV and Travel Channel. In her current role at Meta, Megan partners with Financial Service advertisers to build brand and performance solutions. She is also passionate about mentoring young women in her field to progress their careers. Megan began serving on the Kohl Children’s Museum Women’s Board when she moved to Winnetka three years ago with her husband and three children. Megan was born in St. Louis and grew up in the New Jersey and St. Louis areas. She earned her B.S. at Syracuse University in Finance and Advertising where she played Division I soccer and captained her team her Junior and Senior years. Megan enjoys coaching her daughter’s soccer team, tennis, and traveling with her family.

Brenna Nichols

Growing up in Prairie Village, Kansas, Brenna graduated from the University of Kansas in 2000 with a BS in Sports Science and Business. Brenna met her husband, John in 2007 while both working as brand managers at Miller Brewing Company. In 2009, they married and welcomed son, Fisher in 2010. John, a native of Winnetka, promised country life would be just as exciting as city life and they landed in the 60093 zip code in 2011. Brenna joined the Willow Wood Board and served for four years, the fourth as President, managing a board of 23 extremely talented women. Their second son, Bauer, joined Team Nichols, in 2014. She has also sat on the PTO, held many PTO Committee Roles and served as a room parent at Greeley Elementary. Longing for a career that highlighted her creativity, making connections with people and love of gift wrap, Brenna started her own small business, Gifted For You, in 2017. As a Gift Concierge, Brenna is able to help others express themselves through gifting. From ideation, procurement, wrapping and delivery, Brenna helps her clients, locally, nationally and globally, take away the stress & delivers smiles. It has truly been such a rewarding business, especially in 2020, when the pandemic hit. Brenna has also enjoyed spending time as a fertility mentor for the past seven years, helping women navigate the uncertain & emotional world that is secondary infertility. Working with Shine, an organization based in Chicago and Fruitful, a national organization, she has Mentored over a dozen woman and finds the connections very rewarding. Brenna’s hobbies include searching for sea glass on the shores of Lake Michigan with her family, sitting on her front porch watching the neighborhood go by, enjoying carbohydrates, trying to figure out what her cats are thinking all the time, spin class and acting as The Sherpa for her husband’s Ironman Triathlons.

Kim Ronan

Kim is from Cincinnati, Ohio and has a Bachelor of Arts from Indiana University in History and Classical Studies and a Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Government from the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs. During her professional career, she worked for KPMG as a consultant in the government sector and then later as a Director, Health Policy and Government, for several pharmaceutical companies including Novartis and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Kim is active in community and school activities and currently serves as the co-chair for the Winnetka Public Schools Foundation Board and is a past PTO President at Greeley School and served on the Winnetka Community Nursery School Board. Kim is also a member of the Woman’s Board at the Winnetka Community House.

Heather Russell

Heather moved to Chicago in 2018 to become the Chief Legal Officer of TransUnion where she oversees the company’s Legal, Risk, Compliance, Privacy, Government Relations and ESG functions in 30 countries. Before joining TransUnion, Heather held senior positions at Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon and Fifth Third Bank. She spent the first decade of her legal career at Skadden in Washington and Europe focused on financial services, cross-border M&A and international corporate finance. Heather is passionate about civic duty and supports several progressive causes. She is on the Board of Illinois Legal Aid, having raised over $1M for the organization over the past few years. She also serves in fundraising advisory roles for the National Women’s Law Center and the National Immigrant Justice Center. She founded TransUnion’s Pro Bono program which provides free legal services to underserved communities in Chicagoland. She is also a proud member of The Chicago Network where she led TransUnion to become a founding signatory on the Network’s Equity Pledge to achieve gender equity in corporate leadership by 2030, and is active with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, which advances policy solutions and fosters dialogue on critical global issues. Heather and her husband, Tim Mayopoulos, have a home in the Gold Coast neighborhood and are also planning a move to Winnetka soon. Heather’s son Spencer is a freshman at Colby College in Maine, and her daughter, Milly, recently committed to run track and play soccer (she’s a goalkeeper!) for The University of Chicago. Heather is also the proud stepmom to Gus (a PhD candidate at Columbia) and Katie (an immigration counselor in Chicago).

Sandy Greiner

Sandy owns Sandy Greiner Pilates, a boutique Pilates studio in Northfield. After moving from Chicago to Wilmette in 2000, she has served as a volunteer at a number of organizations while raising her three children. Her favorite was the Ravinia Junior Board. She worked with Shatterproof as co- chair of Chicago's inaugural 5k walk/run, with Family Action Network as a liaison to Regina Dominican High School and with The Kindness Connection. Sandy is currently volunteering with the North Shore League of WINGS Program, Inc. While living in Chicago and working as the business development manager at Rush Corporate Health Center, she volunteered at the Worksite Wellness Council of Illinois. Her passion for building strong communities started in her hometown of Milwaukee and later in Madison where she graduated with a BS from the University of Wisconsin. She and her husband, Lars, have three adult children.

Deirdre Campbell

Deirdre’s professional career has focused on strategy, marketing, analysis, and communication. She began her career at McKinsey where she specialized in retail. Following her graduation from Booth, Deirdre completed the management development program at Abbott Labs and worked on pre-launch efforts for a drug in late-stage development. She led brand positioning, marketing, and PR efforts as the Director of Marketing and Community Engagement for AUSL, a Chicago non-profit focused on teacher development and school turnaround. Deirdre chaired fundraising efforts at her daugthers’ school helping double the funds raised. She served on the Blaine Local School Council, the elected school board providing fiscal and leadership oversight. Deirdre has volunteered with Junior Achievement and serves on the Launch Committee of The Pickles Group, a community of kids supporting kids through their parents’ cancer journey. Deirdre graduated from Agnes Scott College with a major in chemistry and from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with a focus on strategy, marketing, and finance. Deirdre, her husband, and two daughters live in Winnetka. She loves to travel, run, cook and bake and be a source of organized calmness for her family.

Kate Schotsky

Kate is Chicago born and raised, and currently lives in Winnetka. She began her professional career with Merrill Lynch on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in the S&P 500 Futures and Options. After three years on the floor she moved into institutional equity research sales covering technology, real estate and commercial products. Kate moved to Deutsche Bank’s RREEF group in 2004 to become head of trading, and would go on to become COO of the Liquid Real Assets division from which she retired in 2016. Kate is married with two children. She is passionate about increasing opportunities for girls in academics and sports. She can be found weekly at her children’s school volunteering and is on the Lake Forest Country Day School Parent Council. She is also on the board of the North Shore Warhawks Hockey Club, a newly formed and expanding girls hockey club based out of Winnetka. She has a BA from Notre Dame and MBA from the University of Chicago.

Christina Self

Christina is a California native and currently resides in Winnetka, Illinois. Christina holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Management Information Systems from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. She started her career as an IT Consultant with Arthur Andersen. Afterwards, she worked for KPMG where she led numerous client engagements to provide various risk advisory services and internal/external IT audits for Fortune 500 clients. Currently, Christina is on the executive board and chairs the Audit Committee for Girlstart, a non-profit organization that empowers girls in science, technology, engineering, and math. She is also on the Woman’s Board for the Winnetka Community House. She is a Board of Trustee for North Shore Country Day School. In her free time, she likes to run, golf, snowboard, travel and do yoga.

Katie Smith

Katie grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio, but has lived in the Chicago-area since college, currently residing in Winnetka with her husband Rutledge and 3 children. She graduated from Georgetown University with a B.A. in Government and English. After starting a career in finance, she completed her Masters in Finance and Strategy at Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management and also earned her CFA designation. For over 20 years, she worked as a Global Equity Analyst at a large-cap value focused Institutional money management firm based in Chicago, picking stocks for their mutual funds averaging $15 billion in AUM. Katie now spends her time as a stay-at-home “hockey mom” and as an active volunteer. She is the current Treasurer and incoming 2020-21 Co-Chair of the Winnetka Public Schools Foundation, a non-profit organization that raises funds to enable Winnetka Public Schools to go beyond what tax dollars support alone. She is also the Social Chair of the Woman’s Board of the Community House, Winnetka, one of the few privately-funded community houses in the nation. Most recently, she has joined the Winnetka Chapter of Moms Demand Action as the Co-Events Lead, helping to promote gun sense in America.

Nicole Steel

Nicole Steel is Founder and Creative Director of S T E E L American Luxury, a luxury lifestyle brand, maker and curator of the finest handmade goods and experiences in the world. Prior to founding S T E E L, Nicole spent most of her career as an investor and advisor of over $3 billion in commercial and residential luxury real estate, development and design over the course of 20 years. This experience has led her to visit over 50 countries for both work and leisure. She began her career in New York as a publicist focused on creating global PR strategies alongside investor relations and advised C-Suite executives. Steel’s client roster included Russell Indexes, Julius Baer Bank, Keefe Bruyette and Woods, Martha Stewart, Steve Madden, Exclusive Hotels & Resorts and Pixar/Disney.

Becky Goodman Sulecki

Becky grew up on the North Shore and currently lives in Winnetka with her husband and three children. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Kansas followed by her Master’s degree in Middle School Education. After 10 years of teaching middle school science in Glenview, Becky changed careers and moved into the packaging industry where her family had a packaging machinery manufacturing business, Goodman Packaging Equipment. Currently, she is Director of Project Management for Stokes Material Handling in Doylestown, PA as well as serving as the General Manager of Engineered Packaging Solutions in the Chicago area. Outside of work, Becky served for many years on the Illinois Holocaust Museum Remembrance Board, volunteers at the Glencoe Community Garden, has been a room mom and chaired school events for many years. Becky enjoys time in the mountains with her family, long walks with her dog, cooking and spending time with family and friends.

Stephanie Tokarczyk

Stephanie is from Annandale, New Jersey and has a Bachelor of Arts from Drew University in Biochemistry and Biology and a master’s degree in Pharmacognosy from the University of Illinois at Chicago Program for Collaborative Research in the Pharmaceutical Sciences. During her professional career, she has worked for Johnson & Johnson as a research chemist and then as a Regulatory Affairs professional for several pharmaceutical companies including Biogen Idec, Hospira, and Fresenius Kabi. She is passionate about her role in developing lifesaving medicines and technologies to help care for critically and chronically ill patients. Stephanie has owned a photography company and still enjoys photography as a pastime. She stays active through running and yoga and believes in the positive impact of coaching Girls on the Run, a life-changing program for 8- to 13-year-old girls that promotes girl empowerment by teaching life skills through lessons and running. Stephanie is married with three active children and two even more active German Shepherds. In her spare time, Stephanie also enjoys playing piano, road trips and hiking with her family.

Mary Tritley

Mary Tritley grew up in Winnetka, IL and has a BA from DePauw University and a MBA from Dartmouth College. Mary has 25 years of experience in the investment management industry. She worked for UBS, American Century, Scudder, and William Blair. She currently runs a family office business helping individuals with financial management and planning. She has been active in Winnetka school and village volunteer opportunities, and she serves on the Woman's Board of Rush University Medical Center.

Holly Tyson

Holly recently moved to Winnetka with her husband Jeff and two sons, Luke who is on a gap year before beginning college in the fall, and Cole who is a sophomore at Beacon Academy in Evanston. Holly and family lived in the Philadelphia area for several years and have followed her career as a Chief Human Resources Officer to Richmond, Virginia for The Brink’s Company, Pittsburgh for Dick’s Sporting Goods, and now Chicago where she most recently led Human Resources at Zebra Technologies. Holly has Bachelors degrees in English and Psychology from the College of William & Mary and a Masters degree in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University. For nine years, Holly has been a passionate Board member and is currently Treasurer of the Cancer Support Community, a national organization that encompasses Gilda’s Club and provides free navigation guidance and psychological and social support for cancer patients and their loved ones. She has also led Corporate Social Responsibility for Dick’s Sporting Goods and served on the Boards of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation, the Red Cross of Central New Jersey, the Executive Advisory Council of the University of Richmond Robins School of Business, and regularly supports the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Pinky Swear Foundation supporting families impacted by cancer. Holly enjoys travel and skiing with her family and fitting in a run every now and then.

Yeming Rankin

Yeming is originally from Pennsylvania and moved to the Chicago area nearly 20 years ago. She is currently on her third career, overseeing early-stage private venture investments and philanthropic strategy at her family office, Rankin Ventures. She is motivated to support mission-oriented companies throughout their entire journey, leveraging her analytical and operational background. Previously, she co-founded a digital health technology company, Odeza, where she served as Chief Technology Officer. Prior to that, she worked in financial markets, spending a dozen years as a quant at Citadel Securities. She currently serves on boards for the Illinois Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, Urban Initiatives, and The Winnetka Public School Foundation. She studied Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, where she met her husband. They moved to Winnetka in late-2020 with their two children. She enjoys traveling, tennis, gardening, and spending time outdoors.

Allyson Dietz

Allyson Dietz currently leads Product Marketing for TruAudience Marketing Solutions at TransUnion. Allyson and her team are responsible for defining the positioning of the company’s identity, audiences & activation, data collaboration and marketing measurement & attribution solutions and tying the benefits of those to our client’s most pressing needs. Prior to TransUnion, Allyson drove product strategy and innovation planning at Numerator to support pricing, promotion, ecommerce, and advertising intelligence platforms. She began her career at Nielsen, advising global CPG and retail clients through foundational understanding of consumers & shoppers, identifying white space opportunities, improving innovation strategies, and optimizing their advertising dollars. Throughout her tenure, she has had the opportunity to guide incredible organizations such as Unilever, Coca-Cola, KraftHeinz, RB, and Walmart. Allyson has a Bachelor’s degree from Miami University in Ohio and an MBA from Kellogg at Northwestern University. Allyson and her husband Ben live in Winnetka with their three kids and Iove to spend their time exploring new places and cultures, cooking with friends and drinking really good wine.

Lindsey Shim

Lindsey Shim navigates a spectrum of diverse experiences. Originally born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, she lived in Singapore in high school and was educated at Ewha Women’s University in Korea and then at Columbia University, earning an MS in Actuarial Science. With a robust career spanning over a decade, starting at AIG in NYC, she has become a seasoned P&C pricing actuary, currently working as a vertical lead in Excess and Surplus Construction at Nationwide. The twists of life brought her to Orange County, California before the pandemic redirected her to Winnetka, Illinois, in 2021, closer to her husband’s family roots. Her husband, Dan, and Lindsey have been making small philanthropic waves by donating to various non-profit organizations, including Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City. Dan serves as a board member at Forestburgh Playhouse, a non-profit theater organization in New York, and has successfully led several asylum seeker cases over the years by providing pro bono legal services. Most recently, she started participating in the WINGS Program through her community network and continues to seek more ways to bring meaningful impacts to the area they call home in the years to come.