Our Staff
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Patricia Rivera, LCSW
Founder Patricia is the founder of Chicago HOPES for Kids, a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization that provides academic support and literacy mentoring for children living in Chicago’s homeless shelters. She has a Master of Social Work Degree from the Jane Addams College of Social Work, Chicago, Illinois. She retired in 2010, after 33 years as a school social worker for Chicago Public Schools (CPS), with the last 7 years as the administrator for the CPS Homeless Education Program. After she retired and CPS cut the funding for the shelter-based tutoring program, she and a group of dedicated volunteers founded Chicago HOPES for Kids. She has been the Executive Director for HOPES since that time.
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Rita Kahn
Executive Director Rita Kahn serves as Executive Director at Chicago HOPES for Kids and came to the organization five years ago as Development Manager. She brings a variety of skills and experiences to her position including a teaching background, human resources and marketing leadership. Rita LOVES going to school. She received her Master’s in Education from Dominican University in 2010 and her Master’s in Labor Industrial Relations from Michigan State University in 1996. Before joining HOPES, Rita served as the Development Manager for Oak Park River Food Pantry where she increased community awareness of childhood food insecurity and raised funds to launch the community’s first summer meals program for at-risk youth. She also taught at Reavis High School and was dedicated to helping students in the alternative education program meet graduation requirements. At Chicago HOPES for Kids, she is honored to work with such a talented and passionate staff and looks forward to developing more high- quality programs enabling students experiencing homelessness to reach their potential.
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Erica Walker, MA, LCSW
Licensed Social Worker and Program Manager Erica is a creative, compassionate person with more than a decade of experience in education and social service, dedicated to the empowerment of youth, families and vulnerable communities. A native of Chicago's South Side, Mrs. Walker attended St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire as a Daniel Murphy Scholar. She holds a bachelor's degree from Harvard University with honors in African American Studies. Mrs. Walker also holds a master's degree in clinical social work from the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration and is a licensed social worker in the state of Illinois. Mrs. Walker is an avid bibliophile, urban gardener, jewelry designer and cyclist, and is active in several community service capacities in Chicago, including the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs and Chicago Public Schools.
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Mel Whitehouse
Program Manager Mel first joined Chicago HOPES for Kids as a Site Coordinator, where after a year and a half of read-aloud books, enrichment activities, field trips, and one flourishing program room sweet potato plant, she decided that she wanted to be able to devote more energy to HOPES and became an Americorps Member. During her year of Americorps service, her biggest project was launching a new, more expandable model for our Middle School Aged Program. Now, as Program Administrator, she manages our Americorps program and supports Site Coordinators so that we can continue to provide the most creative, intentional, and impactful programming for our students. When she's not at HOPES Mel likes to create pottery, play board games and swim.
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Alex Kirchner
Development Manager Alex was first introduced to HOPES as a volunteer in 2016, when she volunteered at SRHAC in Austin, and later at Primo-Homan in North Lawndale. She developed a passion for advocacy and service in under resourced Chicago communities while continuing to learn about the issue of family homelessness. After her graduation from Wheaton College with a Bachelors’ in International Relations, she committed to a year of service with HOPES as an AmeriCorps VISTA member. Throughout the year she grew her interest and skill in nonprofit development, events management, and grant writing and helped with projects like the Seeds of HOPE Gala and Lincoln Park Zoo field trip. After a stint as Development & Communications Coordinator with Gads Hill Center, Alex returned to HOPES to pursue her passion of advocating for children experiencing homelessness as Development Administrator. Her role includes fundraising campaigns, communications, grant writing, marathon team management, and event planning, and in her free time she enjoys reading, cooking new recipes, and long road trips.
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Alex Galván
Family and Outreach Administrator Originally from the Scottsdale neighborhood on the Southwest side of Chicago, Alex Galván graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in December of 2017 where she studied Educational Policy and Spanish. Alex first joined HOPES in March of 2018 where she served as an AmeriCorps state and National until May of 2019. During her time as an AmeriCorps, Alex helped spearhead several resource fairs and worked to develop our parent program, amongst other outreach efforts. After her term of service, Alex joined the HOPES Associate Board and moved on to work for the Schuler Scholar Program as an Educational Counselor at Gwendolyn Brooks High School. Her passion for working with families experiencing homelessness, as well as her commitment to the HOPES mission, drew her back to HOPES as a full time staff member. Her role includes fostering relationships with shelter partners and families and organizing outreach efforts in the community to elevate the HOPES mission. Alex will be attending the University of Chicago in the fall to pursue a Masters of Social Work, and her favorite donut place in Chicago is Old Fashioned Donuts in the Roseland neighborhood.
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Our Executive Board
Tonya Rice, Board President- Executive Committee
Leader, US Elections, Amazon Web Services |
Rita Winiecki, Board Vice President
Brand Marketing and Account Manager, BigMarker |
Andy Flynn, Board Treasurer - Executive Board
CFA, Portfolio Manager on the William Blair Global Leaders and International Small Cap Growth strategies |
Kate O'Connell, Board Secretary
Attorney, Morse, Buldoc, and Dinos, LLC |
Pat Rivera, Board Member - Governance Committee
Founder, Retired Social Worker |
Lucretia Jackson, Board Member - Program Committee
Therapist, Thresholds |
Philip Montgomery, Board Member - Program Committee
Therapist, Thresholds |
Matt Eddington, Board Member
Assistant Counsel, Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs |
Sarah Korf, Board Member - Fundraising Committee
Management Consultant, Gartner |
Dennis Frank, Board Member - Governance Committee
Professor, Roosevelt University |
Patrick Carroll, Board Member
Manager of Administration, Morgan Services |
Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, Board Member - Fundraising Committee
Professor, Northwestern University |
Frieda Holley, Board Member
Not-for-profit Manager, CHFK Site Coordinator, Central American Martyrs Board Member |
Sonya Teague Kingsley, Board Member
Chief Administrative Law Judge, Illinois Commerce Commission |
Amy Anthony, Board Member
Strategy and Analytics, Salesforce |
