Working Locally for Chicago

LOCAL ECONOMIC AND EMPLOYMENT DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

LEED COUNCIL ©COPYRIGHT 2011.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Ted Wysocki, President & CEO. Ted joined LEED Council in February 2002 after 17 years as President and CEO of the Chicago Association of Neighborhood Development Organizations (CANDO). He received his BA in Political Science from Providence College and his MA in Political Science from the University of Chicago. He began his community development career in 1974, working for over 10 years with Gale Cincotta at the National Training Information Center. From 1996 through 1998, Ted served a three-year term on the Federal Reserve Board's Consumer Advisory Council, serving as Vice-Chair of the Bank Regulation Committee during his final year. Ted is the Immediate Past Board Chairman of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. In 2011, Ted was appointed by Governor Pat Quinn to the Illinois Compliance Advisory Panel (CAP) to the state's Small Business Environmental Assistance Program (SBEAP), which is federally mandated to assist small companies in understanding their environmental requirements and achieving compliance.

Mike Holzer, Director of Economic Development. Mike joined LEED Council in 1988 as an intern while finishing his Master’s Degree in Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He rallied support from industry and nearby residents to help create the city’s first Planned Manufacturing District, the Clybourn Corridor PMD in 1988 and then subsequently for the Elston Corridor, Goose Island and Chicago Halsted PMDs. He worked on the development of the 30-acre Goose Island Industrial Park, involving himself in everything from environmental studies and site planning to property appraisal and recruitment of business users for the park. He negotiated a ground-breaking hiring agreement between Fed Ex, a tenant in the Goose Island PMD, and the Cabrini-Green community, in which LEED Council trained and placed 100 community residents in jobs using Tax Increment Financing. Mike serves on the Zoning Advisory Committee for 35^th Ward Alderman Rey Colon.

Margie Gonwa, Director of Workforce Development. Margie has a BA in Psychology from Northwestern University and an MBA from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Prior to joining the YMCA LEED Council in 1991, she worked with the City of Chicago’s Department of Economic Development and CANDO. As Associate Executive Director of LEED Council, she managed Workforce Development programs as well as doing fundraising and providing day-to-day agency management and staff supervision. She currently has overall responsibility for the design, funding and implementation of our workforce development programs. She serves as Secretary of the Board for the Chicago Jobs Council.

Dean Rennie, Associate Director of Industrial Skills. Dean joined LEED Council’s staff in October of 2002. Since then, he has designed and conducted training programs for our Entry-Level Industrial Skills Training [ELIST] program as well as Building Maintenance & Repair. Before joining LEED Council, he had been a Construction Instructor for Southwest Women Working Together. Prior to that, he spent five years teaching a skills-based training program for Lakefront SRO and two years as a carpenter supervisor for Habitat for Humanity.

Danny Shields, Associate Director of Computer Skills. Danny received his BA and then his MS in Business Information Technology from DePaul University. He is currently finishing up a second Master’s of Arts in Educating Adults from DePaul University in Summer 2011. He previously worked with DePaul’s Egan Urban Center/STRIVE Chicago Employment Training Services, providing computer training at the STRIVE Community Technology Center. Danny will take on primary responsibility for the establishment of LEED Council’s new computer training lab, where his duties will include designing the curricula for computer skills training courses. He serves on the Board of the West Humboldt Park Family & Community Development Council.

Dean Tripp, Associate Director of Green Training, is the newest member of LEED Council team He earned his BA in Communications from Columbia College in Chicago and his MS in Adult Continuing Education from Northern Illinois University. He is a veteran of the construction industry, as a former contractor and construction manager, and has also developed a second career in community development, education and employment-related positions. Dean shares responsibility for the development and delivery of an evolving green skills training program, and LEED Council’s most recent initiatives--development of field training operations and a social enterprise. He is also involved with outreach to the training community, the construction industry and the existing buildings sector for purposes of developing workforce programs for the emerging green economy.

Clarisa Ramirez, Associate Director of Communications and Marketing. Clarisa is responsible for all of LEED Council’s external communications, as well as website content and social media for Worklocal.org. She is a Logan Square resident who joined LEED Council in November 2011 after receiving her MS in Interactive Storytelling at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism. Previously, she served as Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica, and worked as a freelance journalist for various newspapers, magazines and online publications in Austin, Texas. Clarisa is an active member of Chicago Women in Philanthropy.

Froi Nunez, Associate Director of Accounting. Froi provides assistance to the President & CEO in the financial management of the organization. In addition, he serves as our computer network administrator and tech support specialist. Previously, he held accounting positions with other non-profits and in the health care industry. He received his Associate Degree in Accounting from Daley College in May 2011.

Liliana Kaminski Bradford, Assistant Director of Employment Specialist. Lily helps trainees with job readiness as well as helping reach out to employers for job hiring opportunities. She plays a role in helping to manage our Green Exchange Jobs Initiative which fits in with her prior experience as a Recycling Coordinator at the City of Chicago and Oak Park, IL as well as serving as the Past President of the Illinois Recycling Association. Lily has an undergraduate business degree, CPA, MBA from the Kellogg School of Business, Northwestern University and holds certifications in career coaching, job search and resume writing. Prior to joining LEED Council, Lily worked at The Enterprising Kitchen as a Workforce Development Coordinator. Lily is passionate about helping individuals find employment.

Krista Kahle Elam (AICP), Assistant Director for Sustainable Economic Development. Krista, a resident of Logan Square and past member of the 35^th Ward Zoning Advisory Committee, lends her considerable community planning and development expertise to the LEED Council. She focuses her efforts on the Green Exchange (Gx), helping support green business start ups by marketing LEED Council’s below-market rate micro-loan product to tenants leasing space at Gx and by placing community residents, including Lathrop residents, in jobs at Gx. Krista will also help redevelop the Rockwell Corridor as a “Sustainable Industrial Park” to provide for growth of existing businesses and attract new businesses with an emphasis on providing manufacturing or distribution space for Gx tenants and other green businesses. Krista received her BA from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI and a Masters of Community Planning from the University of Cincinnati, OH. She worked at URS Corporation in Chicago for eight years and as consultant planner for planning firm ATCS most recently. She is excited about the opportunity to work on implementing economic development plans and watching as these projects transform lives and the community.  

Ebony McLaurin, Client Services Coordinator. Ebony joined LEED Council in January 2011. Her primary responsibility is intake, assessment and enrollment of trainees into our job-skills training programs. She plays an important role in the day-to-day management of the programs, and she is also involved with our marketing and outreach efforts. A graduate of Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa, with a degree in Communications, she has over 10 years of experience in administrative positions, gained in both for-profit and non-profit settings, including a stint working for the Enterprising Kitchen, a now defunct social enterprise that manufactured and marketed high-end spa and beauty products.

Adam Panza, Assistant Economic Development Coordinator/Public Ally. Adam started his public service with LEED Council in September 2011. He previously was an analyst for Wahaso Water Harvesting Solutions. He earned a certificate in Sustainable Urban Design from Archeworks. He received his BS in Environmental Science from the University of Mary Washington in Virginia. Adam is a founding Junior Board Member of the Delta Institute.