Young Nonprofit Mentor of the Year
Greg DiDomenico
President/CEO of the Community Memorial Foundation
Greg is President and CEO at Community Memorial Foundation (CMF). Established in 1995, Community Memorial Foundation is a private foundation with a focus on community health improvement. Their geographic area includes 27 communities in western Cook and southeastern DuPage Counties in Illinois. CMF’s mission is to measurably improve the health of people who live and work in the western suburbs of Chicago.
Greg joined the CMF team as Vice President in January 2009 after serving as Executive Director for a number of years at local non-profits, the Rich Port YMCA (now the Greater La Grange YMCA) and Hinsdale Center for the Arts. Greg’s resume also includes management positions at Little City Foundation and leadership roles in Pennsylvania, where he coordinated community mental health services and directed “down-sizing” efforts for state institutions in Montgomery County.
Greg serves on a number of community boards and advisory committees, including the Illinois Gift of Adoption Board and Past Board President of the West Suburban Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Greg’s experience in philanthropy and with non-profits is compatible with CMF’s belief that the Foundation is in the business of making a difference in the community.
Read the press release.
Young Nonprofit Professional of the Year
Myla Skinner
Site Director of the Quad Communities Center for Working Families of the The Cara Program
Myla lives and breathes the organizational values of The Cara Program (achievement, innovation, honor, integrity and passion), and through them, builds our culture. She is someone that our staff gravitates to as a natural leader, a coach, a process engineer and a friend. She builds collaboration through continual teamwork, spending equal time talking with her team about strategy as she does investing in team camaraderie. She is a leader not only of her specific domain but also throughout the organization – one whose productivity, sense of discipline, commitment to the community, commitment to process, and equal stewardship of those we serve and those with whom we partner is instrumental to our success.
As an organization whose results are often defined by the thousands of men and women affected by homelessness and poverty placed into quality employment, and more importantly by the lives that have been transformed by their success and the positively contagious effect that success can have on others, The Cara Program prides itself on employing rigorous selection processes when appointing its leadership. In Myla’s case, she has been selected for new opportunities time and again because of her natural ability to take the big hairy goals we have set before us, and distill them into execution with passion, with honor, and with integrity.
Young Nonprofit Professional of the Year
Nominees
Brandon Johnson
Executive Director of Washington Park Consortium
Mr. Johnson has taken on an amazing challenge by becoming the first Executive Director for an upstart community non-profit in Washington Park. The Washington Park Consortium came into being after a groundswell of community and political concerns about Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid. A predominantly African American community, seemingly left almost destitute of city support, Washington Park's residents prepared themselves for an onslaught of exploitation and forced migration. Mr. Johnson, at the time working for another organization, helped mobilize community leaders, residents, and vested stakeholders in creating a strategic action plan.
That plan became a published document called the Washington Park Quality-of-Life Plan, May 2009. Upon taking on the ED role, Mr. Johnson has continued to use the plan as a blueprint for action and engagement with the intent of bringing positive change into a community that is perceived as unfortunate and barren. Key victories for Mr. Johnson have focused on issues of health and safety, including robust initiatives and support for urban agriculture, public health violence reduction, and youth social development. In addition, as a young professional with a lifetime of experience as the community he services, Mr. Johnson resourcefulness and strategic planning have sustained a multi-stakeholder dialog by focusing on the greater good of our collective input.
Roslind Blasingame-Buford
Executive Director of BUILD, Inc.
After becoming the first female Executive Director in BUILD's 43 year history, she has helped to shape the organization into a nationally recognized nonprofit.
Roslind has over 15 years of experience in the nonprofit sector and is a beacon of hope for the Chicago youth that she works with. Not only does is she the face of BUILD, but she isn't afraid to get her her hands dirty and to stand up for the young people in her community.
In the past year, BUILD has struggled to find a new space to serve our youth and to better reach and provide services to more young people. Roslind led BUILD in this effort and energized and excited our volunteers, staff and stakeholders to grab this project by the horns. Her dedication and success paid off and BUILD will be moving from a 2000 square foot office to a 10,000 square foot office summer 2012 in the heart of Chicago's Austin neighborhood.
Roslind is an exceptional role model for other young professionals because she is the prime example that if you want something bad enough, hard work and passion will eventually pay off.