Our Leadership Team

For David, growing up in Milwaukee, the JCC was the centerpiece of the Jewish community. He enjoyed going there to swim, play basketball and racquetball, and take schvitzes. The JCC promoted community involvement with Israel and supporting Soviet Jewry.

With his involvement, David is hoping to perpetuate the importance of the JCC in Chicago. He is a strong believer in Jewish-based overnight camping and in early childcare. David currently serves as Chair, Board of Directors. In the past he served as Treasurer of the JCC Chicago Board and as Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee.

David’s career is in commercial real estate. With his wife, Robin, he owns and manages apartment communities in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana. His experience in running their business has given him insight in ways to help the JCC with its various facilities.

David and Robin are active in JUF, have led various missions to Israel, and have chaired numerous events. They reside in Highland Park and have 2 sons. They are members of North Suburban Synagogue Beth El.

Marisa graduated with a major in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has a Master’s in Secondary English Education from National-Louis University. She is currently Chair of the JCC Chicago Board on which she has had numerous roles over the last 10 years.

Marisa is also on the JCC Chicago Women’s Board and has been a member of the Young Women’s Board of JUF for 9 years holding many roles including Vice President of Campaign, Area Development, and Community Outreach and Engagement. She is an active member of Beth Shalom Synagogue in Northbrook. Marisa owns the interior design firm, Horizon Lane, specializing in residential design. She and her husband, Dr. Steven Mandrea, reside in Northbrook. They have 4 children: Max, Josie, Arielle, and Mackenzie.

Doug and his wife, Carol, have a lifelong commitment to supporting the Chicago and worldwide Jewish community, and are most fortunate to continue this tradition having their 2 sons and 6 grandchildren all living near them in the Chicago area.

Recognizing Doug’s humanitarian and philanthropic initiatives, he has received the Human Relations Award from the American Jewish Committee and the Spirit of Life Award from the City of Hope.  He has also served as Campaign Chairman for the Chicago Jewish United Fund in 2009.

His commitment to JCC enabling young people to further their understanding of Jewish values and promote living their lives Jewishly is exemplified by his efforts to promote JCC within our community.

Doug’s involvement with JCC goes back many years, including financial support.  He currently serves on the JCC Chicago Board as a Vice Chair and is Chair of the Development Committee to raise funds to support JCC programs.

Doug volunteered for service in the United States Army serving as a First Lieutenant 1965 – 1967 and was awarded the National Defense Service Medal and Army Commendation Medal.

Doug helped build his family’s furniture manufacturing business with facilities in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Mexico.  After the successful sale of the business, Doug devoted more time and resources to philanthropy and helping others who may not have had the ability to help themselves.

Doug and his wife, Carol, reside in Highland Park.  Doug still enjoys running and workouts having completed several triathlons and 9 marathons.

Jerry has a long history of serving the JCC in multiple roles on the JCC Chicago Board. He is a Vice Chair and is Chair of the Audit Committee. He has also been on the Kaplan Task Force.

Jerry is an attorney and practices in Chicago. He is also a CPA. He earned his Bachelor’s in Accounting and his J.D. from the University of Illinois.

He is active in JUF, Big Brothers, and B’Nai Tikvah.

Jerry and his wife, Vicki, reside in Deerfield and have 2 daughters and 3 grandchildren.

“JCC has been a part of my life for almost all of my life, starting with nursery school, swimming lessons, and after school programs for me and continuing with early childhood, after school programs, day camp, and Camp Chi for my son. The JCC has been there when I wanted it and needed it. I am involved with JCC Chicago because I want to ensure that the JCC is there for future generations the same way it has been there for me.”

Lisa’s volunteer involvement with JCC Chicago began when she joined the early childhood parent committee at the Florence G. Heller JCC in Lakeview. From there, she joined the local Heller JCC Board and became Co-President of the region that encompassed the Heller JCC. Lisa’s connection continued with joining the JCC Chicago Board of which she is Secretary and Chair of the Governance Committee.

Professionally, Lisa designed and developed information systems working in private industry. She is able to use the system analysis skills from her professional career in her JCC Board and Committee work. Lisa is currently retired.

Lisa and her husband, Lee, reside in Wilmette and are active members of Beth Hillel Bnai Emunah. Both Lisa and Lee feel strongly about giving back to the community and volunteer for a number of different nonprofit organizations.

Ed feels as if he spent his entire life at JCCs, and he has from the age of 5 starting at the Milwaukee JCC. He even worked at Camp Chi between semesters in medical school at the University of Washington. Ed is the Immediate Past Chair of the JCC Chicago Board.

Now an anesthesiologist, Ed is one of the developers of the outpatient surgicenter industry in the Chicago area and helped found SameDay Surgery with 8 owned and operated centers. He is also the founder and chair of Nations Healthcare, opening 3 surgicenters in partnership with the NHS in the UK.

Ed has devoted most of his philanthropic time to Camp Chi and JCC Chicago for which he has been a passionate volunteer and supporter for over 35 years. He and his wife, Cathy, reside in Glencoe. They have 2 children and 4 grandchildren.

Mike has been involved with the JCC and Jewish camps his entire life. He started as a camper and then a counselor, a lifeguard, a supervisor, and, eventually, a director. Those experiences shaped who he is and provide a strong foundation for his Jewish identity. Given time to reflect on those amazing experiences, joining the JCC Chicago Board as a Director seemed like the natural next step.

Mike grew up in the suburbs of Detroit and started going to Jewish sleepaway camp at a very young age. He continued those experiences into his professional life upon graduation from Michigan State University when he moved to New York to take on a full-time role at the Samuel Field Y helping lead its overnight camp, Poyntelle. He spent 5 summers creating lasting memories and positively impacting hundreds of campers and staff. The experiences and friendships he made stick with him to this day.

Mike moved to Chicago almost 15 years ago and made a pivot in his professional career. In addition to graduating with his Master’s Degree from Northwestern University, he has held a number of Talent and Human Resources leadership roles at companies like Ernst & Young and Deloitte. Mike currently drives strategic priorities across several talent channels at Deloitte including leading campus operations for the consulting business. He brings that talent focused perspective to his support of the JCC and the Board of Directors.

Mike and his wife, Alissa, reside in Glenview and attend Temple Jeremiah. They have 2 daughters and a dog. His daughters have attended both Camp Apachi and Camp Chi. In his free time, he loves to travel, cook, and play golf.

Being part of, supporting, and volunteering for our Jewish Community is simply part of Chuck’s being. He doesn’t know any differently. He values being Jewish and holds dear the way of life and principles in which we believe. Family is core to his life. He sincerely adheres to the conviction that it’s JCC Chicago that binds and perpetuates the Jewish Community of Chicago.

Involvement with JCC dates back to the early part of the last century with Chuck’s grandma, Irene Spiesberger, Chuck’s mom’s mother. Chuck’s mom, Elaine Frank, and sister, Laurie Lieberman, have also been lifelong JCC volunteers and were the first 2 female Presidents of JCC Chicago. His uncle, Armund Schoen, was a Life Board Member. When Chuck graduated from business school, his uncle sent him over to the local J (at that time, the Henry Hart JCC on Peterson) near their business and told him he was joining the Board. He was 23 at the time. He has been on a JCC Board since then, and, with his wife, Debbie, and kids, has participated in many JCC activities over the years. Chuck is a Vice Chair of the JCC Chicago Board, is Chair of the Programming Committee, and is on the JCC Chicago Advisory Council.

He is also an honorary life member of the JCC Chicago Board and was inducted into the JCC Chicago Hall of Fame. He’s served on and chaired numerous committees, boards, projects, etc. He was Chair of JUF’s Automotive Division for years. He worked for the family’s business (and still does to a small extent) starting his own affiliated business in 1980 at the age of 27 and becoming a car dealer at 29. The family business is principally known as Z. Frank Chevrolet although he has owned 8 franchises over 33 years. He has invested in and managed commercial real estate for 30 years and is now involved with several partners in 7 Mathnasium Learning Centers around Chicagoland along with some other business investments. Chuck has been an active and committed environmental activist mostly with Sierra Club and served 12 years on the Sierra Club Foundation Board and 5 years on the Sierra Club Board. He has also been a member of the YMCA of Metro Chicago Board since 1995.

Chuck and Debbie live in Highland Park and have 4 children, 2 sons-in-law, and 2 grandsons. They’re members of North Shore Congregation Israel. All of the children and grandchildren live in the area. They all believe that no one is better off unless we’re ALL better off. He also keeps very busy, and, among other things, works out daily, bikes, kayaks, swims, reads a great deal, and writes an environmental blog, www.franklytalking.com.

Stuart joined the North Suburban JCC in 1995. He served and chaired most committees including nominating, fundraising, budget, and programming. He was elected President of the Northern Region JCC in 2004.

He was then invited to join the JCC Chicago Board of Directors. He once again chaired various committees. He was elected President of JCC Chicago in 2011. Most recently, he has served as Chair of the JCC Chicago Endowment Foundation. Stuart is a Director of the JCC Chicago Board, is Chair of the Endowment Task Force, and is on the JCC Chicago Advisory Council.

Stuart is also a past Board Member of Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago (JUF). He served on various JUF committees and commissions including the JUF Nominating Committee, Community Building & Jewish Continuity Commission, and Hillels of Illinois Governing Commission.

Stuart was elected to the JCC Association National Board of Directors in 2013. He served on various committees through 2019.

Stuart is currently Vice President of Administration of North Suburban Synagogue Beth El and serves on the Executive Committee. In 2018, he co-chaired the NSS Beth El Vision 70 Endowment Campaign which raised $6 million.

Stuart is President of Prime Publishing LLC, a niche digital media company he founded in 2009. This is his fourth start-up. He serves various industry trade associations including being on the Executive Board of the Craft Yarn Council, the Executive Council of the Association for Creative Industries, and the Advisory Board of Mequoda.

Stuart and his wife, Barbara, reside in Highland Park and have 3 children, 1 son-in-law, and 1 grandchild.

Laurie has been involved with the JCC since childhood when her mother, Elaine Frank, started on the JCC Chicago Women’s Auxiliary (now the JCC Chicago Women’s Board) following in her mother’s (Irene Spiesberger) footsteps. Laurie is a Vice Chair of the JCC Chicago Board, has served as its Chair, and is on the JCC Chicago Advisory Council. Laurie is also a Director and Past President of the JCC Chicago Women’s Board and has also served on the boards of the Jewish Community Centers of America (JCCA), North Shore Congregation Israel, and Hebrew Union College.

Laurie loves the hands-on feeling she receives when working with the J which allows her to see the fruition of the decisions made by the 2 boards on which she serves. Laurie also received the JCC Hall of Fame Award, again following in the footsteps of her mother and father.

Professionally, she has a degree in Interior Design and is still working as a designer. Laurie is also an artist now working in glass and previously in wood and stone.  She was also trained in 1959 to be a computer programmer and worked for several years utilizing those skills.

Laurie resides in Highland Park. She is blessed with 4 children, 3 wonderful sons-in-law and an amazing daughter-in-law, which, to her, are like her own children, and 12 grandchildren, some of whom live in the area and some out East.

Susie truly believes that JCC Chicago enriches everyone in our community. JCC provides so many opportunities for all ages to grow, learn, have fun, and, in the process, build a stronger sense of community. This past year exemplifies for her why she wants to be involved: “Our staff did the most remarkable job of reaching out to help our families safely stay engaged and supported. I am so proud to be part of such an amazing organization.”

It seems like the J has always been a part of Susie’s life, enriching it and adding to her sense of Jewish community. Camping also had a big impact on who she is. In 1981 when she was asked to join the JCC Women’s Auxiliary (now JCC Chicago Women’s Board) whose mission is to help children attend JCC camps, it seemed like a perfect fit for her. That experience allowed her to see the direct impact that JCC has on the lives of those in our community, deepening her commitment to JCC.

Serving on JCC’s Women’s Board as a Director and Past President also gave her the opportunity to become involved with the building of a J in Northbrook, a dream of which her father often spoke. When the Bernard Weinger JCC became a reality in 1997, she knew it was time to help further the mission of JCC by joining the dedicated members who make up the JCC Chicago Board of Directors: “It has been my honor and privilege to serve on this board for 23 years and I look forward to continuing to be amazed by the innovative ways we impact our Chicago community.” Susie is a Vice Chair of the JCC Chicago Board and is on the JCC Chicago Advisory Council.

Susie grew up in Oak Park and attended the University of Wisconsin. She and her husband, Laurence (Lory), reside in Highland Park and have 2 children and 2 grandchildren. Susie and Lory are members of Am Shalom.

Erika is a Director of the JCC Chicago Board. She is the founder of Stepping Stones Together to give parents the skills to help their children become excited about reading. She also co-founded Orion’s Mind, a national educational solutions provider. Erika earned her Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies with a minor in research and supervision from Loyola University. She is an adjunct professor at National Louis University focusing on courses in educational research.

Erika has been very active with Am Yisrael, the Israel Cancer Research Fund, and the Young Women’s Board of JUF. She and her husband, Justin, reside in Glencoe. They have 3 children: Alexis, Mia, and Luca.

Laurie Greiman has recently retired from the Gelber Group, a Chicago-based global proprietary trading company. Laurie is a Camp Chi alumna and met her husband, Peter Walton, at camp in the 1970’s. As a couple, they have remained very involved in Camp Chi over the decades and their children and grandchildren have attended Camp Chi, Apachi Day Camps, and JCC Chicago Early Childhood programs. Laurie and Peter live in Wilmette and will be working in the Art Center this summer at Camp Chi!

Most recently, Laurie led the alumni campaign to support the newly-dedicated Lecker Family Outpost Village where she named a yurt with her camp friends and the pavilion with her family. Laurie was also instrumental in fundraising and alumni engagement for the “Double Chai for Chi” event and has served on the Camp Chi Committee in the past.

JCC has been a part of Mark’s life as far as he can remember. He became involved to ensure that more people can enjoy the services that JCC provides for our communities.

JCC began a project to help renovate Mark’s local JCC and he was given the opportunity to help develop that project. Mark is a Director of the JCC Board.

Mark and his wife , Penina, reside in Lincolnwood and have 5 sons. He earned his MBA and MSISM from Loyola University. Mark is the Chief Brand Officer of Symphony Care Network. He is on the Executive Board of his alma matter, Arie Crown Hebrew Day School.

Sid became a Director of the JCC Chicago Board because “As a founding member of the Northwest Suburban JCC and past president of the Northwest Suburban Center and a former JCC Chicago Board member, I have always maintained an interest in serving the JCC Community.”

Sid is a former Illinois State Representative and is an attorney. He earned his B.S. in Mathematics from Roosevelt University and his J.D. from DePaul University.

Sid has served on the JUF Board of Directors and has been on the Scholarship and Government Affairs Committees and on the Health and Human Services Commission. He is the Immediate Past President and a Board Member of Congregation Beth Judea and is a docent at the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center.

Sid and his wife, Rita, reside in Highland Park. They have 2 sons.

Alan Myers has almost 30 years of experience in the securities industry in various capacities with highly respected global banks and brokerage firms. After working in a traditional brokerage environment, Alan decided in 2019 that his clients would be much better served in a fiduciary capacity and co-founded Trails Edge Wealth Advisers.

Al’s three children have attended JCC Early Childhood, Apachi day camp, basketball programs, and more. He has been a Board member of Big Shoulders Fund for many years and has held numerous leadership positions as a lay leader. He is passionate about the early childhood education work that Big Shoulders is doing and looks forward to adding value to the JCC Board as well.

Mark is the Chairman of Midwest Investment Banking and Global Head of Automotive and Equipment for J.P. Morgan. Mark has worked at J.P Morgan for 21 years. He has participated in the execution of numerous M&A assignments, equity and equity-linked transactions, fixed income transactions (both investment grade and high yield), and bank financings. M&A assignments include both buy-side and sell-side engagements for large public and private companies as well as cross-border transactions and business valuations.

Mark received an M.B.A. with honors in Finance and Accounting from the University of Chicago and a B.A. with high honors in Finance from Indiana University.

Mark is a member of the Board of WTTW (Chicago PBS) and the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center.

Mark and his wife, Lisa, reside in Deerfield and have 3 daughters: Emma, Becca, and Jane. Mark’s family has been involved with the JCC for multiple generations. His mom, Sue Pinsky-Gardner, worked at various Chicago JCCs for over 40 years and all of his children attended both Apachi and Camp Chi.

Suzie is President of the JCC Chicago Women’s Board, and, as such, is a representative on the JCC Chicago Board. The JCC Chicago Women’s Board is a dedicated volunteer organization with an ongoing legacy of financial commitment, providing annual scholarship assistance to eligible campers at all JCC Chicago camps as well as providing grant opportunities to directors at all of the JCC camps.

Suzie is a graduate of Cornell University and earned a law degree at Georgetown University Law Center. She was a partner with the law firm of Rosenthal and Schanfield, concentrating her practice in the area of Mergers and Acquisitions before retiring to raise her family and serve actively on several charitable boards, all focusing on the needs of children and disabled adults.

She has held many leadership positions in her 35 years of charitable activities. Suzie and her husband, David, were part of a group of founding members of KIDSS for Kids, an organization aimed at assisting Lurie Children’s Hospital in contributing to the well-being of children and their families. She was also a member of the Board of the District 103 Learning Fund and of the Board of Riverside Foundation. She is passionate about the work done at the JCC and has worked to provide meaningful opportunities to children at the preschool and camp levels. She is especially interested in continuing the work done by the JCC Women’s Board in granting opportunities to the Chicago area camps to bring new ideas to life.

Suzie and David reside in Riverwoods and have 3 sons: Danny, Jason, and Brian. Watching her boys grow up and thrive through their own camp experiences has given her the impetus to work toward ensuring that as many needy children as possible can have the opportunity to flourish and enjoy the chance just to be a kid, even if only for a summer!

Rickey is a Director of the JCC Chicago Board. He has been a staunch supporter of JCC Chicago and myriad other Jewish and humanitarian causes in the greater Chicago area.

Rickey is the owner of Hunter Management. He resides in Chicago.

Karen is President of the JCC Chicago Women’s Board, and, as such, is a Director of the JCC Chicago Board. The JCC Chicago Women’s Board is a dedicated volunteer organization with an ongoing legacy of financial commitment, providing annual scholarship assistance to eligible campers at all JCC Chicago Camps.

Karen is a graduate of Loyola University of Chicago with a Finance degree. Upon graduation, Karen spent 17 years at the Northern Trust as a Vice President in both the Banking and Trust Departments.  Since leaving Northern, she has dedicated her time to everything for children. This includes programs at the JCC from camp to preschool to innovative program development. Karen is also active in other charities including Helpusadopt.org of which she is a Board member. Karen was on the Board of Trustees of North Shore Congregation Israel, as well as on the Religious Education Board, and was Chair of the preschool committee for Gates of Learning Preschool.

Karen and her husband, Marc, reside in Northbrook and have 3 children: Jake, Joseph, and Sophia.

Phyllis is a Director of the JCC Chicago Board and “is excited to be a part of the ‘new’ JCC Chicago.” She is an investment advisor for JPMorgan Chase. Phyllis earned her Bachelor’s from Northwestern University.

Phyllis has been very active on the JUF Board of Directors, the JUF Investment Committee, Hillels of Illinois, Northwestern University Hillel, and the JCC Association Board. She also supports JCYS (2018 Honoree), BBYO, Executive Service Corps, and Northwestern University Alumni Association. Phyllis resides in Chicago.

Bruce became a Director of the JCC Chicago Board because he believes “It is important to support an organization that is so valuable an asset to our Jewish community, is an important link for many young families to that community, and provides valuable services and programs for families and individuals of all backgrounds.” All three of his children attended Apachi Day Camp.

Bruce spent his 40-year professional career at Cole Taylor Bank and served in various positions including President, Chairman, and CEO. Since leaving his full-time role at the bank in 2014, he founded Taylor Investment Partners investing with his family in venture and private equity transactions.

Bruce co-founded the NextLevel Exchange, an entrepreneur support program that partners with several organizations serving diverse minority communities in the Chicago area. He currently serves as Chairman of 18Doors (formerly Interfaith Family), Treasurer of the Board of Governors of The Metropolitan Planning Council of Chicago, Director of the Jewish Federation of Chicago, and Midwest Trustee of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. He is also on the Advisory Board of MTL Insurance Company and is a past Chairman of the Illinois Bankers Association.

Bruce earned his B.S. from Babson College and his MBA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He and his wife, Barbie, reside in Northbrook and have 3 children and 5 grandchildren.

This is Dave’s first year serving as a board member for the JCC of Chicago. It has been decades of wonderful experiences with the JCC that brought Dave to serve in this capacity.

As a young child, Dave and his siblings grew up at the old Jacob Duman JCC in Buffalo Grove. Dave went to JCC preschool and was involved in numerous after school programs at the JCC.

Dave spent his summers at Camp Chi, his home away from home. After several summers as a camper, he joined the summer staff for multiple summers as a Song Leader, SIT Director, and Teen Director. Following college, Dave joined the Camp Chi full-time team as the Teen Coordinator and was responsible for teen programming year-round.

Dave met his wife, Stacey, at Camp Chi and they both feel a tremendous amount of gratitude and pride for having found one another at their favorite place in the world. They have 2 children, Jake and Layla, who are also proud members of the JCC family. Jake spent 3 years at Apachi preschool and Layla will be starting her 3^rd year in the fall. Both children are campers at “Z” Frank Apachi and are future Camp Chi Campers.

Dave can’t wait to continue to evolve with the JCC and give back to a place that has given him and his family so much.

Bonnie comes from a family that has taught duty to community since she was a child. She began her adventure in philanthropy in 2000 when her family formed a foundation. The Topfer Family Foundation is committed to helping people connect to the tools and resources needed to build self-sufficient and fulfilling lives. In 2001, she left a 17-year career in sales, marketing and program management at Motorola, Inc. to shift her focus to community full time.

Bonnie believes in the importance of building community and creating opportunities for others where they don’t currently exist.