A Brief Bio

I'm a marketing professional who started Marketscope in 1983 after working in corporate marketing for a decade and in nonprofit organizations for several years before that.

When I was an employee, I was a program associate and a Community Employment Program teacher/jobs coordinator for the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, and a health consultant for the federal Follow Through Program. After that, I spent almost a decade working in the marketing department of Trans Union Credit Information Co. Initially hired as the communications manager with responsibility for writing, producing, and marketing promotional and educational materials, I also did strategic planning, market research, training, and administration including monitoring budgets and preparing financial projections, meeting planning and sales—with a particular emphasis on defining and developing new product initiatives.

As a volunteer, I have served as a committee member, committee chair, and board member as well as president of the board of directors. As a result, I am familiar with both the staff and volunteer perspectives in not-for-profit organizations.

Education

My formal education includes Ed.M. and A.M. degrees from Harvard University, and a B.A. from York University in Toronto, Canada.

I am always attending seminars to hone my professional skills. The following sessions have been particularly helpful to me in providing services to my clients:

• Community Media Workshop: Professional Media Relations



• Donors Forum of Chicago: Defining and Measuring Success: Outcome Evaluation for Nonprofit Organizations



• The Institute of Cultural Affairs:
  • Winning Through Participation Basic Group Facilitation Methods
  • Participatory Strategic Planning Course


• Morton Arboretum
  • Naturalist Certificate Program (Graduated November 2004)
  • Workshops and classes including Plant Families of the Midwest and Advanced Botany


• Openlands
  • TreeKeepers Course (TreeKeeper #599)
  • Building Urban Gardens