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2024 Impact Awards

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Meet the 2024 Honorees

Jacky Grimshaw

Vice President for Policy, Center for Neighborhood Technology

FOUNDERS AWARD
Honoring a leader who has been working and advocating for women and girls for 30 years or more.

Jacky Grimshaw

Jacky joined CNT in 1992, and has since developed its capacity to engage in public policy advocacy and transportation planning, transportation research, environmental justice, public participation tool development, GIS mapping, community economic development and air quality. Jacky advocates for and provides expertise to increase transit in the Chicago region. She created and led CNT’s transportation and air quality programs and led CNT’s Transit Future campaign in the fight for mass transit reform and dedicated funding in the Chicago region. Since 2005, she has led CNT’s policy efforts at all levels of government.

Jacky has served on numerous boards, including: Chicago Transit Authority, National Academy of Sciences’ Transportation Research Board’s Environmental Justice and Public Involvement Committees. She has just completed terms on the Women’s Issues in Transportation Committee. 

Prior to CNT, Jacky spent time as a researcher in hematology and gastroenterology, in both state and federal government, in the Chicago Public School district and served in numerous other capacities, including political advisor for the late Mayor Harold Washington and Director of the Mayor’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

Jacky has completed the Master of Arts in Public Policy requirements at Governors State University and holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Marquette University in Milwaukee.

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Tara Mallen

Founder and Artistic Director, Rivendell Theatre

BEACON AWARD
Honoring a leader who through their work of art (literature, painting, sculpture, or music) has highlighted the issues facing women and girls in the Chicago region and enabled their voices to be heard.

Tara Mallen

A producer, actor, and director, Tara is also the founder and Artistic Director at Chicago’s award-winning Rivendell Theatre Ensemble. She is a 2017 3Arts William Franklin Grisham Awardee and a Volunteers of America Silver Star Awardee. Most recently she was seen onstage in Rivendell’s critically acclaimed, smash-hit production Motherhouse as part of their Jeff Award winning ensemble. In 2018, she won the Jeff Award for “Actor in a Principal Role” for her portrayal of “Della” in The Cake. Recent stage credits include The Luckiest at The Raven Theatre (Jeff Nomination – Supporting Actor); the world premiere of Lynn Nottage’s Sweat at Arena Stage; Rivendell’s world premiere productions of Laura and the Sea, Look, We Are Breathing and Rasheeda Speaking among many others; and How Long Will I Cry at Steppenwolf Theatre. Since Rivendell’s inception in 1996, Tara has produced and/or acted in over fifty productions. She received a Joseph Jefferson award for “Supporting Actress” for work in WRENS  and was also a part of that production’s Jeff winning “ensemble”. She was nominated the following year for “Actress in a Principal Role” for her work in My Simple City.

Screen credits include the independent feature by Chicago Filmmakers Kelly O'Sullivan and Alex Thompson, Ghostlight, which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion; The Last Shift (Sony Pictures); Dark Matter (Apple TV); Empire (Fox); Boss (Starz); Chicago Fire (NBC); Doubt (CBS/Sony Pictures); Chicago P.D.(NBC); Sense8 (Netflix) and the independent feature FOOLS. 



Tara co-conceived and directed the world premiere of WOMEN AT WAR, , a theatrical exploration of women in today’s military that played to sold out houses in the fall of 2014 and toured throughout the midwest; directed the Jeff nominated Midwest premieres of The Electric Baby, 26 Miles (co-production with Teatro Vista); Fighting Words; Psalms of a Questionable Nature; Elliot, a Soldier’s Fugue (co-production with Stageworks/ Hudson); and the brief and brilliant Shady Meadows by Lisa Dillman as part of the 2007 Chicago Humanities Festival.

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Madeleine A. Behr

Policy Director, Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation

VANGUARD AWARD
Honoring a leader who is 30 years old or younger, whose work is having a significant impact on women and girls, and who shows great promise for the future.

Madeleine A. Behr

Madeleine A. Behr (she/her) is the policy director for the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE), where she leads CAASE’s policy and advocacy strategy to support survivors of sexual harm, and promote criminal justice reform while centering victims’ rights.

Most recently, Madeleine helped coalesce and lead victim rights organizations to defend and pass the Pretrial Fairness Act – historic legislation which made Illinois the first state in the U.S. to end the use of money bond in pretrial jailing decisions. Madeleine also led the Ensuring Success in Schools Law (ESSL) coalition to pass a first-of-its-kind state law in the U.S. requiring K-12 schools in Illinois to respond and accommodate student survivors of sexual violence and other traumas.

Madeleine has been appointed by both Gov. JB Pritzker and former State Superintendent Carmen I. Ayala to statewide task forces on institutional responses to sexual harm against student survivors at both the K-12 and higher education level. Madeleine has been quoted as a gender-based violence policy expert in The 19th News, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Tribune and WBEZ Chicago. Her research for CAASE on Chicago Police’s low arrest rates in sexual assault cases has also been cited in the New York Times.

Before joining CAASE in 2018, she was a government and investigative reporter, covering the 2016 presidential election, Wisconsin’s rape evidence kit backlog, failures in the county jail and foster care systems.

Originally from the western suburbs, Madeleine has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s degree in public policy from DePaul University’s School of Public Service.

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Araceli Lucio

Ellas Founder, and Community Health Advocate Coordinator, The Resurrection Project

ACCESS TO HEALTH IMPACT AWARD
Honoring a leader who has improved access to health information and services for women and girls.

Araceli Lucio

Araceli Lucio, has been a health organizer for the Resurrection Project since 2006.

Since becoming a community organizer, she has been a fierce advocate for health services for the uninsured. Under her leadership she has educated thousands of women about breast cancer prevention, referring them for annual check-ups, and promoting the need for health information and more resources for undocumented and uninsured women. Araceli began ELLAS in 2012 as support group for breast cancer survivors. Araceli created the group of Promotoras de Salud of ELLAS (Health

Care Provider) to give information and resources in Spanish, as well as training of leaders that would continue advocating for programs to help the community with health disparities. Araceli Lucio has a strong passion for health advocacy and helping women who do not have the resources to take care of their health needs. She enjoys learning and making connections with those in the health field to bring more resources to those who need it most. Araceli Participated in AARC as an advocate in the Scientist Survivor Program. In the American Association of Cancer

Research’s, presented a poster titled “Community Initiatives for All Women's health” she was also part of the Planning Committee of the West Side Total Health Collaborative To represent my community. In combination with the other Committee members, to defining the scope, goals, and structure of the West Side

Total Health Collaborative. Now call “West Side United” she was also a Board member of the Devices 4 the Disabled. Devices 4 the Disabled (D4D) collects and redistributes used Durable Medical Equipment to those in need in the Chicago area.

And now she is Present Community Member of Chicago CHEC since 2019, Community advisory council of the Health First Collaborative with SUHI, And Recipient of Robert Wood Johnson foundation. When Araceli is not working, she enjoys running and cycling in front of the lake in the company of her daughters.

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Michelle Martin

Program Coordinator, Dress for Success

ECONOMIC SECURITY IMPACT AWARD
Honoring a leader who has improved the lives of women and girls by increating their financial stability and improving their economic well-being.

Michelle Martin

Michelle Martin joined Dress for Success Worldwide Central in 2016 as the Program Coordinator and in 2023 was promoted to Program Manager.  Michelle has a strong connection to the women she works with and creates programs with intent and knowledge of the needs of the community. Her engaging opportunities integrate volunteers and corporate partners in service to the mission to help women achieve economic independence to thrive in work and in life.

Michelle brings over 14 years of nonprofit experience having worked as an Employment Specialist at Jane Addams Hull House, Case Manager at Metropolitan Family Services and Domestic Violence Advocate at South Suburban Family Shelter. As a domestic violence advocate, Michelle played a crucial role in safeguarding, educating and supporting DV victims in south suburban communities and medical facilities to increase individual knowledge of community resources.  Working in the nonprofit sector fulfills Michelle’s purpose to create a lasting impact on the lives of women.

She holds a BA from Roosevelt University and MA in Human Services from Spertus Institute.  She enjoys traveling and trying new restaurants and lives in the south suburbs of Chicago with her husband of 22 years. She has a blended and blessed family of 4 adult children and 5 grandkids, all of whom she adores.

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Stephanie Love-Patterson

Executive Director, CAWC

FREEDOM FROM VIOLENCE IMPACT AWARD Honoring a leader who worked to ensure that women and girls are free from violence.

Stephanie Love-Patterson

Stephanie Love-Patterson is the Executive Director of Connections for Abused Women and their Children (CAWC).   She has worked at CAWC since August 1999 and is a Certified Domestic Violence Professional.  She oversees program services for the organization including Greenhouse Shelter, the Humboldt Park Outreach Program, Domestic Violence Services at Haymarket Center, and the Hospital Crisis Intervention Project at John Stroger Hospital and Northwestern Memorial Hospital.   She also provides training and technical assistance to various organizations and healthcare professionals throughout the community to help create a coordinated response to domestic violence.

Prior to coming on board at CAWC Stephanie worked at A Safe Place Shelter in Lake County Illinois as a counselor/advocate.  She also worked as a sexual assault advocate/coordinator at Resilience (formerly Rape Victim Advocates) at the John H. Stroger Hospital. She has been a trained sexual assault advocate since 1985.

Stephanie currently services on the Advisory Board of the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma and Mental Health and was recently appointed to Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Women’s Advisory Council. She served as President of the Board of Directors for the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence from 2016-2019. She is a past member of the Board of Directors for The Network (formerly Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network), from 2005 until 2007. 

With over 30 years experience in the field of violence against women, Stephanie is a recognized leader in the field and sought after by media outlets for her expertise.

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Janice Feinberg, PharmD, JD
President, The Joseph & Bessie Feinberg Foundation

SOPHIA AWARD
Honoring a leader who has made notable philanthropic investments in organizations supporting women and girls.

Janice Feinberg

Janice L. Feinberg, PharmD, JD, is a Chicago-based consultant and President of The Joseph & Bessie Feinberg Foundation, a private family foundation committed to effective community and cultural investments through its philanthropy. As a social impact investor, the Feinberg Foundation is dedicated to supporting community-based organizations that improve the lives of people of color from under-resourced communities in Chicago. Focus areas include social justice, youth programs, early childhood development, literacy enrichment, mentorship, housing, violence prevention and access to health care.

Feinberg has a long career in pharmacy, with a specialty in geriatrics, and more than 30 years’ experience in non-profit management. She provides pro bono services for many of the organizations the Feinberg Foundation supports and coordinates the Englewood Data Hub, which brings together non-profit community-based organizations providing child, youth and other services in Greater Englewood to foster dialogue, collaboration, advocacy and community building.

Feinberg received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Southern California and graduated Cum Laude from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Prior to entering law school, she was Assistant Director of Pharmacy at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.  After law school, Feinberg moved to Washington, DC where she worked as a consultant, providing editorial, educational, marketing, legal, and other contract services to health care and pharmacy associations and the pharmaceutical industry. She has authored more than 90 articles published in the pharmacy and health care literature.

Feinberg was Executive Director of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP) Foundation from August 1991 through December 2000 and remained on staff as Research Director overseeing and managing the Foundation’s research and programmatic portfolio from 2001 until December 2011.

Feinberg received the prestigious George F. Archambault Award in recognition for her outstanding contributions to the consultant pharmacy profession through her extensive publications and her vital role in development of ASCP Foundation traineeship programs, research initiatives, and clinical practice tools. She was honored with the ASCP Foundation Distinguished Service Award and received the Janssen Eldercare Lifetime Achievement Award for her demonstrated initiative, commitment, and excellence in caring for and improving the quality of care, treatment, and management of elderly patients. In 2014, the Chicago Council on Science and Technology recognized Feinberg with its Advancing the Public Understanding of Science and Technology award. In 2016 she was honored by the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science Midwest Region with its Vision and Impact award and received an honorary Doctor of Human Letters from the Erikson Institute.

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FONDATION CHANEL

OUTSTANDING CORPORATE CITIZEN AWARD
The award recognizes a corporation’s commitment to building a stronger, more equitable world through its internal and external support of women and girls.

M.E.A.N. Girls Empowerment

REV. WILLIE TAPLIN BARROW EMERGING LEADERS AWARD
The award recognizes organizations engaged in innovative work to support and strengthen Black women and girl’s leadership, and provide grant funding to further that work.

M.E.A.N Girls Empowerment

M.E.A.N. Girls Empowerment™, an award-winning organization recognized by the Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center, has been dedicated to empowering young black girls (ages 8-18) since 2014. M.E.A.N Girls Empowerment (MGE), mission is to empower young ladies to avoid negativity, build self-confidence, and pursue their goals.  It is the sole mission of the organization to help young women persevere, be courageous, and tap into their own creativity.  MGE fosters a safe space for all participants who may be impacted by the growing pains of bullying, aggression and crime that largely affects impoverished and low-income communities.

Our programs are designed to foster the communication skills that are necessary to navigate this often-cruel world and become leaders in their educational institutions and communities.  MGE not only provides the ladders these young women need to climb toward their success, but also provides the tools that will nurture their mental health and embolden them as they overcome the barriers society has set before them.  

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Selection Committee

Chair
Abigayil Joseph, CEO/Bolhous Foundation

Members
Tracie Anderson, Principal Economic Inclusion Strategy, U.S. Markets/Transunion
Daniel O. Ash, President/The Field Foundation of Illinois
Queta Rodriguez Bauer, Founder/Cultural Communications LLC
Cecilia A. Conrad, CEO/Lever for Change
Teresa Cordova, Director/Great Cities Institute
Cherita Ellens, President and CEO/Women Employed
Fraya Hirschberg, Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC)
Bette Cerf Hill, Founder/Printers Row Lit Fest and Founding Member /Young Womens Leadership Charter School
Eli Williamson, Co-founder and Board President/Leave No Veteran Behind

Thank you to our Sponsors!

Impact

Publicis Media 

Action

Sunny Fischer

Carol Prins  and John Hart
/The Jessica Fund
 
Chinese Mutual Aid Association
 
Elevate

Advocacy

 Marc and Jeanne Malnati
Family Foundation 

                    Patricia M. Carey 

                   Lauren Densham

                      Barbara Engel
 
                         Nancy Juda

                       Mital Family
                   Charitable Fund
 
                      Jessica Sohl
     
                 Jerry Newton and
                   David  Weinberg 

                        Lisa Y. Lee

Tribune

    Connie L. Lindsey

                              Juju Lien
           
                    Janice E. Rodgers
  
                       Patricia Slovak
 
                    Ann Marie Wright