PRESIDENT & CEO
Juan Carlos Linares
BOARD CHAIR
Tadd M. Ingles
Ernst & Young LLP
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Noam Avidov
Noam is Director of U.S. Business Strategy at IMC Trading, where she works with leadership to define strategic priorities for successful growth and performance. Prior to that, Noam worked as a Strategy Consultant at Bain & Company. Noam holds a B.A. in Economics and Management from Tel Aviv University and an M.B.A. from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Why I Serve?
Noam is passionate about developing sustainable, long-term solutions for empowering under-served communities and elevating individuals out of poverty. She has found a similar view in the Association House’s comprehensive array of services and 120+ years of continuous community impact, which is what led her to become a volunteer at the house and later a board member.
Jeffrey Brubaker
Jeff serves as the global controller for the Freight Services segment at GE Transportation, a Wabtec Company in Chicago. Here, he provides technical accounting guidance to support month-end close, complex accounting transactions, and financial modeling for commercial deals. He also presents the quarterly balance sheet review results to the corporate controller and analyzes new customer contracts to ensure compliance with ASC 606. Before entering the business world, Jeff attended the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where he obtained his Master of Science in Accountancy and a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy & Minor in Spanish.
Why I Serve?
Jeff is proud to be part of an organization that offers such a wide range of services that have a positive and lasting impact on the community. He is constantly impressed by the dedication of the caring staff who consistently go above and beyond to help those in need.
Becky Brueckel
Becky is a Public Finance Attorney with Foley and Lardner LLP. In her role, she negotiates and closes tax-exempt, taxable financings and post-issuance transactions across the country for health care systems, universities, museums, and other non-profit organizations. She also acts as a bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel, disclosure counsel, and borrower’s counsel in over 1,000 new issues and post-issuance transactions. Becky also obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Language and Literature from Yale University. She then attended Boston University School of Law, where she received her Juris Doctor of Law.
Why I Serve?
Becky met Harriet in the late 2000s when she worked on financing for Association House and decided that, when she moved back to the City, she would love to join the House’s board. In 2017, she decided it was time to become an official board member, all because of Harriet’s dedication to the House’s missions was so inspiring.
Tadd Ingles
Tadd received his Bachelor’s in Accounting from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. After graduating college, Tadd made his way and became a partner at Ernst and Young at the Chicago office in Assurance Practice. He enjoys spending his free time with his beloved wife Ann and their two children.
Why I Serve?
Tadd is continually inspired by Association House’s staff, and he stands in awe of the dedication and compassion they bring to their work. Because of the staff, he knows we will achieve meaningful positive outcomes for those in need, and that motivates him to serve.
Nancy Johnson
Nancy is the head of Talent at Adtalem Global Education and leads the enterprise-wide Talent Acquisition and Talent Development Teams. Her team is responsible for all practices related to the recruitment and selection of top talent at all levels of the organization, executive assessments, investments in leadership and colleague professional development and efforts to create an engaging and effective organization culture aligned to the business growth strategy. Nancy also holds a BS in Business Management with a Minor in American Studies from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and an MBA from DePaul University in Chicago.
Why I Serve?
Nancy is passionate about helping others reach their full potential, regardless of their starting point and life’s challenges that may come their way. She loves her work at Association House, helping to uplift and support those with significant life’s challenges. Working with the “House” is a continued reminder to Nancy that we all are called to be our “brothers (and sisters) keepers.” She believes this work keeps her grounded and provides perspective on what is really important in life.
Ronald W. Kurz
Ronald received his Bachelor’s in Economics from Miami University and an MBA in Finance from Northwestern. His livelihood has been as a stockbroker for A.G. Becker, Smith Barney, and RBC. Most recently, he has begun a one-man investment management shop.
Why I Serve?
Ronald was introduced to Association House as a Deacon at First Presbyterian Church in Evanston. The Director, Hank Murray, turned out to be his high school Youth Minister. He lured Ronald in because he found that the work they were doing in job training, job placement, and life skills was the most important thing you could do. Fifty-four years later, Ronald is still invested in the House because it continues to get people into life-sustaining positions.
Paul T. Metzger
Before retiring in 2017, Paul practiced tax and corporate law in Chicago for 41 years. He first became familiar with the House because his young family lived in Wicker Park near the House’s historic building at 2150 W. North Avenue. Paul joined the Board in the mid-1980s. During that long tenure, He has served on virtually every Board committee and held every office, including Chair.
Why I Serve?
Paul says that the needs of the people that Association House serves and the inspiring dedication of their staff to serving those needs, has always kept him motivated to continue working for the House.
Praseen Nath
Praseen is the Vice President and District Manager at TCF National Bank. Within his role, Praseen takes responsibility for all sales, service, operations, and employee development for the assigned market in Illinois. Before joining TCF, he received his Bachelor’s in Technical Management along with a minor in Finance from DeVry University here in Chicago.
Why I Serve?
Praseen was introduced to the Association House of Chicago in 2017 through the Workforce development program, specifically Financial Careers training. He was genuinely impressed with the commitment of the House’s team and their dedication to helping their students and was immediately hooked on learning more about the House. Once he learned more about all the programs and services that AHOC provided to the community, Praseen knew he wanted to be part of the team to help make a difference in people’s lives.
Hugo R. Rodriguez
Hugo has been active in community work since he was a young man in Guatemala. Upon settling in Chicago he continued that work whenever he could. He has been a member of the Board of Directors for Association House of Chicago for over 25 years, and chair that Board for 9 years. In his professional life, he works as a real estate broker where he is sponsored by Re/Max 10 in Lincoln Park, Chicago. With his real estate expertise, Hugo served as the chairperson of the property committee during the time that Association House acquired the building that houses its current headquarters and other residential sites.
Why I Serve?
Hugo serves on the board because by doing so, he can contribute, in a small way, to the positive tangible impact Association House has on the life of its participants.
Kathleen Smith
Kathleen originally attended the University of Iowa where she received her bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance while simultaneously competing as a division 1 athlete. After her time in Iowa came to a close, she came to Chicago where she completed her Master of Business Administration at DePaul University in the Charles H. Kellstadt Graduate School. She then worked her way up the ladder at BMO Harris Bank and now resides as the Director of Business Transformation.
Why I Serve?
Kathleen is hoping to be able to continue to support the mission of the Association House alongside the staff and fellow broad members; perhaps bringing in a different perspective and new ideas around how to grow the Association House both deep and wide with expanded outreach in the community.
Helena C. Stangle
Helena is the Chief Strategy & External Affairs Office, Acero Schools of Chicago. Here, she is charged with strategic initiatives, government affairs, communications, advocacy, marketing, scholar recruitment, and development. Helena spearheads transformation across Acero Schools and is a fierce advocate for educational access and opportunity. For more than 22 years, she has served as an education policy advocate in senior roles for legislators and in-state agency, corporate and non-profit settings. She is an alum of the University of Texas at Austin, where she majored in Government and Sociology and minored in Mexican-American Studies.
Why I Serve?
Helena has called Chicago’s Ukrainian Village and Humboldt Park communities’ home for more than 15 years. She believes in the transformative impact of education and is passionate about giving voice and space to the individuals we serve in big, small, and absolutely life-changing ways. She seeks to be a lifelong learner and believes service is core to this pursuit.
Cynthia A. Ullrich
Cynthia has recently retired in the past few years from a long and fulfilling career with BMO Harris Bank. Beginning her career with BMO in June of 1984, she quickly began to make her way up the ladder tackling new positions and gaining skill. Finally, in May of 2016 she took up her final role in Commercial Banking Product. Not only did she find success in the business world, but Cynthia also valued education and holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Why I Serve?
As she enters her 14th year on the board, she continues to be inspired by the work that the House does to help people help themselves through a wide array of programs that can be wrapped around their participants.
Jennifer Tedjeske
Jennifer attended Westminster College and received her bachelor’s in Business Administration, and then went on to attend Ohio Northern University, College of Law. After college and gaining some experience in the field, Jennifer became a partner in the Chapman and Cutler LLP Banking and Financial Services Department. She is also a member of the Commercial Lending Practice Group.
Why I Serve?
n/a
Jose Garcia
Jose received his Bachelor’s in Accounting from Saint Xavier University, and after graduating college, he took on a role as a CFO. Wanting more, a few years later, Jose accepted a role as President and CEO of Northwest Community Credit Union. Jose loves to get involved in the community in his free time. He serves as a member on many other boards in the Chicagoland area.
Why I Serve?
Jose works for the credit union industry which operates on the philosophy of “people helping people” resulting in personal and economic health. He is pleased to be aligning himself with the Association House of Chicago which similarly embraces this philosophy as it reaches a multicultural population.
Audra Wilson
Audra attended Bucknell University and received her bachelor’s in International Relations and Spanish, and then attended Valparaiso University School of Law, where she obtained her JD. After working in the education industry and sitting in various director roles after college, Audra now fills the position of President and CEO of the Shriver Center on Poverty Law here in Chicago. Audra also sits as a chair of the Cook County Commission on Women’s Issues.
Why I Serve?
n/a
BOARD EMERITUS
Robert W. Parsons MD
Community Presbyterian Church of Clarendon Hills
AUXILIARY BOARD CHAIR
Vincent Delgado
BMO Harris Bank N.A.