Call Wendy at 312.922.9920 x 6

Since joining Millennia Wendy has guided a wide range of organizational development and planning efforts for nonprofit, public, and philanthropic organizations. She is a skilled strategic planner, able to bring strong analytic and participatory facilitation methods to results-oriented planning processes that fully engage diverse stakeholders.  Her training as an urban planner combined with her years of experience working with a wide range of organizations, large and small, have given her a wealth of insight into organizational management, strategy and change.

Wendy came to Millennia from her position as the Director of the Heartland Alliance’s Chicago Institute on Urban Poverty (Now called the Social IMPACT Research Center or IMPACT). There she oversaw policy, research, advocacy, and coalition building initiatives focused on social and economic issues. One of these efforts the Immigrant and Refugee Health Task Force launched her into immigration and health policy work which she continues today. In an effort to ameliorate language barriers in health care, she helped found Cross Cultural Interpreting Services. She has worked with state and local governments on several projects designed to ease the integration of newcomers into American communities. She was a member of  the Governor’s New Americans Policy Council for several years. More recently, her research and experience in economic development has served her well in her role as the principal evaluator for the Grand Victoria Foundation’s Workforce Development Initiative, which has focused on career advancement for low-wage, low-skill workers.

Wendy holds a Masters of Urban Planning and Policy (MUPP) from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. She is a member of the Association of Consultants to Nonprofits and National Association of Female Executives. She is the founder and former president of Friends of Whitney Young High School and served on its Local School Council. She is currently a board member of the Chicago Cultural Alliance, an association of museums and cultural centers.

In her words: “I never tire of working in the nonprofit and public sectors.  I believe that there is a public good that is achieved by investing in the work of mission-driven organizations and the communities that they serve. Especially at a time when funding is being drastically reduced for social programs, it is even more critical for me to use my experience to help nonprofits, governments, and foundations be as focused and outcome-oriented as possible. There are so many individuals, families, and communities that rely on the programs and services provided by these important groups."

Wendy's service specialities include Organizational Develoment and Planning, Leadership Development, Program Planning, Design and Evaluation, and Research and Policy Analysis