Board Members

Les Bond is co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Attucks Asset Management, LLC responsible for portfolio management and the development of new business. Attucks is a minority-owned and operated firm that understands the unique challenges of this market segment, and currently manages over $1.8 billion in assets for some of the largest institutional investors in the country, helping them structure and run customized investment programs. Prior to founding Attucks Asset Management, LLC, Mr. Bond held senior positions in both government and the investment banking industry. He served as Deputy General Counsel for the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority of Chicago. Subsequently, he served as General Counsel to the Comptroller of the City of St. Louis, with additional responsibilities as Fiscal Manager of External Finance. Mr. Bond founded Columbia Capital Management, LLC, which provides financial and investment advisory services to government entities and treasuries. Mr. Bond divested his ownership interest in Columbia in 2009. He is also an active member of the Alliance of Business Leaders & Entrepreneurs, the New America Alliance, and the Association of Asian American Investment Managers. Mr. Bond is also a frequent commentator and lecturer on emerging managers.

David Bonner joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Inspector General in May 2022, as Associate Counsel. He previously served as Deputy General Counsel with the Illinois Department of Human Services from 2020 to 2022, and served in the United States Army as a legal officer and administrative law attorney in the Office of The Inspector General, Headquarters Department of the Army, at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. starting in October 2016.

Prior to his service at the Pentagon, Bonner served the people of Illinois as an Assistant Attorney General (AAG) with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office in the Civil Trials and Prosecutions unit and Assistant State's Attorney (ASA) at the Cook County State's Attorney's Office. As an AAG, he represented state officials in state and federal court and prosecuted employers for violating state labor laws. As an ASA, he represented Cook County and its officials in employment litigation.

Bonner graduated cum laude from Truman State University in Missouri in 2007 and served on the Board of Governors there from 2013-2023. Bonner earned his juris doctor in 2010 from the University of Wisconsin Law School in Madison and is licensed to practice law in Illinois and Wisconsin.

David Borris grew up in Glencoe, Illinois & studied Hotel & Restaurant Administration at the University of  Nevada in Las Vegas. After several years working for others in the industry, he and his wife, Cari, opened a small gourmet retail carry out concept, Hel’s Kitchen, in 1985, in Highland Park, Il. on Chicago’s north shore. The parents of three children, they learned early the difficulties entrepreneurs face in striving for work life balance, and the importance of developing and compensating high quality staff in building a successful enterprise. Having grown from 1 employee in a 900 square ft. store front to occupying close to 10,000 sq. ft. with 38 full time and over 70 part time and seasonal workers, the couple sold the company in 2019, and are now retired.

David became involved in the fight for the Affordable Care Act in 2008, taking a position on the executive board of the nascent Main Street Alliance, the progressive voice for issues that impact small business at the local and national level. In that capacity, Borris has testified in front of various congressional committees and taken part in numerous press conferences and hearings on issues ranging from health care, wages and tax policy to transparency and Wall Street reform. 

David serves on the policy council for Citizen Action-Illinois. He also serves as Board president for Chicago Area Peace Action – the Illinois affiliate of the largest grassroots peace and justice organization in the country. CAPA focuses its work on the intersectionalities of climate disruption, defense spending, and foreign policy through a lens of equity and justice, both nationally and internationally.

Regina Buccola is Interim Dean of the College of Humanities, Education, and Social Sciences (CHESS) at Roosevelt University in Chicago. A Professor of English, she has published several books on early modern British drama and culture, most recently Haunting History Onstage: Shakespeare in the USA and Canada for Cambridge Elements, as editor of A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Critical Guide and co-editor of Chicago Shakespeare Theater: Suiting the Action to the Word. Recent journal publications include Shakespeare Bulletin, Medieval and Renaissance Drama in England and Borrowers and Lenders: The Journal of Shakespeare and Appropriation. She serves as the scholar in residence at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Her poetry has appeared in Women’s Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal and in Elia Magazine. In July 2022, a piece of her creative non-fiction appeared in Glacial Hills Review.

Stacy Davis Gates is President of the Chicago Teachers Union, President of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, Vice President of the American Federation of Teachers, and Chair of United Working Families. Before her election to the Office of President in 2022, Mrs. Davis Gates served four (4) years as Vice President of the Union. Prior to that, she served as the Union’s Political and Legislative Director. In the fall of 2019, she helped lead a 15-day strike and negotiate a historic contract that provides for smaller class sizes, ensures a nurse and social worker in every Chicago public school, secures sanctuary protections for immigrant families, and supports students and families experiencing homelessness.

While at the CTU, Mrs. Davis Gates has been the architect of bold political and legislative campaigns for the schools and city that all Chicagoans deserve. She has raised millions of dollars to elect progressive leaders to city, county, and state government and the U.S. Congress. She played an instrumental role in the 2015 mayoral campaign of Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and she has elected classroom teachers to all levels of local government, culminating with the historic election of CTU organizer Brandon Johnson, first as Cook County Commissioner, and in 2023 Mayor of Chicago.

She has spearheaded statewide legislative campaigns that enacted an elected school board for Chicago, bringing democracy to the district for the first time ever. Her legislative efforts also won the strongest charter school accountability measures in the country, restored full bargaining rights that had been denied to Chicago educators for nearly three decades and helped secure millions of dollars in extra state funding for Chicago Public Schools.

In 2017, Mrs. Davis Gates helped found United Working Families, an independent political organization by and for working class people and movements. She also serves as a board member for the Action Center on Race & the Economy (ACRE), a nexus for organizations working at the intersection of the struggle for racial justice and Wall Street accountability.

Mrs. Davis Gates is currently on leave from the classroom, where she taught high school social studies for over a decade at Englewood, Clemente and Mason Community Links High Schools. She attended Saint Mary’s College, the University of Notre Dame and Concordia University. Mrs. Davis Gates lives on the South Side of Chicago with her husband and three children.

Randy Dunn has been a leader in PK-12 and higher education over a thirty-eight year career. Following his tenure as a teacher and administrator in a number of Illinois school districts, and then as a professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Dunn served as state superintendent for the Illinois State Board of Education from 2004-06. After working as president at state universities in Kentucky and Ohio, Dunn returned to Illinois as president of the SIU System before retiring in 2018. In addition to undergraduate and master's degrees from Illinois State University, he holds a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dunn has served as a board member and consultant for several school districts and nonprofit agencies and is the author of The Change-Making Board: Consequential Governance for Public & Nonprofit Organizations, published by Mill City Press in 2021. 

Allison is a policy professional specializing in trade policy and national security within the Irish and EU contexts. Based in Dublin, Ireland, she previously served as a valued and favorite member of the CTBA team.

During her time at CTBA, Allison developed expertise in fiscal and education policy, drawing upon her background as an elementary school teacher.

 Allison holds a BA in Education from Michigan State University and a Master's in Public Policy from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Jacoby has served as an educator for 44 years serving as a teacher, school business official, Superintendent of Schools and as the Executive Director/CEO of the Illinois Association of School Business Officials (Illinois ASBO). Dr. Jacoby is also one of the primary architects of Illinois Vision 20/20 and the Evidence Based Funding (EBF) formula for Illinois.  He also served as a key policy voice on the Illinois ESSA Site-Based Reporting Advisory Task Force.

For 18 years he was the Editor of The Journal of School Business Management and the CEO of Illinois ASBO. His leadership positioned the organization as one of the leading associations in school business on both the national and international stage.  Recent awards include the Greschem Outstanding Alumni Award from NIU, the Ben C. Hubbard Leadership Award from ISU, the Michael A. Jacoby Advocacy Award from Illinois ASBO and the Exemplary Service Award from IASA.  Dr. Jacoby also speaks often to school leaders across the country on topics surrounding leadership, character and school finance.

Dr. Jacoby has a Bachelors Degree in Music Education from The Univeristy of Iowa (1980), a Masters Degree in Educational Administration from Illinois State University (1985) and obtained his Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Northern Illinois University (1993). 

Dr. Jacoby retired from his position as Executive Director/CEO for Illinois ASBO but continues to lead the Illinois ASBO Leadership Institute and Leadership Team Trainings in Illinois school districts. 

Currently, Dr. Jacoby serves as the CFO of WordParnters, a global ministry engaged in training pastors throughout the world.

Congresswoman Robin Kelly was elected to represent Illinois’ 2^nd District on April 9, 2013.

As a former State Representative, Kelly brings extensive legislative experience to the 2nd District. She successfully sponsored bills to protect consumers from fraud, support economic development, and increase the minimum wage. She also led the fight for landmark legislation to protect victims of domestic violence and improve public safety.

During her tenure in the Illinois Legislature, Kelly mentored progressive candidates and encouraged new leaders, including one of her colleagues, Barack Obama, in his successful 2004 bid for U.S. Senate. Most recently, Kelly was Chief Administrative Officer of Cook County, where she was responsible for managing the day-to-day operations and implementing policy for the second largest county in the United States.

Kelly has also served as chief of staff in the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office. As the first African American woman to serve as chief of staff for a constitutional officer in Illinois, Kelly pursued a progressive agenda rooted in promoting small business job creation, investment strategy innovation, eliminating food deserts, and advancing financial literacy in underserved areas. She also helped to transform the Treasurer’s Office – an agency that manages as much as $17 billion in state funds – by improving efficiencies, streamlining expenses, and demanding stronger ethical guidelines.

A New York native, Kelly moved to Illinois after high school to attend Bradley University in Peoria, where she earned her B.A. in psychology and a M.A. in counseling. She later received a Ph.D. in political science from Northern Illinois University.

Kelly serves on a number of boards and commissions, including the Cook County Human Rights Commission and the Hate Crimes Commission. She also serves as a Bradley University Trustee and is a board member of the Bradley University Council. In 2009, she was inducted into the university’s Centurion Society for honored alumni. She is also an active member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.

Kelly lives in Matteson with her husband, Dr. Nathaniel Horn and has two adult children, Kelly and Ryan.

Jane Lehmann is retired from Elgin Community College where she was a professor of reading and education for over 40 years. In addition to teaching, she was, for ten years, the Director of the Learning Skills Center.   She served in leadership positions at the college as well as in state and national professional organizations.  Jane is the co-author of two textbooks that have been widely used in community college reading classes, and she has served as a consultant in reading to elementary, secondary and post-secondary faculties.   She holds a BA and Ms.Ed from Illinois State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona, and is active at the local and state level in the State University Annuitants Association, an advocacy organization for Illinois University and community college employees.  

David May is a La Grange resident with 3 adult sons and 3 grandchildren. He is retired from Walsh Construction in Chicago. He formerly served as Board President of La Grange Elementary School District 102; and as Chair of the Executive Board of Ed-Red, a legislative advocacy consortium of 90 suburban school districts.

William McNary has been called one of the most electrifying and inspirational speakers of our time. He is the Co-Director for Citizen Action/Illinois, the state’s largest public interest organization working on an ambitious agenda that includes the fight for workers’ rights, advancing public education funding, utility rate and insurance rate reform, environmental safety, and protecting consumers from unfair predatory loan practices. He previously served as the Legislative Director for Citizen Action/Illinois.

He is the Legislative Chair of “A Better Illinois” a coalition dedicated to making the Illinois tax structure fairer in order to provide the revenues needed to create jobs, educate our children, provide for health care, human service, and public safety.

One of the nation’s leading advocates for health care reform, McNary is one of the founding members of Health Care for America Now!, the largest national grassroots health care coalition which led to the successful passage of the national Affordable Care Act that was signed into law by President Obama.

He is the Co-Chairman of the Emergency Network to Save Cook County Health Services, dedicated to reforming, rescuing and restoring the Cook County public health safety net.

McNary has been appointed by 2 Illinois Governors, the Illinois Attorney General, the Cook County Board President and other State Constitutional Officers to serve on several state boards, task forces, and transition teams. Most recently, Governor Pat Quinn appointed McNary to serve on the Illinois Campaign Reform Task Force where he spearheaded the push for public funded clean elections to lessen the influence of corporate campaign money.

McNary served as the founding president of USAction, one of the nation’s largest coalitions of progressive grassroots organizations. He served as a surrogate speaker for President Barack Obama in his first run for President. He was also elected as an Obama delegate and served as Illinois Convention Floor Whip at the Denver Democratic Convention in 2008.

McNary also serves on the board of the Voter Participation Center, an organization that empowers unmarried women, people of color and other underrepresented groups to participate in the democratic process.

Over seven election cycles, McNary has worked with the Rainbow/Push Coalition where he co-directed targeted voter registration and “Get Out the Vote” campaign efforts. He has a degree in journalism and communications from the University of Iowa.

Martha Merrill has over 15 years of experience as a union researcher, with accrued knowledge and expertise in areas related to collective bargaining, benefit administration, and public finance. Ms. Merrill currently serves as the Director of Research and Employee Benefits for AFSCME Council 31, a position held since November 2013.  Prior she worked as a Research Analyst for AFSCME Council 40 in Wisconsin.

As the Director of Research and Employee Benefits, Ms. Merrill is responsible for providing analyses and reports on a wide variety of issues connected to public services and public employees. Key duties include analysis of city, county and state budgets to review local fiscal policy, conditions and ability to pay; review of state legislative initiatives in the fields of pensions, state and local finance, health care, insurance, pensions and other related fields to determine their impact on AFSCME members and make recommendations; analysis of health and pension plan documents and actuarial reports in order to develop appropriate responses to employers, policy makers, union staff and members; and represent AFSCME on various task forces, coalitions, and panels including the We Are One Coalition and the Chicago Labor Management Cooperation Committee.

Martha aids Executive Staff during AFSCME negotiations with the State of Illinois, City of Chicago, and Cook County, and as such has a depth of knowledge on a wide array of issues impacting public employees across the state, from the privatization and reduction of public services to job safety and dangerous work conditions to fair wages and equitable compensation structures.

Ms. Merrill has a MPA from the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. UW Madison is also where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts.  In addition, Martha holds a MSW from Arizona State University. She resides in Bowmanville (just north of Lincoln Square) with her husband Matt, two children (Harper age 10 and Cooper age 7) and two COVID puppies Luna and Milligan.

Michael (Mike) Shoudy is the Executive Director of the Illinois Education Association (IEA-NEA).  Prior to that, he was the Executive Director of the Michigan Education Association (MEA-NEA).  Mike started his career as an attorney and shareholder with the White Schneider law firm in Lansing, Michigan, where he represented MEA, its locals, and its members in a variety of legal matters.  After 14 years in private practice, he continued his advocacy for educators as the General Counsel of the MEA.

A strong believer in public education, Mike graduated from public schools in Fulton County, Georgia, and went on to earn his bachelor’s degree and Juris Doctor degree from Michigan State University. He served as an adjunct professor for six years at Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, where he taught collective bargaining and workplace and employment discrimination law.  Mike and his husband, Ryan, live in Chicago with their French bulldog, Lucy.    

Dr. Marleis Trover is an Associate Professor at McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois. She teaches educational leadership classes in Finance, Curriculum and Supervision, and is a consultant to the Consortia for Educational Change. She has taught educational leadership courses at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL. and at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, IL.

Dr. Trover retired as superintendent of Vienna High School in 2008. During her administrative service, she has been a unit, high school and elementary superintendent. In addition to service as a superintendent, she has been a curriculum director, principal and teacher in elementary, junior and senior high school classes. 

Dr. Trover served as the 2004-2005 Illinois Association of School Administrators’ President and as a two-term Governing Board Member of the American Association of School Administrators from 2004-2010. Also, she was a designer/facilitator for the Motorola University/Illinois Association of School Administrators’ Leadership Partnership from 1990-2005. 

In addition, Dr. Trover served as facilitator for the Bill and Melinda Gates Learning Technology Grant (ILTC). The sessions were designed to integrate Data Driven Schools, Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortia Standards (ISLLC), and Baldrige Criteria for Systemic Educational Change and Innovation and increased student achievement.

Dr. Trover has also served on the Governor’s Team for Educational Excellence, the Illinois Virtual High School Board, and the Illinois (BiN) Baldrige in Education Board. She served two terms on the Illinois Educational Funding Advisory Board (EFAB). She currently serves on the Illinois Rural School Board and is past President of the Johnson County Illinois Retired Educators’ Association. 

She co-authored a biography, Pass the Plate: The Life and Legacy of US Congressman, Kenneth J. Gray in 2009. The authors share the book with public libraries and schools. She obtained a Master’s Degree in Education and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Higher Education from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL. She resides in Vienna, IL with her husband Bob Trover. They have three grown children.

Addison Woodward has spent over 55 years in higher education, first as a student where he earned three degrees, the first a B.S in Psychology Summa Cum Laude from C.W. Post College of Long Island University, the last a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Toronto in 1968.

Addison retired from Governors State University after 30 years, the last 23 of which he was Chairperson of the Division of Psychology and Counseling. Prior to that he was an instructor and assistant professor of psychology at Albion College for four years.

He has served on the Illinois Board of Higher Education since 2005. Addison has also served in leadership positions with the first public university Union in Illinois as well as with the State University Annuitants Association, an association with 16,000 members advocating on behalf of all community college and public university employees in Illinois.

After living in the south suburbs for 40 some years, Addison and his wife Pamela now live in Chicago.