Success Stories

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Lesley Kennedy
Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management
Kennedy is the VP of Community Engagement for Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana and teaches in the Crown Family School's Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management program.
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Black and white photo of Craig Kennedy wearing a dress shirt and suit jacket
Government and Politics
Kennedy is the president of The German Marshall Fund of the United States, which sponsors a variety of programs related to foreign, economic, immigration, and environmental policy, and fosters political exchanges between the U.S. and Europe.
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Marci Kirchberg
Marci Kirchberg, AM '17, is a social administration student with an interest in healthcare and international development. Before coming to Crown Family School she spent three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Burkina Faso, where she worked with the community on health education initiatives.
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Edythe Kirchmeier seated at a desk signing a paper wearing a pink floral outfit
Kirchmaier was still volunteering until her passing at age 107. Always a social worker.
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Ruth Knee speaking into a microphone
Ruth Knee, AM’45 IN MEMORIAM
Knee served in the U.S. Public Health Service during the 1940s and in the then-new National Institute of Mental Health, where she was a liaison for policy development and technical assistance concerning the mental health components of Medicare and Medicaid.
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Kashmir Kustanowitz in a dark green jacket standing outside a fenced wall
Substance Abuse
Kustanowitz completed an Albert Schweitzer Fellowship in which her project focused on the creation of a forum for individuals with histories of trauma and substance abuse to find support and inner strength, ultimately to prevent relapse; she interested in helping individuals overcome the limitations of the correctional system and looks to succeed in a change-oriented profession.
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Jeri Laureano in a floral blouse and navy sweater in front of a mural of black and white photo
Children, Adolescents, and Families
Laureano is the CEO of ChildServ, a nonprofit in Chicago which provides comprehensive, community-based programs – including foster care – to help at-risk children and families in Cook, DuPage, Kane and Lake counties build better lives and achieve their potential.
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Nathan Linsk in a gray suit sitting in a library
HIV Prevention/Treatment
Linsk has helped organize HIV/AIDS education programs in Chicago and the Midwest, started a para-social work program targeted at orphans of the disease in East Africa, launched a journal dedicated to social work around the issue, and has been an advocate for more support and attention to HIV/AIDS and patients who have the disease.
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Alyssa Linvell Headshot
Immigrants and Refugees, Global/International Social Work
A clinical concentration student, Linvell entered the Crown Family School’s Global Social Development Practice Program (GSDP Program), partly because of her undergraduate work in international studies, global health, and nonprofit management at the University of Iowa. The relationships she formed with clients at her field placements and engaging conversations with her classmates were influential in her work. Linvell began a post-MSW fellowship in college counseling at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Vivian Loseth pictured at an event in a red blouse
Vivian Loseth, AM '69 IN MEMORIAM
Loseth is the former Executive Director of Youth Guidance, one of Chicago’s oldest and most established nonprofit social service agencies.
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Black and white photo of San Luong assisting an elderly man
Global/International Social Work
Luong became the Director of Programs for the South- East Asia Center and shaped the organization into what it has become today - a viable, active community center serving various Asian constituencies.
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Hina Mahmood in a green blouse and black suit jacket against a gray background
Government and Politics
Mahmood recently became deputy chief of staff at the Illinois Department of Human Services, but her values remain those of a community organizer.
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Margaret Marion in a white sweater against a tan background
Substance Abuse
Marion was a part of the University’s BA/MA program and her studies as a clinical student at the Crown Family School concentrated on alcohol and substance abuse; she hopes to return to Detroit and to continue her work in community building and youth development.
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Headshot of Rev. Shaun Marshall
Social Inequality, Social Work
Marshall is the founder of Navigate Consulting, working primarily with nonprofits such as churches, housing agencies, legal aid agencies, and children’s hospitals. His work focuses on change management and transition, helping organizations revitalize or pivot their programming to be more intentional. 
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Louise Doss Martin in a red textured jacket in front of a gold background
Healthcare, Community Health, and Advocacy
Martin has used social work research to advocate for improved health care for women and children, the mentally ill and the homeless.
Government and Politics
Maxwell has had an opportunity to improve services for millions of people in her position as a project leader in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG), Office of Evaluation and Inspections.
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Beatrice Mayer
Mayer was among the original members of Crown Family School’s Visiting Committee (now the Crown Family School Council).
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Jelani McEwen
Anti-Poverty, Housing, and Socio-Environmental
McEwen focuses on repairing the socio-environmental relationship between the city and its residents in areas damaged by racism, political corruption, and segregation.
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Erwin McEwen in a dark suit speaking at a microphone
Children, Adolescents, and Families
McEwen oversaw programs and services for 100,000 kids across the State of Illinois in his role as Director at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.