Success Stories

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Ann Alvarez
Ann Alvarez, AM '76 IN MEMORIAM
Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management
As the former CEO of Casa Central, a Midwest Hispanic social service agency, Alvarez guided the agency to considerable success.
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Robert Cordero
HIV Prevention/Treatment, Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management
Cordero is the executive director of New York City's Grand St. Settlement, an organization that has served New York's highest-need citizens for more than a century.
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Justin Douglas speaking with community members at a Black Star Project event
Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management
Douglas earned his dual Master’s in social work and public policy at the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice and the Harris School of Public Policy. He launched the Phillip Jackson Youth Mentorship Program during his time as a student and is now a full-time program manager with the local nonprofit The Black Star Project.
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Ricardo Estrada
Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management
Estrada is the president and CEO of Metropolitan Family Services, a human services agency.
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Alexandra Frenn
Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management
Frenn worked as a case manager in the admissions department at the Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, a residential facility for young men and women between the ages of 12 and 24, after graduation. While in this role, she commits to community outreach and resource distribution to youth in need of shelter, healthcare, education, clinical treatment, athletic opportunities, faith-based connection, and other specialized supports.
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Rose Gallagher
Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management
Gallagher had been a partner in a large law firm before deciding to pursue a degree from Crown Family School. Now she is a senior associate, foundation relations at the Ounce of Prevention Fund, which focuses on supporting early childhood experiences for children in poverty in Chicago.
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Mara Heneghan headshot pictured outside wearing a blue blouse in front of a flowering tree
Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management
Heneghan works as the director of policy for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, where she works to implement the office’s strategic policy plan.
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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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Monica Meriweather headshot
Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management
Meriweather was one of two full-time students in the Master of Arts Program in Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management and had worked as a conflicts assistant at a law firm after graduating with her BA. She sought out Crown to build a career that would involve nonprofits, community-building, and education.
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Jane Quinn
Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management
Quinn is a recipient of the Edith Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement, vice president of the Children's Aid Society in New York City, and the director of its National Center for Community Schools; she was a crucial architect in the formulation of the community schools model and a leader in the strategic planning process of determining how best to invest $30 million a year to serve low-income children.
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Michael Rodriguez
Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management, Violence Prevention and Interventions
Rodriguez leads Enlace Chicago in its comprehensive approach to improving his neighborhood.
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Sarah Tang headshot posed in front of florals and plants
Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management
Tang had worked in nonprofit development before attending the Crown Family School's Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management program. She plans to move into program management or design and she sees herself involved in running an organization in the future.
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Patrise Washington
Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management
Washington is invested in community and mental health supports. She is an experienced case manager at Deborah's Place, a Chicago non-profit helping women experiencing homelessness.