Bridget Gainer, Cook County Board Commissioner – Tenth District
CCLBA Chairwoman
Bridget Gainer is the Commissioner on the Cook County Board for the 10th District representing the North Lakefront and Northwest side. Commissioner Gainer has over 20 years of experience in the non-profit, public and private sectors and her career has provided her a strong foundation in finance, human services and the workings of local government. Read More
Lawrence Grisham, Deputy Commissioner – City of Chicago Department of Housing & Economic Development
CCLBA Vice-Chair
Lawrence Grisham manages the Housing Bureau of the City of Chicago Department of Housing and Economic Development. In that capacity, he co-manages the department and specifically oversees the Department’s affordable housing programs and activities. Read more
Mayor John A. Ostenburg — Village of Park Forest, IL
CCLBA Secretary
John A. Ostenburg was elected Mayor of the Village of Park Forest, Illinois, in 1999 and was re-elected without opposition in 2003. He was elected to an unprecedented third four-year term in 2007 and to a record fourth four- year term in 2011. Read more
Calvin L. Holmes, President — Chicago Community Loan Fund
CCLBA Treasurer
Calvin L. Holmes has served as the President of the Chicago Community Loan Fund (CCLF) since 1998. Read more
Emy Brawley, Director of Land Preservation — Openlands
Emy Brawley serves as Director of Land Preservation for Openlands, a regional leader in conservation. She joined Openlands in 2008. Prior to that she lived in Colorado, where she worked in local government and in private legal practice. Read more
Michael Jasso, Bureau Chief – Cook County Bureau of Economic Development
Michael Jasso joined the Cook County Bureau of Economic Development initially in August 2013 as the Director of Planning & Economic Development. He currently serves as Bureau Chief for the Cook County Bureau of Economic Development as of February 2015. Read more
Peter M. Friedman, Partner – Holland and Knight
Peter has an accomplished and broad real estate practice and is the practice group leader of Holland & Knight’s Chicago Real Estate and Local Government Group. Mr. Friedman represents private and public sector clients in all phases of real estate finance, acquisition, development, zoning and land use matters. He counsels property owners, pension funds, tenants and developers in a variety of real estate and transactional projects. Read more
Nicholas J. Helmer, Mayor – City of Prospect Heights
Mayor Helmer is the Chairman of Inland Great Lakes, L.L.C. (IGL Real Estate). Mr. Helmer first joined Inland Real Estate Corporation (Now the Inland Group of Companies) in 1969 initially as head of Property Management Operations and later as President of Inland Residential Sales Corporation, the predecessor of IGL. Read more
James Planey, Founding Principal — Lee & Associates of Illinois, LLC
James Planey, an industrial real estate professional, is the founding principal of Lee & Associates of Illinois, LLC where he has worked since 2002. Prior to founding Lee & Assoc., Mr. Planey spent ten years (1992-2002) working for Collier Bennett & Kahnweiler, a premier Chicago-area commercial and industrial development firm. Read more
Stephen Porras, Founder & Partner—Axia Development Inc.
Stephen Porras Since founding Axia Development, Inc. in late 2008, Mr. Porras has served in primary and sub-consulting roles to i) for-profit and non-profit developers and public housing authorities seeking to undertake affordable rental housing development, ii) urban planning firms engaged in developing neighborhood economic development strategies, and iii) municipal governments seeking to forge successful public-private partnerships for the development of workforce housing. Read more
Lyneir Richardson, Executive Director — Center for Urban Entrepreneurship & Economic Development, Rutgers Business School
Lyneir Richardson is a faculty member and Executive Director of The Center for Urban Entrepreneurship & Economic Development at Rutgers Business School. Lyneir is also a lead consultant on Chicago TREND, an initiative aiming to stimulate retail development to accelerate neighborhood transformation in Chicago. Read more
Mayor Jeffrey Sherwin – City of Northlake, IL
Jeffrey Sherwin has served as Mayor of the City of Northlake since 1997. His service to Northlake began in 1983 when he was elected a Trustee of the Northlake Public Library District; his public service role expanded in 1985 when he became President of the Northlake Fire Protection District. Read more
Sarah L. Ware, Principal & Managing Broker — The Carter Ware Group
Sarah L. Ware is a principal and managing broker at The Carter Ware Group, Inc., a real estate firm that specializes in property sales, purchases and management; market research; and management consulting for investors or real estate assets, in Chicago where she has worked since 2007. Read more