Ambassadors' Circle

Elise is a Founding Board Member of Women’s Global Education Project. She is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer from Senegal (‘96-’99). Upon her return from West Africa and a training contract for the Peace Corps in Guinea, Elise worked at Chemonics International and managed multi-million dollar USAID contract projects in Mali, Senegal and Uganda.  On behalf of Women’s Global, she traveled to Senegal in December 2004 and met with Women’s Global local partners and scholarship recipients. Elise received her master’s degree in Environmental and Natural Resource Policy from The George Washington University in 1995, and her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Mary Washington College in 1990. She is fluent in English and French and learned Wolof in Senegal.

Lucy Ascoli is a consultant to nonprofit organizations in fundraising and strategy. She has been a fundraiser for low-income housing organizations and refugee organizations in Chicago and worked for the Donors Forum of Chicago, leading a successful program to increase the number of family foundations in Illinois.

She has been a member and a leader on several nonprofit Boards in Chicago including Business and Professional People for the Public Interest, Changing Worlds and the Chicago Committee for Human Rights Watch. She is Chair of the Advisory Committee of the Cambodian American Heritage Museum.

Lynn received a master’s degree in psychiatric social work from the University of California at Berkeley, and has worked in both in-patient and out-patient psychiatric settings. She has experience in individual, family and group therapy, and has worked in all aspects of the adoption process in New Mexico and Illinois, including counseling with pregnant adolescents, education and counseling with adoptive families, and grief counseling with all members of the adoption triad.

Catherine received a BA in English Literature & Classics and a Master’s of Non-Profit Administration from the University of San Francisco and a JD from Loyola University, Chicago. Catherine has worked in the non-profit world in grant writing and program development for the Goodwill Industries in San Francisco. She has also worked as a freelance writer, and practiced employment law at the Legal Assistance Foundation in Chicago. She also co-owned and managed Yoga Trek and now tutors Latin and works as a substitute teacher at Oak Park River Forest High School. She is originally from London and is married with three children.

Sue is a Director of a private family foundation whose mission includes enhancing both local and global communities by providing access to healthcare, offering opportunities for education and empowering the disadvantaged. Through her work, Sue has engaged with both small and large non-profit organizations in countries throughout the world and within her own local community.  Sue is a past mentor for the Future Philanthropist Program, a selective 2-year program for high school students to learn the workings of Philanthropy.  She is also the Founder and Director of the One Earth Film Festival’s Young Filmmakers Contest.  Sue was born in Australia, attended Gymea College and spent 15 years in the Travel Industry before redirecting her career to philanthropy.

Farah Eck is a global citizen who was born of a Pakistani father, American mother, and has lived in 9+ countries, so she is from everywhere and nowhere!  Farah’s background is in fundraising, organizational capacity building, communications, and stakeholder engagement.  She has a B.A. in Advertising, a M.A. in Communications, a graduate certificate in Nonprofit Management, and a M.A. in International Relations and Conflict Resolution.  She relocated to Nairobi in April 2015 with her husband, Daniel, to experience the adventure of a lifetime in Africa while serving as the Alumni & Volunteer Relations Director of the YALI Regional Leadership Center East Africa.  In Africa, Farah is involved in various capacities that support gender equality, refugees, youth empowerment, and global public policy.

In her spare time, Farah loves to expend her creative juices writing, having recently co-authored a children’s cookbook and nutritional guide, Freddy, Fork it Over! and is currently penning a children’s storybook based upon oral Kenyan folklore.  Dan and Farah are expecting their first child in August 2016 and are eager for a third member of the family to join them on their international adventures.

Nancy Juda is an activist, a philanthropist, and an artist. She focuses her attention, activity, and passion on supporting and empowering community building and leadership, especially that of women and girls. Currently, along with Women’s Global Education Project she is most engaged with The Mastery Foundation School for Leadership, The Chicago Foundation for Women, and The Hunger Project. Nancy lives in Chicago and travels frequently to work towards the possibility she envisions for our shared world.

Soudary Kittivong-Greenbaum is an independent fundraising consultant with more than 15 years experience in the nonprofit arena, helping organizations reach their goals through the right infrastructure, people, and resources to sustain, grow and thrive. Soudary channels her passion for human rights and social justice into projects that engage supporters to address systemic issues that touch upon equity, education and public health. During her tenure at a strategic communication and fundraising firm, she worked with a number of regional and national organizations; and previously led development initiatives for RefugeeOne, ACLU Foundation of Oregon, and International Rivers.

Soudary holds a Masters in Public Service from DePaul University, and a Bachelors in Asian American Studies and Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Based in Oak Park, IL, Soudary is an active member of AFP Chicago, and has volunteered with Women’s Global Education Project since 2009.

Edith Njuguna is a Senior Program Officer at Grand Victoria Foundation where she works on the Foundation’s three funding areas of education, environment and economic development. In particular, she led the development of the Illinois Early Childhood Fellows program, which is designed to develop the next generation of leaders in early childhood policy advocacy.  Edith develops and manages relationships with grantees, contributes to developing the Foundation’s strategic guidelines and program priorities, and supports the implementation of programs that advance those priorities.

Edith has extensive experience with nonprofits in Chicago and internationally in education, leadership development and community engagement. She serves on the Board of Directors of Chicago Women in Philanthropy and Co-chairs the Steering Committee of the Illinois Early Childhood Fellows program.  She was a fellow in the Association of Black Foundation Executives’ Connecting Leaders Fellowship in 2010.  She holds a Master’s degree in Public Service Management from DePaul University, a Certificate in Hispanic Studies from Universidad Complutense in Madrid and a BA in Literature and Linguistics from the University of Nairobi.  She is a native of Kenya and speaks four languages.

Jennifer enjoyed two years as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching environmental education in Senegal, where she became aware of the lack of opportunities for girls to attend school and improve their situation through education in Africa. Jennifer has been a fundraising professional for more than a decade, raising funds at many of San Francisco’s most prominent non-profits. She is currently the Director of Development for the LightHouse for the Blind. Her passions include running and painting.

Bill Taylor taught political science and history at Oakton Community College in Des Plaines, Illinois, for 32 years before retiring in 2004.  He began volunteering in 1999 with Seeds of Peace, an organization that brings Israeli and Palestinian teens to a camp in Maine every summer for a 3-week experience in peaceful coexistence, where he served as facilitator of the camp’s daily dialogue sessions. During the school year, Bill also teaches short courses for older adults on such subjects as Islam and the Arab-Israeli conflict. In 2002 he assisted in the founding of Hands of Peace, an organization modeled after Seeds of Peace, but adapted to the urban setting of Chicago’s northwest suburbs and has been volunteering with Hands of Peace in various capacities. He became involved with Women’s Global after hearing founder Amy Maglio interviewed on the Chicago Public Radio global affairs program Worldview.