46th Annual Philanthropy Awards | 2022 Honorees

On Tuesday, November 15th,  AFP Chicago proudly honored our 2022 honorees who represent the very best of our community: they are transformative leaders, diverse thinkers, eager trailblazers, and prominent philanthropists — each a shining beacon of possibility, change, and hope for Chicago. These honorees leave an undeniable footprint on the work we do in and around Chicago. They represent the best and brightest of Chicagoland’s philanthropists and fundraisers and exemplify the common bonds that connect us in our work. They are our mentors and yes, even heroes.

Congratulations to all our 2022 honorees! 

AFP Chicago 2022 Honoree Spotlights 

Distinguished Philanthropists Award
Shirley and Walter Massey

Born and raised in Chicago, Shirley’s career began as a bookkeeper at Playboy, but she has consistently and diligently supported youth and cultural initiatives throughout her life. Her long list of board service includes the Atlanta Ballet, Chicago Foundation for Education (founding member), Great Books Foundation, Women’s Board of the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, Women’s Board of the Chicago Symphony, Museum of Science and Industry President’s Council (founding member), Salzburg Global Seminar, ARCS Foundation, and the University of Chicago Women’s Board. While President of the Morehouse College Auxiliary, she spearheaded the Morehouse College Beautification Committee. In 2012, the Executive Conference Center building on the campus of Morehouse was renamed as the Shirley A. Massey Executive Conference Center in her honor. Shirley has been an active member of the Hyde Park Art Center’s (HPAC) community since 2008, including serving on the Gala’s Steering Committee in 2016. She and Walter were Co-Chairs of the recently completed HPAC Capital Campaign. She is a board member of the Court Theater of the University of Chicago, the Hyde Park Jazz Society and Options for Youth.

Walter’s spectacular 50-plus-year career includes working as a scientist, educator, business executive, cultural leader, and civic advocate. He is currently President Emeritus of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, having previously served as the internationally recognized school’s President for six years. He is also President Emeritus of Morehouse College. He is Chairman of the Giant Magellan Telescope Organization, responsible for guiding the construction of the world’s largest optical telescope. He began his career as a physicist at leading research universities before his appointment as Director of Argonne National Laboratory and then as Director of the National Science Foundation under President George H.W. Bush. In 1995 Massey returned to Morehouse College, his alma mater, where he was President for more than a decade. Walter is a former Director of the McDonald’s Corporation and former Chairman of Bank of America. He is appointed as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the City Colleges of Chicago and has also served on the boards of numerous non-profit organizations, including the Mellon Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Smithsonian Institution. Walter has received honorary degrees from 41 universities, including Harvard, Yale, Northwestern, Columbia, and Brown. Throughout his work, Walter has advocated for the representation of women and people of color in all fields of study and business. Massey is uniquely the recipient of both the Enrico Fermi Award for Science and Technology from the Chicago Historical Society and the Public Humanities Award from Illinois Humanities.

Walter and Shirley support numerous local and national organizations including Our Block, Our Hood, Our City, the Smart Museum, SAIC, HPAC and the Obama Presidential Center.

Executive Leader Award
Eric S. Smith, BMO Harris Bank

In his role as Vice Chairman, BMO Harris Bank, Eric is responsible for working with the U.S. Commercial Banking team and across other lines of business to develop the bank’s strategy and product capabilities as it expands nationwide by cultivating new and existing client relationships. As an ambassador for the bank, Eric is a key leader of several firmwide initiatives including regulatory affairs, community affairs, and diversity and inclusion.

Eric joined BMO in January 2020 from Fifth Third Bank, where he served as the Regional President responsible for the growth and strategic alignment of the commercial banking, wealth & asset management, and consumer businesses across the Chicagoland market. Prior to assuming that role in 2016, Eric served as Chief Financial Officer of Middle Market Banking for JPMorgan Chase for several years following his leadership role as a Managing Director in the Investment Bank responsible for advising Fortune 500 consumer product companies on mergers and acquisitions as well as debt and equity underwritings. Eric has more than 25 years of banking experience, and he began his career with Merrill Lynch as a Financial Analyst in Public Finance.

Eric has a long history of commitment to the non-profit and civic community as reflected through his board service and volunteerism. His current Board leadership roles include Chairman of the Chicago Urban League; Chairman of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital Foundation, Vice Chairman of Lyric Opera of Chicago; and Treasurer of the Economic Club of Chicago. Likewise, Eric is an active Board Member of the Chicago Public Education Fund, Navy Pier, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and Ravinia. Eric is also a member of the Commercial Club, Executives Club of Chicago, and the Executive Leadership Council.

Eric earned his bachelor’s degree in Finance from Howard University and his MBA from Harvard Business School. He and his wife Kimberly Taylor-Smith have two daughters and they reside in Evanston, IL.

Professional Grantor Award
Ellie Forman, Mesirow

Ellie Forman is the Senior Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at Mesirow. In this capacity, Ellie develops and implements financial and human capital strategies and programming that drive the firm’s corporate responsibility efforts, with a focus on sustainability, community engagement (neighborhoods, social justice and opportunity and inclusion) and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Ellie brings 17 years of experience in communications and philanthropy. Prior to joining Mesirow in 2012, Ellie was a Senior Account Executive at Chicago public affairs firm Jasculca Terman, where she spent more than seven years managing communications, media relations and event planning on behalf of nonprofit, government, education, foundation and corporate clients. She has been recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business for her work in corporate philanthropy.

Ellie is currently president of the Women’s Board of the Joffrey Ballet, and sits on the Board of Directors for The Nora Project as well as the Women’s Leadership Council of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. Ellie sits on Mesirow’s DEI Council and co-chairs the Council’s philanthropy committee.

Ellie earned a Bachelor of Arts in speech communication from Miami University (Ohio).

Benjamin Franklin Award
Kate Bousum, CFRE, Child's Voice

At her core, Kate’s values include family, kindness, and communication. These have nurtured her passion for the nonprofit sector, serving families and children, and fellow nonprofit professionals.

Kate serves as the Director of Advancement at Child’s Voice, which provides education and support to children with hearing loss, teaching them to learn to listen, to speak, and to succeed. In her role, Kate is responsible for the Advancement Team and the goals of raising funds, increasing awareness, and creating outreach opportunities for the magic that happens at Child’s Voice! This includes individual and major gift outreach and cultivation, grant writing, corporate/foundation support, special events, annual appeals for financial support, presentations about Child’s Voice to civic groups, organizations, and associations. The marketing efforts, materials, branding, social media, the Web site, and marketing strategy are also part of her responsibilities.

A twenty-year fundraising and special events veteran, Kate’s career has spanned higher education, social services, and education in both small and large advancement/development teams.

Kate received her degree from Purdue University in Communications and Public Relations and her Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) designation in 2017. She has also completed the Civic Leadership Academy through Northern Illinois University with special endorsements in both Nonprofits and Community Development.

In 2018, Kate received the Under 40 Leadership Award for Nonprofits by the Greater Oak Brook Chamber of Commerce. She has presented to West Suburban Philanthropic Network, at the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Conference, and to OPTIONS professionals on fundraising, special events, and the impact of outcome measures on fundraising efforts.

In addition to her work at Child’s Voice, Kate is involved in many professional organizations including the Association of Fundraising Professionals Chicago Chapter (Continuous Learning Council and Fundamentals of Fundraising Faculty Chair), West Suburban Philanthropic Network (President and Programs and Communications Committees), DuPage Foundation’s Next Generation Initiative Steering Committee, and the Greater Oak Brook Chamber of Commerce’s Young Business Leaders and Nonprofit Committee. Kate also volunteers with fellow nonprofit organizations, at her local school, church, and library.

Outstanding Community Leader Award
Brenda Battle, University of Chicago Medicine

Brenda Battle serves as Senior Vice President for Community Health Transformation and Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer where she oversees efforts to design UCM’s community-health management strategy, develop and implement coordinated, innovative healthcare solutions to address health care disparities and foster innovation in UCM’s care delivery system by crafting care models that promote diversity, inclusion, and equity. Brenda leads efforts to integrate the resources and strategies of the UChicago Medicine with the assets and resources of the community to meet the healthcare needs of populations served by the UCM system. Ms. Battle oversees UChicago Medicine’s Urban Health Initiative (UHI) which facilitates and coordinates efforts to address complex health and social needs of residents on the South Side of Chicago by bringing a collaborative, community-based, and participatory problem-solving approach to the health and social needs of UCM’s patients and the broader community; creating greater access to high-quality and culturally competent information, educational programs, financial and healthcare resources that empower community members to live the healthiest lives possible; generating goodwill in the community and the social capital/relationships needed to create new services and programs that improve population health and reduce gaps in the social determinants of health; serving as the bridge to the community to training and research; and serving as the honest broker providing UCM’s community consciousness, enabling the UHI to listen in to the community and communicate back to UCM leadership what the community needs and wants.

Prior to joining the UCM, Brenda was the director of the inaugural Center for Diversity and Cultural Competence for Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, MO, where she oversaw programs to eliminate health disparities, promote diversity, equity and inclusion. Brenda has over 38 years of health care experience, serving as Executive Vice President, Government and Community Affairs for Medical Transportation Management (MTM), Inc., and leading operations in commercial and Medicaid managed care. Brenda has several publications, and has served as national speaker on reducing health care disparities.

Emerging Philanthropist Award
Ellen-Blair Chube, William Blair

With nearly two decades of strategic leadership across government and the private sector, Ellen- Blair is a finance executive who brings a unique holistic perspective rooted in her experience in public policy, operations, and client-oriented work on the buy and sell-side. At William Blair, she is responsible for high-level engagement with clients, including the development of a global client service platform to obtain insights and feedback from the firm’s clients on their individual and collective interactions.  Ellen-Blair also developed and now leads William Blair’s CEO HUDDLE, an exclusive community for chief executives in the firm’s client network to share ideas, resources, and strategies through convenings and an online portal. In addition, she is a member of the firm’s Benefits Committee. 

Prior to joining William Blair in 2015, Ellen-Blair was Vice President and Chief of Staff to the Chairman and CEO at Ariel Investments. In that role, she was responsible for providing strategic and operational support, as well as translating the firm’s short and long-term vision into actionable strategies. She was also the CEO’s chief adviser on political & public policy issues and led key corporate governance initiatives. This included serving as the executive director of the Black Corporate Directors Conference, an annual gathering of Black directors serving on Fortune 500 boards. In addition, she was a registered representative of the firm and focused her business development efforts on the federal pension and foundation/endowment community. 

Before Ariel, Ellen-Blair spent nearly a decade in Washington, DC operating at the nexus of politics, policy, and business. She served as the Staff Director for the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Security, International Trade and Finance. In that role, Ellen-Blair set and implemented former Chairman Evan Bayh’s (D-IN) agenda for issues related to international finance, and served as Bayh's chief adviser on all Banking Committee and economic issues. She was responsible for his legislative priorities (specifically on corporate governance) in the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory reform bill enacted in July 2010. Ellen-Blair began her career in public service working as a senior advisor for Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN). Following her time with Congressman Ford, she worked in the government affairs practice of Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber and Schreck, LLP. At the law firm, she represented and provided strategic public policy advice to clients in the financial services and media/telecommunications industries. 

Ellen-Blair serves on the board of BlockFi, Equity Commonwealth (NYSE: EQC; Audit, Nominating and Governance Committee) and Oil-Dri Corporation of America (NYSE: ODC; Chair, Nominating and Governance; Compensation Committee). She is a trustee of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (Chair, Audit Committee; Finance, Executive Committee) and is on the board of Uniting Voices Chicago (Chair, Nominating and Governance; Executive Committee). She is also a member of the Obama Foundation Inclusion Council and the Economic Club of Chicago. Ellen-Blair was named one of Crain’s Chicago Business “40 under 40” in 2014, as well as a Crain’s 2021 Notable Nonprofit Board Leader. She was also highlighted as one of Directors & Boards “2020 Directors to Watch.” She graduated from Northwestern University with a BA in political science and earned a JD from Georgetown University Law Center.