CCH seats new Board president, officers, and three new members

The Board of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless has seated three new members and named new officers to two-year terms, including Caronina Grimble as Board president.

Caronina succeeds attorney Angela E.L. Barnes as president of CCH’s now 30-member Board of Directors. Appointed to the Board three years ago, Caronina is a Program Officer at the Woods Fund Chicago. She has co-chaired the Board Fundraising Committee and served as Board secretary.

Angela was honored at the CCH Board meeting Nov. 13 as she passed the gavel to Caronina.

Praised for her “incredible support” of CCH, Angela said, “This has honestly been one of the best experiences of my life… I feel the respect of this Board and to see the dedication you have for the mission is inspiring.”

Angela has served five years on the CCH Board. She was among 15 members who were appointed at Wednesday’s meeting to new two-year terms. Angela is the General Counsel and Director of Legal Affairs and Growth Initiatives for City Tech Collaborative of Chicago.

New Board members Carlos DeJesus, Caroline McCoy, Board President Caronina Grimble, and Meena Beyers (Photo by Michael Nameche)

Other new officers include Dr. Traci P. Beck. She succeeds writer Robert Riesman as Board vice president. Traci is the director and physician for Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery at Stroger Cook County Health and Hospitals Systems and a staff physician at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

Jessica L. Staiger, Associate General Counsel at Archer Daniels Midland Company, will serve as Board secretary. Patrick J. Hickey, Director of Private Client Services at Associated Bank, will continue as Board treasurer and co-chair of the Finance Committee.

Also, as recommended by the Board Development Committee, three new Board members were seated:

• Meena Beyers, Director of Market Strategy for Southern Company Gas of Naperville
• Carlos R. DeJesus, Director of Housing for Special Initiatives at The Center for Housing and Health in Chicago
• Caroline McCoy, a Program Officer at the Robert R. McCormick Foundation

The Board also named committee co-chairs for the coming year. They include co-chairs for its new Racial Equity Committee: Dr. Mikal N. Rasheed, retired chairman and professor of the Social Work Department at Chicago State University, and Jennifer Atkins, Vice-President of Network Solutions at Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

The Finance Committee is co-chaired by Patrick Hickey and Michael P. Bagley, Executive Vice President at American Community Bank & Trust in Crystal Lake. The Fundraising Committee will be co-chaired by Renauda Riddle, a Senior Revenue Auditor for the state of Illinois, and Christopher Sanders, Associate General Counsel for Harley-Davidson Financial Services.

The Board Development Committee is co-chaired by Brett Rausch, Senior Vice President of Commercial Banking for Wells Fargo, and Charles Jenkins, a longtime CCH leader who works in program development for Men Making a Difference.

One member also retired from the Board. Michael Bush, Property Manager at the Ewing Annex men’s hotel, concluded his tenure after serving four years.

A list of the CCH Board of Directors is available here.

– Anne Bowhay, Media