Firm Credentials
Positions Recently Filled
Dan Bartholomay, Executive Director, for Rail~Volution
Mr. Bartholomay will bring over 25 years of diverse experience to his new role. His career includes leadership positions in foundation, government, and community not-for-profit settings. Most recently Commissioner and CEO at the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, Mr. Bartholomay has also been director, Region and Communities & International Programs, at the McKnight Foundation in Minneapolis and executive director of North End Area Revitalization (NEAR) in St. Paul.
While at the foundation, Mr. Bartholomay worked in partnership with the Center for Transit Oriented Development to help the Twin Cities region envision transit investments as a catalyst for community livability and helped create the Transportation and Affordability Index. He also created and served as founding co‐chair of the Central Corridor Funders Collaborative, which has since become a national model for foundation collaboration.
Mr. Bartholomay is a member of the Itasca Project Steering Committee, a civic leadership group of top CEO's whose transportation task force helped increase state and county funding for transit. He has been active with the Funders Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities and has also volunteered his time abroad, researching organizational development at Habitat for Humanity’s Central and South American Headquarters.
Arthur Pearson, Chicago Program, for the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation (GDDF)
Mr. Pearson is currently a consultant to not-for-profit organizations and foundations, including GDDF and the Arts Work Fund. He is also an environmental writer and active volunteer environmental steward. For GDDF, Arthur has been involved in proposal review as well as research and program development. Through his consulting firm, Business of the Arts, Mr. Pearson helps small- to mid-sized arts and culture organizations with board development, financial management, strategic planning, and other organizational development matters.
Mr. Pearson has written for, among others, Outdoor Illinois, Chicago Life, and Chicago Wilderness. He’s done technical writing and reports for Chicago’s Department of the Environment, the Chicago Park District, the Natural Land Institute, and other public and not-for-profit clients. Mr. Pearson is currently involved in restoration and research at Midewin National Tall Grass Prairie and is writing a book about Midewin’s history.
Early in his career, Mr. Pearson was an Equity actor, performing in Chicago and around the Midwest and on the East Coast. He was also a playwright; one of his plays has been produced in the Midwest as well as in California. Early experiences also include administrative positions at the Great Lakes Protection Fund and Chicago Opera Theatre.
Mr. Pearson holds a B.A. from the University of Illinois.
Kathrine Cornell, Development Director,
Ms. Cornell comes to UTRF with significant fundraising experience. Most recently, she was Advancement Director, Midwest Region, for the Sierra Club. Previous experience includes serving as a senior major gifts officer for Beloit College and, for twelve years, as director of Cornell University’s Alumni Affairs and Development Midwest Regional Office where her work included volunteer recruitment, annual campaigns, major events, and major and leadership gifts.
Ms. Cornell holds a B.S degree from Cornell University, and an M.Ed. from Northern Illinois University.
K. Sujata, President/CEO,
Chicago
Foundation for
Women
K. Sujata brings strong leadership, management, fundraising, and foundation experience to the Chicago Foundation for Women. Sujata was previously program director at the Eleanor Foundation, has been executive director of Apna Ghar, a domestic violence agency serving Chicago’s Asian community, and has had key roles at Chicago Continuum of Care (now Chicago Alliance to End Homelessness) and Interfaith Housing Development Corporation. She has been a board member of Deborah’s Place, the Resource Center, and Crossroads Fund, co-chair of the Asian Giving Circle, and a 2009 Leadership Greater Chicago fellow. She is director of the South Asian American Policy and Research Institute.
Giselle Mercier, Executive Director, Pros Arts Studio
Arts educator and administrator Giselle Mercier has worked at the National Museum of Mexican Art, the Randolph Street Gallery, Performing Arts Chicago, and Columbia College Chicago where she directed community development and education initiatives at the Dance Center and managed the Community Arts Partnership’s Urban Missions program. Most recently she was the administrative director for several departments at The School of the Art Institute.
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