STAFF BIOS

Kathy Ryg (download high resolution photo)
President

 Witnessing Illinois families struggle in the face of the state’s economic crisis and embracing her lifelong conviction to impact the lives of children and families compelled Kathy Ryg to join Voices as president in September 2009. Service to the many, varied needs of children and families has long marked her work in the public service sector, which included seven years as a state legislator.

Ms. Ryg has worked tirelessly to improve early learning opportunities for young children, bolster after-school programs and services for youths in need and increase schools’ quality and accountability. As President of Voices, Ms. Ryg serves on the Illinois Early Learning Council, Human Services Commission, the Illinois P-20 Council (as co-chair of the Family, Youth and Community Engagement Committee) and CHANGE Illinois Steering Committee. 

Her consensus-building approach to identifying and tackling public-policy challenges established her reputation as a strong advocate and earned her dozens of honors,  most recently the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform's 2010 Paul Simon Service Award in recognition of her efforts in government reform. In 2007, the Early Learning Illinois campaign partners – including Voices for Illinois Children – named her an “Early Learning Leader” for her commitment to young children’s learning.
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Gaylord Gieseke (download high resolution photo)
Vice President

Gaylord Gieseke believes that a firm understanding of child development is the basis of good public policy for children and families. Focusing on how children grow — and what they need at different ages — leads to proactive policy that lays the foundation to support healthy development. 

During her 21-year tenure, Ms. Gieseke has led Voices' efforts for developing policy analysis and recommendations in the areas of tax policy, children's mental health, child welfare, child abuse prevention, family support, welfare reform, early intervention for children with developmental disabilities and education. Many of her efforts have involved building collaborative partnerships and engaging in administrative and legislative advocacy. She has served on and been in the leadership of many statewide advisory groups and task forces.

Ms. Gieseke is currently a member of the Executive Committee and the Management Team of the Illinois Children's Mental Health Partnership and serves as Co-Chair of the Birth to Five Committee. She has served as the Co-Chair of the Healthy Families Illinois Initiative for many years, after having co-authored the original enabling legislation. Recently, she was asked to Co-Chair the Illinois Strong Foundations Task Force that will lead a five-year federal grant award to further the state's early childhood home visiting efforts. She served as the national Co-Chair of the State Leaders Advisory Committee of Prevent Child Abuse America, as well as currently serving as the Co-Chair of the Building Resiliency Committee and on the Leadership Committee of the Illinois Strengthening Families Initiative. In addition, she is also a member of the Executive Team for the Illinois Childhood Trauma Coalition.

Ms. Gieseke's many honors include the 1997 National Association of Child Advocates' Professional Child Advocate Award and the 2001 Prevent Child Abuse Illinois' Friend of Children Award. In 2003, she was named Public Citizen of the Year by NASW Illinois.
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Yasmine Baharloo
Yasmine Baharloo (Yassi to us) joined Voices as a development intern, ensuring the success of the Voices’ Associates Board Kids at Heart Fundraiser. She has since moved into her position as project assistant, to work on the public awareness campaign Foster Kids Are Our Kids; provide communications support for Kids Count; and continue in her development role. Recently she helped in organizing and implementing the Wrigley Start Early Run, which brought nearly 2,300 people together in Chicago’s Grant Park in recognition of National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Originally from Houston, Texas, Yassi came to Chicago to attend Columbia College Chicago, where she earned her degree in public relations. When not at Voices, she can often be found at one of the Chicago’s many free events, her favorite of which is the Downtown Sound music series at the Jay Pritzker Pavillion.
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Meleneal Cameron
Meleneal Cameron serves as Voices' administrative/development associate.  As an information management/web developer professional with more than ten years' experience specializing in non-profit technology, Ms. Cameron brings a valuable skill-set to the Voices team. In addition to a comprehensive understanding of fund development, various fundraising strategies and 501c3 best practices, Ms. Cameron has extensive experience coordinating special events and major gift and capital campaigns. Throughout her career, she has promoted higher levels of productivity through information management and integrating technology resources to project needs. Ms. Cameron is a movie buff who enjoys outdoor activities and reading. She has three beautiful adult children and two grandchildren.
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Pat Gonzalez
Pat Gonzalez was the fourth person hired at Voices for Illinois Children in 1987. She was instrumental in getting Voices started by helping to develop the organization's bookkeeping and financial policies. Ms. Gonzalez has served as fiscal manager for the past 17 years. As a parent who was active in her children's schooling, she believes strongly in Voices' efforts to involve parents and concerned citizens in speaking out on behalf of children. A project that encouraged parents to run for Local School Council in Chicago public schools and the creation of Voices Leadership Committees shows parents that their voices do matter. Prior to joining Voices, Ms. Gonzalez was assistant bookkeeper at a financial company. She and her husband, Louis Garcia, have two children, Jaime and Kristen, and three grandchildren. She enjoys getting hooked on TV shows, watching movies, reading and spending time with her grandchildren.
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Larry Joseph
Larry Joseph sees his work at Voices for Illinois Children as trying to solve a puzzle: what data need to be shared, in what manner, and with what audience to result in positive policy changes for children. As director of the Fiscal Policy Center at Voices for Illinois Children, Mr. Joseph oversees research and analysis on state fiscal policies and their impact on the lives of children and their families. Prior to joining Voices in 2007, he was senior research associate at the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, where he did policy analysis on Medicaid, welfare reform and fiscal federalism. He previously served as associate director of the University's Center for Urban Research and Policy Studies in the School of Social Service Administration (1987 to 1996) and in the Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy (1996 to 2003).  For 10 years, Mr. Joseph collaborated with Voices in organizing the highly regarded Illinois Welfare Policy Symposium, which examines policies and programs affecting low-income families and advances strategies for reducing poverty and expanding economic opportunity. Mr. Joseph earned his doctorate in political science from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He also has a master's degree in public policy studies from the University of Chicago and a bachelor's degree from Brandeis University. He and his wife, attorney Lauren Newman, have a teenage daughter, Carol.
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Madelyn James
Madelyn James, director of Voices for Illinois Children’s “Great at Eight” initiative, is a passionate advocate for ensuring all children from birth to age 8 and their families have the necessary supports to achieve a strong foundation for future success. Ms. James’ responsibility at Voices is to build on an approach to advocating for support for the “whole child” and to advance policy and advocacy efforts on behalf of young children. Her first career was in business where she honed negotiation, team building, management, budgeting and strategic planning skills. Prior to joining Voices, Ms. James served in various capacities as a direct service provider, a Head Start and state pre-school teacher, an Illinois STARNET trainer and project director, a supervisor of home visiting and center-based programs, director of the National Lekotek affiliates and early childhood training, a NAEYC fellow, an adjunct faculty member with Chicago City Colleges, a consultant and a member of local, state and national early childhood collaboratives. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Bradley University and a master’s degree in early childhood education from Dominican University in River Forest, Ill. She has two adult children and recently became a grandmother for the first time to a beautiful baby named Illyana.
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David Lloyd
As policy analyst with the Fiscal Policy Center at Voices for Illinois Children, David Lloyd uses his national public policy experience to advocate on behalf of children in Illinois. Prior to joining the Fiscal Policy Center, Mr. Lloyd was a senior advisor to U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. He advised the Senator on civil rights, immigration, manufacturing, and international trade policy. Through his work on international trade issues, Mr. Lloyd came to see that our state and national economic competitiveness depends on nurturing and developing our human capital—which starts with our children. For the FPC at Voices, Mr. Lloyd will play a leading role in developing policy reports, issue briefs, policy bulletins and fact sheets to inform FPC audiences. He will also conduct research and analysis on fiscal policy issues, as well as substantive program areas such as education, health care, human services, and family economic security. Mr. Lloyd has a bachelor’s degree in history from Cornell University and a Masters in Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Manya Khan
As assistant director of the Fiscal Policy Center at Voices for Illinois Children, Manya Khan conducts research and analysis on state legislative and fiscal policies that affect the lives of Illinois' children and families. She believes that influencing public policy, lawmakers and citizens for a responsible government that benefits children, families and communities is essential. Prior to joining Voices in 2009, she worked for The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, D.C. As the project assistant for the Federal Budget Initiative, she worked on advocacy efforts for federal legislative and fiscal policies benefiting low-income, working families. She holds a BS in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and a Master of Public Administration/Financial Management from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
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Debra Marillo
As development director, Debra Marillo is responsible for all of Voices' fundraising planning and coordination, including securing grants from public and private sectors, major/planned gift programs, individual campaigns, special events and board development. Ms. Marillo has a longtime passion for providing services to children in need, and her past experience includes a long tenure for a specialty hospital for disadvantaged children with disabilities, chronic conditions and those who suffered abuse and neglect. Ms. Marillo also gained valuable experience and perspective working at a domestic violence shelter. She holds a Master of Science with honors in Corrections (Psychology Division) from Chicago State University. An avid believer in the healing and nurturing aspects of food, Ms. Marillo also received a degree in Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts from the Culinary Hospitality Institute of Chicago (C.H.I.C.).
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Melissa Meighen
Melissa Meighen, director of communications, brings to Voices a career-long dedication to social justice and a personal passion to create positive change for kids and families. Before joining Voices, she applied her experience and enthusiasm on behalf of her agency clients at Kathy Schaeffer and Associates in Chicago and, before that, at The Kamber Group in New York City. Her work with various community non-profits, labor unions, and women's and children's health, education and safety issues ensures an understanding of the challenges families face today. "Technology affords us an even greater capacity to enlist—and galvanize—more citizens than ever before," Ms. Meighen says. "But we need to remember that it's often the personal touch, and a human connection, which compel us to move beyond interest and into action." Ms. Meighen has a bachelor's degree in journalism and a master's degree in English language and literature, both from Kent State University. She and her husband, Bill McGrath, and their son, William, live in Aurora.
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Jessica Roberts
Jessica Roberts may be new to Chicago, but she’s not new to the belief that good public policy is the cornerstone to happy, healthy children and families. As community engagement associate, Ms. Roberts is responsible for building strong and ongoing relationships with local communities and news media throughout Illinois to support the work of Voices' “Great at Eight” initiative. Prior to joining Voices, Ms. Roberts gained several years of journalism experience while working as a reporter for the St. Louis American newspaper, reporting on education and politics; and as an enterprise beat reporter for the Columbia Missourian. Her direct work with children and various nonprofits has provided her a clear picture of the unique challenges facing families today. A native of St. Louis, Ms. Roberts holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a master’s degree in social work from Washington University in St. Louis. She enjoys traveling, watching reality TV, dining out and cheering on her favorite sports team, the Missouri Tigers, with her husband, Serron.
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Kelley Talbot
As assistant director of policy at Voices for Illinois Children, Kelley Talbot works to improve families’ everyday quality of life through strengthening public policy. She has collaborated on efforts to boost families' economic security, give more children the chance to benefit from quality after-school programs, and strengthen programs that help our youngest kids thrive. She has also worked extensively on efforts to address Illinois' budget challenges. Prior to joining Voices, Ms. Talbot was the assistant director of external relations at the Illinois Board of Higher Education, handling legislative and media affairs. She gained four years of legislative experience while on the Illinois House Democrats’ staff and helped run successful State Representative campaigns in the north suburbs. Ms. Talbot has a bachelor's degree in public policy from Occidental College in Los Angeles.
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Joan Vitale
As director of special initiatives at Voices for Illinois Children, Joan Vitale oversees the creation and support of Voices Leadership Committees—groups of civic, community and business leaders and concerned citizens who are passionate about improving children's lives. Ms. Vitale previously directed the parent-education component of Voices' nationally known Start Early: Learning Begins at Birth campaign, which provided young, at-risk parents with information about nurturing and stimulating the crucial brain development that occurs in a baby's first years. The Start Early campaign used an award-winning original video and parenting magazine. Her work included providing training to over 400 service organizations around the state in using the Start Early materials. Prior to joining Voices in 1997, Ms. Vitale was director of the Child & Parent Center at the Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, where she managed support programs for over 300 families. She also participates on a variety of statewide and local boards. She and her husband, Phil, have three children—Andrew, Amy and Melissa—and three grandchildren.
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