Ellen Alberding

Ellen Alberding

Ellen Alberding is president and a board member of the Joyce Foundation, which has assets of $950 million and makes charitable distributions of $45 million a year for projects to improve the quality of life in the Great Lakes region. Foundation priorities include improving educational outcomes for low-income children; employment and workforce issues; and a particular environmental focus on energy efficiency and water quality. Ms. Alberding is a board member of Skills for America’s Future, which works to improve community college training programs through business partnerships. She is also a board member of Advance Illinois, which advocates for public education reform in Illinois and is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, the Commercial Club and the Chicago Network. She serves as Chair of the National Park Foundation. She has served as Vice Chair of City Colleges of Chicago (2010-2015); president and chairman of the investment committee for the Chicago Park District pension fund (1993-2001); trustee of Aon Funds (2000-2003); treasurer of Grantmakers in the Arts (a national organization of arts funders); and member of the Cultural Advisory Board for the City of Chicago. As a board member of Independent Sector, she worked to establish improved accountability and governance standards for nonprofits. Ms. Alberding holds an honors degree in English from Brown University and an MBA from Northwestern University.