Ellen Alberding

Ellen Alberding

Ellen Alberding is president and a board member of the Joyce Foundation, which has assets of $900 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. In June 2011, Ms. Alberding was appointed Vice Chair of the City Colleges of Chicago, and she joined the board of Skills for America’s Future, which works to improve community college training programs through business partnerships. Ms. Alberding is also a founder and board member of Advance Illinois, which advocates for public education reform in Illinois. She is a board member of the Economic Club of Chicago, a member of the Commercial Club and the Chicago Network, and she serves as Chair of the National Park Foundation. She has served as president and chairman of the investment committee for the Chicago Park District pension fund (1993-2001); trustee of Aon Funds (2000-2003); trustee of the American University of Paris (2007-2008); treasurer of Grantmakers in the Arts (a national organization of arts funders); and member of the Cultural Advisory Board for the City of Chicago. She served as a board member of Independent Sector, where 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.