The CCA team represents a wide range of expertise from both the public and private sector. To contact members of the consulting team, please call 312-853-9160.

Brian Fabes, Chief Executive Officer

Since joining CCA in July of 2005, Dr. Fabes has rebuilt the CCA staff and launched initiatives with the over one dozen clients, including the Mayor's office, Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Transit Authority, Department of Environment, and others.  During this time, more than sixty firms have joined forces to work as partners with CCA on a wide range of critical initiatives.

Before joining CCA, Dr. Fabes was Senior Vice President at National-Louis University, where he was responsible for defining possible future directions for the institution, including negotiations with for-profit and not-for-profit merger partners. Prior to this, Dr. Fabes was Acting Provost, where he had responsibility for a $60 million budget and over 500 employees, and Vice President for planning where he helped restore financial viability to NLU by leading the Trustees, President, Deans, and staff in a university-wide strategic planning effort.

Dr. Fabes came to NLU from McKinsey & Company, where he had been an associate from 1994-1996, on leave at the University of Arizona in 1997, engagement manager from 1998-2000, and elected associate principal in 2000. At McKinsey Dr. Fabes co-led the formation and growth of the North American Product Development Practice, and was a leader in Chicago's Healthcare Practice.

Dr. Fabes was also an advocate for increasing McKinsey's civic involvement, by bringing the resources of the firm to help government and not-for-profit organizations on a pro bono basis. His clients in these efforts included the Chicago Housing Authority, Seoul National University, Northwestern University, and the Grand Boulevard Federation, a union of social service providers on Chicago's South side.

After earning his Ph.D. in 1987, Dr. Fabes taught as an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Arizona, where he was promoted to associate professor, with tenure, in 1993.

Dr. Fabes earned B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in materials science and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1984 and 1987, respectively. He was nominated for the University-wide Five Star Faculty Teaching Award at the University of Arizona in 1990, and awarded the University-wide Burlington Foundation Faculty Achievement Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1993.

Dr. Fabes is a Trustee of the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, and is a member of the Boards of the Erie Neighborhood House, the Taproot Foundation, and the Civic Federation. Dr. Fabes and his wife, Lisa, share a love of long distance cycling, food, and wine. Both are actively involved in community service in Chicago, as will be their three-year old son, Asher, and twin daughters, Ari and Leah, who to date share their love of food.

Return to Top

Joanna Crowley

 

Joanna Crowley joined CCA in October 2007. Before coming to CCA, she held a Dunn Fellowship in the Illinois Governor’s Office, where she researched and developed policy initiatives for the state of Illinois and specialized in PreK-20 education policies. In addition to education policy work, she staffed gubernatorial task forces on campus safety, university faculty healthcare and the potential privatization of the Illinois Lottery. She also participated in legislative review by evaluating and summarizing bills from the Illinois General Assembly and recommending gubernatorial action.

On a national level, Ms. Crowley spent a summer in the office of U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, where she researched active legislation and reported on legislative and lobbyist committees in the Senator’s weekly newspaper column. Exploring areas outside of governmental policy, Ms. Crowley worked for the Tulsa Global Alliance. There she lobbied for visits of leaders and prominent citizens from countries all over the world through the Department of State’s International Visitors Leadership Program, and created programs for these visits that would instill a sense of citizen diplomacy through interaction with their American occupational counterparts.

In her free time, Ms. Crowley serves on the Special Olympics Chicago Young Professionals Board and teaches 5th grade religious education at her church. She enjoys ballroom dancing and is a lover of music, whether listening and playing several instruments. She also enjoys travel, sometimes international and sometimes just home to Houston, TX.

Ms. Crowley holds a B.A. in History and Political Science from the University of Tulsa, where she was a member of the Honors Program and Phi Alpha Theta, Pi Sigma Alpha, Omicron Delta Kappa and Mortar Board Honor Societies. She will be attending Emory University School of Law in fall 2008.

Return to Top

Gillian Darlow

Gillian Darlow is a Consultant with the Civic Consulting Alliance (CCA). Prior to joining CCA, Ms. Darlow was the Managing Director of Redmoon Theater, one of Chicago's ten largest theaters, specializing in the creation of large-scale theatrical spectacles. Under Ms. Darlow's leadership, Redmoon experienced very rapid growth-doubling its budget in three years, achieving a 250% increase in earned revenue, transitioning to a new multi-purpose facility, and introducing new artistic and education programs, including a site-specific event that drew 12,000 people.

For several years prior to Redmoon, Ms. Darlow worked with Chicago's Field Museum to help establish new national parks in South America, including Parque Nacional Cordillera Azul in Peru, which is roughly the size of Connecticut. As the manager of business development and operations for the Field's Environmental and Conservation Programs, Ms. Darlow also assessed opportunities for environmentally sustainable ventures for park residents. 

During her MBA, Ms. Darlow spent a summer with Leadership for Quality Education, where she consulted with charter school founders on issues of strategic planning, capital budgeting, operations, and personnel management. She also investigated the viability of tax-exempt bonds for charter school facilities financing, and worked with Chicago Public Schools to analyze enrollment patterns and implications.

With the Galef Institute in Los Angeles, she helped launch the national Annenberg arts education and technology initiative for K-12 education. There, she managed a collaborative project team to develop the five-year strategic plan for this $20 million school reform program.

Ms. Darlow has led education, culture, and community development initiatives at several other U.S. nonprofit institutions, including International Development Exchange (based in San Francisco), Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and Chicago Children's Theatre.

Ms. Darlow's writing has appeared in a wide range of publications, including Science, Conservation Ecology, the Time Out Chicago guides, and management case studies for the KIPP Foundation. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Friends of Ryerson Woods and has served as a review panelist for the Community Arts Assistance Program run by the Department of Cultural Affairs. Ms. Darlow has spoken frequently on panels for the Arts and Business Council, the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Theatre Communications Group, and Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Ms. Darlow holds an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business, a master's degree in education from Stanford's School of Education, and a B.A. in psychology from Harvard University.

Return to Top

Tom McKone

Tom McKone joined CCA in 2006 as a Consultant. Before coming to CCA, Mr. McKone was a consultant for Chicago Community Ventures, a local economic development nonprofit. There, he administered the Challenge Grant program sponsored by the State of Illinois' Opportunity Returns division and also assisted startup firms throughout Chicago. 

Mr. McKone received his Masters in Public Policy from the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy in the summer of 2005. During his second year at the Harris School, he finished fourth in the Goldman Sach's Global Social Venture Competition in Berkeley, California on a team with two MBA students. The concept, a market research company that employs and trains teenagers in urban areas, also won the social track of the Kellogg business plan competition.

Mr. McKone's interest in double bottom-line, or social ventures, sprang from a summer internship at ShoreBank, America's first and leading community development bank. Here, he was able to quantify the business banking department's market share and opportunity in its 22 priority communities throughout Chicago. This led to further work with Shorebank Neighborhood Institute to develop tools for assisting homeowners in identifying and implementing energy conservation measures that have a positive return on investment.

Mr. McKone has been in the Chicago area for over 10 years. After graduating from Northwestern University with degrees in Economics and Mathematical Methods for the Social Sciences, he worked as a market research analyst. In this capacity, he conducted quantitative analysis on product launches for several companies including Clorox, Coca-Cola, and Miller Brewing.

In 2000, Mr. McKone took a position as the sole analyst at an Internet company that would become ShopLocal.com. There, he designed and implemented analysis and reporting for the entire organization to support clients like Sears, Target, Kohls, Staples, Office Depot, and other retailers. Company revenues grew from nothing to over $5 million within three years, and he led an analysis team to support the organization and its clients.

Return to Top

Sally Schiff

Sally Schiff joined the Civic Consulting Alliance (CCA) in the fall of 2007.  Prior to CCA, she worked as a consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton in a process improvement and organizational development capacity.  Her portfolio includes reengineering and competitive outsourcing efforts for several large federal agencies in the Washington DC area.  She attained experience in activity based costing, total cost of ownership, knowledge management, Lean and Six Sigma projects.  Her efforts focused on integrating and streamlining business services, and using benchmarks and measures to identify significant costs savings for client organizations. She performed similar work as an employee for SRA International, Chiquita Brands International and the T.J. Martell Foundation.

Ms. Schiff has also been an active supporter of nonprofit organizations.  She is a volunteer for the Arts and Business Council of Chicago and has contributed to development initiatives at the Art Institute of Chicago.  As part of an academic team, she helped identify the market demand for greenhouse, hoop house and outdoor garden crops for Windy City Harvest, a social venture offering transitional jobs training through urban horticulture production. At the Cincinnati Art Museum, she helped the Deputy Director and his staff examine and improve the organization's exhibition planning process.

Ms. Schiff holds an M.B.A. from The University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business and a B.S. in Human and Organizational Development from Vanderbilt University.

Return to Top

Alexander Gail Sherman

Alexander Gail Sherman consults to metropolitan institutions, focusing on urban life and culture. Applying collaborative and analytical methods, he has helped leading U.S. and U.K. organizations enhance the impact of their missions and improve the world.

Graduating from Princeton University in Classics and Computer Science (with Highest Honors and Phi Beta Kappa) Sherman continued his comparative research into the methods of Plato, Aristotle, and modern science. In 1998, he returned from the University of Cambridge to pursue greater public impact and contemporary relevance.

As Assistant to the President of The Field Museum in Chicago, Sherman received a hands-on introduction to almost every area of non-profit management, and he learned to apply pragmatically the analytic methods he had studied academically. Recognized among the best natural history museums in the world, The Field Museum runs global scientific research projects, and the strategic plan Sherman coordinated established one of the world's largest national parks, launched a nationally renowned special exhibition program, and built a 150,000 square foot expansion.

Promoted to Special Assistant to the President for Strategic Planning, Sherman balanced analytic and administrative duties with creativity and experimental technology: the world's first gallery guide for PalmPilots; award-winning annual reports; right-sizing the operating budget; a financial and fundraising plan for a $175 million campaign. And he gained development experience writing detailed cultivation plans and personally fundraising major gifts for the museum.

At this time, Sherman deepened his civic commitment: he advised the Chicago Public Schools on their technology strategy, taught at the Art Institute of Chicago, and became a charter volunteer Chicago Greeter at the Office of Tourism. Nationally, he began serving as a grant peer reviewer for the Institute of Museum and Library Services. And he was appointed to leadership positions in his alumni association, as a governor of the Auxiliary Council of Steppenwolf Theater, and as a trustee and treasurer of the Crib Collective.

In addition to volunteering, Sherman sought to extend his professional influence with other nonprofit institutions, and so he began international consulting in 2003. His financial model of Oxford University and Colleges-the first-ever-garnered front-page coverage and helped shape the public debate about funding higher education in the U.K. With environmental, educational, and arts organizations, his consulting practice has included governance, fundraising, finance, marketing, exhibit and experience design, and entrepreneurial initiatives. Notably, Sherman managed the strategic planning for a leading liberal arts college, helped start a civics education campaign, and advised the board and chief executive in opening a new $110-million national museum.

Return to Top

Marisa Zoller

Marisa Zoller joined CCA as a Civic Fellow in 2007 while completing her Masters degree at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. There, she was awarded a Dean’s Scholarship and was recognized as a Leadership in Chicago Fellow.  During her time at the Harris School, Ms. Zoller held leadership roles in the Community and Economic Development Organization and the Chicago Policy Review, the school’s student-run journal. As part of her coursework, Ms. Zoller and a team of fellow students designed and developed a marketing strategy for a new revenue-generating activity for Chicago nonprofit that provides technology and leadership training to young adults.

Prior to enrolling at the Harris School, Ms. Zoller conducted research and data analysis for Policy Studies Inc. (PSI) in Denver, Colorado. At PSI, Ms. Zoller’s clients included health and human services and justice agencies at both the state and county levels. Her projects included analyzing demographic and income data to inform the design of state child support guidelines; conducting an organizational assessment of the Clark County, Nevada courts system; and helping to design a self-directed care program for Medicaid recipients with home health care assistance in the state of Colorado.

Before joining PSI, Ms. Zoller worked as an Environmental Scientist with Carlson Environmental in Chicago.  While at Carlson, she conducted Environmental Site Assessments and investigative sampling activities for industrial, commercial, and residential properties to ensure adherence to federal, state, and local environmental regulations. In addition, she worked with clients to help create and execute plans for Brownfields redevelopment, asbestos and mold abatement, and groundwater remediation.

Ms. Zoller holds a B.S. in Public Affairs with a concentration in Environmental Management from Indiana University – Bloomington, where she was active in student government.

Return to Top