ChiArts is grateful to the School Board of The Chicago High School for the Arts. The following civic leaders who serve as volunteers committed to supporting this high school and providing it with leadership, resources, and encouragement.
Duffie Adelson, Chair
Karen Fishman, Chair
Janette Cortes-Duewel, Secretary
Peter Fidler, Treasurer
Carlos Azcoitia
Michael Crawford
Carmen Echevarria
Christine Gallagher
Bill Gerstein
Ron Grais*
Sabrina King
Kay Mabie
John McCambridge
Michelle Pierre-Farid*
Yulinda Rahman*
*Parent Representatives and Ex-Officio Directors
You may contact the Board of Directors via email at board@chiarts.org.
GET TO KNOW OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Duffie A. Adelson (Chair)
Duffie Adelson is a Life Trustee and past president of Merit School of Music, a community music school nationally renowned for the caliber of instruction and level of financial support provided to thousands of students annually. Prior to her work at Merit, Duffie directed school music programs in Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Illinois. In addition to her service as a trustee of ChiArts, she serves on the boards of the National Guild for Community Arts Education, the Chicago Philharmonic Society, and Pilgrim Chamber Players, and is a member of the WFMT Radio Committee of WTTW: Window to the World. Duffie received a bachelor’s degree from Lawrence University and a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin.
Karen Fishman (Vice Chair)
Janette Cortes-Duewel (Secretary)
Janette has been in the teaching field for 26 years. She has worked as a Speech Therapist, a Special Education Teacher and for the last 6 years she has led the Special Education Department at Gray Elementary as a School Case Manager. During her career she has mentored teachers, presented at conferences, provided professional development and earned her National Board Certification in the area of Exceptional Needs. She has also earned a Master’s degree in Special Education as well as a 2nd graduate degree in Educational Leadership and Administration. She is well versed in the areas of inclusive classroom practices, diverse learning needs, evaluation and instruction, ESL strategies and instruction, Multi-tiered Systems of Support and School Administrative Practices.
Janette believes strongly in the benefits of volunteerism. Janette has served as President of the Council of Catholic Women (2020-21), Is a board member of the Appalachian Service Project, has volunteered with the Appalachian Service Project for 5 years. She has also served on the ChiArts Parent Support Organization Executive Committee for the past 7 years.
Peter Fidler (Treasurer)
Peter is co-founder of RF Investment Partners, a lower middle market Small Business Investment Company (“SBIC”). The fund is licensed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) as a public-private partnership to invest in small businesses in the software, business services, and health care sectors. Peter currently sits on the Board of Directors of: (i) US Endodontics Partners, (ii) GreenTech Environmental, and (iii) Watch Systems.
Prior to that, Peter co-founded Tamarix Capital, a lower-middle market investment fund, and worked for both Allied Capital and LaSalle Bank. Before moving to Chicago 24 years ago, Peter’s previous professional experience included working as a Consultant for The World Bank in both Washington D.C. and Harare, Zimbabwe, on projects that promoted capital access to small-scale businesses in Southern Africa, and Peter also worked as an Intern in the White House National Economic Council under President Clinton.
Peter graduated from Cornell University (1994) and has a Master’s in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (1998). Peter’s daughter, Talia, graduated in 2022 from ChiArts in the Visual Arts Conservatory, and the school made a lasting, positive impact on her development as an artist.
Peter believes ChiArts is uniquely suited in its ability to serve as a center of artistic excellence, for kids from every single neighborhood of Chicago. He would like to work on ways to improve communication with various school stakeholders (parents, teachers, students, community leaders), so that the broader school community can better understands the school’s mission, goals, and tactics – and so that more stakeholders feel like partners and advocates in the realization of that mission.
Carlos Azcoitia
Dr. Carlos Azcoitia is the Founding Principal of a new “Comprehensive Community School” concept in Chicago’s Little Village Neighborhood. He has been a teacher, administrator, and has served as principal in the Chicago Public Schools. Dr. Azcoitia served as the Deputy Chief of Education in the Chicago Public Schools, where he was administratively responsible for a large number of wide-ranging departments, programs and services. He has been a mentor, coach and assessor for new and aspiring Principals and has a long history of being at the forefront of educational reform. Currently, Dr. Azcoitia serves as Professor Emeritus in Educational Leadership at National Louis University. He was appointed by the Mayor to serve for 2.5 years on the Chicago Board of Education and is a current member and former Chair of the Board of Trustees at Northeastern Illinois University. Dr. Azcoitia is a Steering Committee Member of the Coalition of Community Schools in Washington DC. He also serves on a Budget Task Force to address equity issues in school budgets and Advisory Board Member to School and Community Initiatives in the Chicago Public Schools. Dr. Azcoitia is also a Board Member of the Ignatian Spirituality Center in Miami, a Family Retreat Center founded by his uncle who was a Jesuit priest. He has been a keynote speaker and presenter in many countries, including the United States, Thailand, Poland, Ecuador, Mexico, China, South Korea, Canada, Puerto Rico, Portugal, India, and Hungary.
Dr. Azcoitia is the author of many published articles about school reform. His latest book is titled “Creating Engagement between Schools and their Communities: Lessons from Educational Leaders”. He has been the recipient of numerous awards for outstanding leadership. Dr. Azcoitia served as a founding board member for The Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts). Dr. Azcoitia received his Doctorate in Education from the School of Leadership and Educational Policy with a major in Educational Administration from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois.
Christine Gallagher
Christine is the Vice President, Chief Audit Executive at Illinois Tool Works, a Fortune 250 global industrial company located in Glenview, IL. In this role, Christine is responsible for providing assurance on the effectiveness of risk management and the strength of the control environment in the organization. Previously, Christine worked for KPMG for 16 years, helping some of the world’s leading organizations manage compliance and execute their growth strategies. She appreciates and values the importance of building a leadership culture that promotes company values and inspires the individual, team and organizational performance. From 2010 through 2016, Christine served on the Finance Committee of the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra, a non-for-profit organization located in Plymouth, MA, which she continues to support and enjoy. Christine holds a B.A. from Babson College (Wellesley, MA) and is a Certified Public Accountant (MA).
Bill Gerstein
Bill Gerstein has had a long career in education and in business. Most recently Bill led a major effort for the Chicago Public Schools to create a comprehensive community engagement strategy in the Humboldt Park community. Prior to that he was the co-founder and principal of two small high schools. One was the School of Entrepreneurship, a small high school located within the South Shore High School campus in Chicago. In 2007 he left South Shore to start the Austin Polytech Academy in the Austin community. Mr. Gerstein was a high school social studies teacher and track coach for eight years before he became the owner/operator of a small chain of supermarkets (Mr. G. Finer Foods) in Chicago. While in business, Mr. Gerstein became actively involved in many community activities on the South Side of Chicago including public schools. In 1996 Mr. Gerstein sold his business as part of an effort to expand into a bigger location. After running a community based organization, he obtained a masters degree in school administration. Working with the community and teachers he helped organize four small schools within South Shore High School as the school converted its structure from a comprehensive model to a campus of autonomous small high schools. Bill currently works as a senior advisor to Leadership Greater Chicago.
Kay Mabie
Kay Mabie has been director of Glenbrook Meals at Home since 1987. She is also a community volunteer with several organizations including the Music Institute of Chicago (trustee since 1993 and former Chair of Board of Trustees), the Women’s Association of Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Goodman Theatre Women’s Board. Ms. Mabie is also a former Public Library Trustee, former Girl Scout Leader (nine years), and former district PTA President. She managed the Northfield Public Schools’ lunch programs from 1975-1981. From 1965 to 1970, Ms. Mabie was director of two summer day camps for elementary school students from the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago (one held in Wilmette for four years and one held in Northfield for three years). These camps were run in cooperation with Urban Gateways.
John McCambridge
John is of counsel at the law firm of Shook, Hardy, & Bacon. John represents clients in complex business litigation in state and federal courts throughout the country and in arbitrations. He has extensive experience in both jury and bench trials and on appeal. The substantive areas covered in John’s work include breach of fiduciary duty claims against corporate directors and officers; fraudulent conveyance and preference claims in bankruptcy; securities fraud; patent, trademark and copyright infringement; legal and accounting malpractice; misappropriation; antitrust and unfair competition; trade secrets; breach of contract; and civil fraud. John also has substantial experience in professional sports, including collective bargaining, grievance arbitrations and salary arbitrations, and commercial litigation.
Michelle Pierre-Farid*
Michelle has many years of experience in education as a teacher, principal, and chief of schools. In addition, she previously served on the LSC at her daughter’s middle school. She enjoyed engaging in key topics to support families and the schools implementation of CWIP. This knowledge, she believes, will provide extra support to the PSO. She desires for ChiArts to be a premier school and believes parents are integral in making that happen.