President
The Joyce Foundation

Ellen Alberding is president and a board member of the Joyce Foundation, which has assets of $800 million and makes grants of $40 million a year for projects to improve the quality of life in the Great Lakes region. The Foundation is a major funder of environmental groups in the Midwest, with a particular focus on water and air quality. Other Foundation priorities include improving educational outcomes for low-income children; employment and workforce issues; and other initiatives that promote democracy and a diverse and thriving culture.

In June 2011, Ms. Alberding was appointed Vice Chair of the City Colleges of Chicago. 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 Independent Sector, where she has worked to establish improved accountability and governance standards for nonprofits. She is a board member of the Economic Club of Chicago as well as a trustee 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); member of the Public Trust Task Force for the Donors Forum of Chicago; and member of the Cultural Advisory Board for the City of Chicago. She is a member of the Commercial Club, the Chicago Network, and serves on the advisory boards of several nonprofit organizations. Ms. Alberding holds an honors degree in English from Brown University and an MBA from Northwestern University.