BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Jay Harris

President

Jay is the Founder, President, and Managing Member of InfinityBox, LLC. He has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue and a Master's in Engineering Management from Northwestern. Jay is active in the St. Giles Catholic Church, where he serves in leadership roles of the Men's Society. He also serves on the leadership team for St. Ignatius Business Society. He and his family live in the near-west suburbs.

Deb Abrahamson

Vice President

Deb is former Executive Director of the Oak Park Education Foundation. She attended Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania, plus a Certificate of Nonprofit Management from the University of Chicago. She is President of the Maywood Fine Arts board of directors, and Chair of Women in Philanthropy for OPRF Community Foundation. She is also a career coach with the Posse Foundation. She and her husband live in Oak Park, where they raised their two children.

Tricia Marks

Treasurer

Tricia is former Managing Director of Capital Markets at Madison Capital Funding, LLC. She has a B.B.A. in Accounting from the University of Iowa. Over the past seven years, Tricia has been an active volunteer Cross-Country and Track and Field Coach at Fenwick High School in Oak Park.

Laurel Steele

Secretary

Laurel is a former Bank Examiner for The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. She holds a B.S. in Accounting from Hampton University and a J.D. from the University of Virginia. She began her career as an Accountant for British Petroleum in Cleveland, served as a Public Defender for the Hamilton County Public Defender's Office in Cincinnati. Laurel is actively involved in volunteering with her children's schools.

Tali Albukerk

Tali is Chief Counsel/National Administrator, ABA Free Legal Answers. She has a B.A. in Political Sciences from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law. Tali became involved with PBN shortly after it began, participating in all PBN projects, managing its senior programs, and joining the board in 2013. She lives in Oak Park with her husband and two daughters.

Laura Brookes

Laura has more than 15 years of experience in public policy, advocacy, communications, and partnership development in the non-profit sector, most recently serving as policy director at TASC (Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities), where she worked to advance effective and equitable drug, behavioral healthcare, and criminal justice reform policies. She received a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and an M.P.H. from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Marisa Green

Marisa is Project Manager for PBN's Senior Legal Clinics and Senior Center Initiatives. She has a B.A. from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law. Marisa started her law career practicing litigation at two Chicago law firms, Bollinger, Rubbery & Garvey and DLA Piper. She spent seven years in an active litigation practice, working on commercial litigation matters and performing medical malpractice and product liability defense work. She lives in River Forest with her husband and two teenage children.

Robert Jones

Robert is an Accountant and Tax Preparer for Charitable organizations and Charitable Trust. He holds master's degrees in accounting and taxation. Robert has been meeting the accounting and tax needs of nonprofits for the past 10 years. Robert believes that charitable organizations are in need of the financial services he provides to accomplish their exempt purpose. He has a passion for organizations that are trying and wanting to make a change in their communities.

Geegee Kan

Geegee is currently a stay-at-home mother who actively volunteers at her children's schools. Her last major role at the elementary school was PTO Treasurer (and Assistant Treasurer) from 2017-2019. Before becoming a stay-at-home mom, she held the roles of acquisition manager and financial analyst at Kaplan Professional. She has also worked as a consultant at PwC and as a paralegal in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Laura Kaufman

Laura is President and Principal Consultant of Partners in Effective Philanthropy. Previously, Laura was the Executive Director of the Jewish Women's Foundation of Chicago. Laura has also served as Executive Director of the Boston Women's Fund and Northwest Action Against Rape, Development Director at Women, Inc., and as Program Director with the Chicago Chapter of the National Organization for Women.

Katie O'Brien

Katie works for Chicago's oldest non-profit with a mission of caring for seniors, The Admiral at the Lake. She earned her M.B.A. in 2014 and is a 1990 graduate of the University of Notre Dame. Katie has an entrepreneurial spirit, was a Chamber of Commerce Executive Director for 10 years, helped build two successful startup consulting companies, and was a Marketing Manager in Madison.

Simrit Patel

Simrit Patel is an Illinois licensed attorney with an extensive background in nonprofit management. She has a B.A. from Northwestern University and a J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law. Simrit is the owner of SCP Legal LLC and concentrates her practice in the areas of family law and adoptions. She previously served as Executive Director of Anima - Glen Ellyn Children's Chorus and as Director of Development for the National Indo-American Museum.

Donna Peel

Donna developed PBN's working model and founded and served as its original executive director until 2017. She holds a J.D. from Washington University School of Law and an undergraduate degree in Economics from Michigan State University. Donna is currently an antitrust attorney at Kirkland & Ellis, an area of law she credits with giving her the efficiency perspective in creating PBN. Before taking time off to raise her young children, she practiced at the U.S. Department of Justice, White House, U.S. Attorney's Office (E.D. Va), and served as the U.S. Advisor to South Africa's Competition Commission, an Advisor to the President at the White House, and a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney at the Eastern District of Virginia.