Our organization is diverse, dynamic, passionate about our work, and ready to collaborate with the business owners, partners, and supporters who play key roles in our ongoing success. Here are just some of the people who are part of the Accion Chicago team:

 

Our Staff

 

Executive Team

 

Jonathan Brereton

Chief Executive Officer

Jonathan has served as Chief Executive Officer since October 2004. During his tenure the organization has made more than 1,100 loans and disbursed $9 million into the local economy, supporting small business owners and stabilizing neighborhoods. Accion Chicago is now one of the top five microlenders in the country and is a member of the Accion U.S. Network which connects the five regional Accion affiliates to maximize resources nationally.  Accion Chicago operates with a staff of 24 and serves the Chicago metropolitan area. Jonathan also manages Accion’s new first-of- its-kind initiative, the Chicago Microlending Institute (CMI) which, in essence, is training the organization’s competition to help meet the growing demand for microlending in the region. He joined Accion in November of 2000 as a Community Outreach Coordinator through the AmeriCorps*VISTA program. Following his year of service, Jonathan became Director of Operations, expanding Accion’s outreach through public, private and community partnerships.  In addition to his Chief Executive role Jonathan is also the organization’s Chief Lending Officer. In 2009 he was an SBA Financial Champion of the Year, and in 2011 was named a Chicago Ideas Week Fellow. Jonathan is a member of First Eagle Bank’s Community Advisory Committee and served on the Small Business Advisory Group Access to Capital Sub-Committee for the City of Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. Jonathan graduated from Wheaton College with a degree in Business and Economics.  His introduction to microfinance came through volunteer work in Haiti while in college and he currently volunteers through his church on initiatives focused on the homeless. 

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Robin Lee Greiner

Chief Operating Officer

Robin joined the executive team as Chief Operating Officer in June 2012. She combines more than twenty years of experience in strategic planning, operations, marketing, and consumer services with a passion for economic justice. As Vice President at Working Assets, Inc. (aka Credo Mobile) in San Francisco, CA, she helped grow the company into a successful $150 million social enterprise. Most recently, she was a Managing Partner in Greiner, Schonberg & Associates, LLC where she provided business development expertise to start-ups and private investors. At Accion, Robin is responsible for Accounting & Operations, Development & Communications, and Government Programs & Compliance. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Smith College where she double-majored in Economics and Government. Robin has been active on several boards focused on education, health and the environment.

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Jill Aldridge

Vice President, Lending & Marketing

As Vice President of Lending and Marketing Jill leads a team of 11 loan officers supporting more than 2,400 customers annually and is responsible for client intake and local community outreach efforts. In 2011 the team made 301 loans totaling more than $2 million and the small businesses supported by those loans created or retained nearly 1,000 jobs in the Chicagoland area. Jill has been with the Accion Network since 2003, starting at Accion New York as a loan officer in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx. Before moving to Chicago in 2009 she oversaw lending, intake, and customer service branches in New York and New Jersey. Prior to her work at Accion, Jill served as a Peace Corps volunteer at a rural microfinance loan fund in the Dominican Republic. Jill holds a BSBA in Marketing, International Business, and Economics from Washington University in St. Louis and is fluent in Spanish.

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Mary Fran Riley

Vice President, Development & Communications

Mary Fran joined the Accion Chicago team in July 2006 as Vice President of Resource Development and in 2012 her role expanded to include Communications. Mary Fran and her team of three development officers are responsible for fundraising to support the organization’s lending and education initiatives which in 2011 included 301 loans totaling more than $2 million and consultation with 2,477 clients. She regularly shares her experiences and knowledge with several organizations and serves as Board Chair of archi-treasures, board member of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, and an active volunteer for the Chicago Community Media Workshop, Oak Park Regional Housing Center, and the Oak Parks Area Arts Council. Mary Fran is a graduate of St. Mary of the Woods College where she received a BA in Liberal Arts. She attended graduate school at the University of Illinois, Chicago, in Education. She has provided training in fundraising, communications, and special events through the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Chicago, NeighborWorks America, and other non-profit organizations. 

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Jordan Henstra

Director of Accounting

Jordan joined Accion Chicago in January of 2007 as an accounting intern through the Chicago Semester Program.  At the conclusion of the three month program, Jordan graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business with a concentration in Finance from Dordt College, a private school which is located in northwestern Iowa near his hometown of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  After graduation, Jordan accepted a permanent accounting role with Accion and within three months  became solely responsible for the accounting and operations department, including back-end lending operations, human resources, and information technology.  In the five years since, Jordan has responsibly managed company cash flow and expenses during tough years, has ensured sound accounting and lending processes, and has played a crucial role in the development, execution, and reporting of several major company programs which have helped enabled Accion to be where it is today.  After five years of clean audits amid incredible growth, development, and change for both the company and his department, Jordan continues to play a key leadership role in both accounting and operations, leading a team which has grown from one in 2007 to four in 2012.

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Nic Baria

Loan Officer

Nic joined Accion Chicago in April of 2010 as an Accounting & Operations Associate and became a Loan Officer in 2012. He received his undergraduate degree from Indiana University and later earned his MA in Economics from Roosevelt University, where he concentrated in macroeconomic policy and community development. Nic was a research assistant in the Department of Economics at Roosevelt and studied issues in the Latino labor market in Chicago. He is an adjunct instructor at St. Augustine College, a community college in the Uptown neighborhood.

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Hussain Bhanpuri

Loan Officer

Hussain joined Accion in April 2012 and brings more than 5 years experience in small business development and community lending to the lending team. Most recently, he was Loan Analyst for Chicago Community Ventures where he assisted clients in gaining access to capital for their small businesses. Hussain graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a BA in Economics and holds a Master’s in Public Service Management from DePaul University. He assists his father in operating a small business in the near west suburbs and he also plays a major role in the annual Asian American Business Expo here in Chicago.

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Nitika Chauhan
Team Manager - Lending & Special Programs

Nitika joined Accion Chicago in 2008 and today manages a team of three loan officers plus the organization’s year-round internship program. When she first moved to Chicago from India Nitika volunteered with community development financial institutions and microfinance organizations such as the National Community Investment Fund and the Global Alliance for Africa. In her homeland she worked for Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA), a leading microfinance non-profit. Nitika has a degree in finance and a post-graduate Diploma in Advertising and Public Relations from Shri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi, and a Masters in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.  She is fluent in Hindi and is learning Spanish.

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Amy Clinton 

Loan Officer & Marketing Associate

Amy joined Accion as the Marketing and Community Outreach Coordinator through the AmeriCorps*VISTA program in 2011 and became a Loan Officer at the end of her AmeriCorps tenure.  Before coming to Accion, she was a young fellow for Sé Más Microfinanzas in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico where she focused on new product development and social impact monitoring. Amy graduated from Hope College with a B.A. in International Studies and Business Management. During her time at Hope, she studied and interned in Chile, India, and the Dominican Republic. She serves on the executive committee and the marketing committee of Women Advancing Microfinance (WAM) – Chicago/Midwest Chapter. She is fluent in Spanish.  

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Priscilla Cordero

Lending Team Manager

Priscilla joined Accion in 2004. In her tenure, she has lent over $2.6 million totaling nearly 25% of the organization’s entire production.  She currently supervises a team of three loan officers and heads up bank outreach in the Chicagoland area and marketing efforts in the south suburbs of Cook county and Northwest Indiana. She has worked in the financial industry for more than a decade, including several years as a loan specialist at the Women’s Business Development Center where she facilitated $1.9 million in financing for small business owners.  Priscilla has a Bachelor's of Science in Economics with a concentration in Economic Development from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is a native Chicagoan from the Pilsen community and is fluent in Spanish.

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Elizabeth Dwyer

Senior Associate, Programs and Impact

Elizabeth joined Accion Chicago in 2011 to manage Accion's expanded programmatic initiatives and government relations. Prior to joining Accion, Elizabeth worked abroad designing and implementing USAID-funded capacity building projects and microsavings initiatives a Program Manager in Catholic Relief Services country offices in Sri Lanka, Brazil, and Peru. She has worked with local community development organizations in Nairobi and Rio de Janeiro, and led the Latin America communications team at Rotary International. She began her career in Washington, D.C. as a project manager at Intellibridge (now Eurasia Group) and as a consultant at The World Bank, while studying for her M.A. in International Development at American University. Elizabeth is an Associate Board member of the Center for Economic Progress, where she volunteers as a bilingual financial counselor and tax preparer helping low-income families move from financial uncertainty to financial security. She is fluent in Portuguese and Spanish.

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Claudia Gomez

Operations Associate

Claudia joined Accion Chicago as a temporary receptionist and loan assistant in March 2006 before transitioning from a temporary position to fulltime as an AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteer later that year. After her year of service she assumed the role of Client Intake Specialist, helping customers through the loan prequalification process in either English or Spanish. In 2012 she was promoted to Operations Associate and now assists with loan closings.  Claudia, a native Chicagoan from the Little Village neighborhood, holds an associate's degree from Fox College.

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Mariana Gomez

Senior Accounting and Operations Associate

Mariana joined Accion Chicago in February 2012 as an Accounting Associate, responsible for monthly financial reports, internal audits, and providing documentation for loan closings. She received a Bachelors of Accountancy from the University of Colorado, graduating with honors, and, having successfully passed all CPA requirements, is currently waiting for her license. Prior to joining Accion Chicago, Mariana worked in governmental accounting at the City of Edgewater, a suburb near Denver, CO, and as an Internal Auditor at First Data. She is originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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Marilyn Huebel

Development & Communications Associate

Marilyn came to Accion Chicago in 2011 and ssumed responsibility for the new role of Individual Giving Officer in 2012. She spent more than 10 years at ShoreBank where she was a Project Manager in Community Affairs. She managed outreach focused on education initiatives, including an award-winning scholarship program that provided $1 million in funding to students from inner-city schools and a program that matched employees with elementary school children for a weekly tutoring session. As an independent consultant she worked with Fortune 100 companies, training new and mid-level managers on team development and leadership skills. Marilyn attended Wheaton College and has a BA in theology from Elmhurst College. She serves on the board of WITS (Working in the Schools) Chicago.

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Kyle Johnson

Loan Officer

Kyle joined Accion Chicago as a Loan Officer in February 2012 and is part of a team focused on lending in the south and near west suburbs. At Suburban Bank & Trust he had been a personal banker and his experience in sales and training at an Apple store also taught him the importance of great customer service. Kyle grew up in northern Minnesota and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor’s Degree in Studio Art, Communications and Hindi plus an emphasis in nonprofit finance. While in college he interned and worked at several arts and education organizations, including In the Heart of the Beast, Minnesota Film Art’s international film festival, and the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs.

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Kyama Kitavi

Senior Loan Officer

Kyama joined Accion Chicago in January 2010 and was promoted to Senior Loan Officer in 2011. One area of his responsibility focuses on loans for ‘green’ businesses. He was born in Kenya and grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he attended Calvin College, graduating with a BS in Political Science. Kyama also has a Masters in Public Policy from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan with a concentration in international economic policy and development.  

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Jill Kozeluh

Corporations & Foundations Officer

Jill joined the Development & Communications team at Accion Chicago in October 2012.  While a Coordinator in the Legal Department at McDonald's Corporation she managed real estate and business information for more than than 14,000 restaurant sites.  Her move to the nonprofit sector from the corporate world was not a large leap as Jill has consulted with several nonprofit organizations for many years.  At archi-treasures she supported the implementation of new fundraising initiatives and designed tools to measure impact, and as Vice President of Net Impact at the University of Illinois at Chicago, she planned and managed events.  Jill has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from DePaul, a Master of Arts in Film Studies from Ohio University, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Illinois at Chicago where her concentration was in social innovation leadership and management.  She is a member of Arts Alliance Illinois and Net Impact.

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Jennie Motto

 Loan Officer

Jennie joined Accion as a Loan Officer in February 2013. Before coming to Accion, Jennie worked as an auditor of not-for-profits for a large national public accounting and consulting firm. During her time as an accountant, she earned her CPA designation and volunteered as a Spanish speaking tax preparer in Pilsen. Jennie graduated from the University of Notre Dame, where she majored in Business Administration with a concentration in Accountancy and minored in Theology. After completing her undergraduate studies, she spent two and a half years in Honduras, working for a not-for-profit in both Trujillo and La Ceiba. She is fluent in Spanish.

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Betsy Neely

Communications & Events Officer

Betsy joined the Development & Communications team at Accion in October 2012, bringing more than eight years of experience in nonprofit work,  public relations, and marketing.  Most recently she was Director of Communications & Development at Protestants for the Common Good here in Chicago.  In Nashville, Betsy was Director of Development at the United Methodist Higher Education Foundation where she created and implemented the organization's communications and development plans, acheived $1 million annually in fundraising, and managed all communications and publications.  Betsy is an accomplished and published writer and photographer with works featured in galleries, magazines, and websites.  She graduated from Furman University with a Bachelor of Arts in Religion and holds a Master of Theological Studies from Vanderbilt Divinity School.

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Trina Ntamere

Loan Officer

Trina joined as a loan officer in February 2011, bringing a decade of experience in the financial services and community development fields to the lending team. Previously, as Associate Director at Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights, she focused on workforce development and also worked at Bank of America as a credit analyst with the bank’s global insurance clients. Her internships included assignments at Opportunity Finance Network and IFF (formerly known as Illinois Facilities Fund). Trina holds a B.A. in finance from Millikin University, an M.A. in education policy from Loyola University Chicago, and an MBA from University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business where she helped to launch Darden’s first student-run microloan fund for local entrepreneurs.  She currently volunteers at several organizations focused on community development and is involved with youth mentoring programs.

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Svilena Paseva 

Accounting & Operations Associate 

Svilena joined Accion Chicago in 2012 as an Accounting intern and was later offered a full-time position as Accounting & Operations Associate.  Her responsibilities include processing of payables and receivables, vendor managment, collecting and managing documents related to government programs, assisting with the preparations of loan documents, and filing for collateral.  She has a Bachelor's degree in Business Management from her home country, Bulgaria, where she graduated with honors in 2010.  During her studies she was part of AIESEC, the world's largest youth-run organization focused on providing a platform for youth leadership development, where she gained experience working in a nonprofit organization.

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Noemi Rivera 

Loan Intake Specialist

Noemi joined Accion Chicago as a temporary receptionist in April 2012. After a few months she was asked to permanently join the Accion team. She is now the Loan Intake Specialist. She helps customers through the prequalification process in Spanish as well as English. She was born and raised in the city of Chicago and has a heart for helping the community. Before joining, Accion she was a Q.C Technician for the number one safety company in the U.S. She works part time at her own non-profit organization and she dedicates her time in joining forces with others in the community to provide help for cancer patients. She is fluent in Spanish and English.

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Idaima Robles 

Loan Officer 

Idaima joined Accion Chicago as a loan officer in February 2011 and focuses her lending activities on the southern and western suburbs and the City’s highly populated Latino neighborhoods through the organization’s Latino Outreach Program. Before coming to Accion she taught Economics at St. Augustine College. Idaima graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and holds a Master's degree in Economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She was born in Mexico but raised in South Chicago and is a fluent Spanish speaker.

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