About The Coleman Foundation
The Coleman Foundation is the legacy of entrepreneurs Dorothy W. Coleman and her husband J.D. Stetson Coleman, one-time owners of Fannie May Candy Company. The Colemans created the Foundation in 1951 to improve opportunity and quality of life. Today, the Foundation continues to foster change through programs that are practical, financially sustainable, and results-oriented.
Read more in our 2020 Impact Report.
Staff
Shelley A. Davis
President and CEO
info@colemanfoundation.org
Shelley A. Davis
President and CEO
info@colemanfoundation.org
Shelley Davis was appointed as President and CEO of Coleman foundation in 2020. She has dedicated her career to the non-profit and philanthropic sector and is a lifelong Chicago Southsider who grew up in the South Shore neighborhood. In her early career she provided crisis intervention counseling and policy advocacy. She began working in philanthropy during graduate school at the University of Illinois, Chicago with a fellowship at The Field Foundation. Shelley credits excellent mentoring and training at The Ford Foundation and The Joyce Foundation for guiding her development as a grantmaker, instilling a deep appreciation for the privilege and responsibilities of moving resources to benefit communities, and preparing her for the challenges of senior management. Over the past ten years Shelley has held leadership roles as Vice President at the Chicago Foundation for Women and, beginning in 2013, as the inaugural Executive Director of the Forest Preserve Foundation, a public private partnership, where she raised funds and made grants to support ecological restoration projects in Cook County preserves and opportunities for families and children from a diversity of backgrounds to enjoy nature.
Equally important to Shelley are her civic commitments. She is Board chair of the Albert Pick Jr. Fund and a Trustee for Lawrence University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology. For ten years she served as an Illinois Commissioner of Juvenile Justice.
Shelley is committed to social justice, equity and to paying it forward to the next generation. She is a lecturer and senior mentor at University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, focusing on nonprofit and philanthropic organizations’ impact on public policy. In 2017, UIC’s College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs honored Shelley with the Jim Marek Alumni Appreciation Award, which recognizes individuals for their dedication to the fields of urban planning and public administration and their contributions to the development of the college’s students and alumni. In 2019, University of Chicago Harris Public Policy students voted Shelley Mentor of the Year. Better Media Group recognized Shelley as one of Chicago’s Top Black Women of Impact in 2018 and 2019 and as a Top Philanthropist in 2022. Shelley was named one of Crain’s Chicago Business’ 2022 Notable Black Leaders and Executives and appears in Who’s Who in Chicago Business 2023.
Shelley keeps herself healthy by biking, swimming and studying yoga and enjoys taking long walks and traveling. Shelley lives in Bronzeville with her husband and two children.
Thomas D. Trinley
CFO/COO
info@colemanfoundation.org
Thomas D. Trinley
CFO/COO
info@colemanfoundation.org
Mr. Trinley is a nonprofit leader with over thirty years of finance, investment, governance, communications and strategic planning experience. His work, both as a paid staff member and as a volunteer board member, has been focused primarily on land conservation and arts/culture organizations. He has used his analytical, and interpersonal skills to help organizations run more efficiently, thereby increasing mission outcomes. Tom is also an award-winning documentary filmmaker and screenplay writer.
A hallmark of Tom’s career is the belief that financial management is best applied within the context of a solid understanding of an organization’s mission and its approach to programmatic implementation. His experience, on both the funder and grantee side, has provided insights that have fostered a management style bridging finance to program and vice versa.
Tom is a frequent speaker, session designer and moderator for conference sessions on topics such as impact investing, understanding nonprofit financial statements, and underwriting and managing loans and credit enhancements (program-related investments).
Tom’s secondary skills include strategic communications and documentary film production. A self-taught filmmaker, Tom is the creator, producer, writer, director and host of a Midwest Region Emmy-nominated, nationally-distributed public television series. He has produced a feature documentary, nonprofit outreach videos, and is currently developing an independent feature film.
Jennifer Oh
Program Officer
grants@colemanfoundation.org
Jennifer Oh
Program Officer
grants@colemanfoundation.org
Prior to joining Coleman, Jennifer was with Arabella Advisors, a consulting firm that helps changemakers and philanthropists achieve their goals for social and environmental impact. She provided thought partnership and operational expertise to client projects on grantmaking, governance and compliance, fundraising support, and financial management. Her projects covered a range of issue areas, including violence prevention, public interest technology, and equity in education.
Furthermore, she was with the Center for Asian Health Equity (CAHE) at the University of Chicago Medicine for four years. CAHE is a unique academic and community partnership between the University of Chicago and Asian Health Coalition that investigates health disparities that disproportionately affect Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI’s).
At CAHE, she played various roles, including securing grants from foundations and federal agencies, providing subgrants and technical assistance to local and national organizations, and implementing public health programs to provide a continuum of care and services to low-income and underserved AANHPI populations. More specifically, she was the Program Lead for the Center’s involvement in the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program as a national community engagement partner. All of Us is a key element of the Precision Medicine Initiative and aims to build a diverse database that can inform thousands of studies on a variety of health conditions.
Jennifer was also a Health Rising Fellow at the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum and a Research Fellow through the National Institutes of Health’s Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Training Program.
Jennifer has a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Iowa and an M.Ed. in Community Psychology and Counseling from Loyola University Chicago.
Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her loved ones, traveling, exploring the outdoors, and cooking and finding new restaurants.
Nathan Stevens
Program Officer
grants@colemanfoundation.org
Nathan Stevens joined the Foundation as a Program Officer in May 2022, focusing on funding program initiatives in entrepreneurship and developmental disabilities. His love for the non-profit and philanthropic sector began in 2014 when he served as an Executive Assistant & Board Liaison at the Center on Halsted, the Midwest’s largest and most comprehensive LGBTQ community center. His work there piqued his interest in sustainable and innovative programming and how foundations can impact underserved communities and neighborhoods.
Prior to joining Coleman, Nathan worked at the Goldman Sachs grant-funded initiative 10,000 Small Businesses (10KSB), a 15-week entrepreneurship training program designed to help small business owners take their ventures to the next level. Nathan held three separate positions during his six and a half years with 10KSB, and as Project Director he managed the curriculum delivery for 900+ scholars and secured over $3.3 Million in programmatic funding.
Nathan has a B.A. from Columbia College Chicago in Film & Video and a Grant Writing Certificate from DePaul University. He received First Place at Columbia’s Written Image Awards for Best Student Feature and in 2018 was named Windy City Times’ 30 Under 30, which recognizes substantial contributions to the Chicagoland LGBTQ community in the fields of entertainment, politics, health, activism, academics, and sports.
In his free time, Nathan will take any opportunity to connect with friends and family. He enjoys cooking, kettlebell classes that overlook Lake Michigan and experiencing diverse local cultures and communities both in the States and internationally. Nathan lives in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood.
Erin Fleming
Executive Assistant/Office Manager
efleming@colemanfoundation.org
Erin Fleming
efleming@colemanfoundation.org
Sean Washington
Grants Manager
grants@colemanfoundation.org
Sean Washington
Grants Manager
grants@colemanfoundation.org
Sean came to The Coleman Foundation as the previous Director of Operations for Northwest Side Housing Center, Sean was responsible for the management of the organization, ensuring efficient operations and safe and sound facility management. He was responsible for Human Resource functions, Information Technology, and all the financial well-being of the organization. He served as the day-to-day authority in the absence of the Executive Director.
Sean enjoyed assisting with staff management, development, and organizational meetings. Before joining the NWSHC, Sean served at various non-profit and foreclosure prevention organizations including ACORN Housing, Affordable Housing Centers of America, and Illinois Housing Development Authority. At each stop Sean held a leadership role in some capacity.
Sean double majored in Psychology and Human Services during his studies at Upper Iowa University (2003 – 2008). Sean currently resides in Forest Park with his spouse, daughter, Corinne, and son Ezra. They were married on Sweetest Day, October 20th, 2012. Sean enjoys reading, art, spending time with his Family, exercising, and watching sports.
Board Members
Michael Furlong
Chair
Michael Furlong
Chair
Michael Furlong is both the longest serving board member and only east coast resident. Mr. Furlong has an extensive background in all facets of commercial real estate.
An engineering degree initiated a period as a specialty subcontractor. An MBA led to mortgage banking and later to construction lending at a Maryland regional bank. The REIT excesses of the 1970s extended that career to include the workout of problem real estate projects and/or ill-conceived projects and portfolios. Furlong went into business with a partner to serve the more complex analytical and problem solving needs of corporate and institutional clients. The Savings & Loan Crisis of the mid 1980s increased the stakes to the level of entire financial institutions (non-Federal Savings and Loans) being in jeopardy. His firm did a stint as State of Maryland-appointed Conservators to run, clean up, dress up, and sell (liquidate) an entire institution. Problem solving evolved to include real estate development for clients as well as personal projects including developing corporate headquarters, planning and implementing historical restorations, and developing high end residential lot subdivisions. His role was to get clients into or out of real estate investments.
Personal experiences by the late 1990s provided sobering insight into the vicissitudes of and fragility of life. Mr. Furlong and his wife individually and together witnessed burn outs, self-destructions, and, in two unforgettable instances, the agonizingly slow and degrading deaths of close friends. The last of these caused them to step back and reorder their priorities and their lives. What followed has been a full life with a wider range of experiences.
Initially appointed to the Coleman Foundation board in 1976 by the donors, Mr. Furlong has served in that capacity to this day.
Esther Barron
Director
Esther Barron
Director
Esther Barron is the Director of the Donald Pritzker Entrepreneurship Law Center at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and a Clinical Professor of Law. In addition to her clinical work, she has taught Entrepreneurship Law, NUvention-Medical Innovation, Venture Capital, Innovation Lab and Business Associations. She also teaches several classes in the Master of Science in Law program including in the online program.
Prior to joining the faculty of Northwestern Pritzker Law School, Professor Barron practiced law at Goldberg Kohn in Chicago in its commercial finance department where she represented lenders and other financial institutions in middle market debt transactions.
She is the coauthor of the legal casebook Entrepreneurship Law. She has published several articles on various topics around entrepreneurship law. She received a Dean’s Teaching Award in 2010, the SBA Faculty Appreciation Award in 2012 and the Association of American Law Schools Teachers of the Year Award in 2013. She graduated Cum Laude from Brandeis University and received her JD from Northwestern University School of Law.
In 2004, she co-founded a handbag company, Elezar LLC which she exited in 2014.
Professor Barron is a member of the International Women’s Forum.
Alison Fitzgerald
Director
Alison Fitzgerald
Director
In addition to serving on the board of The Coleman Foundation, Alison S. Fitzgerald volunteers for many community and school related organizations. She is also the treasurer for the Yale Club of Chicago, a Girl Scout leader, and a catechist at her church.
Alison spent a majority of her business career at Lotsoff Capital Management where she was the Chair of the Management Committee and Director of the Marketing Department. Prior to joining Lotsoff, Alison worked as a manager in the Customer Service department at Nuveen Investments and held various jobs at Kidder, Peabody in New York City and General Electric in Connecticut. Alison holds a BA Accredited in Mechanical Engineering from Yale University. She and her husband live in Kenilworth, Illinois with their five children.
Pat Yuzawa-Rubin
Vice Chair
Pat Yuzawa-Rubin
Vice Chair
For over four decades, Pat Yuzawa-Rubin’s career in the nonprofit and grantmaking sectors has been characterized by a deep commitment to social justice and a call to champion the work of people and organizations who often go unseen, unheard and unsupported.
Recently retired from the Circle of Service Foundation, Pat is proud to have made grant recommendations for over $120 million in funds directed to the areas of community, health and medical research. Prior to that, she was Associate Vice President of Community Services, Grants and Special Projects for the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago/Jewish United Fund (Federation).
Pat’s civic engagement and volunteerism includes serving on the boards of numerous artistic, educational and activist organizations. One such appointment was on the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), where she was appointed by Gov. Thompson and reappointed by Gov. Edgar to serve a total of two terms. In addition, Pat was a board member of WBEZ-Chicago Public Radio, the Great Books Foundation, the League of Women Voters of Wilmette, the Kohl Children’s Museum and the Chicago Foundation for Women. She has also had the privilege to sit on several boards in the Asian-American community, including the national Japanese-American Citizens League (JACL), the oldest and largest Asian American civil rights organization in the United States.
Currently, Pat serves on the boards of Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve in Niles, Michigan, the Chicago Chapter of JACL, the Illinois Free and Charitable Clinics (IAFCC) and the Chicago International Puppet Theatre Festival. The recently concluded festival, known as “the preeminent event dedicated to the artform in the U.S.,” was attended by 15,000 individuals in January, showcasing artists from Iran, Korea, Japan and Europe with the goal of promoting peace, equality and justice on a global scale.
A native New Yorker, Ms. Yuzawa-Rubin lives in Chicago with her husband Jack. She has two adult children and two grandchildren.
Laura Lane Taylor
Director
Laura Lane Taylor
Sunshine Enterprises
Director
Laura Lane Taylor is the Managing Director of Programs for Sunshine Enterprises, whose mission is to empower high-potential entrepreneurs living in under-resourced neighborhoods to grow their businesses and transform their communities. At Sunshine, Laura supports a team of over 50 instructors, coaches and staff who implement the Community Business Academy and Business Acceleration Services for over 1300 entrepreneurs in the Greater Chicagoland area in partnership with many colleagues in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. A graduate herself of the Community Business Academy, Laura has developed and implemented other adult participatory training methodologies in community, seminary and vocational school settings. Laura serves as a National Trainer of the Community Business Academy with the Rising Tide Capital Network and is a Faculty Presenter at the Experiential Classroom annual entrepreneurship training conference hosted by the University of Tampa and Notre Dame.
Laura is a public sector professional, community development practitioner and community organizer. Laura has deep experience in building start-up institutions, community and civic engagement, as well as community-based digital and information technology initiatives. Laura is a fellow of Leadership Greater Chicago and has served on several non-profit boards. Laura received her B.A. in International Relations from Lake Forest College and J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law. She lives in Woodlawn with her partner and the youngest of their four children.
Walter Abrego
Director
Walter Abrego
(él/he/him/his)
Director
In addition to serving on the Coleman Foundation Board, Walter is a Program Officer for Builders Initiative, an impact platform that offers versatile philanthropic and investment tools to people and organizations building a more humane and healthy planet. Walter is a systems thinker working to transform the food system to center on the well-being of farmed animals. His work drives toward a world where consumers are encouraged and able to make choices that are good for animals, the environment, and their own communities.
Walter brings a depth of philanthropic expertise having also served as a Program and Grants Associate at the McKnight Foundation's Collaborative Crop Research Program. While there, he helped the foundation identify and fund regionally-based research projects in Africa and South America.
A Salvadoran immigrant and son of two former meatpacking workers, Walter earned joint bachelor's degrees in Communications and Spanish from the University of Northern Iowa and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Texas Tech University. In his free time, he enjoys biking, cooking, camping, and organizing. Walter lives in the West side of Chicago with his dog Remi.
