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.