STAFF BIOS

Jerry Stermer
Jerry Stermer has a favorite story he likes to tell when asked about the work of Voices for Illinois Children. Imagine you are standing by a river when you see a child floating by. You wade in, grab the child and pull him to the riverbank, only to see another child float by, then another, and another. A crowd gathers to help fish the children out of the river, but the children keep coming. So you walk upriver to see if you can stop the children from falling — or being pushed — into the river in the first place.

Mr. Stermer is the founding President of Voices for Illinois Children, which he has led since 1987 under the guidance of a statewide Board of Directors who bring energy, passion and a vision that we can and must do better for our children and families. Voices has worked to ensure earlier investments in children and has improved education, health care and other vital services, including the creation of state tax credits and health insurance for low-income families, and a dramatic expansion of preschool and other early childhood programs.

Mr. Stermer has served in key leadership roles with a variety of government and private groups, including the Governor's Task Force on Human Services Reform and the A+ Illinois campaign, which is working to reform the state's outdated school-finance system. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Illinois Early Learning Council. He is past board chair of Voices for America's Children, and is a board member of the United Way of Illinois and the Illinois Children's Healthcare Foundation.

Prior to joining Voices, Mr. Stermer served in both the executive and legislative branches of state government, worked for the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago and was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador. He holds a master's degree in political science from the University of Illinois. He is an adjunct professor at Northwestern University's School of Education and Social Policy. He and his wife, Nancy, have two adult children, Rachel and Daniel.
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Gaylord Gieseke
Gaylord Gieseke believes good public policy takes the child development approach into consideration. Focusing on how children grow — and what they need at different ages — leads to proactive policy that lays a foundation for healthy development. Ms. Gieseke is Vice President at Voices for Illinois Children, where for 19 years she has developed policy analysis and recommendations in the areas of tax policy, children's mental health, child welfare, child abuse prevention, family support, welfare reform, early intervention for children with developmental disabilities and education.

Much of her efforts involve building coalitions and engaging in administrative and legislative advocacy. She has been in the leadership of many statewide advisory groups and task forces. Ms. Gieseke is a member of the Executive Committee and Management Team of the Illinois Children's Mental Health Partnership and co-chairs the Birth to Five Committee. She has served as the Co-Chair of the Healthy Families Illinois Initiative for many years, after having co-authored the original enabling legislation. She also serves as the national Co-Chair of the State Leaders Advisory Committee of Prevent Child Abuse America. She is Co-Chair of the Building Resiliency Committee and on the Leadership Committee of the Illinois Strengthening Families Initiative, and is a member of the Executive Team for the new Illinois Childhood Trauma Coalition.

Prior to joining Voices, Ms. Gieseke held a variety of roles in business, community-based nonprofit organizations and child advocacy. She and her husband, Bill, have two children, Kyle and Carson, and four grandchildren. She enjoys playing golf, photography, gardening, attending the theater and opera, fishing and dining out.
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Jessica Anzaldua
Jessica Anzaldua is Administrative Assistant at Voices for Illinois Children. Prior to joining Voices in 2007, she worked at a TV infomercial advertising agency in Evanston. She also taught creative writing to 4th and 5th graders in Chicago Public Schools. Ms. Anzaldua has a bachelor's degree in creative writing from Columbia College and is working on her master's degree in non-profit management at North Park University. A Chicago native, she is interested in the arts and enjoys writing, playing percussion in Latin music groups, painting and learning new languages.
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Michelle Arnold
Michelle Arnold is the project manager for the Foster Kids Are Our Kids Campaign, a social marketing campaign calling the public to act on behalf of foster children: volunteer, donate or become a foster parent — do something to help kids in foster care. Over 60 community based agencies are committed to the Campaign’s goals of improving foster care. Ms. Arnold has worked with the Campaign since 2007. This past year, in addition to managing the Campaign, she has convened the Youth to Adulthood Partnership Group recommending law and policy changes to improve the transition from youth to adulthood for children in state care.

Prior to joining Voices, Ms. Arnold worked at Pathways Independent Living Program, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago, the Illinois Department of Public Aid, and for Governor Thompson on the program staff and for the Bureau of the Budget. She has worked with agencies serving children and families for over 20 years. Ms. Arnold has her bachelor's and master's degrees in social work from the University of Illinois. She is married and lives in Oak Park with her husband, Paul Martin, and her daughter, Lucy.
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Melissa Baker
Melissa Baker likes the big-picture work of public policy because of its ability to touch thousands of people's lives. As Kids Count Project Director, she produces the annual Illinois Kids Count data report, which uses the best available data to measure the educational, social, economic and physical well-being of children. She also works with community leaders in Voices Leadership Committees, coordinating their efforts to result in better lives for children. Prior to joining Voices in 2007, Ms. Baker developed program operations for a Tennessee state agency providing Temporary Assistance to Needy Families benefits as a senior consultant for Virginia-based government contract firm MAXIMUS. She also developed policies on health care, patient safety and other issues in the Illinois Governor's Office; served as communications/policy assistant in the Office of the Cook County Clerk; and developed editorial content for trade and business-to-business magazines at Imagination Publishing. She has a master's degree in public policy from the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy and a bachelor's degree in English/journalism and American studies from Ohio's Miami University.
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Shawn Gavin
Shawn Gavin believes that fundraising is about connecting people to their passion about what they want to achieve in the world. As Director of Development at Voices for Illinois Children, he enjoys being part of an organization that is working to improve the lives of thousands of children through positive public policy changes. Prior to joining Voices in 2005, Mr. Gavin served as director of development at Lawrence Hall Youth Services in Chicago, where he managed all facets of an annual giving campaign, including individual giving, corporate, foundation and church relations, United Way and special events. He provided expert fundraising and management counsel to nonprofit organizations as a consultant with The Alford Group in Chicago and also worked at The Charles F. Kettering Foundation in Dayton, Ohio. Mr. Gavin graduated from Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Mich., with a bachelor's degree in political science. He and his wife, Lisa, enjoy dining out and traveling to Michigan's wine country.
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Pat Gonzalez
Pat Gonzalez was the fourth person hired at Voices for Illinois Children in 1987. She was instrumental in getting Voices started by helping to develop the organization's bookkeeping and financial policies. Ms. Gonzalez has served as Fiscal Manager for the past 17 years. As a parent who was active in her children's schooling, she believes strongly in Voices' efforts to involve parents and concerned citizens in speaking out on behalf of children. A project that encouraged parents to run for Local School Council in Chicago public schools and the creation of Voices Leadership Committees shows parents that their voices do matter. Prior to joining Voices, Ms. Gonzalez was assistant bookkeeper at a financial company. She and her husband, Louis Garcia, have two children, Jaime and Kristen, and three grandchildren. She enjoys getting hooked on TV shows, watching movies, reading and spending time with her grandchildren.
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Maneesha Date Jacoby 
Maneesha Date Jacoby attended a well-funded public school while growing up, and believes all children should have that opportunity. She researches the impact of education funding and other issues as Senior Policy Analyst for the Budget & Tax Policy Initiative at Voices for Illinois Children. Ms. Date Jacoby produces Voices' annual state budget analysis, which is highly regarded by advocates and policymakers. She joined Voices in 2003 after working as a research statistician at a market research firm and a research assistant at the Metropolitan Planning Council. She holds a master's degree from the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy and a bachelor's degree in psychology and statistics from the University of Michigan. 
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Larry Joseph
Larry Joseph sees his work at Voices for Illinois Children as trying to solve a puzzle: what data need to be shared, in what manner, and with what audience to result in positive policy changes for children. As Director of Voices' Budget & Tax Policy Initiative, Mr. Joseph oversees research and analysis on state fiscal policies and their impact on the lives of children and their families. Prior to joining Voices in 2007, he was senior research associate at the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, where he did policy analysis on Medicaid, welfare reform and fiscal federalism. He previously served as associate director of the University's Center for Urban Research and Policy Studies in the School of Social Service Administration (1987 to 1996) and in the Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy (1996 to 2003).

For 10 years, Mr. Joseph collaborated with Voices in organizing the highly regarded Illinois Welfare Policy Symposium, which examines policies and programs affecting low-income families and advances strategies for reducing poverty and expanding economic opportunity. Mr. Joseph earned his doctorate in political science from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He also has a master's degree in public policy studies from the University of Chicago and a bachelor's degree from Brandeis University. He and his wife, attorney Lauren Newman, have a teenage daughter, Carol.
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Dawn Melchiorre
Dawn Melchiorre's path to public policy work started with a persistent single mother who wanted her daughter to go to preschool, but couldn't afford it. As president of a cooperative preschool, Ms. Melchiorre spearheaded program changes that allowed children in home-based child care settings to attend preschool. Ms. Melchiorre focuses on health and development issues including children's mental health, Early Intervention and health insurance as Senior Policy Associate at Voices for Illinois Children. Prior to joining Voices in 2005, she was a small business owner. Her civic activities included being a Court Appointed Special Advocates volunteer and serving as secretary and board member of Illinois Action for Children, the organization that oversaw the Cook County CASA program. Ms. Melchiorre has a master's degree in public service from DePaul University and a bachelor's degree from Loyola University Chicago. She and her husband, Rudy, have three young children: Sisi, Michael and Rudy. They enjoy movies and attending and participating in sporting events.
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Sean Noble
The picture on Sean Noble's computer depicts Bobby Kennedy talking with children living in devastating poverty in the Mississippi Delta in 1967. Mr. Noble shares Kennedy's reaction to the scene: how can we let this happen? That passion to make a difference led Mr. Noble in 2001 to join Voices for Illinois Children where, as Director of Government Relations, he helps coordinate the policy and advocacy work of broad-based coalitions working on preschool, school-funding reform and tax credits for working families. In 2003, he played a leading role in the permanent reauthorization and expansion of the Illinois earned income tax credit, which benefits more than 750,000 low-income, working families. Mr. Noble previously spent more than a decade as a reporter at daily newspapers throughout Illinois, primarily covering education. He ended his journalism career as chief of Copley News Service's Chicago bureau. Mr. Noble holds a master's degree in public affairs reporting from the University of Illinois at Springfield and a bachelor's degree in public relations journalism from Northern Illinois University. He is a fan of the Chicago Cubs and Green Bay Packers and enjoys music, biking, running and reading history and biographies. His wife, Mary McDermott, is an attorney.
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Kelley Talbot
As Policy Associate at Voices for Illinois Children, Kelley Talbot works to improve families’ everyday quality of life through strengthening their economic security. This includes efforts to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit and foster progressive tax reform. Prior to joining Voices, Ms. Talbot was the Assistant Director of External Relations at the Illinois Board of Higher Education, handling legislative and media affairs. She gained four years of legislative experience while on the Illinois House Democrats’ staff and helped run successful State Representative campaigns in the north suburbs. Ms. Talbot has a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Occidental College in Los Angeles.
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Joan Vitale
As Director of Community Engagement at Voices for Illinois Children, Joan Vitale oversees the creation and support of Voices Leadership Committees - groups of civic, community and business leaders and concerned citizens who are passionate about improving children's lives. Ms. Vitale previously directed the parent-education component of Voices' nationally known Start Early: Learning Begins at Birth campaign, which provided young, at-risk parents with information about nurturing and stimulating the crucial brain development that occurs in a baby's first years. The Start Early campaign used an award-winning original video and parenting magazine. Her work included providing training to over 400 service organizations around the state in using the Start Early materials. Prior to joining Voices in 1997, Ms. Vitale was director of the Child & Parent Center at the Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, where she managed support programs for over 300 families. She also participates on a variety of statewide and local boards. She and her husband, Phil, have three children - Andrew, Amy and Melissa - and three grandchildren.
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