The CivicLab is a 501 c 3 Black led nonprofit “do tank” dedicated to research, innovation, tool building, and capacity expansion to accelerate and deepen work around government accountability, grassroots democracy and social justice.
Biographies of CivicLab Leadership
Ama Johnson, Chief Education Officer, is an experienced fund developer with a demonstrated history of working in the non-profit organization management industry. Skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Youth Development, Program Evaluation, Case Management, and Volunteer Management. Strong education professional with a Master of Education (M.Ed.) focused in Special Education from DePaul University. Founder and President of Ubuntu Institute for Global Learning.
Jonathan Peck, President & CEO was named “Social Justice Champion” for 2021 by Chicago African Americans in Philanthropy. Jonathan is a master facilitator, organizer, trainer, coach, and mentor and has provided these services to over 5,000 individuals. He has extensive experience as an advisor and consultant, providing strategic advice in the areas of organizational development, electoral political campaigns, strategic planning and partnerships, and nonprofit executive leadership and business management. Jonathan has extensive experience in the international arena, most notably working on the ground in Southern Africa and Nicaragua. He has worked in over 15 countries across North and Latin America, Europe and Southern Africa. He was the Resource Development Coordinator for Alternatives, Inc., where he also served as the South & West Side Coordinator for Restorative Justice. He is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Tucson Urban League. Jonathan worked as a community organizer, and later as Associate Director of the Southwest Youth Collaborative (SWYC), a Chicago based organization dedicated to the healthy development of low-income children, youth and families. Jonathan served on the Community Relations Working Group of the Police Accountability Task Force of the City of Chicago.
Phillip Thomas, Vice President, has been a leader in the Chicago nonprofit arena for over twenty years. Most recently, he was the President and CEO of eta Creative Arts Foundation (founded in 1971), Chicago’s premiere theater and performing arts organization serving Chicago’s near South Side. He served as Senior Program Officer for The Chicago Community Trust from 2006 through 2011 where his portfolio included local economic and community development. From 2000 through 2006 Phillip served as Program Officer for the Woods Fund of Chicago. He has on the ground experience in all areas of managing and sustaining non-for profit and philanthropic efforts for substantive change. Phillip received his M.A. at the University of Chicago in Public Policy Studies and his B.A. in Political Science at Morehouse College. Phillip was in the Inaugural Class of Association of Black Foundation Executive’s (ABFE) Connecting Leaders Fellowship, a recipient of the ABFE Emerging Leader Award, and a past Member of ABFE Board of Directors. Phillip currently serves at the board of director’s level of several non-profits and philanthropic efforts. Phillip received his M.A. at the University of Chicago in Public Policy Studies and his B.A. in Political Science at Morehouse College.
Tom Tresser, Vice President & Chief Operating Officer is a civic educator and public defender. He was named “Best Public Advocate” by NewCity Magazine in 2015. His first voter registration campaign was in 1972. In 2008 he was a co-founder of Protect Our Parks, a neighborhood effort to stop the privatization of public space in Chicago. He was a lead organizer for No Games Chicago, an all-volunteer grassroots effort that opposed Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid. With Benjamin Sugar Tom co-founded The CivicLab, a co-working space where activists, educators, coders and designers came to work, collaborate, teach, and build tools for civic engagement. He is the lead organizer for the TIF Illumination Project that is investigating and explaining the impacts of Tax Increment Financing districts on a community-by-community basis. Tom is the organizer and editor for Chicago Is Not Broke. Funding the City We Deserve. The TIF work and the book have triggered over 220 public meetings in front of over 15,000 people! Over 260,000 people have viewed Tom’s online presentations. In 2017 Tom launched The POWER Institute with fellow author Jonathan Peck. The goal of the PI is to train people to win for justice in Chicago. He has taught for Loyola, Roosevelt, Adler, National Louis, and DePaul Universities.
NEW BOARD MEMBERS COMING IN 2024
Dr. Laura Ramirez – Laura is the Founder and Executive Director of Instituto Gaspar Yanga, a social change and grassroots education organization working in Chicago and Mexico. Laura is the former Executive Director of the Chicago Freedom School.
Maria Sarabia – Maria is the Health & Human Services Administrator, Ramsey County, MN. Maria is a former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Public Health Prevention Service Fellow with the Minneapolis Health Department. She also served as Deputy Director in the Office of Civil Rights at the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Maria helped oversee Medicaid Eligibility while serving at the Minnesota Department of Human Services during the roll out of the Affordable Care Act. Maria served as a younth organizer and trainer at Chicago’s Southwest Youth Collaborative.
Dr. Camille Williamson – Camille is the Health Equity Program Manager at the Center for Health Equity at the American Medical Association. Camille served for nine years at Adler University as Director of Center for Civic Learning & Community Action. She is an Adjunct Professor in the Masters of Social Work Program at DePaul University.
Atara Young – Atara is an equity specialist with over 20 years of experience in non-profit administration, policy, project management, program development, research, and strategic planning. She was most recently was Director of Healthy Chicago Equity Zones for the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation.
Design credits: CivicLab logo – Benj. A Sugar &Virginia Duran, POWER Institute, TIF Illumination Project, TIF Legal Project & Democracy Protection Project – Virginia Duran, “Chicago Is Not Broke” cover & Public Defender logo – Alison Sustarich
