Chair
Chair
Tammy is the CEO of Plan Heal, an innovative early-stage medtech company that uses health data to help people live safer, healthier, and more productive lives.
She is an industry recognized product thought leader, business strategist, and customer experience advocate having received awards from JD Power and Forrester amongst others while leading digital transformation, cloud innovation, and data protection efforts for domestic and international Fortune companies: Allstate, Discover Financial, Baxter International, and Motorola. Her innovative technology products are still in the market and positively impacts the lives of millions of people everyday. Tammy’s humanitarian efforts include increasing access to better healthcare, sustainable employment for vulnerable demographics, and quality education for youth.
She is an international public speaker, lecturer, and strategist for premier educational institutions like University of Illinois at Chicago, DePaul University, Loyola University Chicago, and Tallinn University of Technology covering entrepreneurship, technology innovation, data protection, and social impact investing.
Tammy is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon Executive Education in Systems Design Thinking, Loyola University School of Law and Business, and holds Public Health Certifications from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Epidemiology and Determinants of Global Health and the University of Washington in Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment and Prevention.
Job search advice: “Spend time chatting with people that are currently working and previously worked at the company where you have interest. This chat may be the most important one you have during the interview phase or the consideration phase of your job search as there’s always nuggets of information that you can use to help you more easily integrate within the culture of the company, or result in you pivoting to pursue another company that’s better suited for you.”
Vice Chair
Vice Chair
Khadija James-Keating serves as Vice President, Manufactured Components at TimkenSteel Corporation, responsible for overseeing the internal and external supply chain network, commercializing products along customers’ supply chains and driving profitable growth in manufactured components. She joined the company in 2019 as Vice President, Sales Effectiveness.
Prior to her work at TimkenSteel, Ms. James-Keating held several executive leadership roles with W. W. Grainger, a maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) industry leader. She held several regional sales vice president positions with responsibilities inclusive of developing strategy and tactics to support sustainable revenue growth across various segments. Her focus was to execute and deliver performance through driving cross-functional partnerships to help support customer needs. In addition, she gained critical experience in a corporate role as the Head, Global Talent Acquisition Operations, Inclusion & Diversity and Recruiting for U.S. Sales and Services, Corporate Functions, Military Recruitment and University Relations.
Ms. James-Keating also held numerous leadership positions across an array of functions at PepsiCo’s Frito Lay division, applying her expertise in sales, sales operations and supply chain management. She began her career proudly serving the country as a commissioned officer in the United States Army.
Ms. James-Keating currently serves on the executive advisory board for UpstartWorks and on the board of directors for National Able Network. She is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering and mathematics.
Job search advice: Be yourself! Show up through the entire interview process as authentically you. Be clear about your capabilities and what you want to accomplish…while also being honest about your opportunities. The connection the hiring team makes with you as a person most times mitigates or offsets any small lack of experience for a particular role.
Secretary
Secretary
Maija Renko is a Professor and Coleman Chair of Entrepreneurship at DePaul University, Driehaus College of Business, in Chicago. She holds a D. Sc. in Business Administration degree from Turku School of Economics (Finland), and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from Florida International University (USA). Between 2007 and 2019 she worked at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), first as an assistant professor of entrepreneurship, then as a tenured associate professor (2013-2019), and finally promoted to full professor in 2019.
Maija teaches entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship classes in the undergraduate business and graduate programs of DePaul University’s Driehaus College of Business. Her research and teaching interests are focused on the early stages of the entrepreneurial process (entrepreneurial motivation, opportunities and nascent entrepreneurship), social entrepreneurship, and technology entrepreneurship. Her research has been published in leading management and entrepreneurship journals, and she serves on the editorial and review boards for six of the top journals in entrepreneurship and management.
Maija has received a number of grants to support her research activities, and students at UIC voted her to be their Favorite MBA Professor. Her teaching and research contribute to a better understanding of how entrepreneurs build successful businesses that not only generate financial rewards for those involved, but also contribute to positive social change, a sense of achievement for those—often disenfranchised members of the society—involved, and the advancement of society through the introduction of innovations. Her interdisciplinary, collaborative work on the topic entrepreneurship among people with disabilities is pioneering in its focus.
Treasurer
Treasurer
Michael Chrisler is the founder of Flex Financial, a financial planning and coaching business based in Chicago. Flex Financial, a value-based firm, was founded with a commitment to providing access, resources, and education to everyone who needs it, regardless of their financial situation.
Prior to founding Flex Financial, Michael spent nearly 15 years as a vice president at Envestnet, a financial technology leader of integrated portfolio, practice management, and reporting solutions for financial advisors and institutions. Training financial advisors provided Michael unique insight into how to effectively support clients and make financial counseling more accessible.
While at Envestnet, Michael played a key role in the company’s growth from less than 100 employees to 3,400, as well as its expansion through Initial Public Offering (IPO) as a publicly traded company. This “grassroots” leadership experience shaped his management style and laid the foundation and appreciation of successful organizations.
Michael earned a BA in consumer science from the University of Wisconsin — Madison. A proud husband and father, he resides with his wife Brittany and their two sons. When he’s not busy promoting financial literacy in the community, Michael enjoys spending quality time playing video games with his sons, practicing martial arts, and being the IT support for his entire family.
Job search advice: “Be honest, but don’t be afraid to go for something you may not feel qualified for, if it looks like something you would be passionate about.”
President & CEO
President & CEO
Bridget Altenburg joined National Able Network in September 2013 as Chief Operating Officer and was appointed President & CEO in April 2018.
Ms. Altenburg’s 18-year career includes experience in the non-profit and for-profit sectors as well as military service. Ms. Altenburg came to National Able Network from Chicago Cares, where she served as the Executive Director for almost three years. During her tenure at Chicago Cares, she helped revitalize the organization’s programs, finances and staff. Prior to her work with Chicago Cares, Bridget directed the development, marketing and communications for the Academy for Urban School Leadership, Chicago’s only teacher training and school turnaround organization, which was recognized by President Obama as a national model for education reform. Prior to her transition to the non-profit sector, Bridget worked on the executive staff at Bally Total Fitness to strengthen the company prior to its sale to Harbinger Capital.
Ms. Altenburg began her career as an engineer officer in the US Army. In her first assignment, she deployed from Hanau, Germany with 34 soldiers to Bosnia to conduct engineering operations pursuant to and consistent with the Dayton Peace Accords of 1995. She returned to Bosnia the following year and was deployed a third time to Albania to support the air war in Kosovo in 1999.
Ms. Altenburg earned a BS in Russian and French from the United States Military Academy at West Point and an MBA from Columbia Business School in New York.
Michael Wilder is a Shareholder in Littler Mendelson, P.C.’s Chicago Office practicing management-side labor and employment law. He currently serves on Littler’s Diversity and Inclusion Council, Shareholder Profitability Committee, and Chairs the Chicago Hiring Committee.
He has the high distinction of being named one of the “Top 40 Lawyers Under 40” in Illinois, one of the “Top Labor and Employment Lawyers in Illinois”, one of the “Top Lawyers in Illinois”, “One of the Most Influential Minority Lawyers in Chicago,” and has received numerous other awards such as Chicago-Kent College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumni Award, Chicago-Kent’s Distinguished Service Award, the Cook County Bar Association’s Presidential Award, and the CCBA’s Junior Counselor Award. Michael was recently inducted into the American Bar Foundation as a Fellow – a distinction reserved for the top 1% of lawyers in the country. Michael also serves as an Adjunct Law Professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law teaching Legal Writing IV for Labor and Employment. Michael received his law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law and his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University.
In his “spare time”, Michael is an accomplished author, creator of educational board games, and world-traveler.
Patricia O’Brien is currently Vice President of Print Management at Lowry Solutions, a Solutions Provider of Enterprise Mobility Solutions in a wide range of industries. Lowry Solutions is also a pioneer in the evolving field of IoT and creating long term solutions utilizing a broad spectrum of technologies.
Prior to her work at Lowry Solutions, Ms. O’Brien was an Executive Advisor for Bridge Partners Consulting, a management strategy and operations firm. Before that, Ms. O’Brien was employed by Zebra Technologies in a variety of Sales & Management roles, both domestically and internationally. In her last role at Zebra, Ms. O’Brien was the VP, Inside Sales & NA Supplies Sales.
Ms. O’Brien is a passionate supporter of Special Olympics, Misericordia, & Orphans of the Storm. O’Brien received her BA from DePaul University and lives with her husband, dog and cat in Lincolnshire, IL.
Jonelle Welch is currently the Director for North America Order to Cash. She leads the back office administrative support provided by HCL Technologies for her client, Xerox Corporation. Her organization consists of over 1,000 employees operating in five different countries.
Prior to joining HCL Technologies, Ms. Welch worked for Xerox Corporation, which she joined in 1992, as a Corporate Security Investigator after five years on active duty in the Army Military Police Corp. She held several roles of increasing responsibility during her more than 25 years with Xerox. These included various management positions within Corporate Security and Internal Services and transferring to support Sales in the areas of Financial Planning & Analysis, Corporate Controllership and Back Office Administration. She was most recently the Director of Strategy and Operational Enablement for North America Order to Cash.
Ms. Welch graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point with a Bachelor of Science (BS) and earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business. While on active duty Ms. Welch served as a Platoon Leader, Training Officer and Provost Marshal Operations Officer. She served in two combat theatres, Panama and Saudi Arabia, in support of Operations Just Cause, Promote Liberty, Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
Ms. Welch is very active in her community and has been publicly recognized for leading corporate community involvement groups and initiatives. She enjoys reading and both domestic and international travel for pleasure.
Founder and President of V.E. Solutions, LLC.
Founder and President of V.E. Solutions, LLC.
Angel Torres is the founder and President of V.E. Solutions, LLC., a Human Resources consulting firm specializing in military veteran employment and inclusive cultural alignment strategies. V. E. Solutions, LLC, partner with their clients to provide diversity and inclusion outcomes which deliver measured and sustainable change for all stakeholders.
A native of Chicago, IL, Angel served in the United States Navy for 27 years. While leading the men and women of the armed forces, he completed seven deployments to Southwest Asia and the North Arabian gulf, participating in OPERATION DESERT STORM, OPERATION RESTORE HOPE, OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM and many more. He rose from the most junior ranks to most senior enlisted ranks eventually earning an Officer’s Commission. During his service he was a tenacious advocate for Equal opportunity. He spearheaded the integration of females into combat roles on an aircraft carrier, led the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” for 6,000 employees and built a fully operational and profitable “Starbucks” styled espresso café on a U.S. Navy warship.
A staunch advocate for inclusion and minorities, nationally, he sits on several boards including: The Spanish Coalition for Housing, Teatro Vista Theater, Veteran Leadership Council, Chicago Veterans Advisory Board and is an active member of the Chicago Latino Caucus.
Angel received an Executive MBA from Northwestern Kellogg School of Management, earned an M.S. in Global Business Leadership from the University of San Diego, a B.S. in Human Resource Management from Columbia Southern University and is a Chicago Latino Caucus Foundation Leadership Academy Fellow.
Lorenzo currently leads a group of Systems Engineers covering the entire US and parts of Canada at Cisco Systems, the worldwide leader in computer networking cloud managed networks. In addition to his sales leadership role, he also serves as the Global Leader of the Inclusive community focused give back program overseeing offices in London, Sydney, Chicago, and San Francisco.
During his time at Cisco Meraki, he has been able to develop and oversee multiple community-based programs and relationships across the city of Chicago including with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and the City Colleges of Chicago, delivering Computer Networking and Cloud computing curriculum and helping to develop professional level IT skills.
Lorenzo grew up on the Southside of Chicago and while he did not graduate from High School or College, he has been able to obtain several industry leading certifications and professional licenses including A+, NET+, Server+ CCNA, PMP, DevNet and is also a licensed Realtor serving the state of Illinois.
President & CEO
President & CEO
Bridget Altenburg joined National Able Network in September 2013 as Chief Operating Officer and was appointed President & CEO in April 2018.
Ms. Altenburg’s 18-year career includes experience in the non-profit and for-profit sectors as well as military service. Ms. Altenburg came to National Able Network from Chicago Cares, where she served as the Executive Director for almost three years. During her tenure at Chicago Cares, she helped revitalize the organization’s programs, finances and staff. Prior to her work with Chicago Cares, Bridget directed the development, marketing and communications for the Academy for Urban School Leadership, Chicago’s only teacher training and school turnaround organization, which was recognized by President Obama as a national model for education reform. Prior to her transition to the non-profit sector, Bridget worked on the executive staff at Bally Total Fitness to strengthen the company prior to its sale to Harbinger Capital.
Ms. Altenburg began her career as an engineer officer in the US Army. In her first assignment, she deployed from Hanau, Germany with 34 soldiers to Bosnia to conduct engineering operations pursuant to and consistent with the Dayton Peace Accords of 1995. She returned to Bosnia the following year and was deployed a third time to Albania to support the air war in Kosovo in 1999.
Ms. Altenburg earned a BS in Russian and French from the United States Military Academy at West Point and an MBA from Columbia Business School in New York.
Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Khalid Qazi joined National Able Network, Inc. in 2003 as Controller and was promoted to become its Chief Financial Officer in 2011. Mr. Qazi manages a team of five accounting professionals responsible for all budgeting, forecasting, compliance, and financial reporting associated with more than 30 publicly- and privately-awarded contracts annually. Mr. Qazi serves as the primary point of contact for federal, State, and independent auditors, and has consistently led the Agency into outstanding audit results. His reputation as a leading expert in non-profit accounting and compliance has brought him to the attention of philanthropic foundations and other non-profits who routinely rely on him for advice and support.
Mr. Qazi was named the 2017 CFO of the Year by Financial Executives International (FEI) for his expertise in the not-for-profit midsized company specialization area. The award nomination process is extremely rigorous, involving an in-depth evaluation process that explores the nominee’s leadership capacity, a review of the company’s financial information, contacting professional references, and an in-depth interview process conducted by FEI’s Judging Committee.
Prior to National Able Network, Mr. Qazi served as manager of Financial Reporting to Children’s Home & Aid Society of Illinois where he supervised the accounting staff responsible for compliance and reporting requirements, and the development of several custom tools for analyzing financial results. Mr. Qazi has served as manager of American Express Tax and Business Services, where he prepared projections and forecasts, monthly analysis of variances, and consolidated financial reports for external reporting. For more than five years, he worked for Arthur Andersen, LLP. During this time, he served as a senior staff member for Jane Addams Hull House Association and coordinated the regulatory reporting of the Department of Children & Family Services.
Mr. Qazi earned his BBA in Accounting from Robert Morris College and his Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Karachi.
Chief Program Officer
Chief Program Officer
Matthew Weis serves as National Able Network’s Chief Program Officer, overseeing workforce and training services for job seekers as well as business support programs. Mr. Weis joined National Able Network in 2014 to oversee career pathway programs that help vulnerable job seekers, and led significant programmatic expansion efforts of the IT Career Lab vocational training operations, as well as the IT Sector Center funded via the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership. Since his start at National Able Network, Matt has tripled IT Career Lab’s annual revenue, introduced new funding steams, and has led program expansion efforts to open four additional training locations throughout the Chicagoland area and one in Minneapolis.
Mr. Weis has been overseeing workforce programs for more than a decade, during which time he has created and led large-scale projects that have directly assisted with the re-employment of over 30,000 Illinoisans. He is a fierce advocate and practitioner of transitional jobs and other subsidized employment programs and has managed employment contracts with the Chicago Housing Authority, City of Chicago, Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership and the Illinois Department of Human Services to name a few. In 2010 as Director of Workforce Development with Heartland Alliance, he helped to conceive and manage the largest subsidized employment program in the nation – Put Illinois to Work, which assisted 27,000 Illinois residents with obtaining temporary employment and income during the height of the recession.
Mr. Weis currently serves on the board of directors of the Chicago Jobs Council.
Vice President Marketing and Development
Vice President Marketing and Development
Kristen Cullotta serves as National Able Network’s Vice President, Marketing & Development. Ms. Cullotta leads the agency’s national fund development and marketing efforts. In her position, Ms. Cullotta directs resource development including grant writing efforts from public and private sources, and fundraising events. In addition, Ms. Cullotta is responsible for strategic marketing and outreach efforts such as developing brand awareness through integrated marketing campaigns, media relations, social media, and website content.
Ms. Cullotta previously worked as part of the National Commercial Sales team at First American Title Insurance Company’s Chicago headquarters. She was also journalist with the Chicago Sun-Times news group, writing feature articles for several publications and was a columnist for the Pioneer Press.
Ms. Cullotta is an avid fundraiser in her community, applying her passion for helping others into numerous successful campaigns and events.
Ms. Cullotta received her BA in both Journalism and Marketing Communications from Columbia College Chicago.
Vice President of Human Resources
Vice President of Human Resources
Gail Berrier Joined National Able Network in April 2014, as a consultant implementing HR Best Practices. Ms. Berrier officially joined Able in August 2016 as Vice President, Human Resources, overseeing compensation, employee relations, operations and leadership training and development. In January 2017, she assumed responsibility for the entire Human Resources function, including 401k and retirement planning, benefits and talent sourcing.
As a member of Able’s executive team, Ms. Berrier actively participates in strategic planning and leadership development for the agency, in addition to ensuring its compliance with relevant employment laws and regulations. During her tenure as a consultant at Able, Ms. Berrier was responsible for and implemented a complete compensation structure; created job profiles/families and implemented consistent job banding across the agency. She overhauled and implemented the new hire orientation program; took the lead and created a structure for ACA reporting; streamlined and automated the annual salary planning process and implemented leadership development training for the management team and executives.
With more than 20 years of human resources experience in the private sector across multiple business units, Ms. Berrier brings a broad perspective and extensive background to her position. Previously employed with CTS Corporation and Motorola, Inc., she was given increasing levels of responsibility and provided global human resource support to multiple business units in the Automotive, Communications Components sectors and Corporate Functions. As Director of Human Resources with Motorola, Inc and then Motorola Solutions, Ms. Berrier provided in business HR support to the Corporate Function units of: Law, Finance, Marketing/Communications, Public Affairs, and Indirect Procurement. Outside of work she has been actively involved in multiple programs in the community and church, such as, Children’s Ministry, People Actioned to Deliver Shelter (PADS), Junior Achievement, Special Olympics along with multiple outreach efforts to support the most vulnerable and in need people in our communities.
Ms. Berrier graduated from DePaul University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Resources Management, with a focus in Industrial Psychology. She received her Master’s degree in Human Resources Management (MSHRM), from Roosevelt University, Walter E. Heller College of Business. In addition, for many years she has been a member of the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), as well as the Human Resources Management Association of Chicago (HRMAC).
Director IT Administration
Director IT Administration
Mark joined the team as Director IT Administration, with more than 10 years of IT experience and multiple degrees including an MBA from Lake Forest. He has all the technical know-how and more, but what sets Mark apart is his strategic thinking and ability to reverberate positivity during any project in any organization while bringing out the best from the team. Additionally, Mark is a member and subject matter expert for the Chicago Electronic Crimes Task Force (basically, he’s the closest thing we have to a Secret Agent.)
