WSPN Funders Panel

What burning questions do you have regarding grants and foundations? 

Join us for a panel of area funders who will tell us about their foundations in general and their grant programs in particular. This program will be highly interactive in nature and encourage open dialogue between panelists and attendees. 

Learn first-hand how grant makers determine their giving priorities, how they prefer to build relationships with charities, what they look for in proposals, and what they expect in communication.

OUR SPEAKERS

Cathy McCann has served as a Program Officer for the Topfer Family Foundation since 2015. In this role, she manages $1m in annual philanthropic giving to over 40 nonprofit organizations in the Chicagoland area. Cathy has over 19 years of experience in nonprofit administration as a staff member, consultant, board member, and grant maker. She began her nonprofit career in the Education Department at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, where she was responsible for overseeing the largest arts education program in the Midwest. As Program Director for the Arts & Science Council in Charlotte, NC, she was responsible for managing the grant-making processes for local arts organizations and individual artists. For the past 10 years, she has also served as a grant writing consultant and researcher for various nonprofit organizations.

She is an active volunteer with the Ronald McDonald House Charities and received the 2019 WSPN Distinguished Service Person of the Year for her volunteer work with the West Suburban Philanthropic Network. Cathy and her husband, Adin, manage The Sadie McCann Fund, a charity started in memory of their daughter, Sadie Elizabeth, which is dedicated to supporting families who have a child with Aicardi syndrome. Cathy received her B.S. in Arts Administration from Butler University in Indianapolis, IN. She enjoys traveling, cooking, playing tennis, and spending time with her 14-year old rescue German Shepherd mix, Baxter.

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, Trustee for Lawrence University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology, and she serves 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 2018 and 2019, Make It Better recognized Shelley as one of Chicago’s Top Black Women of Impact. In 2019, University of Chicago Harris Public Policy students, named Shelley as Mentor of the Year.

She keeps herself healthy by studying yoga, biking and swimming. She enjoys taking long walks and traveling. Shelley lives in Bronzeville with her husband and two teenage children.

Steve Hosik Moon comes to Grand Victoria Foundation with over 15 years of experience in community organizing, advocacy, youth development, civic engagement, and higher education. He was most recently the Director of Organizing at Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago, where he contributed to the organization’s shift towards racial equity and grassroots leadership. During his time with Advancing Justice | Chicago, the organization developed a powerful youth organizing program, played a leadership role in significant legislative victories, and achieved historic civic engagement outreach in the Asian American community.

Steve remains committed to youth development and cultural work as a board member for Kuumba Lynx, one of the premiere youth arts organizations in Chicago. Last year, he also taught a community engagement course for the Global Asian Studies program at UIC. Steve graduated from the School of Social Service Administration at University of Chicago, UCLA’s Asian American Studies program, and the University of Michigan.

Steve is excited to “return” to Elgin, where he has some professional and personal history. He has worked on civic engagement and advocacy initiatives with members of the Laotian American community in Elgin for the past four years. Steve’s first “job” was also in Elgin, where he mopped floors and cleaned detergent off washing machines at his parents’ laundromat as a youth.

Matt McGarvey is the executive director of Telligen Community Initiative (TCI), the charitable foundation of Telligen, Inc., a private, nonprofit healthcare intelligence company headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa. As executive director, Matt leads Telligen’s regional health philanthropy efforts and is actively involved in supporting projects and organizations that strive to improve the health of communities in Iowa, Illinois, Oklahoma and Colorado. Before joining TCI, Matt worked for over a decade as director of The Wellmark Foundation, leading the corporate grant making and employee volunteerism programming.

Matt currently serves on the Boards of United Way of Central Iowa (Health Cabinet), Iowa Cancer Consortium. He served as a volunteer grant reviewer for numerous local, state and national grant programs. He is a graduate of Central College and received his master’s degree in public administration from Drake University, as well as a certificate in public health from the University Of Iowa College of Public Health.

This program qualifies for 1.5 CFREs