Meet The Board
R. John Aalbregtse-Chair
R. John Aalbregtse is a retired partner with Accenture, a global management consulting firm. Mr. Aalbregtse has more than 25 years of service with Accenture and currently works with clients on a part time basis. His responsibilities with the firm included Global Managing Partner of the Chemical Strategy practice and Regional Managing Partner of the Resources Strategy practice in the Americas.
Mr. Aalbregtse received an MBA from the University of Michigan in 1981 and has an undergraduate engineering degree. He and his wife are Governing Members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and are active in a number of civic and charitable organizations. They reside in Winnetka.
Leslie Anderson
Leslie J. Anderson, currently a Senior Vice President/District Market Manager for Harris Bank's Business Banking Lending Group, where she is responsible for the growth and development of the Chicago Market Business District, which consists of businesses with revenues up to $50 million. Leslie has been in the banking industry for 18 years. She began her career in banking at NBD Bank Chicago where she completed a formal credit training program, spent two years as an internal auditor and served as a lender in their Asset Based lending group. After NBD Bank, Leslie spent four years with Harris Bank in their Middle Market Lending group, where she managed a portfolio of 30 middle market companies ranging in sales from $10-$75 million. During her remaining three years at Harris Bank, Leslie served the Bank as Vice President/Director of its Urban Emerging Markets group where she developed and implemented the bank's market penetrating strategy focused initially on the African American, Hispanic and Asian markets. For the past six years, Leslie spent her time with Fifth Third Bank as Vice President/Team Leader responsible for developing their Chicago Middle Market Banking group and establishing the bank's Middle Market Healthcare team.
Leslie has an MBA with a focus in Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Strategy from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management (Evanston, IL). Other affiliations include Professional Advisor for DePaul University, Mentor to Kellogg Graduate School's Entrepreneurship Program, active member of youth programs with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Leadership Greater Chicago Board Member and Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow.
Steven Braun, CLU
Steve Braun has more than 20 years of service in with Northwestern Mutual Financial Network and The McTigue Financial Group. Steve has earned numerous awards throughout his career and is a past president and board member of Northwestern Mutual's Financial Representatives Association.
Steve is active in the community working with The City of Hope, Glenwood School for Boys and Girls, and the Marty Hennessy Jr. Tennis Foundation. He brings his understanding of philanthropy and wealth to support Partnership for Cures. Steve resides in Highland Park with his wife and children.
Margaret A. Christie, JD-Secretary
Margaret A. Christie is a partner with the law firm of Golan & Christie. Prior to her affiliation with Golan & Christie, she spent a number of years working at large law firms, including Rudnick & Wolfe (now, Piper Rudnick), where she was also a partner. Ms. Christie started her own firm and eventually merged her practice with several other firms until joining Field & Golan in 1995. Her areas of practice include commercial real estate, finance and general business law.
Ms. Christie is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University (B.A., Economics, summa cum laude) and Northwestern University School of Law, where Ms. Christie served as Executive Editor of the Law Review. She is a member of the American Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association and Commercial Real Estate Women. Margaret and her husband share their home with two pugs.
Thomas C. Furst
Thomas Furst is founder and president of The Furst Group, Inc., aRockford, Illinois based national executive recruiting firm with a focused practice in the industrial and manufacturing markets. He has spent thirty-seven years in the recruiting and search business guiding the company to serve a national customer base and enjoys a reputation for excellence in management search. His personal recruiting efforts include chief executive officer/executive management, board of directors, manufacturing, and human resources executives.
Mr. Furst serves on six corporation Boards of Directors. He is active in the community serving as Chairman of the Board of the Rosecrance Health Network. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Rockford Art Museum and the Anderson Gardens Foundation. He has previously served on the Boards of the Rockford YMCA, Rockford Symphony, New American Theater, Chamber of Commerce, Rockford Local Development Corporation, a major hospital system and a major financial institution. Tom is married and has two adult children.
Steven Goldsher-Treasurer
Steve Goldsher began his career working for a local accounting firm, and in 1986 was hired by one of his consulting clients, a graphics company. He became part-owner and CFO of that company and grew it to a group of 12 companies. In 1996 Steve was named CEO of the $60 million company, called The Enteron Group. In 1998 The Enteron Group was sold to a publicly traded printing consortia, and Steve stayed with them until 2002.
Most recently Mr. Goldsher was Vice President of Business and Game Operations for the WNBA team the Chicago Sky. His path to the Sky began in sixth grade, when he met future ChicagoSky owner Michael Alter. Years later, Mr. Goldsher attended Mr. Alter's press conference announcing the team, and he was hooked. Steve was the team's second employee, responsible for finance and game operations, eventually adding sales and ticket operations. After completing his two three year stint with the Sky, Steve left to continue managing Graphic Purchasing Solutions, the graphics consulting company he started in 2002. A Chicago native, Steve now resides in Northbrook with his wife and three children.
Mark Kosiek
Mark Kosiek is a Managing Director and Chicago Office Head for the PrivateBank and Trust Company. He has been with the Bank since 1996. From 1980-1995, Mark was with First National Bank of Chicago where he managed their private banking and residential mortgage businesses.
Mark has more than 27-years experience in the Chicago banking industry; with a focus on Private Banking and Wealth Management. He also has an extensive background in all aspects of Commercial Banking, Commercial and Residential real estate lending and client relationship management.
Mark is a graduate of St. John's University in Minnesota and received his Masters in Banking from the University of Washington in Seattle. He is actively involved in several community and not-for-profit organizations including; St. John's University Alumni Board, St. James Parish in Arlington Heights, Accion Chicago, The Chicago Theological Seminary Visiting Committee, and is also a Director with the Chicago Chapter of The Entrepreneurship Institute. Mark is married and has two sons.
Kevin R. Krantz
Kevin R. Krantz concentrates his practice in advising businesses and their shareholders, directors and officers in a broad range of legal issues, including litigation matters. Mr. Krantz serves as general corporate counsel to numerous corporations in the printing, distribution, manufacturing, medical equipment, and real estate industries. Additionally, Mr. Krantz represents lenders in secured financing transactions.
Kevin has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, financing, business turn-around, employment issues, real estate transactions, advising family owned businesses and business litigation and appeals.
Robert Miller
Robert Miller founded Millco Investments in 1999. He is involved in all aspects of the company including, brokerage, investments, client relations, financing and property management. From 1994-1998 he was Vice President of David Kaufman & Company, a national real estate brokerage and auction firm. In 2004, Mr. Miller was named Retail Real Estate Investment Sales Broker of the Year by the Chicago Commercial Real Estate Council. He was also named among the top 10 producing real estate brokers in the greater Chicago area by CoStar. Bobby has completed in excess of $580 million in real estate transactions during his more than 11 years of experience in the real estate brokerage and investment marketplace.
Bobby Miller is a licensed real estate broker in the State of Illinois. He received his BA from the University of Wisconsin Madison in 1990. In addition to his work with Partnership for Cures, Mr. Miller supports Juvenile Diabetes, JUF, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Fouundation and The Gastro-intestinal Research Foundation.
Jerry Paris
Jerry Paris began his career with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago in the early 1970's. In 1976 Mr. Paris relocated to Rockford, Illinois to open several Midas Auto Repair Centers in several states including Illinois, Wisconsin, California, and Tennessee. Jerry is currently President of MW Automotive Enterprises, Inc. He is also the Chairman of the Rockford Illinois Chapter of Partnership for Cures.
Mr. Paris graduated from the University of Illinois in 1968 with a B.S. in Economics and went on to graduate study at DePaul University in Chicago. He retired from the U.S. Army Reserves as a Lieutenant after eight years of service and is active in numerous civic and charitable organizations. Jerry is married and has two grown children.
Dr. Susan Sherman
