Leadership
Fr. Scott Donahue
Rev. L. Scott Donahue Mercy Home’s President & CEO. He has been involved with the Home since 1990. Fr. Scott leads a strategic vision to expand and strengthen the life-changing services Mercy Home provides, and to advance insights in the field of caring for trauma-effected and disadvantaged youth.
Fr. Scott’s advocacy on behalf of disadvantaged children is rooted in his ministry as a Catholic priest. Ordained in 1982, Fr. Scott has served as a resident priest in a number of Chicago area parishes. He held leadership positions within the Chicago Archdiocese, including vice chairman of the Association of Chicago Priests and Vocations Director. Fr. Donahue holds master’s degrees in theology, applied spirituality, and social work. He has authored a book entitled ‘Years of Mercy’. Additionally, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from St. Xavier University.
In addition to his leadership of Mercy Home for Boys & Girls, and his parish ministry, Fr. Scott serves as the principal celebrant of the televised “Sunday Mass at Mercy Home” on WGN-TV Ch. 9. The televised Mass reaches over 60,000 elderly, sick, and homebound folks every week.
Senior Leadership
Joe Wronka, MBA
Chief Operating Officer
Since he began as a MercyWorks volunteer in 2004, Joe has been an active team member in various departments within Mercy Home. Joe has BA in Sociology from St. John’s University and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame. Joe supported youth to attain their academic, career, and interpersonal goals as Youth Care Worker, Education Coordinator, and Vice President of The Academy. As a member of the Youth Programs Administration team, Joe coordinated and led youth activities and, as a supervisor of the Home’s training program, designed training curriculums and oversaw training of all agency coworkers. Since 2015 Joe has led a team of fundraising professionals to garner the financial resources needed to operate Mercy Home for Boys & Girls from generous supporters across the country. Today, as COO, Joe directly supports President & CEO Fr. Scott Donahue and members of the Office of the President to establish and meet their departmental goals.
Cheryl Murphy, MBA
Chief Financial Officer & Vice President of Finance, Human Resources and Facilities
Cheryl has a BS degree in Accountancy from Northern Illinois University and an MBA in Finance from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. Cheryl is also a certified public accountant. Cheryl worked as an auditor at Ernst & Young for four years and then for Dominick’s Finer Foods for nine years with the last four as the Vice President and Treasurer. Cheryl has been at Mercy Home since 1999 and oversees Finance, Human Resources, Facilities and our printing and kitchen operations.
Alban Fisher, Ph.D.
Vice President of Residential Programs
After graduating from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska Alban Fisher joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps to work as a community organizer in Detroit, Michigan, and moved to Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood where he lived and worked in a community of former Jesuit Volunteers and other social service activists and leaders. He completed his Master’s in clinical psychology from DePaul University in 1990 and his Ph.D. in clinical psychology in 2003. Prior to joining Mercy Home in 2010, Fisher’s work provided him extensive insights into the child welfare system, especially around the implementation of services in foster care, group homes, psychiatric hospitalization, independent living programs, and school settings. At Mercy Home, he served as a program manager and later as the Home’s clinical director before being named Vice President of Youth Programs in October 2021.
Liz Kuhn Tomka, LCSW
Vice President of Education and Career Resources
Liz Kuhn Tomka, LCSW, was promoted to Vice President of Education and Career Resources in May 2019. Liz received her undergraduate degree in Family Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and, upon graduation, became a full-time MercyWorks volunteer at Mercy Home. Liz later enrolled in the Columbia University School of Social Work and received a certificate in School Social Work. Liz worked as a Program Coordinator and later as the Chair of the Department of Student Life at a charter high school for five years. Liz returned to Mercy Home in 2010 to manage the volunteer program. She transitioned back to her passions of Education and Social Work in 2012, and she has provided leadership of after school programs and academic resources since that time. Outside of work, Liz enjoys time with her family and is highly invested in her neighborhood.
Daniel Nelson, MSW
Vice President of Community Care
Daniel earned his bachelor’s degree in social work from Illinois State University in 2002 and his MSW from the Jane Adams School of Social Work at UIC in 2003. He began working at Mercy Home as a therapist in August of 2003 and was tasked to lead the expansion of the Home’s AfterCare program in 2005. In 2009, he became co-director of boys’ programs at our West Loop Campus while continuing to direct AfterCare. In 2012, Daniel leads the development of Mercy Home’s supportive housing program, providing affordable housing units to former residents and their families once they’ve reached adulthood. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he led an expansion and formal renaming of AfterCare. The Community Care program, as it is now called, provides ongoing support, encouragement, and access to community resources to former Mercy Home residents, youth participating in our Friends First mentoring program, and families of current and former residents and youth in our mentoring program. Daniel was named Vice President in 2024.
Emily Neal, LCSW
Vice President of Organizational Development and Clinical Operations
Emily Neal has been with Mercy Home since 2002 and held numerous positions at the agency including Therapist, Contracted Clinical Supervisor, Manager of Training, Director of Admissions, and Clinical Director. She received her master‘s degree in social work from the University of Chicago in 2002. Her work and training has focused on providing trauma-informed interventions to children, adolescents, young adults, and families in a variety of settings, including residential treatment, outpatient mental health, schools, and juvenile corrections. Emily is a faculty member of the Complex Trauma Treatment Network and the founder and convener of the IL ARC Consortium. Emily is a certified to train the ARC Framework, the National Resource Center for Youth Services’ Residential Child and Youth Care Professional Curriculum and is certified in the Child Trauma Academy’s Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT).
Steve Snyder, MBA
Chief Information Officer and Vice President of Information Technology
Steve received his undergraduate degree from DePaul University in Information Systems. While working for a consulting company, Steve earned his MBA in Operations Management from DePaul University. While completing his master’s degree, Steve started his own consulting company, which he successfully ran for 17 years. Steve holds Project Management Professional (PMP) and the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certifications. His blend of technological and business skills allows him to be a resource for all of Mercy Home’s departments.
Amy Schulz, MSW
Associate Vice President of Walsh Campus Programs
Amy graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in psychology and began working with our older boys’ programs in 1999. She earned a master’s degree in social work from Dominican University in 2004 and became director of youth programs at our West Loop campus in 2007. Schulz was instrumental the Home’s programmatic and therapeutic enhancement, contributing to the development of its treatment model. In 2012, Schulz became director of our Walsh Campus for Girls where she advocated for numerous building and program enhancements and encouraged greater involvement from the local community. Amy also managed the Walsh campus through its greatest crisis in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic forced its temporary closure, and eventual reopening. She was named Associate Vice President in 2021.
Elizabeth Sorice, LCSW
Associate Vice President, Strategy and Projects
Elizabeth received her bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies from the College of Wooster. After working on policy issues related to childhood obesity with Action for Healthy Kids, she joined Mercy Home’s residential youth care team. She later moved to our education and career resources department, where she served multiple roles throughout the next 13 years, including director. During that time, she earned an MSW from the University of Chicago and obtained her clinical social work license. Just before joining the leadership team, she helped raise support for Mercy Home’s mission through her work with our corporate and foundation partners and later with major donors. In her role as AVP, Elizabeth leads Mercy Home’s strategic planning, performs project management and other activities that result from our strategic plan, supports the administration and functionality of leadership teams, assists the quality improvement and program evaluation process, uses evaluation results in strategic and operational planning, and leads the Agency’s accreditation compliance.
Mercy Home’s Boards
Board of Directors
This group of board leaders and past Board of Regents chairman serve as the governance board for the Home, approval of the annual audit and budgeting processes and strategic vision.
Nancy A Temple
CHAIR
Katten & Temple, LLC
Rev. L. Scott Donahue
PRESIDENT & CEO
Mercy Home for Boys & Girls
Timothy Knight
TREASURER
Robert R. McCormick Foundation
Sue Bettman
Brunswick Group
Mark Brady
William Blair
Robert G. Carmody
Eileen Mitchell
AT&T Illinois
Joe Nolan
Beverly Capital
Johanna Rahal
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Board of Regents
Mercy Home’s Board of Regents is the main advisory board for the organization providing oversight of key programs and fundraising initiatives.
Peter Argianas
Gold Coast Bank
Jessica Balfour
Exelon
Skip Behm
AArete
Felicia Davis Blakley
Dave Braun
NewControl
John Chandler
St. Ignatius College Prep
Emily Cole
Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office
Mary Dempsey
DePaul College Prep
Antwan Dobson
Chicago Fire Department
Edward Gamble
Robert Gauch
Jim Jenness
Kellogg Company
Elizabeth Levy
Aarete
Paula McGrath
Harris Associates
Henry Monsell
Beautiful Destinations
Richard Price
Mesirow Financial
Angelique Richard, Ph.D.
City of Hope
Mark G. Sander
Old National Bancorp.
Kathy Seegebrecht
Underwriter’s Laboratories (UL)
John Sheehy
StarCom MediaVest Group
Alex Wiggins
Rush University Medical Center
David Williams
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Ambassadors of Mercy
The Ambassadors of Mercy is a select board of prominent men dedicated to advancing the mission of Mercy Home for Boys & Girls. This board of resourceful professionals surfaces and helps develop key influence support to sustain and expand vital programs for children in need.
Scott Dias
CHAIR
Goldman Sachs
John Salvino
VICE-CHAIR
Performance Wealth
Paul Adcock
Intrinsic Exchange
David Baez
Cook County Sherriff’s Police
Michael Barrett
Brendan Breen
Chicago Housing Authority
William Busch III
Kevin Cassidy
Chief Growth Officer
Health Care Services Corp.
Timothy Cavanagh
Cavanagh Law Group
Tim Cimaglio
Outdoor Interiors
John Clesen
Dennis Culloton
Culloton Bauer Luce
Keith Giemzik
Blackrock
Michael K. Lall
President & COO
AED Professionals
Eric Larson
Walsh Construction
Paul F. Leddy
Mobo Trex LLC
Sidney Lee
SpaceX
William J. Lewis
Barnes & Thornburg, LLP
Dominic LoVerde
Power Rogers LLC
Vincent LoVerde
Core Spaces
Terrence G. Muldoon
Capital Market Solutions
George Nolan
Edelman
Timothy J. Nolan
Bulls-I-Toy
Peter O’Brien
MADO Management
Brian Oleniczak
William Blair
Scott Pearson
The Northern Trust Company
Jeffrey Pettiford
Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc.
Bill Pragalz
360 Benefits
Patrick Quinn
JP Morgan Private Bank
Kevin Rooney
Focuscope, Inc.
John Sadofsky
Robert Half International
Konstantine Sepsis
Avison Young Chicago
Todd Steffen
Rick Stern
Tim Webb
RCM Wealth Advisors
William Weldon
Weldon Investments
Kenneth J. Wroblewski
Andersen Tax LLC
Leader Council
The Leader Council members are powerful and accomplished professional women who strongly believe that the lives of Mercy Home’s young people can be improved through education. They meet throughout the year and donate their time, talent, financial support and professional resources to open doors to education in order to change the trajectory of children’s futures and break cycles of abuse, neglect, and poverty.
Bridget Gibbons
CHAIR
Onward Healthcare Consulting, LLC
Nancy Bentley, PhD
Benedictine University
Sue Bettman
Brunswick Group
Deirdre Bormes
Keller Williams
Eileen Bower
Clyde & Co.
Beth Bracco
Blue Plate Catering
Micae Brown
Micae Brown Sales Agency
Juliann Cecchi
Northwestern University School of Law
Elena Cincione
Nyhan Bambrick Kinzie & Lowry
Jean Ratty Chidley
Chicago Parking Meters, LLC
Patty Meagher Clare
PM Clare & Associates
Emily Cole
Cook County State’s Attorney
Tracey Coyne
Kodiak Solutions
Mary Dempsey
DePaul College Prep
Susanne Dumbleton, PhD
DePaul University
Elizabeth (Liz) Evans
PWC
Susan Flood
Karen Golden
Anne T. C. Harney
Collins Engineers
Erin Hurley
HBK Engineering
Nancy Iannotta
Valley National Bank
Caroline Becker Joss
Caroline Rose, Inc.
Elizabeth (Lisa) Krepps
Kerry Long
K. Long & Associates
Jennifer Lyons
CBS-2 Chicago
Natalie Martini
Deloitte
Kathleen M. McCabe
Ann Mendelsohn
Mendelsohn Group Inc.
Eileen Mitchell
AT&T
Mary Kay Mulvaney, PhD
Elmhurst College
Mary Beth Matheney
RW Collins Co.
Kerry O’Hare
Oxford Capital Partners, Inc.
Katina Panagopoulos
Wintrust Commercial Banking
Meghan Perna
Acteon
Rachael Phillippe
Phillippe Builders
Lora Powers
Wells Fargo
Maureen Gainer Reilly
GO Coaching & Consulting
Mary Lee Schneider
Jasmine Shells
Five to Nine
Salme Harju Steinberg, PhD
Northeastern Illinois University
Kathy Taylor
Mittera
Nancy Temple
Katten & Temple, LLC
Susan Tomilo
Sikich Investment Banking
Katie Twardak
Tomasik Kotin Kasserman
Marcy Twardak
Corboy & Demetrio, P.C.
Monica Tynan
FDIC
Patricia Vassallo, M.D.
Northwestern Medicine
Laura Wicklander West
Great Lakes Advisors
Nancy Loewenberg Young
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
Associate Board
Maura Keller
CHAIR
Nicole Tolentino
VICE-CHAIR
Taylor Precision Products
Jack Baumann
Northern Trust
Cassandra Belek
UChicago Medicine
Lisa Brzezicki
Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation
Tim Bullock
Advocate Medical Group
Melanie Chaplinsky
SC Johnson
Ethan Cole
Equity Lifestyle Properties
RJ Curington
Curington Law, LLC
Patrick Durham
Edelman
Tobias Dwumaah
Accenture
Ryan Ferris
The Huntington National Bank
Jenny Giudici
Crescent Parts & Equipment
Jennifer Goodwin
JP Morgan Healthcare
Dan Hack
Morgan Stanely
Amber Hough
Worsek & Vihon LLP
Brianna Hughes
Luke Hughes
S & P Global
Mitchell Krafcheck
BMO Harris
Andrew Krcatovich
Promus Capital
Lauren Krcatovich
Cision
Matt Knight
Walter Street
Ryan Kruzel
Lincoln Property Company
Aubrey H. Laverty
Ethan Levy
Jenner & Block LLP
Jazmyn Lopez
Anthelo
Mario LoVerde
LiUNA Great Lakes
Michael Lyons
Horizon Therapeutics
James Marek
Origami Risk
Conor McDonald
Workday
Emily Daniels McDonald
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
Kathleen McGovern
Sinai Health
Dremain Moore
Thompson Coburn
Jack Morgan
Harris Associates
Katie Mullen
Environmental Protection Agency
Gannon O’Brien
Zeller Realty Group
Kenny Palmer
Risk Placement Services
Krista Paplaczyk
Northwestern Medicine
Carlos Ramirez
Microsoft
Molly Reilly
ICF Next
Reggie Williams-Rolle
ComPsych
Max Seegebrecht
UL Solutions
Thomas K. Smith
BTIG
Isabella Sorgi
AArete
Emma Walsh
Northwestern University
Jack Ward
Silver Oak Services Partners, LLC
Ashley Yelpo
Weber, Inc.
Matt Yonover
Indiana Sugars