Chicago House Elects New Members to its Board of Trustees and Announces New Associate Board Members

CHICAGO, IL – Dr. Sofia Adawy Akintunde and Daniel Finn were elected to the Chicago House Board of Trustees in June 2022; their three-year terms began in July 2022.

“Sofia and Daniel are both accomplished leaders, and the Board will directly benefit from their deep expertise in healthcare and finance,” said Board of Trustees Chair, Ryan T. Garrison. “They join the organization at a pivotal, exciting moment for the agency as we continue to expand Chicago House’s housing and social services footprint on Chicago’s South and West Sides. I look forward to partnering with each of them and I’m thrilled to leverage their expertise in pursuit of making measurable, life-changing impact on the clients we serve.”

Sofia Adawy Akintunde, MD., and Daniel Finn

Sofia Adawy Akintunde, MD, joined Chicago House’s Board of Trustees in June 2022. Dr. Adawy Akintunde currently serves as the senior health center director at Inner-City Muslim Action Network, a community organization that fosters health, wellness and healing in the inner-city, and for 25 years, they've been deeply invested in repairing structural and systemic injustices on Chicago's South Side.

Dr. Adawy Aknitunde completed her Family Medicine Residency at UIC Hospital, then served as Assistant Professor of Clinical Family Medicine at UIC Hospital before joining IMAN as director in 2018.

Daniel Finn, current CFO of Accenture’s Consulting and Strategy Group, was elected to the Chicago House Board of Trustees in June 2022. Finn is actively engaged in community engagement and advocacy and currently leads Accenture’s global corporate citizenship efforts in Chicago.

Previously, Finn served on the finance committee of his church, St. Mary of Vernon Church, and before that, he worked one-on-one with students and schools when he worked in Bangalore, India.

“We greatly look forward to working with Sofia and Daniel and are eager to engage them in our ongoing efforts to address the social determinants of health and Get to Zero,” said CEO Michael Herman. “I’m confident they will bring energy, insight, and perspective to the board.”

Longtime trustee and Finance Committee Chair CJ Jensen retired from the Chicago House Board of Trustees after dedicating a decade of support, advice, and counsel to the agency. “CJ provided steadfast, measured leadership and invaluable support during this decade’s unprecedented period of transition and growth for the agency. I’m incredibly grateful for his commitment to our clients and his personal mentorship over the past ten years,” said Board of Trustees Chair Ryan T. Garrison.

Trustee Janine Morabito was elected board treasurer and chair of the finance committee in June 2022.

Meet Chicago House’s New Associate Board Members

This summer, the agency also welcomed new members to its associate board – a growing group of young and mid-career professionals who raise critical support and awareness for Chicago House.

Troy Chirico, Abe Ortiz, and Vincent Sanches

Troy Chirico is a nonprofit development associate who has worked in the sector for over 3 years now. He graduated from Indiana University in 2019 with a BS in Nonprofit Management. He currently works at North Shore Country Day as the Development Associate - Major gifts where he focuses his efforts on acquiring major gifts for the school and coordinating large scale events for donors. In his free time he enjoys rock climbing, volleyball, attending concerts, and finding new thrift stores.

Abe Ortiz is a UX Researcher with Bold Insight, focused on medical devices user experience. After graduating from Marquette University with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, Ortiz served as an AmeriCorps volunteer with College Possible – Milwaukee, interned with the Immigration and Refugee Services at Catholic Charities Milwaukee, and worked as an Intellectual Property Paralegal at Banner & Witcoff, Ltd. in Chicago, IL. Currently, he serves on the Marquette University Hispanic Alumni Association board and volunteers with the National Lawyers Guild as a Legal Observer.

As a first-generation Filipino American immigrant whose life was impacted early on by his mother, an oncology and home health nurse, Vincent Sanchez works to serve elderly communities and to offer a new perspective of authentic aging for everyone. His background in social services and 15 years of experience in home health care has shaped his career as a case manager and educator, committed to supporting home-based care providers in doing more around social determinants and chronic illness. In 2021 he joined Careforce Homehealth, a boutique agency serving five counties in Illinois, as a partner and director. Vincent enjoys exploring the great outdoors with his partner Vin and is usually making terrariums for his family and friends in his free time.