CHICAGOLAND
Now serving 300,000+ local children every year.
Since its founding in 2009, Bernie's Book Bank has served countless children in Chicagoland. In 2024 local children attending over 950 Title 1 schools and early childhood programs received 2,409,599 free, age-appropriate, high-interest, and culturally relevant books.
The Chicagoland Chapter is powered annually by over 17,700 dedicated volunteers, collectively contributing over 46,801 volunteer hours. Join the volunteer effort >
Measurable Impact:
A recent 5-year Randomized Control Trial was conducted in partnership with Milwaukee Public Schools and Bernie’s Book Bank. The report concluded a statistically significant impact on student reading achievement, as well as positive impacts on related outcomes. Even better, the effect appears to grow over time.
Current counties served: Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will.
Your support can have a meaningful impact in Chicagoland. Get Involved.
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Get to know the team behind the Chicagoland Chapter.
Meet the team that fuels Bernie's Book Bank Chicagoland.
Kristen Daniels, Executive Director
Adrian Ayala, Marketing Lead
Carol Collier, Community Development Lead
Amber Emken, Director of Human Resources
Matt Heiser, Back of House & Facility Manager
Christina Holt, Development Events Manager
Tommy Lacher, Director of Information Technology & Supply Chain
Megan Lantz, Senior Operations Manager
Megan Leahy, Director of Brand & Development
Lauren Marquez, Manager of Development Operations
John Noster, Fleet Team & Logistics Manager
David Whitlock, Partner Communications Lead
Contact Us >
The passionate and dedicated members of the Chicagoland Advisory Board.
Jeff Burtelow (Local Lead)
Managing Director at William Blair & Company
Tina Allen
Vice President, Underwriting at District Cover
Rob Armstrong
Chief Marketing Officer at Zebra Technologies Corporation
David Carlson
Partner at Brunswick Group
Thomas Cheriyan
VP, Finance - Risk & Innovation at CDW Corporation
Danielle DuMerer
Technology Leader, VP at John G. Shedd Aquarium
Nicole Graham
Reading Specialist at Amplify
Nicole Jagielski
Senior Corporate Counsel at Zurich North America
Nick Jones (National)
Former Chief Financial Officer and Senior Executive at Teletrac Navman
Vipa Kamdar-Collins
Head of Credit Card Product, Loyalty & Engagement, SVP at Fifth Third Bank
Erin Kirchner (National)
Partner at Cooley LLP
Patrick Mannelly
Retired Chicago Bears
Phil Menzel (National)
Partner at JM Search
Tanusree Misra
Vice President, Dermatology Psoriatic, US Immunology at AbbVie
Usha Patil
Chief Insurance Officer, VSP at Vision Care
Al Ross
Vice President of Sales at All Surfaces, Inc
Amy Thering
Chief Information Officer of Optum Frontier Therapies
Kristie Vainikos Stegen (National)
Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at CoreLogic
Lynn Van Cleave
Executive Vice President at Wintrust Financial
Andrew Weil
Corporate Partner at DLA Piper LLP