Women’s Executive Speaker Series - Winter 2025
RECAP:
Uniting, Inspiring, Leading: Thank You to All Who Made Our Inaugural Women's Executive Series a Success!!
Thank you to all the incredible women who attended our first-ever Women's Executive Series this month! We are deeply grateful for your presence, engagement, and openness to connect and grow together. A special thank you goes out to our inspiring speakers - Mary Maher, Mary Dempsey, Cynthia Noble, Jill Blackburn, Caroline Williams, Ann Tenbrunsel, Francine Soliunas, Margaret Croke, Paula Quinn, and Kelly Amshoff - as well as the dedicated staff & volunteers who made each of the four sessions meaningful and impactful. This series created a beautiful space for Catholic women to build authentic relationships, share professional experiences, and explore how to live out their Catholic identity in the workplace. From insightful conversations to valuable networking opportunities, it was a joy to witness the strength and faith within this community. We look forward to continuing this journey together and building on the foundation of faith, leadership, and connection established through this series. If you attended any one of the sessions, we would love to have your feedback to help us plan for a future series. Thank you!
Faith - Leadership - Growth
Women’s Executive Speaker Series
January 8, 15, 22, 29, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., Fireside
The women of our community have asked and we’re excited to launch our new Women's Executive Speaker Series. Join us over four weeks, hearing from women leaders in our community, on how best to integrate your faith into daily life, navigate challenges with resilience, and build authentic personal brands. We know women of our community are busy, so if you can only join one week in the series, you are still encouraged to do so. Register today!
The flow for each night will be a social time from 6:30-7:00pm with food and beverages. Our speakers will begin at 7:00pm. At about 7:40pm, each table will have a small group discussion based on the topic.
Free parking for each week is available in our church parking lot.
SERIES DETAILS
PERSONAL VALUES & GROUNDING
January 8
Speaker: Mary Maher – President at Lydia Institute
Learn practical ways to integrate your faith into daily life, enhancing resilience and fostering a strong sense of identity.
LET FAITH BE YOUR SUN
January 15
Panel: Cynthia Noble – Executive Director of Art on theMART; Jill Blackburn – Advisor with Hunt Club and Media Entrepreneur; Mary Dempsey – President of DePaul College Prep
Moderator: Caroline Williams – Senior Product Manager at Threekit Visual Commerce
Keeping your faith as your focus, helps you to navigate all of the setbacks and challenges that we experience in our careers.
SPEAKING OUT
January 22
Panel: Ann Tenbrunsel - Professor of Business Ethics in the College of Business Administration at the University of Notre Dame; Francine Soliunas – (Retired) Chief Mission Officer at Marillac St. Vincent Family Services; Margaret Croke – IL State Representative
Moderator: Paula Quinn – Head of People at TechNexus Venture Collaborative
Be empowered in how your faith can shape leadership & advocacy in a professional setting.
FAITH AS YOUR PERSONAL BRAND
January 29
Speaker: Kelly Amshoff – Franchise Consultant at FranChoice
Discover how to authentically be yourself in every space, build confidence for workplace conflicts, and connect with an accountability partner who supports you in showing up with grace and strength.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS
Mary Maher
Mary Maher grew up in Michigan, the second of six children and thirty grandchildren. After Jesus (and maybe chocolate), there is nothing she loves more than her big, close-knit family.
Mary consecrated her life to Christ on Aug. 29, 1997. Her resume includes being a high school Guidance Counselor, workin in youth and family ministry for several different parishes across Chicagoland, Coordinator of Adult Faith Formation at Immaculate Conception Parish in Highland Park, and is currently serving the Archdiocese of Chicago as an Associate Director of the “Building the New Reality” team, within the Department of Parish Vitality & Mission.
Mary is passionate about the spiritual and pastoral development of the laity. She founded the Lydia Institute (www.lydiainstitute.org ) as a response to the spiritual needs of working women who are often overstretched and underserved. She spends much of her time speaking and mentoring lay leaders who desire to invest in their spiritual and pastoral leadership.
Mary holds a BA in Education from the Anahuac University, an MA in Religious & Pastoral Studies from the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum , and is a Doctor of Ministry (DMin) from the University of St. Mary of the Lake.
Cynthia Noble
Cynthia Costanzo Noble is a strategic, entrepreneurial executive consultant who leverages the power of creative initiatives to enhance public well-being and promote civic growth. Known as a possibility thinker, Cynthia maximizes partnerships and works across sectors to produce singular placemaking projects that create sustainable socio-economic impact.
Currently, she is the Executive Director of Vornado Realty Trust, Arts, integrating arts into business strategy. Cynthia is the founding director of Chicago’s ART on THE MART, which utilizes Vornado’s Merchandise Mart as a video art platform. In New York, Cynthia is working on a new, large-scale digital art platform for PENN 2, Vornado’s tower built above Penn Station. Additionally, she advises high-profile donors and the Downtown Seattle Association on a large-scale project coming in 2026.
Cynthia completed her M.A. in Art History at the School of the Art Institute. After spending several years in New York, she returned to Chicago, where she and her husband raised their two children. She has been a St. Clement parishioner for 32 years, is a member of the Arts Club and was recently named a top 50 Director/Curator by New City.
Mary Dempsey
Mary Dempsey was one of the founders of DePaul College Prep in 2014 along with a group of like minded trustees and administrators of DePaul University. In 2016, Ms. Dempsey was elected President of DePaul College Prep.
Mary Dempsey is also a librarian, an attorney and President of the Philip H. Corboy Foundation. From 1994 - 2012, she served as Commissioner of the Chicago Public Library where she was responsible for the construction of 44 neighborhood branch libraries, the introduction of rich book collections and technology system wide, and the creation of innovative programs such as One Book One Chicago and the YOUMedia digital technology initiatives for teens. Prior to her appointment as Commissioner of the Chicago Public Library, Ms. Dempsey practiced law for 12 years in Chicago focusing principally on legislative and land use issues, which was preceded by her first professional job as a public librarian in suburban Chicago.
Mary is a Saint Clement parishioner and holds a BA from St. Mary's University of Minnesota, a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a JD from the DePaul University College of Law.
Jill Blackburn
Jill Blackburn is an Advisor to Hunt Club, an executive search consultancy in Chicago. She specializes in finding and placing senior-level executives and board members for clients nationally. Prior, she was a Search Consultant with Heidrick & Struggles, as a member of the Financial Officers and Healthcare/Life Sciences Practices.
Before joining the search profession, Jill was an Executive Director at JP Morgan Chase, leading the international division of the Midwest Middle Market. She also spent 12 years at McDonald’s Corporation in Global Funding as well as European and US franchise and suppler finance.
Jill holds an MBA from the University of Notre Dame and a Bachelor of Science in Business from Miami University in Oxford, OH.
A Saint Clement parishioner since 2019, she lives downtown with her husband and two daughters, Charlie and Drew. She can be found in the studio launching “Great Job”, a podcast exploring great jobs and how to attain them.
Caroline Williams
Caroline Williams is an expert in digital product development and building new technology from scratch. Ms. Williams currently serves as Senior Product Manager at Threekit, a Chicago startup creating cutting-edge 3D visualization technology. Prior to Threekit, Ms. Williams created and launched a new digital networking platform for a Silicon Valley startup.
Ms. Williams is a cradle Catholic raised in the faith by devoted parents and grandparents; she is a parishioner and sacristan at St. Clement parish.
Ann Tenbrunsel
Ann Tenbrunsel (Ph.D., Northwestern University; M.B.A. Northwestern University; B.S.I.O.E. University of Michigan) is the David E. Gallo Professor of Business Ethics in the College of Business Administration at the University of Notre Dame. Her research interests focus on the psychology of ethical decision making, examining why employees, leaders and students behave unethically, despite their best intentions to behave to the contrary. Ann is the author, co-author, or co-editor of six books on this topic — including Blind Spots (with Max Bazerman)—and numerous research articles and chapters. Her research has been featured in interviews, including MSNBC, National Public Radio, and multiple podcasts, and adaptations and references to her work have appeared in a variety of publications, including the New York Times, US News and World Report, AP, NBC, ABC, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, The Guardian, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Huffington Post, Washington Post, Investor's Business Daily, and Freakonomics.
Ann teaches negotiations and ethics at the executive, MBA, and undergraduate levels. Prior to entering academics, Ann worked as an engineer for S.C. Johnson & Son and as a sales and marketing consultant for ZS Associates. She is a member of Saint Clement and serves on the Archdiocesan Finance Council.
Francine Soliunas is a lifelong resident of Chicago. She was born on the Westside, raised on the Southside, and acquired most of her formal education on the Northside of the city. She was raised and practiced in the Pentecostal faith tradition, until she was introduced to, and became an adherent to the Theology of St Vincent DePaul, during her time as a student at DePaul University.
Francine Soliunas
She received her B.S. degree in Mathematics from DePaul in 1970, as well as, her Juris Doctorate in Law, in 1973. The majority of her work life has been dedicated to the practice of Law, where she spent 8 years of service with Government agencies, 21 years in Corporate Practice with the Bell System, and 17 years in Higher Education in the field of Law, at Chicago Kent and DePaul University. The last 5 years of her work life were spent as the first Lay Chief Mission Officer for Marillac ST Vincent Family Services, a 120-year-old Not-for-Profit sponsored work, of the Daughters of Charity of the Congregation of the Mission of St Vincent DePaul.
She is a lifelong contributor, by way of her time and blessedly bestowed gifts, to numerous boards, committees, and organizations, including Leader America Leadership (Class of ’82) and Leadership Greater Chicago (Class of ’95).
She is a widow, a mother, and a 54-year member of Saint Clement. She sings in the choir and gives thanks, each and every day, for “The Goodness of God!”
Margaret Croke
Margaret Croke is the Illinois State Representative for the 12th House District which includes Lakeview East, Lincoln Park, Old Town, and the Gold Coast. Prior to becoming a legislator, Margaret served as Deputy Chief of Staff at the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Margaret also served on Governor JB Pritzker’s transition team and was the statewide Women’s Outreach Director for Pritzker’s gubernatorial campaign.
She started her campaign for the Illinois House of Representatives in 2019 to fight for women, small business, and the LGBTQ+ community. She’s passionate about jump-starting our economy and helping Illinois attract new industries. Margaret’s previous experience gave her a wealth of knowledge on Illinois’ unique issues; that’s why she’s a strong advocate of sensible gun control measures, governmental ethics reform, and fair taxation. As the mother of three young children, she has become hyper involved in legislative issues impacting young families and is a vocal advocate for affordable childcare and maternal healthcare.
Margaret is a proud University of Michigan graduate where she earned her B.A. in Political Science and Communications. An Oak Park native, she is a parishioner of Saint Clement and currently lives in Lincoln Park with her husband Patrick, her three children PJ, Mary Pearl, and Hattie.
Paula Quinn
Paula Quinn is the Co Founder of Coming Up Rosies, a Chicago based non profit inspired by her daughter, Rosie's dream to “make the bald kids smile." Rosie convinced Paula to leave her 10 year People Operations career at Google to provide the opportunity for bald children to create their own head scarf or superhero cape to wear with pride. Since 2016, Coming Up Rosies has donated over 5,000 Smile Kits to children's hospitals and alopecia organizations around the world.
In addition to running Coming Up Rosies, she’s the Head of People at TechNexus Venture Collaborative, a Chicago based venture capital firm. Prior to her positions in the corporate world, Paula taught at the Bing Nursery School, a lab school for the Department of Psychology at Stanford University. Paula, a California native, holds a BS in Human Development from UC Davis, and an MA in Early Childhood Education.
Paula lives in Chicago, with her husband Larry, daughters Rosie and Caroline and their Bernadoodle, Enzo. They are active at Saint Clement Parish. In her free time, Paula enjoys family time, being a Legislative Liaison for the National Alopecia Foundation, cooking Italian dinners with her girls, swimming, impromptu dance parties, and jigsaw puzzles (with a glass of wine) during the cold Chicago winters.
Kelly Amshoff
Kelly Amshoff has been a small business owner since 2018 when she first opened her fitness brand, ImwithKelly, after having worked in the fitness industry, from all sides of the table, for over a decade. She was signed as a lululemon ambassador for four years, had a studio in Cincinnati, then moved with her family back to Chicago in 2019.
With the pandemic, her business went virtual which was a blessing in disguise. Now, she is able to teach from a home studio to clients around the globe, offering live fitness classes, an On Demand channel and also quarterly wellness programs. When she isn't working out, Kelly is also a franchise consultant and works with aspiring entrepreneurs to find the best business concept to match their needs. Developing brands, owning businesses and having professional autonomy are Kelly's wheelhouse.
An active parishioner at Saint Clement, Kelly’s husband Robby and two daughters keep her busy, as well as their Rottweiler puppy, Millie.