Linda champions the sustainable growth strategies of our nonprofit clients. As a social worker with a strong business orientation, she helps leaders pursue effective growth and impact. She is acutely aware of the social and financial barriers that challenge nonprofits, as well as their clients and their communities. Linda is adroit at guiding comprehensive, forward-looking approaches to build organizational capacity.

Before joining Conlon Public Strategies in 2018, Linda served as a board member and interim CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois and as chief strategy officer at Cook County Health and Hospitals Systems. For several decades, she held executive roles at Access Community Health Network, American Medical Association, University of Chicago Medicine, Health and Medicine Policy Research Group, and LaRabida Children’s Hospital.

Teaching and Community

• Field liaison and seminar faculty for University of Chicago Crown School of Social Work, Policy and Practice, assisting master’s degree candidates in integrating their academic studies with their social service administration internship experiences
• “Health Equity Program Dean” and Leadership Fellows Association board member of Leadership Greater Chicago, introducing competitively selected civic-minded leaders from multiple sectors to new ways to explore key public issues; Leadership Greater Chicago fellow
• Past board chair and Development Committee member of the Hyde Park Youth Symphony, a distinctive South Side program bringing young musicians together for a high quality orchestral experience lacking in area schools
• Board member, Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company
• Executive Committee member of the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, leading strategic planning and goal-setting for a historic local community treasure

Education

Linda received her bachelor’s degree, master’s degree in social service administration, and MBA all at the University of Chicago. She and her fellow alum husband continue to live in Hyde Park.