United Power Leadership Structure & Professional Staff

United Power’s Executive Committee is made up of 20 to 30 primary leaders elected by the Collective Leadership. It plans and chairs all Collective Leadership meetings; meets, speaks and acts for the entire organization in emergency situations; and is responsible for development and recruitment of new leaders and member institutions. Executive Committee members commit to attend national/regional training; deliver dues for their member institution and help organize other money; organize turnout for their member institution; and engage in at least one issue/action team.

Executive Team Members:

Rabbi Marc Belgrad,Congregation B’nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim, Deerfield

John Bouman, Grace Lutheran Church, River Forest

Nick Brunick, Ascension Catholic Church, Oak Park

Clark Craig, Progress Center for Independent Living, Forest Park

Samuel de la Rosa, Chicago, Mentorship Chicago

Susan Drucker, Congregation B’nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim, Deerfield

Horacio Esparza, Progress Center for Independent Living, Forest Park

Richard Fung, St. James Catholic Church, Arlington Heights

Arturo Gonzalez, Interfaith Leadership Project of Cicero & Berwyn

Alec Harris, Chicago Sinai

Dr. Andre Hines, Circle Family Healthcare Network   

Oussama Jammal, Mosque Foundation, Bridgeview

Steve Kaufman, Grace Lutheran Church, River Forest

Kathleen Kearns, St. Viator Catholic Church, Chicago

Scott Lybrand, The Julian Year

Maggie Perales, Southwest Organizing Project, Chicago

Greg Pierce, St. Mary of the Woods Catholic Church, Chicago

JoAnn Potashnick, Temple Sholom/Lakeview Action Coalition

Rev. Alan Ragland, Third Baptist Church of Chicago

Dennis Ryan, Southwest Organizing Project, Chicago

Jim Schwarber, Ascension Catholic Church, Oak Park

Wahabi Tijani, Near North Health Services Corporation

Bill Totsch, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Park Ridge

Administrative Committee:

The Administrative Committee is made up of four to six members appointed by the Collective Leadership. It handles a range of mainly administrative dues, such as overseeing the budget, dues collection, personnel matters and compliance with state and federal audits and filings.

Collective Leadership Team:

The Collective Leadership Team is open to all leaders from member institutions and meets roughly quarterly. It is responsible for strategic planning, issue selection, and planning actions for the whole organization.

Issue Teams and Geographic Assemblies:

Issue teams are created and disbanded by Collective Leadership Team, to which they report. They craft and execute campaigns around issues such as health care, housing and immigration. In addition, United Power organizes clusters of institutions to work on more local issues when needed.