WITS culminated its 2023-2024 school year on June 30 with our Annual Board of Directors meeting, which Board member Craig Close and our partners at PPM Jackson hosted. As the leading provider of literacy programming and corporate activation in Chicago Public Schools, our Board of Directors harbors a passion for literacy and is foundational to our efforts to drive student literacy outcomes.
This year, we recognized Marcus Jean-Simone, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Market Executive, for his service to our mission. We renewed the terms of longtime Board members: Maria Arosteguy, WITS Treasurer and Principal at KPMG; Doug Buchler, Managing Director at CIBC; and Kweku Obed, Managing Director at Marquette Associates.
Board Chair Jennifer Alter Warden led this year’s recruitment efforts. When asked what she looks for when recruiting individuals to support the WITS mission, which was originally co-founded by her mother, Joanne Alter, in 1991, she said, “Our perfect board member has a passion for literacy and a commitment to the future of Chicago. We look for individuals with board and/or fundraising experience who understand the importance of rolling up their sleeves and engaging.” Each WITS Board member exemplifies these attributes while supporting our mission. Here’s a first look at our new WITS Board members and what they have to say about joining in our mission.
Devereaux Peters
Devereaux is a 2-time WNBA Champion, an emerging real estate developer, and a staunch advocate for gun safety and gender equity. Devereaux had a 7-year professional career and won championships with the Minnesota Lynx in 2013 and 2015 and was listed as one of the Top 20 Players in Minnesota Lynx history.
After her retirement in 2019 she began a career in real estate development with a focus on low-income housing and commercial development. She is co-developer for a 30,000 sq ft dance studio for the black owned Deeply Rooted dance company. Additionally, Devereaux is a University of Notre Dame graduate, and is building a 66-unit mixed-use, mixed-income development in the city of her alma mater, downtown South Bend, IN.
She is an outspoken advocate for gun safety and a founding member of Everytown for Gun Safety’s Athletic Council. Devereaux addressed the 2019 Presidential Gun Sense Forum in Iowa and has delivered remarks on gun violence prevention at the Illinois state capitol in Springfield. A Chicago native, Devereaux has devoted her philanthropy to supporting local organizations that are empowering youth in her community.
Bobby Steinsdoerfer
– Bobby Steinsdoerfer
Bobby is a Producer at Lockton, the world’s largest privately held insurance broker, based in their Chicago office. With over 15 years of experience in the commercial insurance industry, he specializes in aligning risk management programs with corporate objectives. His previous leadership roles at global insurance carriers gave him the opportunity to work with clients from various industries and geographies. Bobby holds several professional designations, including a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, Associate in Enterprise Risk Management, and Associate in Underwriting Management.
Outside of his professional achievements, Bobby has actively contributed to non-profits focused on children’s health, educational equity, and community resilience. Additionally, he is the events chair for the Dartmouth Club of Chicago and is on the parents’ association executive committee at his kid’s school. A former college baseball pitcher at Dartmouth College, he now lives in Chicago with his wife and two children.
Joanne Nemerovski
Selling well over 1.5 billion dollars of luxury Chicago real estate, Joanne has consistently been recognized as a Top Producer by the Chicago Association of Realtors, the Wall Street Journal’s Real Trends Top Agents, and in 2023, she was ranked the number four individual agent for volume in Chicago. She has passionately represented thousands of buyers and sellers, always keeping their best interests at heart. She credits her legal education and prior work as an attorney for her ability to judiciously examine all aspects of a situation with critical thinking. Her main objective is to counsel luxury buyers and sellers and help in every facet of the transaction from start to finish. Joanne has an incredible network of ancillary services to ensure her clients have the very best professionals to help them with whatever they need throughout the process of moving.
She is an active and engaged member of the Chicago philanthropic community and serves on the Board of Directors for the Comer Children’s Hospital Development Board, Facing History and Ourselves, GFF, and was previously involved with Tutoring Chicago as well as the Respiratory Health Association. She regularly engages in other causes throughout Chicago. Her connection to WITS is deep, having a passion for literacy and supported the organization through mentoring and financial support since the early 2000s.
Morrison Warren
Morrison Warren is the co-chair of Chapman’s Investment Management Practice Group. He is best known for his representation of registered investment companies, including ETFs, mutual funds, closed-end funds, and unit investment trusts. Morrison is one of the leading legal ETF practitioners and now serves as fund counsel to over 450 ETFs.
The group he helps oversee at Chapman serves as fund counsel to over 200 mutual funds and closed-end funds. He oversaw one of the first instances of an interval fund publicly listing its shares on a national securities exchange.
In recent years, Morrison has also been at the vanguard of the emerging blockchain and digital asset industry. He represents clients seeking to offer physically backed bitcoin ETFs, ETFs principally investing in bitcoin futures contracts, and other issues relating to funds which invest in cryptocurrency in securities offerings.
A graduate of Notre Dame Law School and a long-time Chicagoan, this is his first foray into Board leadership.
The WITS Board of Directors provides a passion for literacy as well as fiduciary and governance guidance that supports the WITS mission to empower Chicago elementary students to discover themselves through reading while developing foundational literacy skills. We create community through literacy-based mentorship, enabling teachers to build diverse classroom libraries, and promoting book ownership at home.
We are always looking for individuals with a passion for literacy who would like to learn more about supporting our work either through our Boards, as a mentor, or getting your company involved. Please reach out to Tena Latona, CEO, tena@witschicago.org, to learn more.
