Along with Patrick Hatton’s appointment, WITS wrapped up its 2025 fiscal year by voting on new Board members Joyce Winnecke, Principal at Joyce Winnecke Advisors LLC and Brett Klein, Managing Director at Manifold Group; acknowledges the service of Maria Seimenis, Director, IT Portfolio Leader for Deloitte Technology, and Kevin Yao, Private Equity Investor at Skybox Capital.
WITS will begin the 2025-2026 school year with Patrick Hatton leading its 25-member Board of Directors.
Hatton was first introduced to WITS as General Manager of the former James Hotel, where he participated as a mentor in the Mid-Day Mentoring (MDM) program. When he took over opening the renewed Chicago Athletic Association Hotel in 2014, he brought WITS with him.
Hatton said, “It was important to me and the hotel (Chicago Athletic Association) to be involved in our broader community to honor the hotel’s legacy and support our great city. WITS was a natural fit, given its commitment to CPS students and our shared belief that reading is the foundation on which all other learning develops.”
Hatton quickly recruited dozens of employees and again became a mentor himself in the WITS MDM program at Drake Elementary in the Bronzeville neighborhood.
He joined the Board in 2017. His lead-by-example mentality and commitment to the WITS mission quickly earned him a role on the Executive Committee in 2019. As Chair, he will lead WITS through its next five-year strategic plan with partner Evolve Giving to double the size of WITS programming in CPS, following the organization’s external evaluation with Marzano Research.
“We know how important our programming is to our schools. 100% of our teachers and administrators say that WITS is a critical aspect of literacy development for the students affected by it. I am committed to expanding our corporate partnerships, continuing our mission to expand opportunities and literacy development for students across Chicago,” said Hatton.
Patrick Hatton’s appointment comes alongside the voting on of new Board members Joyce Winnecke and Brett Klein.
Joyce Winnecke Joyce Winnecke is an advisor and board leader who spent decades working in journalism as reporter, editor, newsroom leader and media executive.
Joyce was President of Tribune Content Agency, Vice President and Associate Editor of the Chicago Tribune, and Managing Editor of the Chicago Sun-Times. She worked in the global business events industry and as a consultant for a wide range of B2B and B2C organizations.
Her experience is a rare mix of journalism, P&L ownership, marketing and communications, audience and product development, change management, and digital transformation.
As Board President of YWCA Metropolitan Chicago, Joyce led the transition to a new CEO and shepherded growth from $10 million to $44 million in annual revenue.
She is the Immediate Past President of the International Women’s Forum Chicago and a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and The Chicago Network. She serves on the board of St. Laurence High School in Burbank, Ill.
Winnecke said, “The ability to read equates to the ability to learn, to thrive, to contribute to society — and to find personal joy and good health. The work WITS does is vital. I am honored to join the quest to ensure that all Chicago Public School students are proficient in reading.”
Joyce began her journalism career as a high school student, writing obituaries for the newspaper in Evansville, Ind. She earned a degree from the University of Southern Indiana while working as a reporter and copy editor. She was a Washington correspondent for Scripps Howard News Service and City Editor of the Indianapolis Star before joining the Sun-Times in 1994. She earned an MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Brett Klein is a Partner at Manifold Group. He leads all investing activity and has served as the lead investor/Board member for over a dozen companies. He also serves as a senior advisor for RevTek Capital. Brett has over ten years of experience in finance, fundraising, and investing and a degree in finance from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.
About joining the WITS Board, Klein said, “I am proud to be serving the largest provider of literacy programs for CPS. WITS has an audacious mission and it is an honor to work with some of the most passionate stewards for these programs. I am most excited to fortify expand and improve these programs for the next ten years.”
With our new Board members we say goodbye to long-term Board Members Maria Seimenis and Kevin Yao. Seimenis was also a mentor and corporate coordinator for WITS Deloitte Workplace Mentoring program. Yao joined the WITS Associates Board in 2015 rising through the ranks before joining the WITS Board. We thank both for their service and know that they will remain close to WITS.
2025 WITS Executive Committee
Patrick Hatton, Chair,
VP Field Operations, Hyatt Hotels
John Martin, Vice President,
President, JFM Ops Consulting
Orrin Murray, Vice President
Education Researcher
Bobby Steinsdoerfer, Vice President
Producer, Lockton
Morrison Warren, Vice President
Partner, Chapman and Cutler LLP
Maria Arosteguy, Treasurer
Principal, KPMG LLP
Sana Hakim, Secretary
Partner, K&L Gates LLP
