Community Leaders Join The Lake County Community Foundation Board
Waukegan, IL—June 20, 2011- The Lake County Community Foundation announced the addition of Elizabeth Forbrich, Ennedy Rivera and Carol Sonnenschein to the board of
directors. The Foundation’s board is comprised of 18 directors representing the diversity and geographic scope of the county.
“Elizabeth Forbrich, Ennedy Rivera and Carol “Sunny” Sonnenschein bring a wealth of unique skills and experience to the Foundation,” says Sylvia M. Zaldivar-Sykes, Executive Director of the Foundation. “All three new board members share a deep passion for and knowledge of Lake County, its needs and assets.”
Elizabeth Forbrich served as Executive Director of the YWCA Lake County for 15 years from 1995-2010. During her tenure she expanded the program base from childcare to include women’s economic advancement, women and girl’s health, parent/family management and youth leadership development, focusing on low-income, underserved women, girls and families in Lake County.
Peg Moreland, Chair of the Foundation, commented that “Liz’s passion for the mission of YWCA to eliminate racism and empower women was her guiding principle and is a wonderful match with the mission of The Lake County Community Foundation: improving the quality of life of the most vulnerable residents.”
Ennedy Rivera was born and raised in Waukegan, where she is currently employed as an immigration attorney for the law firm of Wysocki & Smith. Ennedy represents complex immigration cases before the Northern District of Illinois and U.S. Consulates, handling multifaceted divorce proceedings, real estate transactions and civil matters. She completed two fellowships, the Mansfield Fellowship for Public Interest Law and the International Human Rights Institute and graduated from the Metropolitan Leadership Institute in 2010. She is very engaged in the Lake County nonprofit community, serving on a number of boards and chairing important civic events.
“The Latino community is the fastest growing segment of our county’s population. We are thrilled to bring an experienced and engaged leader from the community to join us in implementing strategies that increase opportunities for this population,” commented Zaldivar-Sykes.
Carol “Sunny” Sonnenschein is a sociologist and Geographic Information System (GIS) analyst who works in Illinois and New Mexico to help local governments, nonprofit organizations and community groups understand demographic, social and economic trends in their communities. Carol’s prior work was as program director at Chicago Metropolis
2020 where she directed the organization’s GIS program, focusing on research and analysis related to issues of development and transportation in the Chicago region. She received her
M.A. and PhD in Sociology from Loyola University Chicago where she was also a professor of Sociology from 1991-1996. She has served on a number of boards and committees in the metropolitan Chicago area.
“I’ve been doing demographic and public policy analysis of the Chicago region for twenty years,” said Carol “Sunny” Sonnenschein, Foundation board member. “I’m looking forward to applying the same approach on a smaller scale in order to contribute to The Lake County Community Foundation’s work of making the county a place where every resident has
access to adequate education, housing, transportation and health care.”
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About The Lake County Community Foundation
Since 2003, The Lake County Community Foundation, an affiliate of The Chicago Community Trust, has partnered with donors to leverage and guide their philanthropy to help transform the lives of the most vulnerable people across our county. Together, we have contributed over $1.7M to nonprofit organizations that support basic human needs, community development, education and health throughout Lake County. By connecting the generosity of donors across Lake County with the most pressing needs of the community, we ensure that our county thrives today and for generations to come.