Alphawood Foundation Chicago announces the appointment of James D. McDonough, a former Lambda Legal national board member, as executive director.
This announcement concludes an intense search launched by the Foundation in January, 2012. The Foundation also said Bradford J. White has been appointed Associate Director.
McDonough comes to Alphawood from Sun-Times Media Holdings, LLC, where he was General Counsel, Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer. Since joining the senior management of Sun-Times Media in 2005, that company has successfully entered and exited bankruptcy and has been sold twice to separate groups of local investors. Sun-Times Media is the parent company of the Chicago Sun-Times and more than 40 other daily and weekly newspapers in the Chicago metropolitan area. Prior to joining Sun-Times Media, McDonough was a partner in the Chicago law firm Gardner, Carton & Douglas.
In addition to his legal and media credentials, McDonough has considerable experience in the not-for-profit world. From 2003 to 2009 he served on the national Board of Directors of Lambda Legal, the oldest and largest national legal organization whose mission is to safeguard and advance the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and policy work. He is also the long-time Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Sun-Times Charity Trust, the charitable arm of the Chicago Sun-Times. McDonough has served as a director and advisor to many other local charities and not for profit concerns.
"Alphawood Foundation is delighted to welcome Jim McDonough as our new Executive Director," said Fred Eychaner, Chairman. "Jim brings a wealth of experience in advocacy and not-for-profit organizations, informed by a deep and varied background as a lawyer and business person in the media world. We look forward to his leadership of our organization," he said.
McDonough is a graduate of Marquette University and the Northwestern University School of Law. He has been appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court as member of its Committee on Professional Responsibility. He lives in Chicago.
Brad White joins Alphawood with more than 25 years of professional and volunteer experience in community and economic development, affordable housing, preservation, public policy and advocacy. He has created planning and incentive strategies for economic development in downtown areas, neighborhood commercial districts, and residential districts. In addition, he has worked with neighborhood residents to help them shape the development of their neighborhoods.
White is currently a board member of the Delta Institute, which is focused on creating market opportunities to achieve environmental sustainability and economic development, and the Illinois Housing Council, which is the leading industry voice for affordable housing in the state. He is the past chair of Landmarks Illinois, Preservation Action and the Ely Chapter of Lambda Alpha International, and has been active at Evanston Township High School on issues related to race and equity. In 2011, White was appointed by President Barack Obama as a Citizen Member of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, where he serves as Chair of the Preservation Initiatives Committee and Task Force on Right-Sizing and Historic Preservation.
White is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the DePaul University College of Law. He is a resident of Evanston.
ABOUT ALPHAWOOD FOUNDATION
Alphawood Foundation is a Chicago-based grant making private foundation working for an equitable, just and humane society. It awards grants to more than 200 organizations annually, primarily in the areas of advocacy, architecture and preservation, arts, domestic violence prevention, the environment, promotion and protection of the rights of LGBT citizens and people living with HIV/AIDS, and other human and civil rights.
