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Hear ideas and challenges from people working in local government and nonprofit organizations. Hosted by Dr. Alicia Schatteman, Director of the Center for Nonprofit and NGO Studies at Northern Illinois University. We speak with public service researchers and workers across communities about topics and issues affecting their local towns, villages, cities, and neighborhoods.
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Episode 26: Jessi Haish LaRue, Joseph Glidden Homestead and Historical Center
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This month’s episode is an interview with Jessi Haish LaRue, the new executive director of the Glidden Homestead in DeKalb. If her maiden name sounds familiar, it is. Her 4th great-uncle was Jacob Haish. If you’re from the DeKalb area, you’ve probably seen his name around town and he is often referred to as one of DeKalb’s founding fathers along wi…
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Episode 25: Brandon Pugh, Egyptian Theatre
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18:19
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Welcome listeners of All Things Local to our third season of the podcast and the first episode of 2023. I have some wonderful episodes planned for this year including this one. Brandon Pugh is a former student of mine and since he graduated, he has built his career in volunteer administration at the Egyptian Theatre in DeKalb. As is so common with …
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Welcome listeners of All Things Local. I needed to take a little break from the podcast this fall due to a heavy teaching load and some staffing challenges, which I’m not alone in. Now that the fall semester is winding down it’s time to get back to the podcast and hopefully regular episodes every month in 2023. Thanks for hanging in there with me a…
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Episode 23: Edith Craig, previous director of the St. Charles Public Library
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27:48
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For over 125 years, the St. Charles Public Library has served the community. In 1906, Andrew Carnegie, a library philanthropist, granted the library $12,500 to build a new free public library in St. Charles which had to be matched by $15,000 in local donations. That library still stands as part of a much larger library complex which we will hear ab…
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Episode 22: Research on Townships in Illinois
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29:26
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Did you know there are nearly 9,000 units of local government in Illinois? This includes about 3,000 general-purpose governments and 6,000 special-purpose governments. General-purpose governments include counties, townships, and municipalities, and in Illinois, townships make up about 50% of these government units. Townships were one of the first f…
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Episode 21: Sister Kathleen Ryan, Dominican Literacy Center
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27:06
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This month, I am speaking with Sister Kathleen Ryan, the Executive Director of the Dominican Literacy Center in Aurora. Their programs help women find a voice in this country. The organization began in 1993, in her words, on a shoestring budget and a broken card table. Today, they serve hundreds of individuals each year. We also talk about Sister K…
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Episode 20: Queer-Oriented Rural Resource Network (QORRN), Frankie DiCiacco,
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This month, I speak to Frankie DiCiacco, the founder and executive director of The Queer-Oriented Rural Resource Network that is dedicated to helping LGBTQ+ individuals in rural communities access the resources and services they need. In this episode, we talk about Frankie’s own experiences in rural Illinois and how he hopes to change not only acce…
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Episode 19: Gretchen Sprinkle, Kishwaukee United Way
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Welcome to episode 19, an interview with Gretchen Sprinkle, executive director of the Kishwaukee United Way. In 1887, the model was created in Denver, Colorado to fundraise for local needs and then distribute those funds to local organizations. First called a charity organization society, then in 1913, the first Community Chest was created in Cleve…
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Episode 18 Shelly Perkins, DeKalb County Housing Authority
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35:33
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The Housing Authority of DeKalb County has been providing affordable housing options since 1946. As a unit of local government with county-wide jurisdiction, but funded by rents and federal grants, not local taxes. They are governed by a five-member, all-volunteer board. They offer four federal programs including tenant-based assistance through the…
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Episode 17: Tara Russo, Elder Care Services
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On this episode, number 17 of the All Things Local podcast, I speak with Tara Russo, Executive Director of Elder Care Services in DeKalb. She shares her personal background and commitment to seniors in our community. Her college education began in nursing but she quickly found that her heart was in social work, and specifically working with seniors…
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Episode 16: Cortney Strohacker, DeKalb County Convention & Visitor Bureau
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On this episode, number 16 of the All Things Local podcast, I speak with Courtney Strohacher, Executive Director of the DeKalb county convention and visitor bureau. She has been in this role about a year and she shares with us her path, her engagement with all sectors in DeKalb County, and her work with DeKalb County Unites. She shares with us how …
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On this episode I speak with Tia Anderson of Heartland Bank and Debra Boughton of NIU, who are leaders in Gather, a program of the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce. Now in its third year, Gather is a women’s leadership organization that helps strengthen the overall business and non-profit community in the DeKalb area. We talk about why the program was fo…
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Episode 14: Fiona Cummings, Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois
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On this episode I speak with Fiona Cummings, the CEO of Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois. We chat about how Girl Scouts started, how it has evolved over time. We discuss their decision to be much more flexible so they can best serve their members, such as now only leasing space and putting those spaces in high traffic areas like shopping centers. T…
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Episode 13: Lynette Spencer, Adventure Works
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Welcome to episode number 13 of the All Things Local Podcast. On this episode, I speak with Lynette Spencer, Founder and Executive Director of Adventure Works. We are four months into the pandemic now and Lynette and I chat about how her organization quickly adjusted and how they are continuing their mission of bringing mental health services to ou…
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Episode 12: Keri Asevedo, Rockford Area Habitat for Humanity
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34:06
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Welcome to episode number 12 of the All Things Local Podcast. On this episode, I speak with Keri Asevedo, Executive Director of the Rockford Area Habitat for Humanity. She shares how Habitat had to quickly adapt to COVID 19 when all building stopped and their Restore Closed to the public. She shares her career path from working in the criminal just…
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Episode 11: Michelle Donahoe, DeKalb County History Center
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Welcome to episode number 11 of the All Things Local Podcast. On this episode, I speak with Michelle Donahoe, Executive Director of the DeKalb County History Center. She shares her journey as a public history student, as a volunteer, and now leading an organization that reaches across the county, preserving and sharing our county’s history. During …
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Episode 10: Jo-Anne Stately on Native American Philanthropy
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Jo-Anne Stately is the Director of Impact Strategy for the Minneapolis Foundation in Minnesota. She kicked off the Center for Nonprofit and NGO Studies' 2020 Research Colloquium series on February 12 speaking about Native American philanthropy. This recording was made with a live audience so I apologize in advance for the audio quality.…
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Episode 9: Part 2 with Police Chiefs of NIU and DeKalb
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I hope you enjoy this second part of my interview with the police chiefs of DeKalb and NIU. In this part of our interview, both chiefs talk about their department’s collaboration with nonprofits, about very specific events that turned them towards making a career in law enforcement, and then we get into a discussion of mental health issues facing f…
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Episode 8: The Police Chiefs of NIU and DeKalb: Part 1
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On this episode, I speak with Chief Tom Phillips of the NIU Police Department and Interim Chief of Police for the City of DeKalb, John Petragallo. We discuss their relationship with each other, to their communities, how they arrived at their positions and why did they go into police work in the first place. We are reminded how the city and the univ…
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Episode 7: Lynnea Erickson Laskowski, Safe Passage
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32:59
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Welcome to episode number 7 of the All Things Local Podcast. On this episode, I speak with Lynnea Erickson-Laskowski from Safe Passage, DeKalb County’s domestic violence and sexual assault crisis center. Lynnea shares her journey from student to advocate. She reminds us that sexual assault and domestic violence does not discriminate by income, ethn…
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Episode 6: Amanda Christenson, DeKalb County Regional Office of Education
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Welcome to Episode number 6 of the All Things Local Podcast, and my second in my new role as acting director of the Center for Nonprofit and NGO Studies. In this episode, I interview Amanda Christenson the Superintendent of the DeKalb County Regional Office of Education. Although she has an extensive teaching background, you might be surprised at w…
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Episode #5: Alex Nerad, The Historic Egyptian Theatre
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Welcome to Episode number 5 of the All Things Local Podcast, and my first in my new role as acting director of the Center for Nonprofit and NGO Studies. In this episode, we learn all about the Egyptian Theatre from its executive director Alex Nerad. The Egyptian supports the quality of life of this region which attracts residents, businesses, and v…
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Episode #4: Dan Templin, DeKalb County Community Foundation
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On this episode, I interview Dan Templin from the DeKalb County Community Foundation, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. Growing up in Peoria, we’ll hear how Dan spent his time at Northern volunteering with local nonprofits and then graduating with a degree in psychology. Eventually administration found him very early in his career, f…
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Episode 3: Dan Kenney, DeKalb County Community Gardens
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In this episode, number 3 of the All Things Local podcast, I speak with Dan Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of the DeKalb County Community Gardens https://www.dekalbgardens.org. We hear about his childhood experiences growing up in a farming family, his passion for social justice sparked by Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King in the 1960s,…
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Episode 2: Deanna Cada, DeKalb County Mental Health Board
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Welcome to episode number 2 of the All Things Local Podcast. On this episode, I speak with Deanna Cada from the DeKalb County Mental Health Board. We learn about what the mental health board actually does in our community to improve access to mental health services and the overall quality of life for all residents. Hear about the new Mental Health …
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Episode 1: Paul LaLonde, Voluntary Action Center (VAC)
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On this first episode, I am joined by Paul LaLonde, Vice President of Operations and Human Resources for the Voluntary Action Center. Paul graduated with an MPA from Northern Illinois University in 2009. He discussed his career path in public service, as well as his organization’s role in providing public transportation across five counties in Nort…
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