Staff
James Dower
Founder and Executive Director
Jim oversees the day-to-day operations of Urban Initiatives and takes the lead on program development. He dedicates his time to overseeing Urban Initiatives’ programming at each of our school sites. He maintains close contact with administrators, teachers, parents, and students. Jim is also in his eighth year as a professional soccer coach for the Wilmette Wings Soccer Club and previously worked as a substitute teacher for Chicago Public Schools. Jim graduated from the University of Iowa, where he received a B.A. in Political Science.
Jim founded Urban Initiatives in order to enhance youth development through a sports-based initiative. He is the son of a Chicago Public School teacher and attended Franklin School, a public fine-arts magnet school on the Near North Side. From his personal experience playing soccer and watching other kids develop through extracurricular interests, Jim was inspired to start Urban Initiatives to tie participation in an organized soccer program to classroom engagement because he understood the impact that safe, structured activities can have on children’s overall success.
Daniel Isherwood
Founder and Executive Director
Dan oversees the day-to-day operations of Urban Initiatives and takes the lead on administration. He dedicates his time to managing Urban Initiatives’ operations and development. He also serves as the On-Site Program Director at Jenner Academy overseeing the Work to Play Program. Dan is also in his eighth year as a professional soccer coach for the Wilmette Wings Soccer Club and previously worked as a substitute teacher for Chicago Public Schools. Dan graduated from the University of Iowa, where he received a B.S. in Business Administration. Dan also works very closely with the Boys Hope Girls Hope organization and serves as a member of their Junior Board.
Julie Chelovich
Managing Director
Julie dedicates her time to supporting the operations of Urban Initiatives. Previously Julie worked for seven years at Black River Farm and Ranch, an all-girls horseback riding summer camp in Michigan, and served as the Program Director. She also coordinated a community service project, called Fast Food Facts, geared toward teaching lessons about living an active and healthy lifestyle to elementary school students in Rhode Island. She graduated from Brown University with a B.A. in Political Science. She has been with Urban Initiatives since 2008.
Erica Heidrich
Office Manager
Erica spends her time on administrative tasks. She previously worked at the National Opinion Research Center for two and a half years conducting social science research. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Psychology and is currently completing a M.A. in Forensic Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
Brian Billings
Coaches Corps Program Director
Brian Billings dedicates his time to help establish the Urban Initiatives Coaches Corps curriculum and continues to be involved as director of the program. Brian was introduced to Urban Initiatives as the gym teacher at the now closed Byrd School several years ago when the health and education soccer program began. He continued to support Urban Initiatives as the Assistant Principle at Schiller School. In addition to helping Urban Initiatives with the Coaches Corps, Brian is also the Athletic Director at Johnson School. He holds a Masters in Education from DePaul University, a B.A. of Science from Northern Michigan University and has 14 years of coaching experience.
Edward Blake
Artistic Director
Ed oversees all artistic direction for Urban Initiatives. He has creative control of marketing materials, invitations, and website design.
April Lillstrom
Program Coordinator - Healthy Places
April dedicates her time to overseeing Urban Initaitives' implementation of Healthy Places interventions in the New City community. Healthy Places is an initiative of Let's Move Chicago and is a collaborative effort between the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children at Children's Memorial Hospital. Specifically, she is supporting the Healthier Places to Learn and Healthier Places to Walk initiatives.
Simba Gandari and Thomas LaClair
Senior Program Associates
Simba and Tom are second year National Service volunteers with Urban Initiatives. They are using their year of service to enhance Urban Initiatives' sports-based youth development programming. Specifically, each is serving at 3-4 schools as an Assistant Coach and the Parent Outreach Coordinator. Simba and Tom are also helping to oversee the other Program Associates as well as the Coaches Corps and Active Learners programs.
Anthony Hill, Cristobal Martinez, Travis Moore-Murray, and Andy Neilsen
Program Associates
Anthony, Cristobal, Travis, and Andy are National Service volunteers. They are using their year of service to enhance Urban Initiatives' sports-based youth development programming. Specifically, each is serving 3-4 schools as an Assistant Coach and the Parent Outreach Coordinator. Their job is to ensure our programming quality is consistently high across all program sites.
Annie Abreu, Adrian Araujo, Matthew Bauer, Mike Berger, Sarah Byrd, Ryan Eggert, Jose Feliciano, Todd Goldstein, Arturo Jauregui, Jay Laughlin, Vanessa Licea, Menzo Murphy, Christian Nze, Diana Rivera, Gerardo Salinas, Fernando Sifuentes, Parker Swanson, Joel Tlachac, and Tony Valdez
On-Site Program Directors - Work to Play Program
The On-Site Program Directors are responsible for the day-to-day management of the Work to Play Program at participating schools. They take attendance; implement the curriculum; oversee the soccer drills; lead discussions on health/nutrition issues and character development concepts; distribute health education materials; and provide participants with healthy snacks at the end of each session. They also distribute weekly ‘Work to Play’ forms to each participant’s teacher, monitor performance throughout the season, and meet with teachers to discuss progress. The On-Site Program Directors are also responsible for establishing relationships and regular communication with parents regarding their children and program activities, as well as, inviting parents to participate in the program.
Jan Afungchwi, Jesus Bolanos, Rosa Cervantes, Idolia Chavez, Darren Chinn, Eve Choowong-In, Jenny Delessio-Parson, Easter Fields-Nordstrom, Adan Garcia, Francisco Gil, William Haley, Tate Haugen, Jeremi Johnson, Jamila Judkins, Monica Lagunas, Takena Lemons, Brenda Lugo, Joe Meekins, Ellio Morales, Ronald Neal, Kevin Palmore, Drago Petrusic, Ana Perez, William Potratz, Maria Salazar, Margie Sandoval, Tiffany Simmons, Joel Smith, Fred Spence, Sonia Turcios, and Alexandra Vanegas
Assistant Coaches - Work to Play Program
The Assistant Coaches help to facilitate the Work to Play Program at participating schools.