Board of Directors
North Side Staff
Jennifer Sierecki
Maria Montoya
Kristen Cox
Megan Holmes-Dorsey
Elena Duran
Jennifer Pallas
Tom Laures
Jim Masini has been involved with North Side since the credit union's formative years. He has served on the Board since 1978 and as President since 1983. Jim has a Masters in Business Administration and has been a Business Manager for 2 Catholic parishes in Chicago for the last 13 years. He lives in Lakeview, is married with a wife (Linda) and 2 children (Melissa & Matthew).
Cliff Scott-Rudnick has been on the North Side board since 1986, and has served as Vice President since 1990. Cliff has been a licensed attorney for over twenty-five years and a trust officer for over twenty years. While Cliff currently concentrates on trust new business development for Suburban Bank & Trust Company, he has also worked as a union organizer, caseworker, labor lawyer, and workers compensation attorney. Cliff's volunteer activities include Junior Achievement Project Business, Local School Council Representative for Chicago Public Schools, and Board member for Metropolitan Family Services. He received his Juris Doctor Degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago Kent College of Law and his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology from Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois.
Kelly has served on the North Side Board since 2000, and was elected Vice President in 2005. She has been appointed Business Finance Specialist for the Women's Business Development Center (WBDC). Before joining the WBDC, Kelly worked as an analyst and investment officer for the Bank One Community Development Corporation, First Chicago's Community Development Lending Division, and American National Bank & Trust Company of Chicago. In her role at WBDC, Kelly serves as a consultant to small business owners to help them get loans to start or expand their operations. Using her banking experience and the WBDC's extensive relationship with banks and other lenders, Kelly attempts to match business owners with lenders who might be amenable to the loan request. She also serves on the State Treasurer of Illinois' Women's Advisory Board. Kelly is a graduate of University of Illinois at Chicago's Master of Urban Planning and Policy program, and she holds a Bachelor's degree in finance, and Business Economics from the University of Notre Dam in Indiana.
Ana is the Site Supervisor for The Resurrection Project (TRP) in Melrose Park. She oversees the implementation and marketing of financial education programs at this satellite office, including asset building initiatives, pre - and -post purchase workshops, and individual counseling services. Before joining TRP, she worked in New York City as the Financial Education Director for Credit Where Credit is Due (CWCID) - a non-profit organization that sponsors its own community development credit union. In her role at CWCID, Ana oversaw an intensive financial education program integrated into credit union operations and embedded within community organizations most effective at reaching the unbanked. She also participated as member of the credit union lending committee in charge of evaluating loan applications and has experience providing technical assistance to small business owners. Ana is a graduate from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, with a Masters in Economic Development, and holds a Bachelor's degree from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma (UNAM) in Mexico City where she was born.p>
Curtis Roeschley has been on the North Side Board since 1990 and currently serves as Treasurer. Curt is the Director of the Small Business Development Center at the Jane Addams Hull House Association. As director he oversees two offices on the north and south sides of Chicago, and is responsible for program design, implementation, development, financial management, and providing counseling to small business clients. He has previous experience as an independent bookstore business manager, and has an MBA from Eastern University in Pennsylvania.
Ms. Sierecki brings over ten years of experience focusing on strategies to assist individuals and families gain financial access. She was formerly the Relationship Manager for Advent Financial Services where she was responsible for expanding and maintaining partnerships with Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) organizations and commercial tax preparers interested in offering low cost financial products and services to their clients. Prior to her work at Advent, she was the Marketing Manager at the North Side Community Federal Credit Union. As the Marketing Manager, she led initiatives to market credit union products and services to partners and members, spearheaded new product development and implementation, managed its VITA program, and developed strategies to support the credit union’s expansion into new community areas. Prior to her first role at the credit union, she gained experience in micro-enterprise development training and lending as the Director of Lending for the Economic and Community Development Institute (ECDI) in Columbus, Ohio. At ECDI, she managed over $600,000 in small business loan funds for refugees, immigrants, and low-to-moderate income entrepreneurs and managed the largest IDA program in Ohio. She was also a Program Manager of the Uptown Center Hull House Small Business Development Center where she assisted small business owners with training, technical assistance, and access to capital.Ms. Sierecki serves as a board member of the Organization of the North East (ONE) and is a member of the Financial Partners Steering Committee for the Center for Economic Progress. She received her undergraduate degree in Education and Social Policy from Northwestern University and is pursuing her Masters of Public Administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago
Maria has been with North Side CFCU since 1996 and has assumed increasing responsibilities over the past decade. She began her employment as a teller and was promoted to collections/loan assistant, and later Loan Manager. She is responsible for processing daily transmissions of ATM, ACH, and Share Drafts, and maintaining and posting member loan payments from payroll deduction or direct deposit. She is in charge of processing all loan applications, monitors loan performance, and maintains records of delinquent accounts. Ms. Montoya is bi-lingual in Spanish and English and is the key point of contact for the New Americans Loan Program.
Kristen Cox brings over twelve years of non-profit community development and partnership building experience to North Side. Having worked in varying program development and project management capacities for the non-profit contemporary arts, community building, and philanthropic sectors, Kristen excels at communications and managing external relations. Kristen has worked for the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, The Chicago Park District, Alphawood Foundation, Chicago Foundation for Education, The Dance Center of Columbia College, the Working Group on Extreme Inequality, a project of Institute for Policy Studies (D.C) as a field organizing consultant, among others. In 2006, she founded the Fire This Time Fund – a giving circle - to fund small-scale, creative social change projects, for which she received a 2007 Community Renewal Society "35 Under 35 Leadership" award. Kristen approaches her work at the credit union through an economic justice lens as part social work and part communications and project management. She dabbles in socially responsible, community investing and enjoys assisting creative, non-profit start-ups with resource and organizational development advice. Kristen holds a B.A. in Psychology and Comparative Literature from Indiana University in Bloomington and a Masters degree in social work with a concentration in community development from the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago.
Megan Holmes-Dorsey is our new Lead Teller. She brings over ten years cash handling experience and over four years experience of retail financial banking for J. P. Morgan Chase, where she administered over four million in cash assets to both businesses & personal clientele. She has served as a volunteer at Centers for New Horizons, assisting in positive development through community housing and family & educational support. She is an active member of The American Sociological Association where she promotes awareness for humanity & globalization issues & policies. She holds a B.A. in criminal justice from St. Xavier University & is pursuing her M.A. in sociology, concentrating in Race & Urban studies from Roosevelt University in Chicago, IL.
Elena Duran is a bilingual housing counselor and community activist who lives in the Little Village community. Originally from Aguascalientes, Mexico, Elena has worked with Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago and held positions in her sons’ Local School Council and on the community board of Dr. Jorge Prieto Health Center. Formerly the South Lawndale Health Center, Elena’s efforts helped to expand the health center into a facility twice as large now located in Little Village. A promoter of cultural education and opportunities of the Zacatecano communities throughout the Midwest and Mexico, she served on a task force to erect the permanent exhibition, Neighborhood Voices, at the Chicago History Museum. Elena is active in her parish counsel and a member of the Special Service Area #25 working to enhance and promote the commercial area of 26th Street.
Jennifer joined the credit union staff as a Housing Counselor in July 2009. She brings four years of housing advocacy experience for low- and moderate-income, first time homebuyers and renters. For two years, Jennifer was the Housing Counselor for Berwyn Housing Center, a program of Oak Park Regional Housing Center. She has also worked as an AmeriCorps VISTA for United Cerebral Palsy's Home Of Your Own (HOYO) program in Houston, TX. She has a BA in Psychology from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, TX.
Tom Laures is our new Small Business Loan Officer. North Side received grant money from the City of Chicago to launch a new Small Business Loan Fund! Tom brings over 10 years of experience in economic development and small business assistance to this position. Most recently, Tom was the Director of Economic Development for the Village of Antioch where he managed and marketed the downtown commercial business district and assisted small businesses in helping with marketing plans and gaining financing options to grow their businesses. Tom has a Master’s Degree in Sociology/Urban Studies from DePaul University and B.A. in Marketing from Illinois State University.
