Emily is responsible for the growth and management of grant awards for Spertus Institute, and its three main branches: Spertus Museum, Spertus College, and Asher Library. Since she joined Spertus’ development staff, Emily has significantly increased grant support—raising more than $1.5 million in 2007—for museum exhibitions, educational programs, and other institutional initiatives. Her primary responsibilities include developing and implementing prospect cultivation strategies, proposal writing, and grant stewardship. Before joining Spertus, Emily managed institutional advancement activities for Columbia College Chicago. She developed proposals and correspondence, and coordinated site visits and campus tours to build relationships with corporate, foundation, and government agencies and contacts. Emily has also held marketing and graphic design positions in Ann Arbor and Minneapolis. She holds an MA in Arts Management from Columbia College Chicago and a BA in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Deidra Somerville is currently the Senior Grant Developer with the Chicago Housing Authority. Prior to coming to the CHA, she was Director of Development with the National Association of Urban Debate Leagues, where she successfully implemented a plan to diversify their funding stream and launch their annual fund initiative. She has also worked as Grants and Marketing Developer for Alternatives, Inc, where she grew both their public and private funding base and implemented an agency-wide public relations and marketing plan. Mrs. Somerville graduated from the University of California in Santa Cruz with a double bachelor of arts in sociology and political science. She then attended Boston University School of Social Work where she gathered her MSW in human resources management in 1995. She has served as a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Diversity and Fellows Committee.
Eric began his advancement career at Illinois Institute of Technology. As the Director of Development for the College of Architecture, he successfully completed the College’s $12.5 million goal during IIT’s successful $250 million campaign. After that, he went to work on behalf of his alma mater, the University of Colorado. While at the University of Colorado Foundation, he led the fundraising efforts of the two largest academic units at CU-Denver during the final stages of CU’s successful $1 billion dollar campaign. In 2005, he re-located back to Chicagoland and in his current position at Purdue he is helping this regional campus to complete its portion of Purdue University’s $1.5 billion dollar campaign. He earned his MBA from the University of Illinois at Chicago and an MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago.
