ALSO

Phone: 773-235-5705 x15
dcassel@also-chicago.org

David Cassel has been the executive director of the Alliance of Local Service Organizations (ALSO) since January of 2006. David received his M.B.A. from the University of Illinois at Chicago and his B.A. in Peace & Conflict Studies/Communications from Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. Before joining ALSO, David held management positions with the National Center for Violence Interruption, The Children’s Guild and the American Academy of Dermatology.

Phone: 773-235-5705 x11
lcrowder@also-chicago.org

Lori Crowder has worked on both local and national initiatives to end violence against women for the past 15 years. Currently she works with the Alliance of Local Service Organizations (ALSO) in Chicago to prevent and intervene in community and family violence through training, technical assistance and community-building, both locally and nationally. Prior to her move to Chicago, Ms. Crowder provided national technical assistance on preventing and intervening in domestic violence and was the co-founder of the Safe Return Initiative for the Vera Institute of Justice. Ms. Crowder received her B.S. from the University of Texas at Arlington, and her M.S. from Columbia University’s School of Social Work and is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Illinois at Chicago Jane Addams College of Social Work.

Phone: 773-235-5705 x31
gcruz@also-chicago.org

Genesis Cruz is the freshest face to join the Alliance of Local Service Organizations (ALSO) team. Genesis recently received her B.A. in Sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with a concentration in Latino/a Studies. She is excited to collaborate with the other talents at the organization to help bring ALSO’s mission to fruition.

Phone: 773-235-5705 x10
mestrada@also-chicago.org

Luz Mogally Estrada has been the Administrative Assistant for the Alliance of Local Service Organizations (ALSO) since November of 2007. Before joining ALSO Mogally held the position of Assistant District Sales Manager with Curtis Circulation Company a magazine company for twenty eight years.

Phone: 773-235-5705 x25
nlkerr@also-chicago.org

Norman Livingston Kerr joined ALSO in April 2009 as the Director of Special Projects. He has been working in the field of violence prevention/intervention for 20 years. Prior to his joining ALSO, Mr. Kerr worked at the Chicago Project for Violence Prevention for eleven years, where he brought his experience of working as an outreach worker with high risk individuals, youth advocate, and as a grass roots community worker to craft CeaseFire, an anti-violence effort to reduce shootings and killings. Mr. Kerr is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Social Work at the University of Chicago with plans to work as a clinician for individuals who are high risk for perpetrating violence to examine the impact trauma has on their behavior.

Phone: 773-235-5705 x24
smartinez@also-chicago.org

Sofia Martinez has been employed with ALSO since May 2008. She works very closely assisting the Accounting Coordinator with administrative and fiscal responsibilities. Sofia believes in the mission of ALSO and enjoys her work.

Phone: 773-235-5705 x15
jmatos@also-chicago.org

Jorge Matos has been an employee for the Alliance of Local Service Organization since February of 2006. Since joining ALSO, he worked as an Outreach Worker and shortly thereafter was promoted to Supervisor for the CeaseFire Logan Square/Humboldt Park communities. Currently, Jorge is the Operations Coordinator for ALSO and is now attending Northeastern University to complete his Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies.

Phone: 773-235-5705 x18
jmusselmanpalles@also-chicago.org

Jenna Musselman-Palles works to promote the well-being of youth, families, and communities. Jenna is currently the Program Director of the STOP Technical Assistance to Administrators Resource (STAAR) Project to meet the training and technical assistance needs of grantees of the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women. She has previously worked to support children, women, and families impacted by violence in numerous capacities. Jenna is a licensed social worker who received her Bachelor of Science in Human Development from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her Master of Social Work degree from the Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Phone: 773-235-5705 x26
msantiago@also-chicago.org

Melvin Santiago grew up in the Humboldt Park, Wicker Park, and Logan Square communities. Since joining ALSO in 2007, Mr. Santiago has been trained in conflict resolution, mediation, and violence interruption. He has served both as a violence interrupter and an outreach worker. His transition from his past to his current work as a peace maker is an inspiration to many young people in the community looking to change their ways. As an ALSO staff person "I am dedicated to helping our youth change their behavior in the hopes that they will not have to experience the negative and damaging consequences those negative behaviors bring."

Phone: 773-235-5705 x19
sstoll@also-chicago.org

Susana Stoll is ALSO’s STAAR Project Coordinator. She graduated from DePaul University with a major in International Studies and a double minor in Art History and Spanish and received her Masters in Art History from the University of New Mexico, focusing on colonial art in Latin America. She wrote her thesis on the history and collection of the Museo Colonial in Antigua, Guatemala. Susana joined ALSO in June 2009 and is happy to continue her work in the non-profit sector. She is bilingual in English and Spanish and interested in culturally specific services.

Phone: 773-235-5705 x33
ctaggart@also-chicago.org

Carlee Taggart has been with ALSO since June 2009 as the Supervised Visitation Program Coordinator. She also provides support to the Teen Dating Violence initiative and other ALSO initiatives. She is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in American Studies from Lake Forest College and writing a thesis on United States education reform and its stakeholders with a focus on Chicago Public Schools.

Phone: 773-235-5705 x13
svilleda@also-chicago.org

Silvia Villeda has been the Accounting Coordinator for ALSO since 2007. She graduated from the Universidad Michoacán de San Nicolas de Hidalgo (UMSNH) in Mexico with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in July 2000. Before joining ALSO, Silvia worked as an Administrative Assistance at Pemex, a petroleum company in Mexico and as an Accountant for a travel agency for 6 years here in the United States.