Lincoln Central Association (LCA) is a charitable organization dedicated to improving the Chicago neighborhood bounded by Lincoln Avenue, the former Ogden Avenue, North Avenue, and Halsted Street. It was founded to unite people within the neighborhood to build and maintain a secure and stable family neighborhood, to improve the physical and social condition of the community, and to undertake programs to foster accomplishment of those goals.

LCA BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2012

2012 Lincoln Central Association Board of Directors

President – Rodger Owen

Rodger has lived in the Lincoln Central Association area for over 20 years. He is the President of a custom home building firm that works in the Lincoln Park and Gold Coast areas and is a licensed Illinois Real Estate Broker. He is President of the Bright Promises Foundation for children, the oldest organization in Illinois. He is a member of the Society of Architectural Historians, a previous member of the USO, the Dearborn Garden Walk, contributor to the Redmoon Theater Organization and Lake Forest Academy. He was a member of the Board of the Tavern Club and is a current member of the Chicago Yacht Club. He is a graduate of Lake Forest Academy, Indiana University and University of Chicago-MBA with further studies at Universidad de Madrid, Spain and Universite d’Aix-Marsaill, France.

Vice President - Deirdre Graziano

Deirdre Graziano is a long time LCA resident and board member. She currently is on LCA's Zoning Committee, the Armitage Halsted Landmark Committee and represents LCA on Children's Memorial Community Relations Committee. She has been on several school boards and school councils including Park West Cooperative, St. Clement and Metro High School. She has advanced degrees from Loyola and Erikson Institute. She is a retired child development specialist who has worked with teachers, children and families in multiple settings including Head Start, Juvenile Court, and Chicago area schools. She has taught at DePaul, Loyola and Kendall College. Two of her children are Chicago public school teachers. All her children attended local schools. She has been invested in the community for many years and is honored to service her community.

Treasurer - Joan P. Simmons

Joan has been a Lincoln Park resident since 1980. For the last 21 years she has lived with her family on Mohawk Street. Most of her volunteer work has focused on education. While her son was attending Lincoln Park Cooperative Nursery School she was Treasurer (Chief Financial Officer) for the school. At Abraham Lincoln Elementary School, Joan was PTA President from 2000-01 and was PTA Treasurer prior to that. She currently serves as Secretary of the Parents’ Association at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and from 2003-05 was a member of the school’s Middle School Council. Joan has practiced law for almost 20 years, including seven plus years working in a large downtown law firm and almost nine years working in-house. In addition, she taught at DePaul University College of Law for one year. For the last five years she has practiced law on a part-time basis. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Joan worked for seven years as an urban economist for a metropolitan planning agency. She has also taught college classes in economics.

Secretary – David Varnerin

Dave is currently serving as Secretary and was Treasurer from 2000 - 2006. He has been a resident of Lincoln Park and a member of the Lincoln Central Association since the mid-1970's. Dave is a retired Vice President of the Private Banking Group at Harris Bank. He currently serves as Treasurer of the Near North Chapter of Lyric Opera Chicago and Treasurer of Lincoln Park Pacers (Running Club). Dave does volunteer work involving tax preparation for the working poor through the Center for Economic Progress and financial planning for seniors through Catholic Charities of Chicago. He lives on the 1900 block of North Cleveland Avenue.

Director - Richard Harris

Richard Harris has lived in Lincoln Park since 1979 and resides on the 2000 block of North Cleveland Avenue with his wife and two sons. Richard is the managing broker of the Harris Realty Group and general council with the Harris Company. Prior to his involvement in real estate, he held senior creative positions at Leo Burnett Advertising, Foote Cone & Belding, DDB Needham and Ogilvy & Mather. He is a Board member of Universal Peace Plan and Kids Day. Richard has served on LCA’s Board for the past 8 years.

Director - Sally Drucker

Sally was born and raised in the Chicagoland area and has a strong appreciation of the history and architectural significance of the city and its neighborhoods. After raising her family in Wilmette and relocating with them to London for five years, she moved to Lincoln Park in 2006. She now resides in the 2000 block of Cleveland Avenue with her Westie, Abby. Together they have embraced the parks, their neighbors and the friendly retailers who make Lincoln Park so inviting. Her business, Drucker Mediation Services, serves the field of alternative dispute resolution. Her background is diverse – commercial lending, agribusiness finance, and cross-cultural consulting. Her passion for conservation led her to The Nature Conservancy where she served as trustee for 10 years. She also was instrumental in establishing the New Trier Rowing Club. Sally has three children, all in their twenties, who love to come visit her in this vibrant community called Lincoln Park.

Director - Thomas McGavin

Tom has lived in Lincoln Park since 1973 and has resided in the 1900 block of Cleveland Avenue with his wife since 1980. He is currently a Broker Associate at Rubloff Residential Properties. Tom has extensive experience in advertising and public relations with two of the world’s leading agencies (Campbell Ewald and Marsteller). He also headed his own firm from 1990 to 2004. Early in his career, Tom was a reporter and feature writer for a Hearst newspaper. Tom’s volunteer work includes fund raising and promotion for a number of organizations. Tom earned a BA degree in English and Journalism at Wayne State University and has a Masters Degree in English literature from the University of Michigan.

Director - Gary M. Sinclair

I moved to Lincoln Park in 1971, when the community was still changing and developing. I attended Loyola University (BA in Political Science) and then Loyola Law School, graduating in 1977 with a J.D. Meanwhile, I worked in the futures industry on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. I first became involved in the community when I joined Lincoln Central and cooked for the annual LCA Art Fair in 1981. I became a member of LCA’s Board, serving as President on two occasions and Secretary. I remained on the Board until the late 1990’s. I was President of Lincoln Park Conservation Association in 1984, and also served on the LPCCC and the Lincoln Park Advisory Association as both a Board member and officer for eight years. I also have served on the Board of the Menomonee Club as a Board member, Secretary, Vice President and President.

While serving on the LCA Board, I was a member of and Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Committee, working on the redevelopment of the former YMCA property on Willow and Larrabee (now the City Commons townhomes), the redevelopment of the northeast corner of Larrabee and North Avenue, the redevelopment of Augustana Hospital property (now the Pointe townhomes) and many other developments.

My wife Jean and I have raised our children in Lincoln Park and have lived in the same condominium on Mohawk Street for 26 years. I currently practice law as a sole practitioner, concentrating in commodity futures.

Director – Paul Maggio

Paul Maggio grew up in Kenosha Wisconsin. He has lived in various neighborhoods in Chicago (Gold Coast, Loop, and Old Town) over the past 21 years. He currently lives at 1969 N. Burling, where he hopes to stay until he needs assisted living. He is married to Marisa and they have a daughter (Cecilia) who was born in March 2009. Paul has worked in the Chicago financial industry for the past 27 years and is a futures broker at Newedge USA. He is a Senior Vice President, catering to institutional clients, primarily in Latin America. He is a graduate of De Paul University. Paul and Marisa enjoy cooking for family and friends and traveling. They love living in Lincoln Park, and feel Chicago is the best city in the world (although they think winter is one month too long).

Director – Jennifer Davenport

Jennifer Davenport previously served as a Director of LCA from 2000 to 2006. She is an attorney at the Garofalo Law Group in Chicago and has been practicing law since 1995. Jennifer graduated from Fordham University in New York where she earned a BA in Political Science and History. She received her JD from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago. Prior to entering private law practice, she was a prosecutor for the City of Chicago. Jennifer lives on West Wisconsin Street with her husband, Simon Doughty, and two lovely daughters.

Director – David Armstrong

A native of Chicago, Dave has lived in the Lincoln Park community since 1988 and currently resides on the 1800 block to North Hudson Avenue.  He and his wife, Grace, are the proud parents of three sons: Christian, Connor, and Jonathan.  Christian and Connor are students at the Abraham Lincoln Elementary School.
 
Prior to living on Hudson, Dave and his family lived in the townhomes bordered by Cleveland and St. Michaels Court where he was a member of the Board of Directors, and President for one year.  Dave has also been an active member of Scouting, and a Den Leader (Pack 3079 at the Menomonee Club) since 2006.
 
A native of Chicago, Dave is a financial professional at Cedar Capital Advisors, an investment management firm based in Chicago. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business (MBA) and Knox College (BA).

Director – Deb New

Deb is a relative newcomer to Lincoln Central, having moved to North Burling St. with her golden retriever, Penny, in 2009. However, she has quickly become involved with LCA as a member of the Parks Committee, with a focus on the renovation of Fire Station Park and communications support. She loves exploring Lincoln Central, as well as other Chicago neighborhoods and their eateries, music, cultural events and sports. Deb works at National Louis University as the academic project manager. She has had her own consulting business in project/program management, strategic communications and leadership, and previously led communications and marketing for WellPoint and Sallie Mae. She has an MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, where she is Secretary of the national Alumni Association Board of Directors, and a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University. She has previously been vice president and a long-time member of the Jewish Community Center board in Indianapolis and chair of the Drum Corps International World Championships.

Director – James Borkman

James has been enjoying the Lincoln Park community and Chicago for the past 16 years. He moved to 2131 North Larrabee in 2005. James attended John Marshall Law School where he served as the Student Bar Association President from 2008-2009. In 2009, he went on to hold the highest student office in the American Bar Association. As Chair of the ABA Law Student Division, James oversaw a Board of 23 members and worked with a dedicated staff and director. His initiatives included lobbying Congress on student debt and working to increase awareness of mental health and veteran’s affairs. In 2010 James was elected President-elect of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Overture Council. The CSO’s young professionals’ board works to promote the Symphony and its programs and provides resources and networking to young professionals interested in music. James is also an official Greeter® for the City of Chicago and an architecture tour guide with Walk Chicago Tours. He has been featured on Fox Chicago News as well as the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Reader, RedEye and Chicago Social Magazine. James also volunteers for or holds positions with the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago Young Professionals Board; John Marshall Law School Young Alumni Council; The Art Institute of Chicago Evening Associates; Chicago Architecture Foundation and Friends of the Chicago River. James holds degrees from the University of California, Irvine, John Marshall Law School and Santa Barbara City College. James is a native of Hesperia, a small town in the High Desert region of Southern California.