A Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Illinois, Jill spent 17 years of her career working with ChildServ, a nonprofit child welfare agency. She is widely known as a tireless advocate for underserved populations and youth living in out-of-home placements. As the Executive Director of Community Partnerships at The Chicago School, Jill continues to spend much of her time building community relationships. Her energy and enthusiasm for building community partnerships comes from her first-hand understanding of how The Chicago School can impact, as well as benefit, from connecting with the community. She lives out her commitment to service having spent several years volunteering in the community. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Kids Rank, an organization that provides support to children of military families. She also serves as a weekly volunteer at the Sue Duncan Children’s Center, tutoring and mentoring youth from Chicago’s south side. She received a Master of Arts Degree in Social Work from Aurora University. ​​

Dr. Jones is Core Faculty for the Marriage and Family Therapy Program at TCSPP in Los Angeles, a bilingual (Spanish) therapist and a clinical supervisor. Dr. Jones is also a lecturer at California State University Northridge and California State University Dominguez Hills. Dr. Jones works in community mental health settings and private practice and has worked with LA county contracted agencies such as Counseling 4 Kids, Didi Hirsch and The Help Group. Dr. Jones has her Bachelors and License as a Psychologist from Peru, her Masters in MFT from Argosy University and her Ed.D. in Counseling Psychology also from Argosy University. Dr. Jones started working with kindergarten children in the educational psychology field in 2002 and fell in love with the population. Dr. Jones continued working with children, families and couples in Peru, and then in the U.S. when she moved here in 2005. In the U.S. she did her internship on a free community mental health clinic, and subsequently joined a DMH contracted agency to focus on the Latino community and other minorities. Her love for service learning and the community at large led her to work as an Associate Director of Community Partnerships. Dr. Jones’ research focuses on Evidence Based Practice Models such as The Positive Parenting Program, trauma, child and adolescent disorders, mom and child relational issues, family therapy and cultural issues. Her experience in clinical work with a variety of populations allows her to provide real life case examples to students and to enhance their counseling skills for the jobs they will face in their future.

Chris Coleman is the cur​rent AmeriCorps VISTA. A native of Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood, Chris has lived in Chicago his entire life and is now completing his undergraduate education at Chicago State University where he is a sociology major. Growing up as a product of Chicago Public Schools, Chris is very passionate about youth programming and community engagement and prior to becoming involved with the AmeriCorps VISTA program, has held several positions working directly with youth including being a resident assistant at Jackson State University, a youth mentor for the union League Boys and Girls Club and Catholic Charities, and working with the music program at King College Prep, his former high school. Aside from his current professional and educational aspirations, Chris has a great passion for music. He is a self-taught producer, composer, amateur audio-engineer, and also an artist and musician. He spends much of his free time in his home studio, and performs under the stage name HalisiSoul as a bassist, trombonist, background vocalist and MC. Moving forward, he plans to use his education and his passion for community and youth engagement to start a non-profit organization dedicated to providing opportunities for youth to study music and other fine arts, and eventually would like to obtain his doctorate in Ethnomusicology with an emphasis on historically Black forms of Western Music. ​