User Profile

President, The Cleveland Avenue Foundation for Education - The CAFE

If there's one name that's synonymous with 'giving back' in Chicago, it's Liz Thompson. As President of the Cleveland Avenue Foundation for Education (The CAFE), Liz is deeply engaged in the non-profit community and passionate about youth development and education. She began working with non-profits in 1993 as founding Executive Director of City Year Chicago, a national service organization that was the template for the AmeriCorps Program. Then in 1995, Liz served as Executive Director of a Montessori school in Denver, where she led a $5 million expansion. In 1998, she became active with boards in the San Diego area, which further fueled her interest in philanthropy and education. Prior to her work with non-profits, Liz had a ten-year career with Ameritech Corporation, culminating in her role as special assistant to the CEO of Ameritech Illinois and director of a three-state region for Network Field Operations. Liz is a director for Chicago Beyond and serves as Vice Chair of the Partnership for College Completion. She serves on the Steering Committee of the University of Chicago Women's Board and is a Special Advisor to OneGoal. She is also co- chair of Purdue University Minority Engineering Program Advisory panel. She is an alumnus of the Non-Profit Leadership Program of Denver and of the Leadership Greater Chicago Program where she currently also serves as a Director. Liz loves spending time with her family and friends, and cherishes her title of 'Queen of Useless Facts'. She is a Fellow of the 22nd class of the Pahara - Aspen Education Fellowship and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.