Page 107 - 2018 B2SI Recap Binder

We’d love to hear more about your business.
I am CEO of Back 2 School Illinois (B2SI). Our mission is to create and support educational opportunities that enrich the lives of Illinois children. Our biggest program is providing school supplies to children from low-income households. I am proud of the tremendous growth of our organization and the number of kids we’ve helped over the years.
Since inception, we’ve given one of our Back 2 School kits to over 192,000 kids. We not only provide the kid’s supplies but in doing so let them know they are worthy of learning and receiving a good education. The efforts of B2SI also reduce the financial pressure on the parents of our kit recipients and their teacher, whom often dip into their own pockets to buy their student’s school supplies.
Our success is due in part to the partnerships we’ve developed with other community organizations and government agencies. They are the ones that help us make sure the kits are getting into the hands of the truly needy. We also focus a lot of effort on our reporting and communications.
Whether it’s too our corporate sponsors, volunteers or individual donors we are always doing outreach and providing them with information on how their support is impacting our efforts. For example, our annual Back 2 School program recap for sponsors is over 125 pages. We conduct research every few years of our kit recipients. Our website, e-newsletter and social media report on all aspects of our programs.
I work extremely long hours but the reward is well worth it. I know what we do makes an important difference in the lives of so many children (and adults) that are not as lucky as me. I will not kid you. At times it is exhausting work. I put a tremendous amount of pressure on myself but the results justify the sacrifices I make.
I thrive on problem-solving and love overcoming obstacles, which allows me to build a better organization year after year. Education is the cornerstone of our society. Most of the problems we face today can be resolved if people were more enlightened. We are helping to make that happen.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
While we serve all of Illinois, much of our work benefits the city of Chicago. In a perfect world or in this case city, my nonprofit would not need to exist. However, given all the financial challenges of that exist to both families and the city government, our role is an important one, as well as so many other nonprofits that fill in the gaps.
Contact Info:
● Address: 3959 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL 60613
● Website: b2si.org
● Phone: 847.268.3550
● Email: info@b2si.org
● Instagram: Back2SchoolIL
● Facebook: Back 2 School Illinois
● Twitter: Back2SchoolIL
● Other: LinkedIn Back 2 School Illinois