Staff

We have a philosophy of maintaining a lean, efficient core team that does not require huge amounts of annual support to keep rolling. We are a small unit run out of a new space— “the garage” in the Chicago Community Trust offices on Michigan Avenue. 

This structure is deliberately light, and it works for us. We works with dozens of people and organizations to get things done, and we're able to spend our resources on building the ecosystem outside our walls. Here's a list of former staff members.

Kyla Williams, Interim Executive Director

Williams is the Interim Executive Director of the Smart Chicago Collaborative as of May 2016. She is responsible for all finances, ...

Sonja Marziano, Project Coordinator

Marziano manages a number of projects, including the Civic User Testing Group, Expunge.io, Early Childhood Web Portal, and other projects as they ...

Denise Linn, Program Analyst

Linn develops, executes, and evaluates Smart Chicago Programming — working closely with Connect Chicago, the Chicago School of Data, and the ...

Leslie Durr, Project Coordinator

Leslie Durr joins the Smart Chicago Collaborative as a Project Coordinator. She will serve as the point person for projects ...