Pro Bono Network Board Members

President, Tali Albukerk

Secretary, Shama Ahmed

Tali Albukerk has worked in the legal world for over eight years, focusing on Federal Civil Rights Litigation, specifically addressing police misconduct claims. She was a certified mediator for the Circuit Court of Cook County and worked as a Public Interest Law Initiative Intern while still in law school. In addition to serving on the board, she is PBN's senior project coordinator and was featured in CDEL's newsletter. READ. She has two young children and is a volunteer at their schools. Ms. Albukerk has a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan, and a J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Stojanka Zjalic

Ms. Zjalic's interest in pro bono work stems from her time with the American Bar Association’s pro bono Rule of Law Initiative, where she developed and managed judicial and legal reform programs. Ms Zjalic trained a variety of Canadian nonprofits to successfully navigate operational, organizational and legal challenges, and successfully advocated for the reform of Canada’s nonprofit legislative framework. She co-wrote and co-edited the “Nonprofit Management Manual”, a one-stop resource kit for nonprofits operating in Ontario. Ms. Zjalic served on the board of The Women’s Enterprise Skills Training of Windsor. She is well versed in best practices in nonprofit governance, board development and management. Since joining PBN, she has served as its jail clinic project manager and was honored for this work as CLAIM's volunteer of 2012. She has been married for fifteen years, and is a mother of three. Ms. Zjalic holds a Law Degree from University of Banja Luka, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and an M.A. in Political Science and International Relations from University of Windsor, Canada.

Amy Garland

Amy Garland is an equity partner at Kominiarek Bresler Harvick & Gudmundson practicing medical malpractice with experience in defending physicians, multi-specialty practice groups, and hospitals. She lectures before healthcare providers on topics of medical malpractice, trial advocacy and risk prevention. She graduated from Michigan State University in 1997 and DePaul University College of Law in 2001. She was admitted to the Illinois Bar and United States District Court Trial Bar for the Northern District of Illinois in 2001. She is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, The Society of Trial Lawyers and Women's Bar Association. She has three young children and lives in Oak Park.

Robin Spencer

Robin M. Spencer is an experienced litigator who recently retired from her 20-year commercial practice to pursue pro bono work in under-served communities. Previously, she was a partner in an AmLaw 200 law firm, concentrating in complex commercial litigation, including franchise and distribution matters. For many years Ms. Spencer was an associate editor of and author for the American Bar Association Franchise Law Journal, and also served on the Steering Committee of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Division of the American Bar Association Forum on Franchising and on the Franchising Forum’s Publications and Technology Committees. She is a frequent speaker and writer on franchise, distribution and litigation issues, and has served for several years as a faculty member for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy. She has been selected as an Illinois Super Lawyer, a “Leading Lawyer” in Franchise and Dealership Law, and for Who’s Who in Franchise Law. She earned her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1994.

Charles M. Sloan, CFA, is an Executive Vice President of Mid-Continent Capital and portfolio manager. Charlie has held positions at Arthur Andersen & Co, Harris Trust and Savings Bank and at Holland Capital Management. Most recently, Charlie served as a co-portfolio manager of a mutual fund as well as a senior equity analyst at Holland Capital Management. In addition Charlie is an Adjunct Instructor at the University of Chicago’s Graham School. Charlie received his MBA with honors from the University of Chicago and is a CFA charter holder. He is a resident of Oak Park and father of two children.

Treasurer, Charlie Sloan

Ruth Masters has her own solo practice focusing on appellate work. A graduate from University of Chicago Law School, where she served as associate editor of the University of Chicago Legal Forum, she clerked for the Honorable Charles Levin on the Michigan Supreme Court before working for several years at Latham & Watkins before joining the City of Chicago Corporation Counsel’s appeals division as well as working for their Torts Division. Her interest in pro bono started years before the Pro Bono Network, volunteering for the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services. Masters became involved with PBN shortly after we began, participating in a number of our projects and joining the board in 2014.

As a former Assistant Public Guardian, Shama represented abused and neglected children in juvenile court; she advocated for her child clients through all phases of their case, as well as outside of the courtroom through mediations and interdisciplinary staffings. Previously, she served as staff attorney/court coordinator for the Honorable Maxwell Griffin Jr. in Juvenile Court before working at Lehrer and Redleaf where she represented parents indicated of abuse or neglect in their administrative hearings with the Department of Children and Family Services. She authored a chapter entitled "Children in a Family Court Mediation Program" in the book A Guide for Courts, Mediating Conflicts Involving Children and Families. In addition to legal endeavors, she served on the board of the Downtown Islamic Center. Ms. Ahmed graduated from the University of Toledo with a B.A. in Psychology and Ohio State University Moritz College of Law with the recognition of "Public Service Fellow" and a certificate in dispute resolution. She has 4 young children.

Ruth Masters

Christy Chapman

Suzanne Ritzler

Suzanne Ritzler is Of Counsel at Thompsom Coburn LLC and practices corporate law, advising clients on a range of contractual issues. During her career, she has worked for several Chicago law firms, as well as serving as General Counsel for a North American mining firm. Suzanne has a B.S. in Accountancy with Highest Honors from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a J.D. from teh University of Chicago Law School, and an M.L.I.S. from Dominican University. Suzanne is also a Certified Public Accountant. She lives in Oak Park with her husaband and son.

Tali Albukerk, President

Tali Albukerk is a Staff Attorney/Pro Bono Projects Manager at the American Bar Association where she is the national administrator of ABA Free Legal Answers for the Center for Pro Bono and also supports the Standing Committee on Legal Assistance for Military Personnel. During her career, she has worked for several Chicago law firms focusing on federal civil rights litigation, specifically addressing police misconduct claims. Tali became involved with PBN shortly after it began, participating in all PBN projects, managing its senior projects and joining the board in 2013. Tali has a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan, and a J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law. She lives in Oak Park with her husband and two daughters.

Suzanne Ritzler, Vice President

Shama Ahmed, Secretary

Sarah Arnett, Treasurer

Sarah Arnett is a freelance business valuation consultant. Sarah has held positions at Price Waterhouse and Deloitte and Touche. Most recently, Sarah was employed as a business valuation senior associate at Evergreen Advisors. Sarah received her degree from the University of Oregon, and completed the Chartered Financial Analyst program in 2002. She is a resident of Oak Park, an active community volunteer, and mother of two children.

Mara Block

Mara Block joined Orenstein and Associates in 2015. Before joining the firm, she was an attorney at LAF, the largest provider of free civil legal services to low income individuals in Cook County. Mara started as a general litigator, representing clients in matters of domestic violence, consumer fraud, unemployment insurance benefits and subsidized housing eviction defense. As Director of Volunteer Services, she oversaw all of LaR's pro bono efforts including porject development, volunteer recruitment and training, and corporate relations. Mara recieved her undergraduate degree from Emory University, and her law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Christy Chapman

Christy Chapman joined PBN in the fall of 2011, jumping headfirst into several of the Network’s original projects. She started her law career clerking for a federal bankruptcy judge in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After completing her clerkship, she joined the Workout, Bankruptcy & Business Reorganization group at Mayer Brown, and then spent several years in the Law Department at JPMorgan Chase, serving as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel. In addition to her work on the Board, Christy has served as PBN’s project manager for the Lawyers in the Classroom program and is currently PBN’s project manager for the Visas for Crime Victims program. She is also a Staff Attorney at CARPLS, a legal aid service provider. She has a B.A. in Political Science and Criminal Justice from Western Michigan University, and a J.D. from Valparaiso University School of Law.

Ruth Masters

Donna Peel

Donna Peel developed PBN's working model after spending too much time commuting as a volunteer attorney while raising her two children. She has been directing the organization ever since. Previous to PBN's inception and time at home with her children, Donna was an antitrust attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice. While at DOJ, she served as U.S. Advisor to South Africa's Competition Commission, an Advisor to the President at the White House, and a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney at the Eastern District of Virginia. She holds a law degree from Washington University School of Law and an economics degree from Michigan State University.

Julie Renehan

Julie Renehan became involved with PBN in the fall of 2015 working with the Incarcerated Womens’ Clinic and the Legal Aid Society Simple Divorce project, which she managed in 2016. Previously, she worked in private practice, providing representation in family law, corporate contract negotiation and employment law. She holds a SHRM certificate in Human Resources Management and is a member of the DuPage County Bar Association. Julie has volunteered with Junior League, Hinsdale Jr. Womens’ Club, Hinsdale Village Caucus, ABA Veterans Claims Assistance Network and serves as a DuPage County Precinct Committeeman. Julie received her B.A. in English Literature and French Language/Literature from Vanderbilt University and a J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis.

Gloria Schwartz

A former computer software executive, Gloria has held technical, sales, consulting and management positions with United Airlines, Cullinet Software, Price Waterhouse, Informix and Active Software. She was also one of the founders of Software Architects and Soma Consulting. After leaving the software industry, Ms. Schwartz entrolled at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Chicago. She also sits on the Board of Advisors at Catholic Charities. Gloria is currently chairing the PBN Board Development Committee.

Robin Spencer

Jennifer Valentine

Jennifer started her own freelance consulting business, Write Words, helping nonprofits with grant funding research and proposals. Previously, she worked as an assistant general counsel for the City Colleges of Chicago handling all its employment defense, tort liability, and premises liability litigation, as well as its workers comp, insurance and risk management related matters. Jennifer started volunteering with Pro Bono Network in the fall of 2015 by writing grant funding proposals and working at the telephone counseling project. She joined the Board in July 2016 bringing her fundraising advancement skills to our table. Jennifer has four young children: triplets plus their big brother. She earned both her B.A. in government and her J.D. from the University of Notre Dame.

Sheila Pont

Sheila Pont is our Director of Programming, and has been crucial in growing PBN from its initial 10 volunteers to where it is today. She has worked in victim advocacy for her entire professional career, starting with Mothers Against Drunk Driving as the Illinois State Victim Advocate. In this capacity, she ran the victim advocacy arm of MADD for all 102 counties in Illinois. She also led numerous trainings on victim advocacy, bereavement and death notifications. Ms. Pont has been involved in many local non profit organizations. She currently sits on the Board of Directors for West Suburban PADS, an agency committed to ending homelessness in the western Cook County area, serving as chair of their gala and the chairs of the Special Events and Organizational Development committees. In the past, she has served on the Boards of both her public school PTO and preschool committee. She has a B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan, and a J.D./M.S.W. from Washington University in St. Louis.

* Non-voting Board Member

Heena Musabji

Heena Musabji is the Director of Operations at PBN. She is also the Principal Attorney at the Musabji Law Offices, focusing on immigration and nationality law. Previously, Ms. Musabji was a partner at Amal Law Group, and has she also served as CAIR-Chicago’s first Staff Attorney, counseling and representing its constituency on civil rights. She worked with the National Immigrant Justice Center throughout law school and has served as director of the Sex Trafficking Opposition and Prevention Project with the International Human Rights Law Institute. Heena recently served as Vice President of the Board for the Muslim Civil Liberties Union, and is also on the board at her mosque. Heena has served on the board at West Suburban Montessori School and at the Terraces of Oak Park. She holds a law degree from DePaul College of Law.