Brad Ballast

Staff
Chief Operating Officer

Brad is responsible for the organization's operational and administrative functions, personnel management, investor relations and special projects.

Previously, Brad was Vice President of Corporate Partnerships for the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago Foundation, after serving as Executive Director of both the TAWANI Foundation and the Pritzker Military Foundation, focusing on grant making in a wide range of subject matter areas.

Brad also served for seven years as Managing Director, U.S. Community Affairs for BMO Financial Group in Chicago. In that role, Brad was responsible for creating and implementing a new community affairs strategy across the bank’s U.S. footprint. His primary responsibilities included management of all of the bank’s charitable giving, nonprofit sponsorships, volunteerism, employee giving campaigns, and the bank’s nonprofit board training and placement program. He also served as primary philanthropic advisor to the bank’s executive team.

For ten years, Brad was Senior Vice President and Director of Corporate Contributions for LaSalle Bank (now Bank of America) in Chicago and was responsible for all of the bank’s charitable contributions and sponsorships, nonprofit board placements, volunteer programs, and fundraising campaigns throughout the U.S. Midwest.

Brad has served on the boards of many nonprofit organizations, including the Chicago History Museum; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; the Center on Halsted; Arts Alliance Illinois (formerly the Illinois Arts Alliance); Forefront (formerly the Donors Forum of Chicago); and Lookingglass Theatre.

Brad earned a B.A. from Hope College and an M.B.A. in Marketing from Michigan State University.

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