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WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

In 1908, Jane Addams started the Mary Crane Day Nursery at Hull House, after receiving a donation of a building from Richard Teller Crane in memory of his late wife.

Hull House turned the Day Nursery over to the National College of Education in 1925, and Jane Addams joined with Edna Dean Baker, president of the College, to pioneer a new way of thinking about early childhood education. Their shared knowledge and firsthand experience of working with children and families was groundbreaking in the efforts to prepare young underprivileged children for success.

Originally assisting children of poor immigrants on Chicago’s near West Side, the Center moved north to the Julia C. Lathrop Homes in 1963. In keeping with the spirit of its inception, the Mary Crane Center continues to serve communities in need and has added sites in Rogers Park, Austin and West Garfield Park over the past several years. The Mary Crane Center has launched the lives of over 15,000 children and families.

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"Let us accept the child in our midst as our greatest wealth and our highest responsibility"

JANE ADDAMS
Co-founder of the
Mary Crane Center

Partners & Archdiocese Sites

LA1
Little Acheivers

3801 W Diversey Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
P: 773.632.8249
F: 773.276.1600
Sharla Thompson | Owner
sharla_thompson@sbcglobal.net

SE1
Saint Ethelreda

8734 S. Paulina
Chicago, IL 60620
P: 773.238.1757
Dr. Denise Spells | Principal
dspells@stethelreda.org

Leadership & Administration

Kristina
Kristina Phillips

Chief Executive Officer
kphillips@marycrane.org

Steve
Steve Strang

Chief Operating Officer
sstrang@marycrane.org

Beth
Beth Rivera

HR Director
brivera@marycrane.org

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Wanda Ho

Director of Finance & Operations
who@marycrane.org

Lisa
Lisa Penny

Program Director
lpenny@marycrane.org

Andy
Andy Navarro

Senior Accountant
anavarro@marycrane.org

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Kina Miller

Senior Education Manager
kmiller@marycrane.org

Regina
Regina Grant

Executive Assistant to the CEO
rgrant@marycrane.org

Candace
Candace Odili

Office Manager
codili@marycrane.org

Board Members

Duwarren
DuWarren Gibson

Board President

Emily Herrick

Vice President

Carla E. Gazes

Treasurer

Robin Bourne-Caris

Secretary

Suzanne Rovner

Member At Large

Dominique Bryant

Member At Large

Lei Lani Myles

Member At Large

Adeline Robinson

Member At Large

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Parent Chair

Laurie Gingrich

Member At Large

Site Directors

Eleanor Northern

Morse/Rogers Park
enorthern@marycrane.org
773.262.1390

Valerie Dickens

Lake & Pulaski/West Garfield Park
vdickens@marycrane.org
773.265.5954

Kisonnah Williams

Lathrop/Northwest
kwilliams@marycrane.org
773.938.8131

Lisa Penny

Partner Director
lpenny@marycrane.org
312.719.8868

Home Base 
773.242.2868

Debra Kelly 

Molade/Austin
dkelly@marycrane.org
773.287.7365

MARY CRANE IS GROWING OUR TEAM

Interested in joining our team? We use Breezy for our application process. Click the link for our current openings.