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Cherita Ellens
Organization - Chief Executive Officer, Women Employed
County - Cook
Cherita Ellens is the President and CEO of Women Employed. A native Chicagoan and longtime advocate for Chicago women, youth, and families, she believes that her purpose is to use her time, talent and treasure helping the most marginalized gain self-sufficiency and full agency over their lives. Cherita carries out her purpose leading Women Employed, an organization that, for nearly five decades, has been dedicated to establishing equity for women in the workforce. Before joining Women Employed, Cherita led business operations and communications as Executive Vice President for Skills for Chicagoland’s Future, served as the Executive Director of the South Side and Wabash YMCAs, and as VP of Marketing and Membership for the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago. Cherita currently serves on the Board for Family Values at Work, Mayor Lightfoot’s Women’s Advisory Committee, the Illinois Board of Higher Education Strategic Plan Advisory Committee, and the Community Advisory Review Council for The University of Chicago Institute for Translational Medicine. Cherita holds an executive MBA from The University of Notre Dame, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Speech Communications from Illinois State University.