Board of Directors

Laurie Williams

Laurie and her husband Rick are the founders of Collaborative Community Housing Initiative. They have one adult son Zachary, who inspired them to form CCHI. Laurie is leading this grassroots movement for inclusive living options with a group of volunteer families and stakeholders throughout the country.   By collaborating with educators, organizations, housing specialists  and urban planners, CCHI is encouraging public dialogue regarding inclusion, as well as creating space for community problem solving regarding affordable housing for people with IDD.   By researching and visiting various living models around the world, they learned that creating neighborhoods where everyone can thrive is possible!  Laurie is committed to building a more equal, diverse, inclusive and welcoming community for people of all abilities.  In addition to working full time as an Executive Corporate Recruiter, Laurie is involved in the National Fragile X Association as an event organizer, speaker and mentor.  

Anthony Bilotti, Ph.D.

Anthony has advised government and private sectors in the planning and implementation of health and environmental initiatives, property redevelopment, and educational curricula during his professional career of 40 years. He is an Adjunct Lecturer at Northwestern University, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. He was also Adjunct Assistant Professor of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has served on municipal and county planning commissions, and boards of professional societies. Anthony and his wife Emma Kowalenko enjoy involvement with the community and have been active volunteers in civic and community organizations. 

Richard Koenig

Richard has been the Executive Director of Housing Opportunity Development Corporation since 1997. So far he has completed over 30 affordable developments with over 500 affordable units. He has a PhD in Community Economic Development from Southern New Hampshire University and a Masters of Urban Planning from the University of Illinois. He is a member of Lambda Alpha and was selected as a Fellow by the American Institute of Certified Planners. Richard previously served on the board of Housing Options for the Mentally Ill and as Chair of the Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County.

Carole Rosen, MAID, CAPS

Carole served on the Community Housing and Inclusion and Executive Committees of the Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities. Her diverse background in advocacy includes serving on The Going Home Coalition, The New Trier Township Funding Committees and organizing community wide events promoting affordable community supported housing. Her driving belief is that Community is strengthened by diversity and whether the issue of community housing and inclusion is analyzed from an ethical or economic viewpoint, it is crucial that current living situations for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities innovate and change.  In addition to her Masters of Interior Design degree, she is a Certified Aging in Place Specialist with additional coursework in Universal Design.  She is an award winning photographer with work shown in numerous regional and national photography exhibitions. Carole and her husband, William, have a daughter who has developmental disabilities and a son.

Jacob C. Noble (“Jake”) 

Jake is Managing Director & Group Head in CIBC BANK USA’s Commercial Real Estate line of business. He leads a team responsible for executing CIBC’s relationship banking strategy with dynamic and growing middle market companies in the commercial real estate industry. The team currently manages a loan and deposit portfolio in excess of $2.0 billion and primarily focuses on clients headquartered in Chicagoland.  Mr. Noble has worked for CIBC (including via a predecessor organization, The PrivateBank) since October 2007. Previously he was Vice President in the Illinois Commercial Real Estate division with LaSalle Bank where he was responsible for managing relationships with Illinois-based commercial real estate firms and growing a loan portfolio in excess of $300 million. Mr. Noble completed the Commercial Lender Training Program at LaSalle in 2002.  Jake has been involved with Midtown Educational Foundation in a variety of capacities for over 10 years and currently serves on the Midtown Advancement Council board. Jake is also a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow (2017).  He lives in Evanston with his wife, Kate, and their two sons, Matthew (15) and Lucas (12). Jake and Kate are active in their local parish, Saint Joan of Arc, and also with special education advocacy for kids with developmental disabilities.

Laura Fine 

Laura has been working and leading programs for individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities over the past 20 years, supporting students in a variety of ways throughout their high school and transition years in school. Laura has worked tirelessly throughout her career collaborating with outside agencies to help empower families to begin thinking about building a meaningful day once school ends at a much earlier age. Her innovative thinking and passion for preparing students for the future continue to propel individuals with disabilities and their families in living a purposeful life beyond school.  Currently, Laura works for the Exceptional Learners Collaborative at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois where she serves as the Assistant Director of Programs and Services.  Laura and her husband Ken have two children Sara and Ben.  

Jordan Kane 

Jordan is a policy analyst and activist, specializing in aid effectiveness, conflict, governance, and domestic criminal justice reform. She has worked on and in Afghanistan, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Yemen, and believes that better governance and security are inclusive, both at home and abroad. She co-founded Color of Equity, a community collective working for racial equity and criminal justice reform in Lake County. She is a Truman National Security Fellow and serves on the Steering Committee of The Justice Project: The March Continues."  Jordan is looking forward to supporting CCHI in our mission to create inclusive opportunities in our communities and advocate for change in housing for people with disabilities.