October 11, 2022
Dear friend of the parks,

We have exciting news!

Our important and challenging work would not be possible without our deeply-committed board of directors. As both leaders and passionate park users, they embody our mission: to inspire, equip, and mobilize a diverse Chicago to ensure an equitable ​park system for a healthy Chicago. 

We are thrilled to announce our newly-elected board officers who will serve in these positions through 2023. Please join me in congratulating them!
Board Chair: Bronwyn Nichols Lodato, PhD
Bronwyn Nichols Lodato, PhD, brings extensive experience in PAC and non-profit leadership to her role as FOTP Board Chair. She also brings to her service joy from growing up spending time outdoors visiting parks, climbing trees, swimming and camping. She serves as President of the Midway Plaisance Advisory Council (MPAC), working to protect a Frederick Law Olmsted-designed park on the South Side that is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. MPAC has become a strong advocate for park protection, park equity and environmental stewardship, convening and participating in public meetings to ensure planning transparency for the Midway. A recipient of FOTP’s 2019 VIP Award, Nichols Lodato led MPAC’s fight to keep a garage from being constructed on the Midway and has represented MPAC at federal review meetings.

Committed to FOTP’s mission, she is a thoughtful and energetic proponent for the protection and maintenance of parks as accessible, public spaces that are integral to the city’s infrastructure and vital to its citizens’ health. She emphasizes transparency and accountability in park oversight, while centering racial equity and environmental justice to protect and enhance the natural features in parks (tree canopy, wetlands) that combat the climate crisis, seeking alignment with national and international efforts. In addition to Friends of the Parks’ Board, she serves as a member of the Promontory Point Conservancy Board. Nichols Lodato received her Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and obtained her Master’s degree in International Relations and PhD in Comparative Human Development from the University of Chicago.
Vice-Chair: Keith M. Kelley
Keith M. Kelley is an artist, educator, restorative justice practitioner, self-described, “cultural activist” and community organizer from Chicago’s west side. He has shared his diverse skill-set to further the missions of community-based organizations and initiatives such as: the Garfield Park Stewardship Program, Blocks Together, Building Community Through the Arts, the Humboldt Park Quality of Life Plan (LISC), Educational Pathways in West Humboldt Park, the West Humboldt Park/Garfield Park Community Action Council with the Chicago Public Schools, and the Chicago Parks Consortium.

Kelley is a member and former president of the Garfield Park Advisory Council. Under his leadership, the Garfield PAC entered into its first fiscal sponsorship agreement, grew its membership, and hosted events such as a monarch butterfly festival, two years of Circus in the Parks, the One Earth Film Festival, and Earth Day Observations. In an effort to ensure that Garfield PAC members had an opportunity to lead, Kelley also drafted an amendment to their bylaws that instituted term limits for officers which limited his own administration. He also was responsible for working with his local alderman to have a “traffic calming island” installed in front of the Gold Dome Fieldhouse and initiating the park’s stewardship program which led to the first African-American volunteer park steward in Chicago Park District history. While many advisory councils suspended their activities, Kelley successfully checked in with his PAC through the pandemic online.

He has vocally and literally advocated for equity in Chicago parks including: the removal of barriers for returning citizens to volunteer in their local parks, participatory budgeting for the Chicago Park District capital budget, and the equitable distribution of resources like security officers, cameras and infrastructure repairs in parks inside black and Latino communities. Although he has moved to the south side, he continues to volunteer with the Garfield PAC and the Garfield Park Stewardship Program. Kelley currently is on the Friends of the Parks board of directors where he serves as vice chair and the chair of its advocacy committee.
Secretary: Lauren Moltz
Lauren Moltz is a long time Hyde Parker and proud South Sider who has played key roles in organizations that value and promote equity and community as fundamental tenets of their missions, including Friends of the Parks, the Hyde Park Art Center and the Hyde Park Jazz Festival.

Moltz became actively involved in Chicago parks in the late 1980’s when she and fellow Hyde Parkers formed Friends of Promontory Point and successfully petitioned the Chicago Park District to restore the long-neglected field house. Some years later, she was asked to join the board of FOTP where she has served in various roles, including chair of the advocacy committee, chair of the board, and now secretary.

During her tenure, Moltz has helped foster FOTP’s role in Chicago as a fierce, independent advocate of parks, open space, and a lakefront that is accessible to all. She lives within blocks of and frequents some of the most beautiful parks in the nation - Jackson, Burnham (where the Point is located) and Washington Parks. She is also a member of the Midway and Jackson Park Advisory Councils. She believes in the power of parks to bring people together and of the vital role they play in the physical and mental health of individuals and communities.
Treasurer: Thurman Foreman
Thurman Foreman lives in the Scottsdale neighborhood on the Southwest Side.

Growing up in Englewood, his favorite park was Ogden Park, where he learned how to swim, played baseball and basketball, and was introduced to tap dancing, golf, and tennis. It is also the park where he saw Dr. Martin L. King speak.

These childhood memories have helped fuel Foreman’s lifelong passion for parks and the way they serve people and neighborhoods in so many ways, providing programs for kids, nature for solitude, and paths for dog walkers and couples. He appreciates how simple open spaces can make such a big difference in a city.

Foreman attended Morgan Park H.S and graduated from Chicago State University. He is a Vietnam war Coast Guard veteran, retired County tax Assessor, and a commercial real estate broker. These days his favorite park is Marquette Park.
We are grateful that Bronwyn, Keith, Lauren, and Thurman have volunteered to step into these roles. 

In solidarity,

Juanita Irizarry
Executive Director
Friends of the Parks
312-857-2757
info@fotp.org
fotp.org