Board of Directors

Leslie Coronel

Leslie Coronel is a 2012 graduate of Evanston Township High School and a member of the very first class of Evanston Scholars. After Evanston, she attended and graduated from Amherst College in 2016, double majoring in Economics and Spanish. Leslie has three younger siblings who are also part of the Evanston Scholars program. She is the oldest daughter of Mexican immigrants and is the first in her family to attend college. While in college she helped kick off the First Generation Association, a club created with the goal to support first generation college students during their time at Amherst. Leslie also worked at the college’s Office of Admission for three years where she was able to gain more insight into the application review process for her institution.

Today Leslie is working at Medline Industries and is part of a three-year finance management development program where she will rotate to several different functions within the finance department at Medline. She helps to support the surgeon’s gloves division providing the President of the division with insight into the drivers of his sales, gross margin, and expenses in order to support the division in meeting their AGM growth goal.

Leslie looks forward to using her own personal experience at both ETHS, Amherst College, and as an Evanston Scholar alumni to work to improve and continue to grow the organization to fill the very real need for college support for students at ETHS.

Melissa Denton

Melissa Denton is a marketing and sales professional with nearly 15 years of experience in the consumer, pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. Accomplished and resourceful, Melissa has led brand strategies from concept to commercialization, and has managed direct reports, cross-functional teams, internal stakeholders and budgets of up to $75 million with sales that exceed $500 million.  Her key achievements include the management of large, productive sales teams, Baxter micronutrient global trace element commercial launch in 45 countries; launch of Abbott Laboratories’ well-known Humira® Psoriasis, biologic product, and the development of a highly trafficked, award-winning disease-awareness website. An experienced global commercial leader, Melissa holds a Master of Business Administration degree, with a concentration in marketing management, from DePaul University. A native of Canton Ohio, Melissa earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ohio University.
 
Melissa is an active civic leader, donating time and expertise to Evanston Scholars, the Taproot Foundation, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Evanston Northshore Alumnae Chapter, Family Focus Evanston, mentor and the Healthcare Business Women’s Association, Chicago Chapter.  She has received numerous honors for her work, including Leadership Awards from the National Black MBA Chicago Chapter, Abbott Black Business Network. And Baxter Women Leaders.  Melissa is married to Calvin with one son, Joshua and lives in Skokie, IL.

Mary Finnegan

​Mary and her husband Paul have resided in Evanston since 1988.  Their three children all graduated from Evanston Township High School.  She previously served on the board for the Evanston Community Foundation, and is currently on the Root2Fruit Advisory Board, Community Works Initiative Committee, YOU Community Counsel, and Campaign Steering Committee.  She graduated from Indiana University. 

Missy Hedges

​Missy Hedges is an Evanston mom of two girls, one at Haven and one at ETHS.  She and her husband, Tim, have lived in Evanston for 15 years, during which time Missy has been actively involved in the community.  She served as PTA co-president of Orrington School, on the boards of School for Little Children Preschool and Foundation 65, and participated in the Evanston Community Foundation’s Leadership Evanston program.

​Missy hails from Oklahoma City, graduated from Duke University and in her professional career has worked for companies including PricewaterhouseCoopers, WilmerHale, and Diamond Partners, directing human resources, professional development and recruiting.  She’s also consulted for various companies, and worked at Kellogg Graduate School of Management, counseling students and conducting mock interviews with their students. 
In her free time, Missy mentors cancer patients through Debbie’s Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer, and interviews students applying to Duke, along with watching her girls’ tennis matches, lacrosse and soccer games.  

Scott Hunter

​An ETHS grad, Scott does so many things to better his community. He is a proud graduate of Lincoln University, an HBCU (Historically Black College & University). He is self-employed, has coached baseball for years, and volunteers for many organizations. His twins are at Haven, and his oldest son is at ETHS.

Cheryl Judice

Cheryl Judice moved to Evanston in 1975 after graduating from Lake Forest College. She is married to Hecky Powell, and they have three adult sons who all attended ETHS. Over the years, Cheryl has served on numerous Evanston non-profit boards concerned with education, cultural diversity, and inclusion.  Cheryl has a PhD in sociology from Northwestern University where she teaches in the School of Education and Social Policy and directs the PhD Preparation program. She is the vice-president of the Forrest E. Powell Foundation.

Dan Kanter

Dan is a proud ETHS graduate, and he and his wife, Suzanne, have raised three children in Evanston, two who are ETHS graduates and one who is a current ETHS student.  Dan earned a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley as well as a J.D. from Northwestern, and he currently works in investment management with Monroe Financial Partners.  He enjoys volunteering for Evanston-based organizations as well as playing guitar for Chicken Bone, a local band.
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Ismalis 'Izzy' Nunez

Ismalis Nuñez, also known as “Izzy,” works as a Family and Community Engagement Coordinator for District 65. In her current role, Izzy is focusing on building intentional partnerships with families and community based agencies to support academic success and healthy social emotional development of all students. Prior to that, Izzy was a school social worker at Haven and also worked at Y.O.U., the Mercy Home for Boys, and in therapeutic education. She has served on the district leadership team and safe and supportive climate initiatives within District 65. Currently, Izzy is a Leadership Evanston Alum (XXIV) and Co-Chair of the Community Engagement Committee for Cradle to Career.
 
Izzy grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan and attended Loyola University Chicago, where she earned a Master’s degree in Social Work.  She is fluent in both English and Spanish.
 
Izzy loves connecting with people and helping those in need.  She believes that when families have the right resources and are engaged in their child’s education, it will increase academic success, instructional outcomes, and social emotional growth.
 
In her spare time, Izzy enjoys spending time with her family and friends, riding her bike, and cooking.  
 

Michael Walker

Michael and his wife, Anne Murdoch, moved to Evanston in 2002, where they are raising three daughters. Born in South Africa, Michael came to the U.S. in 1985, attended Amherst College and moved to Chicago in 1991 to join Merrill Lynch investment banking. He has remained in investment banking, focusing on providing corporate finance services to community banks nationwide on behalf of Raymond James.

Michael participated in the Leadership Evanston program underwritten by the Evanston Community Foundation. Michael is also on the Board of the McGaw YMCA. ​

Corey Winchester

​Corey, a native of Philadelphia, began his journey in Evanston in 2006 as an undergraduate at Northwestern University. Today, he teaches History, Social Sciences, and AVID at ETHS. He has held past roles as a teacher at Providence Summerbridge through the Breakthrough Collaborative and as a Summer Academy instructor at KIPP Philadelphia Charter School. He recently earned a M.Ed. in Cultural and Educational Policy Studies at Loyola University Chicago and is looking forward in serving as an inaugural instructor for Northwestern Academy. Outside of his involvement various educational communities, Corey enjoys spending time with his family and friends and coaching volleyball.

Regina Wootton
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Regina is an Evanston resident who has experience in development, programs and governance through her role as the President of the Junior League of Chicago. She has served in other leadership roles in Evanston and Chicago - working with the YWCA Evanston/Northshore, ESCCA, Chicago Child Care Society and Lincoln Elementary School PTA. Regina and her husband Jeff have two children, both in Evanston schools, and she is a graduate of Michigan State University. Regina believes in thinking globally, but acting locally.