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.

Katie Dealy

Katie Dealy is the Chief Operating Officer at The University of Chicago’s Thirty Million Words (TMW).  In this role, Katie is responsible for leading TMW’s strategic planning process as well as overseeing the day-to-day operations. Katie has spent her career working to improve education and health opportunities for children growing up in low-income communities, and she has extensive experience spanning public policy, early childhood education, and nonprofit program leadership.  Prior to joining TMW,  Katie worked for the national offices of Teach For America from 2010 to 2016 in increasingly advanced roles, most recently serving as chief of staff to the CEO from 2013 to 2016. Prior to Teach For America, Katie was the early childhood policy analyst for the City of Chicago Department of Family & Support Services.  In that role, Katie analyzed and helped advise the city’s early childhood efforts.  She was the education program officer at the Mayer and Morris Kaplan Family Foundation, and also worked for the Ounce of Prevention Fund as the senior writer, translating critical early childhood research and policy ideas for general audiences.  Katie started her career as a teacher in Oakland, California through Teach For America.  A proud Pittsburgh native, Katie has an AB in Government from Cornell University and an MA from Teachers College at Columbia University with two concentrations, one in family and community education and one in health education.  Katie lives in Evanston with her husband Alan and three sons, Noah, Eli, and Jesse.  She is thrilled to be on the board of Evanston Scholars.  

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. 

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.

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 Nuñez

Ismalis Nuñez 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.  

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.