Two join Girls on the Run leadership team
Girls on the Run-Chicago is proud to welcome two new members to its leadership team - Jill Eid as executive director, and Jennifer Elliott as governing board president.
Girls on the Run is a physical activity-based, positive youth development program that inspires girls in third through eighth grade to recognize their limitless potential and boldly pursue their dreams.
Prior to joining Girls on the Run-Chicago, Jill Eid served as associate director of growth and strategy at Cradles to Crayons, a national organization providing critical essentials to children living in poverty and crisis situations. While there, she played a key role in developing the organization's national governance and shared services models. Most recently, Jill led Cradles to Crayons' first strategic expansion into a new market; Chicago.
"As executive director, I am humbled and honored to have this opportunity to advance Girls on the Run-Chicago's mission to inspire girls to celebrate their unique identities and to freely pursue their dreams," said Eid.
Jennifer Elliott brings her experience as vice president of Human Resources at TransUnion to her role as governing board president. At TransUnion, she drives organizational design and capability as well as talent development and engagement, with a focus on advancing growth and positive business outcomes. With 10 plus years in human resource leadership roles across Valspar, Aramark and The Pepsi Bottling Group, Elliott is passionate about aligning individuals to meaningful work and enabling impactful experiences.
Elliott has served on the governing board since 2013, including two other executive committee roles.
"I am so excited to continue my work in helping to empower more girls to cross the finish line with a bright future," she said.
Both women are active in Chicago's running and nonprofit communities, and bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to their roles.
The Girls on the Run program helps girls develop key life skills including cultivating confidence, responding to oneself and others with care, and creating positive connections with peers and adults.
Each season culminates with a 5K event to celebrate the girls' growth and achievements during the season.
Girls on the Run-Chicago has served eight Illinois counties (Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, and Will) for 20 years, and has impacted the lives of more than 87,000 girls to date.
With the help of the governing board, associate board and volunteers, the program continues to expand and inspire more girls to be joyful, healthy and confident.
To learn more about Girls on the Run-Chicago, visit www.gotrchicago.org.
Girls on the Run is a national physical activity-based positive youth development program for third- to eighth-grade girls. Participants develop and improve competence, feel confidence in who they are, develop strength of character, respond to others and oneself with care, create positive connections with peers and adults and make a meaningful contribution to community and society.
Each session is led by trained volunteer coaches who guide and mentor the girls. The 10-week program concludes with all participants completing a celebratory 5K event which gives them a tangible sense of achievement as well as a framework for setting and achieving life goals.