our team

Ms. Meghie brings over twenty-two years of business experience including real estate, hotel development, lodging operations and management, website development, ecommerce technology, and marketing. Ms. Meghie has been with Becker Ventures for over sixteen years and has played an integral role in its real estate and hotel divisions.

She is currently responsible for BV’s real estate and hospitality portfolios. Ms. Meghie was a key member on the Hard Rock Hotel Chicago redevelopment project. Since the hotel opened in 2004, Ms. Meghie has held key positions at the hotel including General Manager and the Director of Operations. Currently, she provides strategic daily support in addition to her asset management role.

Under Ms. Meghie’s leadership in 2012, a JV was created between Partners Group, Becker Ventures, and The John Buck Company to develop North Michigan Avenue’s first skyscraper in over five years to be called MILA. Named for its premier location on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Lake Street, the 41-story luxury residential development was completed in spring 2016, bridging Chicago’s legendary Magnificent Mile with Millennium Park.

In addition, Ms. Meghie co-founded the Jackson Chance Foundation (JCF) with her husband, Terry, after their son Jackson spent his entire short-life of 10 months in the NICU at Northwestern Prentice Women’s Hospital and Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. JCF’s mission is to enrich the lives of families with babies in the NICU by allowing them to spend more time with their baby. As Board Chair, she oversees the Foundation’s day to day operations, strategy, and management. In 2016, she was named a CNN Hero, Chicagoan of the Year, and Five-Star Chicagoan among many other accolades for her work with the Foundation.

Prior to joining Becker Ventures, Ms. Meghie was an entrepreneur in the dot.com world. She has a Bachelor of Science from DePaul University College of Commerce and is based in Chicago. Ms. Meghie is also the founder and Board Chair of the Jackson Chance Foundation and a board member of the Chicago Cultural Mile (CCM). She previously was a board member of the Chicago Loop Alliance (CLA) and an SSA commissioner for the West Town Chamber of Commerce (WTTC).

Terry Meghie brings over twenty years experience in real estate, operations, marketing and brand development. Mr. Meghie has been with Becker Ventures for over ten years and is responsible for BV’s Chicago real estate portfolio. His role includes oversight of the 200M+ development at 200 N. Michigan – MILA – which opened spring of 2016. He is responsible for the marketing, leasing and operations of Becker Ventures’ commercial office buildings and has played a key role in reducing operating costs for the assets. Mr. Meghie is a licensed real estate agent in Illinois and has worked in both the commercial and residential markets.

Mr. Meghie is an entrepreneur and brings an owner-centric view to his endeavors. He is the founder and President of Becker Entertainment (BE) – a hospitality and entertainment development and management company specializing in branding, marketing, public relations and operations. BE currently oversees the brand management and development of three brands (Mr. Brown’s Lounge, Mista Brown’s Authentic Jerk Sauce and Chuck’s: A Kerry Simon Kitchen). Mr. Meghie opened and created the concept for Mr. Brown’s Lounge in 2009 which was voted Chicago’s Best New Music Bar by CS Magazine. In addition, he owned and operated Blessed Promotions, a Chicago based night life promotion company from 1998- 2004.

In addition, Mr. Meghie co-founded the Jackson Chance Foundation (JCF) with his wife Carrie, after their son Jackson spent his entire short-life of 10 months in the NICU at Northwestern Prentice Women’s Hospital and Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. JCF’s mission is to enrich the lives of families with babies in the NICU by allowing them to spend more time with their baby. As Vice-Chair of the organization he plays an integral role in planning and fundraising for the foundation and spearheaded the launch of Owl Ride for Jackson, a 2-day 111-mile charity ride.

Heather L. Boyer is Partner at the law firm of Nyhan, Bambrick, Kinzie & Lowry, P.C. located in Chicago, Illinois. Her law firm is known as one of the most prestigious workers’ compensation law firms in the State of Illinois. She focuses her attention on vigorously defending the rights of Employers sued for workers’ compensation benefits and works closely with the Insurance Carriers and Third Party Administrators in resolving those claims. She has been an attorney in Chicago for fourteen years and is a proud graduate of The John Marshall Law School.

In addition to representing the interests of her clients, she is also a working mother. Heather is married to her Husband (Cory), who is a Plaintiff’s Personal Injury Attorney, in Chicago, and they have three beautiful boys together (Andrew (10), Matthew (7) and Dylan (3)). They reside in Glenview, Illinois with their children and service dog, Bear. Their middle son, Matthew was born three months early and spent the first thirteen months of his life at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. Matthew, who is now 7 years old, was diagnosed with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, sensory integration disorder and is on the Autism spectrum.

In her spare time, Heather has dedicated her life to giving back to the Special Needs community by helping to raise awareness for inclusion, acceptance and success of those amazing individuals. She is an active Committee Member of The Nora Project, which is affiliated with School District 34, to help facilitate friendships between special needs children and typically developing children, both at school and outside of school. Heather’s other activities include Soccer, Bikram yoga, book club with her girlfriends, Saturday date nights with her husband and a multitude of activities with her boys.

Thomas M. Bulow (Tom) is the co-founder and owner of the The Bulow Group (TBG) located in Tinley Park, IL. Tom and his brother Mike started the company back in 2013 after working at competing firms in the same middle market insurance arena. TBG was started from scratch, and is currently one of the fastest growing independent insurance agencies in the Chicagoland area. As a middle market commercial independent insurance agency, their value added proposition derives from growing with their clients, and solving problems for them along the way. TBG’s expertise in commercial insurance (among numerous industries around the country) is the main piece of the pie when it comes to the relationships with their clients, but certainly isn’t the only aspect they deliver. Tom & Mike started the company with the motto to “change the insurance game” and it something they strive for every day.

Prior to cofounding The Bulow Group Tom worked at a large property & casualty insurance agency as middle market insurance broker. He found a passion for helping companies perpetuate when disasters occurred as well being a confidant for business owners & executives. Relationships are the cornerstone of his professional and personal life.

Tom is married to his wife (Michelle) and they currently have 3 children together (Tommy III, Alison, and Jack). They reside in Tinley Park, IL with their children, and their English bulldog, Izzo. Tom and Michelle’s oldest son was diagnosed with Autism in 2014, and that is something they are extremely passionate about. Along with recovering their son they have made it their life’s mission to be an advocate for the autism community. Tom’s other passions & hobbies include; golf, Michigan State Football & Basketball, water skiing, snow skiing, philanthropy, autism charities, reading, anything with his kids, wife, and TBG!

Emily Dawson has dedicated her career to taking care of sick children. She is a triple boarded physician in pediatrics, pediatric emergency medicine and pediatric critical care. Emily completed her education here in Chicago: matriculating from Loyola Stritch School of Medicine and the University of Chicago for her residency and fellowship training programs. She spent the first decade of her career at the University of Chicago working clinically in both the Pediatric ICU and the Pediatric ER. During the last three years of her time at U of C, Emily was the Director of the Pediatric Sepsis Initiative. She led a multidisciplinary team that optimized both the recognition of pediatric patients with suspected sepsis (severe infection) and the care delivered to these patients.

She has now transitioned to Advocate Children’s Hospital where she continues to work at the bedside in the Pediatric ICU and the Pediatric ER at Christ Medical Center in Oaklawn and has taken on a leadership role as the Medical Director of Performance Improvement for Advocate Children’s Hospital (North Campus: Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge and South Campus: Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn).

Emily has known Carrie (Meghie) and her sisters, Jill and Beverly, since childhood and was honored to provide support to Carrie and Terry during Jackson’s time in the hospital. And even more so to get to know Jackson and his wonderful smile during his short time with us.

A regular power walker and yogi, she has recently taken up running again and is training for her first half marathon. Hopefully, this will be the first of many and you will see her out on the lake front with the JCF team for the Rock ‘N’ Roll half marathon in July. She is also designing and building a cottage “get away” in Western Michigan.

Jen Gawel spent 8 years in the advertising industry aligning brand’s objectives to marketing strategies across various mediums including: digital, television, and print platforms. Jen planned and activated advertising campaigns for clients ranging from local efforts to industry leading Fortune 500 companies. Mrs. Gawel led teams through numerous new business pitches, client strategy sessions, company rebranding, yearlong marketing campaigns, Super Bowl television strategies, as well as annual overall advertising execution.

After Mrs. Gawel’s second son (JD) was born with a rare genetic syndrome he spent 111 days in the NICU at Lurie Children’s Hospital. During that time the Gawel family shared a hospital room with the Meghie family where they started a special relationship and shared experiences with Carrie, Terry, and Jackson. It was during the long days at the hospital where Jen and Carrie bonded over family life in the NICU. When the Meghie’s formed the Jackson Chance Foundation they reached out to Mrs. Gawel to be one of the founding board members in November 2012. After gaining experience firsthand on the cost of a NICU during their 3 month stay, Mrs. Gawel became very passionate about JCF’s mission to enrich lives of families in the NICU.

Polish-born Ivona Kutermankiewicz is a top-producing real estate broker with Berkshire Hathaway HomeSevices KoenigRubloff. A real estate industry leader with over two decades of experience, Ivona has been recognized by the Chicago Association of Realtors® as one of its Top 1% Brokers. For the past 3 years, Ivona Kutermankiewicz Group earned the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices esteemed Chairman’s Circle –Diamond, awarded to top one-half percent of the Network’s sales professionals. Ivona is a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist, Certified Negotiation Expert and was inducted to KoenigRubloff’s Hall of Fame, an honor reserved for the firm’s most accomplished sales associates.

Kutermankiewicz specializes in new construction, luxury homes and condos in some of Chicago’s top neighborhoods. Her genuine empathy and accommodating nature attract clients with a variety of backgrounds, objectives and lifestyles. “Having moved to the U.S. from my native Poland when I was 23, I have what some call an immigrant mindset,” she says. “I look for opportunities, anticipate crises and have a passionate, entrepreneurial attitude.”
In her free time Ivona enjoys modern architecture and design, international travel and fitness (she has a Boston Marathon medal on the wall of her office). She is also an avid reader, mom to a long line of rescue dogs and loves working in her garden. She shares her Ukrainian Village home with her husband Steven, Jack Bear The Dog and Angelina The Cat

Bio Coming Soon

Krupa Shah is Associate General Counsel and the Chief Privacy Officer of Heidrick & Struggles, a leading global executive search and leadership consulting firm. In her professional life, Krupa advises on and negotiates a host of commercial matters, as well as developing and implementing privacy compliance processes. In her personal life, Krupa runs around trying to keep up with Jaisal (7) and Riya (nearly 3) with the help of her husband Kirk. Krupa, Kirk, Jaisal and Riya love having new adventures. When at home in Chicago, they enjoy trying new foods, visiting museums, and finding new parks and beaches to play at with friends and family. They also enjoy traveling to find new places to camp, hike, ski, mountain bike and rock climb.

Riya’s sense of adventure started in utero, when she decided to arrive 11 weeks early. She spent the first 6 weeks of her life in the NICU at Prentice Women’s Hospital and helped introduce Krupa and Kirk to the world of preemies and the Jackson Chance Foundation.

Esme has over 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, focused on the Accounting discipline. Her experience and expense management capabilities will be a true to asset for the organization in financial planning.

On a personal note, Esme is the proud mother of two wonderful children and views parenthood as her greatest accomplishment in life. She has been involved with the Foundation since it was founded and joined the Board in 2015. She looks forward to working with Jackson Chance Foundation and the team to exceed financial goals and help more families spend time with their babies.

Peter has 30 years of sales, marketing and branding experience. He played a key role in the launch and development of two hotel brands in the United States, and directly responsible for creation of another brand internationally. He directed the sales and marketing efforts for the opening of 12 hotel properties.

Peter was born and raised in Chicago. He is proud to be aligned with a local charity that has such a great impact on the local community.

Peter is looking forward to getting more intimately involved in the expansive growth of a cause that has such a direct, measurable impact for families. He wants to help relieve the stress of parking expenses so that families can be with their child, no matter what time of the day for as long as they want.

Lizzy is Jackson Chance Foundation’s one full-time employee and executes all fundraising efforts as well as overseeing the NICU Transportation Program. Lizzy manages the Foundation’s annual fundraiser the Ping Pong Ball and two Team Chance events – Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago ½ Marathon, 10k, and 5k and Owl Ride for Jackson. She works directly with the organization’s founders, Board of Directors, Ping Pong Ball and Owl Ride Event Committees.

Prior to joining Jackson Chance Foundation, Lizzy worked as a Senior Associate Consultant at Giving Tree Associates, a consulting firm to nonprofits. She worked with dozens of clients, including Jackson Chance Foundation, to build sustainable fundraising strategies and processes to exceed their organizational goals. During her time as a consultant, Lizzy oversaw major fundraising events and campaigns, worked directly with board leadership and volunteer committees, executive staff, and donors. Lizzy also managed Giving Tree’s Associate Consultant team, which included oversight of marketing and administrative initiatives for the business.

After consulting with Jackson Chance Foundation for two years, Lizzy became very passionate about the mission and joined the team in 2015. Lizzy earned her B.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan and lives in Chicago. She is excited to participate in the Foundation’s 2nd Annual Owl Ride for Jackson in August.

Bio Coming Soon