By Emmett Fitzpatrick
To trace Liz Livingston Howard’s Irish heritage by bloodlines, one must travel back in time for seven generations and traverse the island of Ireland – Leitrim, Galway, Clare, and Limerick, to name a few of the places that her ancestors called home. And yet, for all the time that has passed since her distant relatives left Ireland for the United States, Liz lives her Irish heritage every day in the work she does, the organizations she supports, the communities she serves, and the lives that she has touched.
“My Irish heritage is as much cultural as in-born,” Liz acknowledges, and nowhere is that more pronounced than in the impact she has made on Irish organizations throughout her career, most recently in her current role as the Executive Director of Center for Nonprofit Management at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
A native of the northern suburbs, Liz attended Regina Dominican High School, the all-girls Catholic school in Wilmette, before matriculating at Northwestern, thus beginning a lifelong connection with the institution.
During her time as a student on the Evanston campus, Liz became immersed in several extracurricular activities, focusing on volunteering and community development; in this way, she was carrying on the legacy of her Irish family in Chicago.
“My grandparents on both sides were involved in civic Chicago,” Liz recalls, specifically calling out her grandmother who sat on the Chicago School Board and grandfather who served as chairman of First Chicago Bank. “My family was very invested in giving back, volunteerism, and civic leadership. I grew up hearing these conversations at our dinner table and saw that this was how the world worked. I saw first-hand people who were close to me being engaged in their community.”
After graduating from Northwestern as a history and political science major, Liz returned to Regina to take on the role of Director of Development, thus beginning her career journey in advancing the cause of impactful organizations and institutions in the Chicago area. At the ripe age of 22, she found herself on the senior leadership team at Regina, where she gained first-hand experience in understanding the inner workings of the institution, from fundraising to marketing, admissions, and finance. Ever one to acknowledge the importance of mentors in her career, she credits Sister Ann Fallon, Regina’s president at the time, for demonstrating leadership qualities and practices that she would eventually help other organizations instill in their executives and boards.
Liz would spend four years at Regina before moving onto the Chicago Tourism Council, a public/private partnership where she worked under Mayor Richard M. Daley, before taking a job at the fundraising consulting firm Charles Feldstein & Company.
Again, Liz is quick to point out the importance of learning under an impactful mentor in Charles Feldstein, who she describes as the “dean of Chicago fundraising.” In this role, she focused on capital fundraising campaigns, working with Chicago institutions like the Lincoln Park Zoo, Shedd Aquarium, Lyric Opera, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
After her time in consulting, she returned to an “in-house” fundraising school to take on the position of Assistant Dean of Development at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, where she would also earn her MBA in the school’s evening and weekend program. She stayed at Kellogg for her next role within the school’s Center for Nonprofit Management, becoming Executive Director in 2021.
The Center for Nonprofit Management provides executive education for leaders in non-profit management, offering in-person and online training for senior leaders to help them lead more efficiently and effectively. Liz describes her work, and the work of the Center, as “bringing the Kellogg education to the nonprofit sector in a way that supports those organizations to successfully deliver on their mission.”
Along the way of her impressive career journey, Liz also immersed herself in the Chicago Irish community.
“It all started with the Young Irish Fellowship Club,” Liz fondly recalls, calling out Jack Hartman’s role in inviting her to join the organization’s board and remembering how she chaired the epic Forever Green parties of the 1990s. The YIFC also played an integral role in Liz’s personal life; after all, she met her husband Michael through the club after two of his friends who served on the board with her brought him to the club’s events, and the rest was history.
After years of service to the YIFC, Liz “graduated” to the Irish Fellowship Club, where Executive Director Kathy Taylor encouraged her to serve on its board; she now serves as Secretary. Through her involvement at the Fellowship Club, she met several Irish Consuls General, who in turn asked her to develop and lead trainings centered on building leadership capacity for staff and board members of Irish organizations and festivals around the Midwest. Chances are, if readers have served on a board of a local Irish organization, they have participated in a training that Liz has led.
Beyond the Fellowship Club and her leadership development trainings, Liz has served on the Host Committee for the Irish American Partnership’s St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast since its inaugural event for 35 people, and she credits CEO Mary Sugrue for her efforts in growing the event to its current heights.
Reflecting on what has made her so successful in her professional life and impactful in her community involvement, Liz calls out her Irish identity as a critical pillar of who she is.
“The Irish are known for our hospitality and welcome, and that has been a hallmark of my family and the organizations I’ve served. The opportunity to be part of the YIFC and IFC has been a way for me to engage with my heritage and support the community in which I’m a part, which was ingrained in me from a young age. All these organizations are committed to helping those coming to our city, embedded with that spirit of hospitality and welcome that’s intrinsic to who I am, as a professional and person of Irish descent.”
Harkening back to the lessons she learned from her ancestors at the dinner table during her childhood, Liz remains dedicated to her work and serving the Chicago community; as she puts it, “I’m not going anywhere.” As she considers her own legacy, she returns to the theme of family, and more specifically, her three children, who she proudly notes are all college graduates with “terrific” careers who are also committed to giving back.
“No one does what they do alone. I’ve been fortunate to have mentors and great friends, and many of them have come from the Irish community. I treasure that as a family member, mother, friend, and leader. All that connectedness and support that I got from that village has been integral to me as a person.”
