The end of March will mark the end of the era at the CBF when our longtime Associate Director Dina Merrell moves on from Chicago and from the CBF after a truly amazing 16+ year run.
Our friends and partners at CARPLS did a great tribute to Dina this month that included great quotes from many of the people she has worked closely with in her time at the CBF. Rather than repeat all of that tribute here, we encourage you to take a few minutes to check out their post—it is great!
Just a few of many highlights of Dina’s tenure at the CBF include her exemplary leadership on the groundbreaking report and initiative around recruitment and retention in legal aid, the Circuit Court of Cook County Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program, and, most recently, the innovative new Cook County Legal Aid for Housing and Debt program.
We wish Dina all the best as she leaves us for her next act and thought it was appropriate to finish here with the quote from CBF Executive Director Bob Glaves that was included in the CARPLS tribute and sums up well what all of us at the CBF feel about her:
“It is hard to know where to even start in talking about what a great friend, colleague, and partner in the cause Dina has been since the time I met her. She is a great lawyer and leader and an even better person, and she just consistently gets things done—good things.
When the CBF recently celebrated our 70th Anniversary, we looked back at the foundation’s growth and influence over the years and created a timeline to commemorate the highlights of that impact. There is a clear upward spike on that timeline beginning in 2004, and it is no coincidence that is the time when Dina joined the CBF staff. She has left quite a legacy of good, and we wish her all the best in her next act up in Michigan.”