Board Chair Alicia Pond Values Devotion of The Night Ministry’s Board and Staff

For Alicia Pond, Chair of The Night Ministry's Board of Directors, being a Chicagoan involves taking an active role in making the city a better place. "Your community can be your neighborhood, but your community is also the larger city. And being a member of the community means caring for one another," she said.

We spoke with Pond as she winds down her two-year tenure as Board Chair.

What makes The Night Ministry's Board of Directors unique?

The commitment of the Board to the mission of the organization is incredible. They take a very active role in all levels of the organization. Their participation spans not only their board duties such as fiduciary responsibilities, but volunteering with The Night Ministry's programs and participating in fundraisers and staff events as well.

What changes have you seen with the Board over the last few years?

The Board has become much more sophisticated in applying its collective skills to both support the work of the agency and in finding board members who can help lead the organization into the future.

What have you enjoyed about serving as board chair?

Being board chair granted me so many opportunities to really get to know the staff, one-on-one, and observe how they work really, really hard to make those whom we serve feel safe and comfortable. They are particularly professional and particularly caring.

What would you say to someone who is considering supporting The Night Ministry?

It's obvious that homelessness is a challenge in Chicago. The question is what can each of us do about it other than bemoaning it. You can support an organization like The Night Ministry that is on the cutting edge of providing services in a deeply compassionate and humanitarian way.