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Catherine Leonis
Catherine Leonis has spent most of her professional career in public service at the local, state and federal levels. Throughout her career, she has focused her time and talents to improve the lives of Illinois’ children. Ms. Leonis began her career as a special education teacher in the northern suburbs and then transitioned to educational policy with the State of Illinois as a pioneer in the prevention and early intervention field. One of Ms. Leonis’ career highlights was serving as the Executive Director of the Commission on Community Service and Volunteerism and is pleased to be back with the Commission in this new capacity.
After leaving state service, Ms. Leonis went on to be the director of the Dominick’s Children’s Foundation where she leveraged the
resources of the grocery chain for community services. Ms. Leonis returned to state service as the Director of Futures for Kids in the Illinois Office of the Governor where she directed the transformation of government programs for children. Additionally, Ms. Leonis served as Director of External Affairs for the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center, a public private partnership to investigate child sex abuse cases in the City of Chicago.
Ms. Leonis is currently with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services where she has served for the last nine years in various capacities related to external affairs and healthcare policy as it relates to the Medicaid program and the Affordable Care Act.
Ms. Leonis holds a bachelor’s degree in special education, a master’s degree in School Guidance and Counseling and a Certificate in Non-Profit Management from the Kellogg School of Management.