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Governor Pritzker appoints 6 to serve on GSU board

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has nominated six candidates for positions on the Board of Governors of Governors State University. Nominees are Kevin Brookins, John Brudnak, Lisa Harrell, Angela Hickey, James Kvedaras joining Anibal Taboas, who currently serves on the board. Board members serve for six-year terms.
 

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has nominated six candidates for positions on the Board of Governors of Governors State University.
 
Nominees are Kevin Brookins, John Brudnak, Lisa Harrell, Angela Hickey, James Kvedaras joining Anibal Taboas, who currently serves on the board. Board members serve for six-year terms.
 
These candidates’ nominations were sent to the Illinois Senate for approval. GSU has a seven-member board. A seventh member, and the student representative on the board, will be named in the future.
 
Brookins retired with 33 years of service with ComEd. He served in various capacities at the senior vice president and vice president levels. Brookins supervised design engineers who set up electric distribution facilities at Navy Pier and the United Center. He negotiated retail access rules with suppliers, consumer groups and other parties before the Illinois Commerce Commission in preparation for retail customers choosing a supplier other than ComEd. 
 
He has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Howard University and an MBA from Governors State University.
 
Brudnak was a sales representative for Steel and Wire Co. before retiring with 32 years of service. He is president pro-tem of the Orland Fire Protection District Board of Trustees. He was first appointed to the board in 2011 and elected to a six-year term in 2013. 
 
He served on the Orland School District 135 board from 2001 to 2011. He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing from St. Mary’s College.
 
Lisa Harrell of Flossmoor previously served on the School District 161 board. She has more than 30 years experience as a business consultant and human capital manager and has worked on leadership development and change management issues. She has served in various positions and was a founder of AMD Business Solutions Inc., a human capital solutions and consulting firm. 
 
She is now with Cleveland Avenue, a hybrid accelerator, venture capital and consulting firm investing in restaurant, food and beverage concepts and emerging brands. Harrell has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 
 
Hickey is chief executive officer at Levenfeld, Pearlstein LP, a Chicago law firm where she has worked in leadership roles since 1999. She has served on the board of advisors for Catholic Charities and volunteers with the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana’s “Camp CEO” program. 
 
She received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from GSU, an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management at DeVry University and a graduate certificate in leadership coaching from Georgetown University.
 
James Kvedaras of Homewood recently retired after a 37-year career with CN Railway where he was director of U.S. government affairs. He continues his volunteer efforts with the Cancer Support Center, and now is serving on the board of the Chicago South Suburban Mass Transit District and a new endeavor at Prairie State College. 
 
Kvedaras is a GSU alumnus with a degree in business administration and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
 
Taboas has been on the GSU board since 2012 and was chair of the Academic Affairs Committee. He previously was president and CEO of Aspira Inc. of Illinois, a non-profit dedicated to leadership development. He now is an executive consultant to industrial, educational and governmental agencies with a focus on strategic leadership and risk management. 
 
He has a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Dayton, and master’s degrees in nuclear and mechanical engineering from Northwestern University and in physics from Indiana State University. 
 

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