Mutual Ground’s new chief executive officer walked through the doors of Aurora’s domestic violence shelter a couple weeks ago with an impressive resume.
She had just left her position as vice president of strategic partnerships for Haymarket Center, having spent nearly her entire career leading Chicago groups that dealt with substance abuse and mental health services, including Southwood Interventions and The Women’s Center, which worked in conjunction with Caritas Central Intake.
Still, Linda Maranda couldn’t help but pinch herself when, after a national executive search led by Kittleman & Associates, she was chosen as the CEO of Mutual Ground, replacing Michelle Meyer, who stepped down from this role in the spring after a dozen years with the nonprofit.
“I’ve done a lot of fascinating things and they have all been different,” Maranda said of her career that stretches back to the mid-1980s. “But this (job) is the pinnacle. I am so honored, so proud to be at Mutual Ground.
“It has a phenomenal reputation throughout the state of Illinois.”
That high regard has much to do with the work of her predecessors, including Meyer, who took over in 2011 from Linda Healy, the groundbreaking leader of Mutual Ground for nearly a quarter century.
Maranda knows she’s got some big shoes to fill.
But in the hour-long conversation I had with the new CEO earlier this week, it’s obvious she also has the same passion, the same drive, not just to maintain the status of this highly-respected organization but to continue its expansion in terms of the programs offered and number of clients served.
“I like organizations that grow. It provides opportunities for everybody,” said the self-described “easy-going” CEO from the Lockport/Joliet area, who speaks highly not only of her predecessors but of those she’s now working alongside since joining Mutual Ground at the end of July.
Because she “came up the ranks” herself as a social worker and is fully aware of the “secondary trauma” that can impact those on the front lines of domestic violence and sexual abuse, she told me that being “accessible” to volunteers and staff is a top priority.
She also had nothing but praise for Mutual Ground’s board of directors, and for the community itself, which she realizes has embraced Mutual Ground and offered its ongoing support since it was founded in 1975.
“We are very excited that Linda is joining the Mutual Ground team,” said search committee chair and former board president Andi Danis in a press release announcing the new CEO. “Her wealth of experience with substance use and mental health services will be invaluable in taking this organization to the next level …”
In the “two weeks and a day” since officially taking over the helm, Maranda, who received her master’s degree from Loyola University, said she’s not only been busy getting familiar with the organization itself but also gradually making her way through the voluminous white binder of the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Maranda has no choice but to hit the ground running, as Mutual Ground will soon be announcing a $17 million capital development campaign that its new leader insists is necessary “because we need to grow the space to keep up with demand.”
The funds, she said, will go toward upkeep and repair on the 32,000-square-foot Edna Smith Home on Oak Avenue in Aurora, as well as for expansion, which will include more office space for clients, more group space and potentially two apartments that can be used for transitional living.
The campaign already has a great start, thanks to state Reps. Barbara Hernandez, Stephanie Kifowit, Matt Hanson and Maura Hirschauer, as well as state Sens. Linda Holmes and Karina Villa, all of whom get credit for securing for Mutual Ground $5 million in infrastructure improvement funding from Springfield.
One of her goals, Maranda added, was to secure more off-site affordable housing, not just for shelter residents but for substance abuse clients of the former Breaking Free, which merged with Mutual Ground a couple of years ago and is also under her direction.
“People have complicated lives,” she said. “Some come in with substance abuse or mental health issues but there is so much more going on … domestic violence is clearly prominent.”
Running a program for domestic violence and sexual assault victims, turns out, is a family affair. Maranda did not find out until after getting hired at Mutual Ground that her aunt, Mary Berg, was the first executive director of Community Crisis Center in Elgin, running this neighboring shelter – also one of the oldest in the state – from 1975 to 1980.
“I’m a social worker at heart. But what continues to get me out of bed every morning is the ability to impact patients on a higher, broader level. I know that what I’m doing is helping to enrich lives … to change lives,” she insisted.
“I am pumped … I am excited to be part of Mutual Ground … to be part of this community.”
dcrosby@tribpub.com
