Woodridge Resident Elected President of Union League Club of Chicago

Submitted by Union League Club of Chicago.

Brooke M. Wiseman, a nationally recognized not-for profit organization executive, has been elected President of the Union League Club of Chicago, a 136-year-old non-partisan civic, cultural and philanthropic organization.

Wiseman, a Woodridge, Illinois resident, is the National CEO of Blessings in a Backpack, a non-profit organization recognized byPeople as its Charity of the Year in 2012, for its work of feeding 77,000 hungry children in 46 states on weekends by sending home a backpack full of food.

The Union League Club of Chicago traces its roots to 1862 whenChicago Tribune editor Joseph Medill and other Midwest civic leaders launched a movement in support of a somewhat fragile federal union under the banner, “Union League of America.” In 1879, the Chicago Club of the Union League of America was incorporated and in 1882 changed its name to the Union League Club of Chicago.

Today, the Club’s members are men and women who are active proponents of the Club’s commitment to community, country and culture through a broad range of public, civic, cultural and philanthropic activities that impact the Chicago metropolitan area, the state of Illinois, surrounding states and the nation.

The Club also is recognized as owning the oldest and most important collection of American fine art, more than 800 pieces, held by a private organization in the Midwest.

Earlier in her career, Wiseman was the Chief Development and Marketing Officer of the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago and as CEO of the Girl Scouts of Chicago for 16 years. Wiseman served six years as the national President of the Association of Girl Scout Executive staff and chaired the Girl Scouts’ National Certified CEO Commission.

She was named one of the “100 Women Making a Difference” by Today’s Chicago Woman in 2000 and the following year received the Human Relations award from the Chicago Commission on Human Relations.

Wiseman has served on the board of directors for Leadership of Greater Chicago Fellows Association, Chicago State University Foundation and the Junior League of Chicago Community Advisory Board. She is a member of The Chicago Network, Executives Club of Chicago and the Economic Club of Chicago.

A member of the Union League Club of Chicago since 2000, Wiseman has served on the Club’s communications, house, admissions, and library and membership committees. Previously, she served on the Club’s board of directors where she chaired the member events and membership committees, led the organization’s first Diversity Task Force. Most recently, she served as the Club’s First Vice President.

Wiseman earned a bachelor’s degree in social work and psychology from Ball State University in 1971 and a master’s degree in communications from Michigan State University in 1979. She also holds a certificate in non-profit management from Case Western University and has taught at the Kellogg School of Management, the Center for Non-Profit Management at Northwestern University and the University of Notre Dame’s Non-Profit Executive Education program.