Woman’s Board of the Chicago Horticultural Society

Click here if you are a Woman's Board member.

Woman's Board Events

Founded in 1951, the Woman’s Board and its members have been ambassadors for the Garden; all are dedicated to horticulture, conservation, and education.

An early mission of the Chicago Horticultural Society was to find and develop a permanent headquarters and garden center to serve the Chicago area. The Woman’s Board was established to help build membership for the society, and it further pledged to sponsor new programs, activities, and fundraising projects.

The Woman’s Board developed the Fragrant Garden for the Blind, which opened in 1957 at the Chicago Lighthouse. In 1966, the first plant sale was held—six years before the Chicago Botanic Garden opened to the public in 1972. The Board also introduced the Zimmerman lecture series, a successful and long-running project. Today, Woman’s Board events such as A Rare Affair, the All Aboard! gala, and the Fall Bulb Festival continue to draw people to the Garden, raising funds to support a myriad of programs. 

The Garden Shop and the Lenhardt Library also have their roots in work done by the Woman’s Board. In the 1970s the Board established the Garden Shop; its proceeds still provide needed funds. When the Chicago Horticultural Society moved into the early Garden buildings, the Woman’s Board had the first collection of library books installed there.

In 2015, the Woman’s Board completed its final year of “Growing the Future,” a $1 million pledge to the Chicago Botanic Garden. Proceeds from “Growing the Future” have supported the Garden’s Windy City Harvest Youth Farm and Windy City Harvest community gardening programs, enabled renovation of the English Walled Garden as well as restoration of areas damaged by the emerald ash borer, and supported fellowships for the plant biology and conservation graduate program, a collaboration between the Garden and Northwestern University. The last program to be underwritten is the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Regenstein Learning Campus, which provides programs such as Science First to Chicago Public Schools students.

In January of 2016, the Woman’s Board renewed their pledge with “Growing the Future II,”  which supports the mission of the Chicago Botanic Garden: We cultivate the power of plants to sustain and enrich life.

Officers

Dora Aalbregtse  
President

First Vice President  
Barbara Kehoe

Second Vice President  
Melissa Corley

Third Vice President  
Jennifer Tippet

Treasurer  
Gail Seidel-O’Gorman

Secretary  
Karin Palasz

Active Members

Beth Anaclerio  
Ann Balusek  
Janice A. Beck  
Anne Berkeley  
Marianne Bestler  
Calvine B. Bowen  
Sandy Campbell  
Kimberly S. Carrow  
Melissa Corley  
Sue Cozzens  
Jill Danaher  
Jill M. Delaney  
Mary M. Dolan  
Linda Falotico  
Valerie Foradas  
Anne Frank  
Donna P. Frett  
Rita Gardner  
Ginger Glantz  
Alice C. Goltra  
Jane Hampson  
Barbara P. Hansen  
Toni Harkness  
Anne W. Healy  
Mary J. Hill  
Stacy J. Hunt  
Betsy Holeb Karp  
Carolyn Katz  
Barbara B. Kehoe  
Elizabeth M. Kendall  
Catherine Kirby  
Laura Koh  
Lizabeth K. Kohler  
Judith H. Konen  
Nancy H. Kurz  
Liz Lavezzorio  
Celine M. Lillie  
Joani L.C. Lowry  
Jennifer Martay  
Mary Anne Martin  
Anne McIntosh  
Priscilla McIntosh  
Mary Alice Miller  
Katherine H. Morris  
Virginia M. Noyes  
Kathy P. Paleczny  
Cinda S. Pittman  
Juliet K. Priebe  
Elizabeth R. Pruett  
Hana Rivkin  
Pamela Russell  
Angela M. Sandner  
Carole Sandner  
Liz Barretta Sandner  
Elisa A. Schilling  
Virginia Selzer  
Melissa A. Shennan  
Laura Simpson  
Elizabeth Philips Sorich  
Susan H. Spears  
René Svach  
Jennifer Tippet  
Susan M. Tupper  
Sophie Twichell  
Valerie A. Wheeler

Honorary Members

Elizabeth R. Crowe  
Virginia M. Noyes

Associate Members

Mary Boyer  
Catherine H. Denkla  
Lynn B. Foster   
Michelle McCarthy  
Patti Ross  
Elizabeth I. Schroeder 

Nonresident Members

Elizabeth E. Horne   
Geraldine L. Jannotta  
Roberta D. Lynch  
Barbara J. Metzler  
Brooks M. Morgan  
Carole Read  
Heather S. Scott  
Jeanette H. Van Nice