Our Team
Cosette Ayele, Director of Advocacy & Workforce Initiatives
Cosette is a policy advocate, data analyst, community investment strategist and grassroots organizer whose values center care and transformation over punitive responses to systemic racism and inequity. At Illinois Partners, Cosette has led the legislative drafting and coordination processes for our bills, delivered racial equity and advocacy-in-action trainings, and currently co-leads the Living Wages, Thriving Communities campaign. Cosette will be closing out her time with Illinois Partners in the Spring of 2026 as she steps into a full-time role as Executive Director of Chicago Quilombo, a housing and community development organization she co-founded to center Black young adults on the South side of Chicago. Cosette holds both a Bachelor’s and Master’s of Public Policy from the University of Chicago’s Harris School, and comes to the work of supporting human services with over a decade of experience in roles that have expanded community care. These include increasing non-police mobile crisis response resources across the nation and in Chicago, dismantling gender-based violence and enforcing transparency at Chicago Housing Authority to create greater access to affordable housing opportunities.
Adela Carlin, Senior Director of Training & Community Partnerships
Adela has more than 20 years of experience working with individuals, families and community groups. She is a Latina community lawyer with a passion for and a commitment to advancing equity and racial justice. Currently, Adela Carlin co-leads the Living Wages, Thriving Communities Campaign and leads the statewide Reframing Aging initiative. She develops equity-focused training for coalition partners and is a Racial Justice Institute Fellow, national facilitator for Reframing Aging, and member of the National Health Equity Collective. Adela also serves on the boards of Solutions for Care, Forefront, and AMPT Chicago. Later this year, Adela will step into a leadership role in advocacy at Illinois Partners, advancing policies that build a stronger, more sustainable human services sector and support communities across Illinois.
Prior to joining Illinois Partners, Adela served as the Director of Community Engagement at the Legal Assistance Foundation and as the Director of the Legal Services Program at Catholic Charities Legal Assistance. Adela grew up in Little Village, a neighborhood on the southwest side of Chicago and is bilingual in English and Spanish. She obtained her law degree from the University of Illinois College of Law at Urbana Champaign.
Katherine Cavanaugh, Training Manager
Katherine began her career in human services working as a sexual assault survivor advocate and behavioral health counselor with children and families. After a few years working in direct service, she was drawn to work on a systems level towards upstream solutions, and went to Baltimore to get her Masters in Social Work focusing on Community Action and Social Policy. During that time, she learned the power of community organizing and listening to the people most affected. Her work in Baltimore and later, nationally was focused on organizing with people experiencing homelessness in health care organizations and systems towards more effective services and health care justice.
As the Training Manager (based in Central Illinois), Katherine hopes to foster environments where people can take time and space to reflect on how we approach our work and more effectively create relationships, community, and momentum for equity and justice. In this role, she will support the launch of Illinois Partners statewide training initiative for health and human service professionals focusing on reframing conversations about aging and older adults. Katherine is excited about the opportunity to ground this knowledge in the expertise of the Illinois human service community and discuss how these topics incorporate intersectionality, equity, and social determinants of health.
Kate Fakhoury, Southern Illinois Community Organizer and Data Manager
Kate joined Illinois Partners in 2017 as a Community Organizer for Southern Illinois. Over the years, she has incorporated constituent management and research into her updated role as Community Organizer and Data Manager. Kate believes in getting things done from the ground up and is actively involved in volunteer work, including service on several boards in Carbondale, IL. She is an alumna of Purdue University with both Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees.
Evan Finamore, Director of Grants, Research & Strategic Communications
Evan brings a multidisciplinary background to her role, combining strategic thinking, creative design skills, and a deep commitment to advancing human services in Illinois. She began her career in children’s museums, working in exhibit development and later in museum evaluation, roles that sparked a lasting interest in research, learning, and communicating complex ideas to diverse audiences. After years of volunteering and skill-building across the nonprofit sector, including strategic planning and design projects, she discovered a love for grantwriting and has made it a cornerstone of her professional work.
Evan raised her family in Evanston, Illinois, where she served on the boards of multiple grassroots arts and educational organizations and was a devoted community volunteer. She now lives in Chicago and has been with Illinois Partners since 2018.
Jasmine Steele, Communications & Operations Coordinator
Jasmine has been in the Human Services field since 2015 beginning their service in direct service. After graduating from St. Xavier University with their BA, Jasmine has worked with several populations including, elders, youth, infants, pregnant persons, domestic violence survivors, individuals with mental illness, individuals battling addiction, and individuals experiencing homelessness. Jasmine found a passion in organizational and community development so, pursued a Master of Social Work degree with a macro focus to expand their reach in the Human Service sector. Jasmine completed their Master of Social Work at University of Illinois at Chicago’s Jane Addams College of Social Work in May 2020, is a Licensed Social Worker in Illinois, and was honored to become a part of the Illinois Partners of Human Service team as the Communications and Operations Coordinator.
Lauren Wright, Executive Director
As Illinois Partners Executive Director, Lauren is driven to create a more equitable future for all Illinoisans. Her vision and experience with building global coalitions, cultivating relationships with community stakeholders and creating new opportunities for growth and advocacy are at the core of the Illinois Partners mission. Lauren holds a Master of Arts in Sustainable Development from SIT Graduate Institute and a Master’s Degree in International Policy and Practice from George Washington University. Lauren represents Illinois Partners as a member of the State Health Improvement Plan Committee, the Responsible Budget Coalition, the 211 Advisory Board, the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Pretrial Practices Implementation Task Force, and the 2022 Cohort of the Racial Justice Institute.
