Chair

Dr. Katherine L. Knight is Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. She teaches immunology and microbiology to medical and graduate students and performs NIH-sponsored research in immunology. She has mentored numerous Ph.D. graduate students and has also served on multiple advisory groups for the NIH. 

Secretary

Richard H. Sanders received his B.S. from Loyola University of Chicago and his J.D. from Northwestern University Law School. For his entire legal career he was an associate, partner, and shareholder at the Vedder Price law firm in its Chicago office, providing legal counsel to a broad range of health care providers regarding corporate, governance, regulatory and transactional issues. He retired from the practice of law in 2013, but continues his involvement with a select group of not-for-profit organizations in the health and education fields. 

Treasurer

David Friedman is principal at Bridgewell Partners, providing consulting and training aimed at helping companies improve important business relationships. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard College and received his MBA from Yale University.  He was a partner at McKinsey & Co. for many years where he led projects for Fortune 500 companies. Most recently, he was Academic Director and Assistant Clinical Professor of Executive Education at the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management. 

Assistant Secretary and Treasurer

Robert Stone has over 30 years of experience as an engineer and in management positions most recently as Manager Marketing and Sales, Franklin Electric Europa, a company that specializes in industrial water pump systems.  Having retired from the company in 2018, he continues to serve on several non-profit boards, including AWS Foundation and Anthony Wayne Rehabilitation Center (AWRC) both organizations help adults with developmental and physical disabilities live as independently as possible.  He received a BS in electrical engineering at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and an MBA from University of Chicago Booth School of Business. 

Director

Gloria Cox is Senior Partner at The Cambridge Group and Associate Pastor at Pilgrim Congregational Church, UCC in Oak Park. She has over 30 years’ experience leading business strategy and specializes in consumer products and services clients.  Previously she worked at Nielsen, McKinsey & Company and Proctor & Gamble.   At Pilgrim she has been providing youth and young adult ministry work.  She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Indiana University and received her Master of Management from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School and her Master of Divinity from McCormick Theological Seminary. She and her husband Bruce live in Oak Park and have delighted in raising their three children who are now young adults. 

Director

Martha Heineman Pieper, Ph.D. is an author and psychotherapist who works with children and parents, and serves as a consultant to agencies and other mental health professionals. She is a founding board member of Smart Love Family Services, for which she provides ongoing consultation and insight to the clinical and early childhood education staff. She also serves on the Board of the Intrapsychic Humanism Society. Both of these non-profit agencies are based on Intrapsychic Humanism, the comprehensive psychology of child development, psychopathology and treatment developed by Dr. Pieper and her late husband, William J. Pieper, MD.

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Dr. Pieper authored two best-selling, award winning children's books, Mommy, Daddy, I Had a Bad Dream! and Jilly's Terrible Temper Tantrums: And How She Outgrew Them. And she co-authored with Dr. William Pieper the best-selling parenting book, Smart Love: The Comprehensive Guide to Understanding, Regulating, and Enjoying Your Child; the popular adult self-help book, Addicted to Unhappiness: How Hidden Motives for Unhappiness Keep You From Creating the Life You Truly Want, and What You Can Do (2nd Edition); and Intrapsychic Humanism: An Introduction to a Comprehensive Psychology and Philosophy of Mind. She has written and presented on Inner Humanism® psychotherapy, and also on applications of the theory of Intrapsychic Humanism to teaching, parenting, foster care, the question of free will, and children’s dreams and fantasy life, among other topics.

Director

Cecelia Pikul has been an avid supporter of Smart Love Family Services since 2014, while her two children attended Smart Love Preschool and Toddler programs since age 6 months. She also serves as Co-Chair of UNICEF’s Chicago Humanitarian Award Committee, which honors extraordinary leaders contributing to the improvement of children’s lives. She held technical and management positions in digital media and commercial broadcast at DG Systems, Prime Cable, and CBS 2 News Chicago for over 20 years, and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago.