Local Government Experience

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Marti currently serves on the Elmhurst City Council and chairs the Development, Planning, and Zoning Committee.  Elected in 2013, she has served on all four of the council’s standing committees and has been in a council leadership position since 2015. She has helped shape the issues that are important to residents and community leaders, including emergency response, public safety, sound and reliable infrastructure, and financial stability.

 

Before moving to Elmhurst, Marti worked for eight years for the City of Chicago, where she directed the Department of Housing’s federal, state, and local policy agendas. She managed the creation of the Chicago Community Land Trust and the department’s senior and five-year affordable housing plans.  

 

Nonprofit Experience

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Her work in the nonprofit sector has been focused on housing affordability and community reinvestment. At Woodstock Institute, a research and policy organization in Chicago, she was focused on bank lending and financial services and advocated for legislative changes to address payday lending and predatory lending. As director of a grant-funded project at DePaul University’s Institute for Housing Studies, Marti packaged data for researchers and policymakers to further the preservation of affordable rental housing.  She currently works for Bridge Communities, a nonprofit based in Glen Ellyn that provides housing and supportive services for families experiencing homelessness.

 

Skills to Bring People Together

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Marti received a master’s degree from the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration and an undergraduate degree in social work from Ohio University. She’s a trained listener and knows how to meet people where they are and work toward consensus – critically important skills in today’s political environment.