Staff

Amy McFadden

Executive Director

Amy McFadden is thrilled to be back in Chicago after living in each US time zone. Amy has a passion for youth development through outdoor recreation. Starting more than 15 years ago as a YMCA camp counselor and swim instructor in Wisconsin, she went on to serve as regional program manager for SOS Outreach in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. There she fostered community service and character building through a snow sports curriculum. She was also the founding program coordinator for Service Learning Institute as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer with Rocky Mountain Youth Corps. Amy holds an MA in Nonprofit Management from Regis University in Denver, Colorado, and a BA in Sociology and Photography from Valparaiso University. She taught English while attending Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China. An avid snowboarder and outdoor enthusiast, Amy is looking forward to her next adventure at Play for Life.

Eduardo Morales

Baseball Coach
emorales@playforlife.org

Board of Directors

Eun Jung Decker

President & Founder
Even as co-founder of PFLI, Eun Jung has never let her inherent lack of athleticism dampen her enthusiasm for sport. She has seen first-hand how sports will break down seemingly immovable barriers that race, age, gender, language can create. Eun Jung has a background in foreign policy, writing, and public relations. She holds an M.A. in American Studies from George Washington University and a B.A. from the University of Minnesota, Morris in Multicultural Studies. She is still working on her hand-eye coordination (and will be working on it for life) and perfecting her swing with a baseball bat.

Colin Decker, Program Chair

Founder, Euromonitor International
Colin Decker, co-founder of PFLI, is a Consultant at Euromonitor International when not thinking of hitting and fielding drills. Previously, he worked in sales and marketing, as well as the political arena (an area he loved). Prior to that, Colin scratched his travel bug itch by finding work as a research assistant at the Korean Institute of International Studies in Seoul, Korea and interned at the U.S.-Vietnam Trade Council in Hanoi, Vietnam. Colin is a life-long athlete who still dreams of playing center field for the San Francisco Giants. He played baseball and football at the University of Chicago and has coached throughout the city. Colin holds an MBA from DePaul University and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Chicago. At each stop along the journey, Colin has loved finding ways to get involved and give back to his community, and starting Play for Life with his wife was the best decision he has ever made (besides marrying her). After growing up on the West Coast and Arizona, he still cannot believe that he has survived so many winters in Chicago, but the summers make it worth it.

Gregory Albright, Program Committee

AllCell Technologies
Greg has been a volunteer coach with Play for Life since 2008 and is driven to find better ways to teach (and learn) baseball while helping players excel on and off the field. Following his baseball career at the Illinois Institute of Technology, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering, he joined AllCell Technologies. AllCell is a start-up company that makes lithium-ion battery packs and battery thermal management systems for electric vehicles and renewable energy systems. Greg is a project manager responsible for the development and sales of products for the electric bike, scooter, vehicle and renewable energy markets.

Stacy Beattie, Special Events Chair

Barclays Wealth
Today Stacy is an analyst for a high net worth private investment management team at Barclays Wealth. She's a graduate of Iowa State University, earning a B.S. in political science, and DePaul University where she earned a masters degree in public administration, graduating with honors. Stacy has a competitive spirit and recently completed her third Chicago Marathon to raise donations for PFLI. Stacy wants to change the game by making sure that our youth have not only a safe place to play but the stability, support, and hope to succeed both on and off the field.

Barbara Correll, Marketing Chair

The Vitality Group

Barbara is the vice president of marketing at The Vitality Group. She has nearly fifteen years of experience in health care marketing and communications, including work in public health campaigns, brand building initiatives, reputation and issues management, public affairs and product launches. Prior to The Vitality Group, Barbara was a senior vice president at Edelman, where she provided strategic counsel and led development and implementation of marketing communications and public relations programs for several health care clients. Ms. Correll also served in senior roles at Fleishman-Hillard, Inc. and Cohn and Wolfe, where she directed public relations planning and programs for a variety of companies within the health care sector. Ms. Correll earned her bachelor of science in exercise science and nutrition from Iowa State University. She also holds a master of science in health care administration and policy from DePaul University. Barbara currently serves on the board of directors of the Iowa State University Alumni Association.

Sean Cunneen

Inspiration Kitchens Uptown

Sean is the executive chef at Inspiration Kitchens Uptown. He has spent the last five years developing Cafe Too/Inspiration Kitchens into a benchmark social enterprise, and he hopes to use his current experience in new avenues. Running a social enterprise has given him unique insight into the realities of melding a commercial venture in the social services world. He has grant writing, program development, and administration experience on the business side. As if that weren't enough, he has 15 years of cooking/catering and restaurant management experience. He also plays softball and loves to shag fly balls when not in the kitchen.

Andrea Freeman

Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago

Andrea is a Physical Therapist at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago specializing in the treatment of women’s health and neurological disorders. Previously, Andrea worked in an outpatient setting focusing on orthopedic and sports-related injuries and diagnoses. She has always had significant interest in sports and thinks of herself as more of “player” than a “spectator”, which is likely due to the fact that she grew up with two older brothers. Andrea has a bachelors degree in French Literature and Language from the University of Chicago and a Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Northwestern University. Prior to working as a Physical Therapist (which is actually her second career), she worked in the field of Marketing Research at ACNielsen Bases. However, her love of sports and her belief in the healing power of physical activity is what attracted her to both physical therapy and PFLI.

Nicholas Freeman

Acclarent

Currently Nick is a medical device consultant for Acclarent, a surgical device company owned by Ethicon, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. Nick started his career in health care sales in 2001 working for Ortho McNeil, also a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. Prior to starting his recent position at Acclarent, Nick owned and managed two retail businesses on the South side of Chicago, which allowed him to be an active member of the community by not only employing nearl20 community members to run his stores, but also by being a member of the Chatham Business Association and building relationships with the neighboring churches. Nick received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Chicago, where he was also captain of the varsity football team. For Nick, sports has always been the arena where the most valuable life lessons were learned and practiced. He is excited to be involved with an organization that will bring that same vehicle of learning to underprivileged children.

David Kelly, Finance Comittee Co-Chair

Attorney at Law

Advisory Board

Christopher Grashoff, Corporate Partners Chair

Baxter International
Currently Chris works as the Director of Finance in IV Therapy at Baxter, International. Chris has previously worked in Corporate Business Development at Baxter and in various Finance roles at Eli Lilly & Co. in Indianapolis. Chris earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and he received his B.A. in Economics & Management from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, where he also served as the Mayor's Assistant. Chris is originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he spent eight years as a Site Director and Coach and six years as a player in the Wildcat Baseball League. The league has served Fort Wayne's youth for nearly 50 years under the philosophy that "everybody makes the team." Growing up, the Wildcat Baseball League played an important role in shaping Chris, which is what makes him passionate to enable PFLI to provide the same opportunity to others.

Associate Board of Directors

Coming soon

Play for Life is looking for a few key talented individuals to join our board. If you have experience in fundraising, social services, legal, or sports medicine, please contact us about the opportunity to change the game. We also have openings on our junior board.

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