Mary Morten and Morten Group
Ms. Morten is the President of Morten Group (MG), a consulting firm specializing in social change through skills development, public policy and advocacy. Morten Group focuses on organizational and resource development including workshops on diversity and building communities of inclusion and access; executive coaching and succession planning; board recruitment and retention; and film and video development.
Ms. Morten was one of the original team consultants for the Women's Funding Network's report: Smart Growth: A Life–Stage Model for Social Change Philanthropy. For the past several years, Ms. Morten has presented workshops on the report and model.
Ms. Morten is the immediate past Director of the Office of Violence Prevention for the Chicago Department of Public Health. In this position, Ms. Morten was responsible for the citywide implementation of the violence prevention plan: Prevent Violence! Chicago. Prior to this position, Ms. Morten was an appointee for Mayor Richard M. Daley and served as the Director/Liaison for the Chicago Commission on Human Relations. Ms. Morten has B.A. in Communications with an emphasis in radio and television from Loyola University of Chicago.
Previous positions include associate director, interim executive director and board president of Chicago Foundation for Women, the region’s largest women’s fund. Ms. Morten also served as executive vice president for the Women's Self-Employment Project, and director of programs for the Midwest Women's Center.
Ms. Morten is a past honoree for Crain's Chicago Business Annual 40 Under 40 list, which recognizes outstanding leadership and accomplishments by individuals under 40 years of age.
Recent acknowledgements include: In 2007, the Visionary Award from Rape Victim Advocates, Women's Bar Association Community Service Award and in 2004, Ms. Morten received Changing the Face of Philanthropy Award from the Women's Funding Network. Ms. Morten is a past appointee to the Illinois Governor's Commission on the Status of Women. In 2001, Ms. Morten received the Anita Dee Harper Award for exemplary dedication and service to under-served and at risk women and girls by the Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights Women's Board. Additional honors have been received from the Small Business Association, Illinois NOW, and Affinity Community Services.
Ms. Morten is a chairperson for the Illinois Center for Violence Prevention Leadership Council, a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Donors Forum of Chicago and the Association of Non-Profit Consultants.
Joy Wright has been working with agencies to promote social justice, end violence and build better organizations for 20 years. As the Project Manager/Senior Consulting Associate with Morten Group, Ms. Wright continues this work.
For the last several years, Mary Morten and Joy Wright have worked together on several projects including an organization-wide diversity program for Beacon Diagnostic and Therapeutic Services; board development with the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust; and diversity/anti-racism workshops in Washington, D.C.
Previous to consulting, Ms Wright founded the Centralized Training Institute of the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network in 1997, creating model domestic violence trainings and materials. In 1993, Ms. Wright founded the Virginia Family Violence Hotline, one of the first statewide, 24-hour fully staffed hotlines for domestic violence in the country. She has also held positions in local domestic violence and sexual assault programs where she provided program management as well as direct services to women and children.
Ms. Wright has edited or authored several publications including; Illinois Model Domestic Violence Protocol for Law Enforcement, Prosecution and the Judiciary, ICJIA, 2007, Illinois Facilitator’s Guide for Teen Dating Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention Education, IVPA, 2005, and 40-Hour Domestic Violence Training Manual, CMBWN, 1998 - 2005. She also provided editing assistance for and appears in the Latham Award winning documentary, Patterns of Abuse: Exploding the Cycle, by Pyramid Media and The Anti-Cruelty Society in 2003.
Ms. Wright was awarded a Community Advocate Award by the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network in 2006. In 2005, Ms Wright formed her own company, Wright –Solutions, where she continues to focus on various projects. Ms. Wright received her Master’s of Education in Agency Counseling from the College of William and Mary in 1991.