Modesto Tico Valle
Chief Executive Officer, ext. 250

Modesto Tico Valle is the Chief Executive Officer of Center on Halsted, the most comprehensive community center dedicated to building and strengthening the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) community in the Midwest.

A native of Chicago, Tico is a longtime community activist and organizer. He founded the Chicago NAMES Project in 1989 and was instrumental in bringing the AIDS Memorial Quilt to the National Mall in 1996. He has served as both a volunteer and staff member at a number of Chicago-area non-profits including Chicago House, Test Positive Awareness Network and Open Hand Chicago, where he served as the organization's first Volunteer Services Director. His long commitment to youth empowerment includes his work to establish scholarship subsidies for minority students at Holy Trinity High School, where he served as Associate Director of Development.

Tico was named CEO of Center on Halsted in 2007, where he oversaw the opening of the 175,000 square foot community center. Since taking the helm, Center on Halsted has grown into a full-fledged community center with an annual operating budget of more than $5 million. Under his leadership, more than 1,000 community members visit the Center every day. Patrons participate in the wide variety of programs and services offered ranging from volleyball, cooking classes and yoga to HIV testing, group therapy and job training.

Tico attended DePaul University and Notre Dame's Seminary School. In addition, he holds certificates in nonprofit management from Harvard Business School and Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.He has served on the board of the NAMES Project Foundation, Equality Education Project and the Chicago Children's Choir. In recognition of his work, Tico has been named Chicagoan of the Year by Chicago Magazine, inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame, honored by the national NAMES Project Foundation and received a Red Ribbon Leadership Award from the State of Illinois.

Jim Klein
Chief Operating Officer, ext. 246

Jim attended Buena Vista University, interested in both Communication Studies, with an emphasis in Journalism and Television Production, and Computer Science. After graduating, Jim took a year off to explore photography and travelling before moving to DeKalb, IL where he attended Northern Illinois University and taught classes in Media Production while working on a Masters degree in Communication Studies. In 1995, Jim moved to Chicago and began a career with Travel 2000, a travel specialty store where he served as a store manager and corporate trainer. In 1999, Jim turned down a promotion to become district manager when he learned of a career opportunity at Horizons Community Services. In March of 1999, Jim joined Horizons Community Services as Volunteer Coordinator and Information Technology (IT) Manager. Over the years, Jim assisted in several transformative initiatives for the organization, actively engaged in the growth of a small, grass roots social service agency into Center on Halsted, the Midwest’s largest LGBTQ Community Center. Over his 12 year tenure, Jim has served in a variety of progressive capacities and now serves as Chief Operating Officer, responsible for overseeing all Center programs, building infrastructure, security, operations and information technology.

Barb Vicory
Chief Development Officer, ext. 181

Barb Vicory, CFRE, is Chief Development Officer and leads the development operations for the Center. Barb has twenty years of fundraising experience, most recently as Development Officer at the Lake County Forest Preserves and founding Executive Director of its Foundation. Prior to the Forest Preserves, she was Development Director for WTTW Channel 11, Chicago's largest public broadcasting station. Barb has a Masters in Social Work and Masters in Urban Planning from University of Michigan, and a Bachelors degree in Mathematics from Smith College. Barb and her partner of 17 years live in Chicago's Andersonville.

Julie Walther
Senior Director of Programs, ext. 178

Julie comes to Center on Halsted with extensive work experience in the nonprofit community both in program management and grantmaking. She has worked hard to expand access of factual, inclusive, sexuality health education materials to young people. She has served on the board of organizations like Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health, Crossroads Fund and the Chicago Public Schools Sex Ed Curriculum Review Committee. Most recently Julie served as a Senior Program Officer with The Brinson Foundation, a family foundation. Prior to Brinson, she served as a Senior Program Officer for Girl's Best Friend Foundation, a progressive family foundation focused on the lives of girls and young people. Before entering philanthropy Julie facilitated several youth leadership programs where young people from underserved Chicago communities designed, implemented and evaluated the programs they participated in. She has a Masters degree from DePaul University in Public Service (Nonprofit Management) and a bachelor of Fine Arts, with a specialization in Jewelry and Metalsmithing from Southern Illinois University. Julie is a mother of two grade school daughters and works hard modeling active community involvement for her children. She continues to volunteer in the nonprofit and philanthropic community on a regular basis and works to keep the lines of communication open between different generations and also between grantmakers and grantseekers.

Lewis Warrick
Director of Finance, ext. 162

Lewis has been the Director of Finance for Center on Halsted since 2008. A native of Kansas City, Mo. he received his B.S. in Accounting from Drake University in Des Moines, IA. With a goal to advance his career, Lewis moved to Chicago in 1996 to pursue accounting jobs and success. With that, Lewis brings more than 16 years of experience in accounting and finance, including nearly 10 years of leading accounting practices for non-profit organizations. Lewis enjoys providing fiscal and financial leadership and practices for the Center and supporting all the program work and providing assurance to all donors and funders. Lewis is a member of many CFO non-profit groups including Movement Advance Project geared toward LBGT organizations. Outside of work, Lewis is an advent Cubs fan and season ticket holder. He also loves watching and playing any and all sports, including tennis, which he plays and competes with SCT Tennis League, where he also served on the board. Lewis also performs music traveling and touring to Switzerland, Italy, Greece and Spain.