alt_ Governing Board

We are grateful to this group of dedicated and talented individuals who help guide us as the future takes shape…

  • BOARD CHAIR

    Grace Elizabeth Oxley is a passionate advocate for educational equity, urban policy, and social impact. She is the Director of Partnerships at One Million Degrees, a non-profit organization that accelerates community college students’ progress on career pathways to economic mobility. 

    Grace Elizabeth holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, and BA from the College of William and Mary. She has dedicated her career to expanding access to education, particularly for immigrant and first-generation students. Grace’s expertise spans strategy, policy analysis, and program development, with a focus on leveraging technology and community-driven solutions to create lasting change.

    Before moving to Chicago, Grace Elizabeth served as a visiting English lecturer at the University of Malaysia Perlis and contributed to initiatives that bridge education and technology to drive social mobility. Her work is rooted in a deep commitment to empowering under-resourced communities and shaping policies that foster inclusive opportunities for all.

  • BOARD VICE CHAIR

    Chris Paicely is a seasoned storyteller, brand strategist, and the founder of StoryPaced, a creative agency that helps mission-driven organizations amplify their voice through compelling visual media and strategic marketing. He also serves on the board of Alt_ Chicago, an organization committed to cultivating space and support for creative expression and cultural transformation.

    Chris began his career as a journalist, contributing to national and local outlets including Patch Media, Huffington Post, Chicago Parent, and Uproxx. His storytelling roots laid a strong foundation for his transition into marketing and communications, where he has served as a trusted consultant and in-house leader across a range of organizations.

    He spent six years at the Surge Institute, a national nonprofit dedicated to developing leaders of color in education, ultimately rising to the role of Vice President of Marketing. During his tenure, Chris led transformative initiatives such as video production, brand narrative development, website redesigns, annual reports, and integrated communications campaigns.

    In 2022, Chris expanded his storytelling portfolio by co-founding the film studio Swym Good, producing the award-winning science fiction short film ALUS. He’s also co-hosted several podcasts, including Survivor’s ED, Your Favorite Movie is Racist, and Unpainted, exploring themes of education, media, and culture through a critical and creative lens.

    Through StoryPaced, Chris partners with over 20 clients nationwide—primarily nonprofits and youth-serving institutions—to help them build strong brands and tell their stories with clarity, authenticity, and impact.

    Chris holds a Master of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis. He is a proud husband and father to three brilliant sons.

  • BOARD TREASURER

    Joi Freeman is widely regarded as a strategy unicorn who has launched and repositioned some of the world's best-known brands, including Claire’s Stores, the YMCA, MoneyGram International, and Burger King. With a career spanning 20 years, Joi possesses a unique talent for creating compelling strategies, streamlining messages, reviving brands, and charting new courses toward growth. 

    At Claire’s Stores, she led the global brand positioning and the execution of marketing, PR, brand partnerships, social impact, and in-store experience for 2000+ stores across North America. While living in Kenya, she designed the CSR strategy to help HOPE Worldwide Kenya transition into a social enterprise and diversify its funding sources. At the YMCA of the USA, she built the youth and family brand strategy, created the youth anti-hunger positioning campaign, and launched “Us,” the Y’s most successful national positioning campaign. 

    In 2019, she founded Remnant Strategy, a consultancy that helps brands disrupt the status quo by activating movements, building brands, and designing products that lead to a more just world. Their client roster includes tech companies, financial institutions, U.S. cities, and national and local nonprofits. Recently, Joi founded Remnant Futures Lab, a South African-based think tank dedicated to democratizing thought leadership by elevating the voices of brilliant thinkers across the African Diaspora.

    She regularly speaks at conferences, companies, and podcasts about Gen Z, living by faith, integrating culture and business strategy, and cultivating justice. She was recognized as an Emerging Leader by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, selected as a Youn Social Impact Scholar at Kellogg School of Management, and serves on several non-profit boards, including alt_ Chicago and Together Chicago.

    Joi earned an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts in Literature focusing on African Diaspora and Creative Writing from the University of Maryland, College Park. 

    When not helping brands map a new path, Joi enjoys downtime with friends at home in Columbia and Cape Town, South Africa.

  • BOARD SECRETARY

    Krisann Rehbein is a Milwaukee-based artist, design educator and not-for-profit leader who specializes in youth and community engagement. She is currently the Executive Director of ACE Mentor Chicago, an organization that introduces teens to career opportunities in architecture, construction and engineering. In addition to running ACE, Krisann runs Community Design Solutions, a design center at the School of Architecture & Urban Planning at UWM where she also teaches. She is frequently invited to speak on issues about access, equity and engagement in design. 

    Before moving to Milwaukee, Krisann spent over a decade at the Chicago Architecture Foundation (now Center) where she implemented city-wide programming for teens, created community outreach initiatives and developed a suite of new adult programs to expand the conversation about the built environment. She spearheaded the development and writing of The Architecture Handbook: A Student Guide to Understanding Buildings. The award-winning curriculum is used in schools across the country. 

    She is the recipient of multiple industry awards including the AIA Chicago Distinguished Service Award in 2017 and the AIA Illinois Richard Nickel Award in 2021.

  • FUNDRAISING CHAIR

    CC Mercer Watson is a magnetic gem from The Natural State. She has a kaleidoscope of talent that includes being a Textile Artist, Actor, Activist, Poet, Playwright, Published Author (A Love Story Waiting To Happen, Butterfly Typeface Publishing, 2018, and From Cotton to Silk: The Magic of Black Hair, Et Alia Press, 2021), Found(her) and Executive Director of A BLACK SPACE, a nonprofit that serves and liberates Black folks through culture bearing, oral tradition, ancestral craft, design and consultation, and Lead Designer and Merchant of Mercer Textile Mercantile, a fiber business that merges farm-to-fashion and fine art which expresses current and evolving Black culture… those passions being a conduit for uplifting voices of color and making marginalized populations visible.

    She holds a BA in Theatre Arts and Dance from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and is a graduate of the Clinton School with a Master’s in Public Service. She has performed on international stages in theatre houses and recited poetry and she has exhibited work at The Studio Accra (Accra, Ghana), SOO Visual Arts Center (Minneapolis, MN), Thea Foundation (North Little Rock, AR), Mosaic Templars Cultural Center (Little Rock, AR),  and at M2 Gallery (Little Rock, AR) where visual art career is represented. A dedicated public servant, a woman of many creative talents, and the daughter of legendary late civil rights lawyer, Attorney Christopher C. Mercer, Jr., she honors the legacy of her father by using artistic mediums as a tool for empowerment, education, and radical justice.

    Her maiden name, Mercer, means “a merchant in textiles” and she is a textile maven, stitching by hand thousands of hours a year. Watson, at her core, is a storyteller and keeper of culture. She holds the belief that Arkansas can be a cultural Mecca of The South, universally unifying our history and healing, and that she can be a keeper of that story, too. In every thread of her being, she is weaving a tapestry of her ancestors, draped in Afro-futurism. Follow the odyssey at www.ccmercerwatson.com and across social media platforms @ccmercertoo.