Jim Chesire is President of Bolster Mission Consulting. Bolster Mission grows sustainable impact for large non-profit joint ventures. In 2014, the Imagine Science partnership engaged Bolster Mission and Jim has served as the project’s consulting national director since. Prior to Imagine Science, most recently, Jim worked as a consulting strategist and project manager for several of the largest community youth development and human service providers in Chicago and Illinois including the nationally recognized Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital.

Before founding Bolster Mission, Jim was Project and Executive Director of the Chicago Out-of-School Time (OST) Project & Chicago Allies for Youth Success where he oversaw the six-year (2006 – 2012), $11M Wallace Foundation grants to Chicago to build a citywide youth OST service infrastructure including shared data systems, program quality standards and capacity building.

Born in New York City, Jim currently calls Chicago home. He has a master’s degree in Education & Human Development from Harvard University and undergraduate studies in educational psychology and the fine arts with Bradford-Merrimack College and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Consulting Partner

Sherri Farris has over fourteen years of experience in the public and non-profit sectors, and brings a data-driven yet people focused perspective to consulting projects. She led the City College of Chicago’s initiative to overhaul English and math placement testing, making the tests available online for the first time and resulting in more accurate placement for more than 25,000 new students annually. Before that, she defined the newly created role of Data Acquisition Manager at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, in addition to serving as project manager and technical resource on projects for community based organizations.

Sherri has a master’s degree in Public Policy from University of Chicago Harris School and a bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Social Policy from Northwestern University. She currently serves as a committee chair on the Harris Alumni Council, and volunteers with Back on My Feet and Chicago Endurance Sports.

Consulting Partner

Born and currently residing in Dallas, TX, Tiffani Hutton is the Administrative Assistant at Bolster Mission Consulting. Prior to Bolster Mission, Tiffani consulted for The Future Project, Kings Against Violence Initiative, Interfaith Housing Coalition, and various other organizations that serve youth in America. 

Tiffani has a bachelor's degree in Social Work from the University of Texas at Arlington and undergraduate studies in peace and human rights. She is dedicated to helping unlock the passion and purpose of young people across the country.

Consulting Partner

Nav Deol-Johnson is the National Program Operations Consultant for Imagine Science. Prior to Bolster Mission, Nav was the Project Manager for Imagine Science Orange County and also served as the Evaluation Consultant for Girls Inc. of Orange County. Nav began her career as a summer camp counselor at UCLA UniCamp and has held a variety of positons with non-profit organizations supporting underserved youth and families in Baltimore, Los Angeles and Orange County, CA.

Nav currently lives in Long Beach, CA. She has a master’s degree in Social Work (Administration & Planning) from the University of Texas at Austin and received her bachelor’s degrees in English and Sociology from UCLA.

Consulting Partner

Cari has many years of project management experience across both the public and private sector. She has experience in Six Sigma methodologies and supports organizations in identifying opportunities for business process improvement and implementing effective software solutions. She has worked with City of Chicago government and non-profit organizations and supported out-of-school time programs, youth employment, and education initiatives.

Prior to Bolster Mission, Andrew Rice was a Senior Policy and Research Analyst at the start-up not-for-profit Chicago Allies for Youth Success, where he helped to coordinate cross-organizational information sharing and analysis for youth development programs reaching more 250,000 young people annually.

Before ChicagoAllies, Andrew was placed by Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago as a full-time consultant to the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services, where he worked on children, youth, workforce and human service policy. He has also consulted for the Chicago OST Project and Teach for America. Andrew has a Bachelor Degree in English Literature from Emory University and a Masters in Public Policy from the Harris School for Public Policy at the University of Chicago.

Consulting Partner

Carl Vogel is the founder and principal of Vogel Editorial, a Chicago-based consultancy that provides comprehensive communication strategy and content to organizations working in the public interest, such as universities, nonprofits, foundations and government agencies. He has served as editor-in-chief of two nonprofit magazines dedicated to urban issues, the Center for Neighborhood Technology’s The Neighborhood Works and City Limits in New York, and has written for a number of mainstream publications, from the Chicago Tribune to Psychology Today. Vogel taught magazine editing and production as an adjunct professor at New York University and was senior account executive at the public relations firm Valerie Denney Communications. He has a degree in economics and political science from Northwestern University.