Gallery - Just Cause Create Joy

Sandi Jurek, Treasurer

Sandi is a wife, mother and has worked for the past 6 years as a General Manager for a wholesale tool distributor. She has over 15 years in management of Finance, Operations and Human Resources. She has created a ministry team for charitable programs through her current employer. She has been a volunteer for VBS and part of the finance team at a previous church. Her daughter began volunteering and joined as a teen advisor of JCCJ, which inspired her to be more involved with her in different programs. Having contributed and volunteered with various non-profit organizations in the past, she is excited to be able to find a home with JCCJ on their team. She loves spending time with her husband Rich and 2 kids currently in high school Alayna and Blayne at travel baseball or hanging out. She loves going on vacations, exploring, learning, reading, crafting, building, decorating and spending quality time with family and friends. They have 3 dogs, a Morky- Kaine, Plotthound rescue – Shelby and French bulldog Penny.

Judy Ray, Board President

Judy lives in North Carolina with her husband, daughter, and tuxedo cat, Mittens. She’s volunteered and fundraised for many nonprofits, mainly Hood-to-Coast, North Carolina public schools, PORCH, and Girls on the Run. She helped build a startup until it sold to a conglomerate, and traveled as a consultant / worked in financial services in NYC for over a decade. At the moment she’s helping out several local nonprofits. She and her family enjoy hiking and playing mini-golf together, and she does her best to inspire her daughter to live her dreams. When she can find the time, she writes young adult sci-fi and takes on DIY projects around the house.

Mary Ihle, Board Vice President

Mary has fifteen years experience in administrative management and is currently working with her husband at their family-owned business. She worked with the Saugatuck Center for the Arts for seven years, planning and managing events and staff. Mary has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is involved with the Emens Scholars Program at Ball State University. Mary is the mother of three amazing children and enjoys spending time with family and friends, being outdoors, walking her dogs, Ford (Australian Shepard) and Reagan (Golden Retriever), and baking.

Carla Caputo-Cooper, Director

Carla has lived in Chicago for over 35 years. She spent the last 15 years successfully running a high-volume wholesale jewelry business with a staff of 4 selling to big box retailers. Prior to that she held leadership roles for over 22 years in the luxury retail environment. During this time she interacted with various national nonprofit organizational chairman’s hosting fundraising events in these luxury stores. One nonprofit became of interest, which was The Make-a-Wish Foundation, of which she was a board member for 5 years, actively involved in the organization’s largest fundraising gala. Today she and her husband live at their lake house in Michigan with their dog, LaRue, where she still runs her wholesale business while enjoying gardening, entertaining and travel.

Tahlia Root, Board Secretary

Tahlia Root (she/they) earned her bachelor’s degrees in Psychology, Social Justice, and Biblical Studies from The University of Northwestern – St. Paul in 2022. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Applied Psychology with an emphasis in Gender and Sexuality Studies at Adler University. Tahlia has notable work and volunteer experience among multiple nonprofits, namely CYT Chicago where they teach kids to grow in their understanding of theatrical arts. She has also held a range of other managerial, clerical, and community-building roles before and during her undergraduate studies. Tahlia is passionate about pursuing social equity and advocating for the needs of underserved people in her community, which is what led her to Just Cause Create Joy. Lastly, Tahlia enjoys a good cup of coffee and hanging out with her pet hamster, Marmalade.

Cynthia Perini, CPA

Cynthia lives in Florida with her husband and son. She’s a Certified Public Accountant and owns a firm that offers tax return preparation and management for high net-worth individual and family estates. Cynthia spent twelve years on the board of a nonprofit for autism, six years as the Treasurer, and six years as the Board Chairperson. In her spare time she enjoys boating on the Atlantic, planning fun events, and traveling.

Tahlia Root, Intern

Tahlia Root (she/they) earned her bachelor’s degrees in Psychology, Social Justice, and Biblical Studies from The University of Northwestern – St. Paul in 2022. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Applied Psychology with an emphasis in Gender and Sexuality Studies at Adler University. Tahlia’s notable work experience includes, but is not limited to, their roles as Resident Assistant and Admissions Event Assistant at their alma mater, along with various managerial roles in customer service settings. Tahlia is passionate about pursuing social equity and advocating for the needs of underserved people in her community, which is what led her to Just Cause Create Joy. In their spare time, Tahlia enjoys a good cup of coffee while watching the latest season of Survivor.

Jennifer Bartz, Director

Jennifer lives in Illinois, is a full-time mother, wife, and registered nurse. She and her husband have 3 children, two daughters in college, and a son in high school. She and her family have volunteered with I Grow Chicago for about 8 years. As a family they helped run a summer day camp, and Christmas and Thanksgiving events. She helped fundraise in-kind donations throughout the year, such as the Back to School Backpack Drive, Christmas giving tree sponsorship, coat drives, and much more. She also organized and helped run VBS Bible camps for her church for 5 years. She is one of the founding members of Carolina Border Collie Rescue, where she helped foster and re-home border collies in need. She has two border collies, Bliss and Swift, and three cats, Gravy, Fasto, and Simba. Jen has been teaching group fitness at the Y for over 16 years, and has been a WW coach over 20 years. In her spare time Jen likes to travel with her family, and watch her kids play sports.

Vanessa Mussatto, Founder & Executive Director

Vanessa is a full-time mother and wife, and has worked for the past 8 years for a veterinary clinic as a receptionist. Prior to that she worked for a Fortune 500 company in the auditing department in Chicago. Vanessa was a member of the PTO while her children were in elementary school, volunteered for her church’s VBS bible school for 5 years, did small collections for Catholic Charities, and was heavily involved with I Grow Chicago. She and her family helped run the Christmas giving program, which enabled over 1200 children in Englewood to receive Christmas gifts. She has done several like-kind donation fundraisers and, with her family, worked summer camps and helped host the Christmas party and Thanksgiving feast. She has two daughters in college, and two dogs, a Wheaton Terrier named Ryder-Würzel, and a Havanese named Lemmy. In her spare time she enjoys traveling with her family, spending time on the beach in Michigan, and crafting.

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2022

Just Cause Create Joy collected in-kind and monetary donations totaling over $25,000, which were donated to 261 children for our Comfort & Joy program in December 2022