Northisde DFA Steering Committee

Mary Claire Peceny (co-chair) has been a steering committee member for three years and a member of NDFA for at least 12 years.  She was on the committee for the Campaign Training that was so successful last year and is on it again for training this year.  She has been active in many campaigns as a volunteer stuffing envelopes, canvassing, getting signatures, making phone calls:  all the things a progressive grass roots group does to advance a progressive agenda.  Changing the country one election at a time means building a progressive base one voter at a time.  She’shonored to continue the work of advancing NDFA's mission to elect socially progressive, fiscally responsible, and ethically committed Democrats to all levels of government.

Mary Stich-Marcus (treasurer) is a CPA by training (and  just generally grooves on numbers) and a political junkie from childhood on.   Her grandma was a precinct captain in Milwaukee back in the day, grandpa was a proud and active union member, and she came of age in the ‘60’s, which formed her worldview.  Mary believes in NDFA’s message and unique approach to the election process, and is delighted to be part of the organization.

Kevin Allen is a current member of the Steering Committee and has been active with NDFA for over 9 years. He is one of our few voting members from the suburbs. Kevin has been a long-time volunteer, organizer, trainer, and consultant with Democratic campaigns and organizations throughout the Chicago area. He has served as a Precinct Committeeman, member of the Democratic Executive Committee for DuPage, and as an officer with the Democratic Women of DuPage. Kevin was previously endorsed by NDFA when he ran for the Illinois State Senate. 

Joseph Fedorko is a long time NDFA member and has conducted meetings and emcee’d NDFA events.  He works in several universes that touch NDFA -- including activist, artist, amateur chef, educator, labor union leader, satirist, skeptic, writer, citizen, occasionally overly-zealous Democrat and unapologetic progressive. Through it all, he’s been a valuable NDFA and Steering Committee member, and is always committed to the work NDFA chooses, growing its influence with integrity and honesty - all while living up to the immortal vow of Emma Goldman: "If I can't dance, I don't want to be a part of you revolution." (Joe says he can’t dance very well, but you get the point.)

Melissa Lindberg attended the very first meeting of what was then Edgewater DFA, joined the Steering Committee when it began, and has been elected several times since. She has been active through the name changes to Edgewater/Rogers Park DFA and Northside DFA as NDFA grew and changed. She served as chair of the By-Laws Committee (twice, and again in it’s current iteration of revision), Candidates Committee, Retreat Committee, and the Membership Committee at various points.  She served as chair of NDFA from 2011 to 2018. She currently shares co-hosting duties with other Steering Committee members. Her son Kenneth was the first person to take advantage of the voting age rule: he became a voting at age 15, as per the by-laws. In her former life, she was in theater, primarily working with Stage Left Theatre, where she currently serves on the Board of Directors.  Also, she was an original ensemble member of Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind.  She works at University of Chicago, lives with Carl Nyberg, and travels to New England regularly. Change comes slowly, but it is worth working towards, and it is worth fighting for things to get better.

EJ Sieracki joined NDFA during the 2019 municipal cycle and has been on the steering committee since 2020. He's the "survey guy in residence" and represents the Albany Park neighborhood.