Meet the Staff
Pastor Daniel Schwick is the Director of LutheranAdvocacy.org and the Assistant to the President of Lutheran Social Service of Illinois for Church and Government Relations.

LutheranAdvocacy.org was founded in January of 2000 by the three Illinois synods (regional bodies) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) along with the national church body and Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (LSSI). The purpose of the ministry is to educate and mobilize Lutherans in the 550+ ELCA congregations in Illinois to stand up for just public policy. Among the issues addressed by the group are the abolition of capital punishment, increased access to healthcare for poor people, stronger government support for human services, and a variety of other poverty and social justice concerns.

Pastor Schwick has been the Director of LutheranAdvocacy.org since its inception in January, 2000. He is an ordained Lutheran pastor who served congregations in Chicago for fifteen years and was heavily involved in social and community issues in his parish ministry. In the mid-1980's Dan was a founding board member of the Interfaith Council for the Homeless. In the '90's, Dan was a founding board member and later served as vice president and president of Lakeview Action Coalition (LAC), an institution-based community organization in the Lake View neighborhood of Chicago, near Wrigley Field. LAC worked extensively in addressing issues relating to displacement caused by gentrification.

Dan is married to Pastor Kathie Bender Schwich. They have three sons and live in Park Ridge.

Contact him at 847-390-1418 or Dan.Schwick@LSSI.org.

Jennifer De Leon, Associate Director, was a volunteer in the former Lutheran Network for Justice Advocacy before joining the staff. She has over 10 years experience as a community organizer working on immigration, youth and housing issues, for several Chicago area community organizations. She is an elected member of the Synod Council of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod and a founding member of Latino Luteranos.

Contact her at 847-390-1428 or Jennifer.DeLeon@LSSI.org

Lisa Hassenstab is an Associate Director for the Office of Church and Government Relations for Lutheran Social Services of Illinois. She began her work with LSSI in September 2005, and has since been enjoying her work with church relations, volunteerism, disaster response, and advocacy.

A lifelong Lutheran, Lisa grew up in Iowa and attended Wartburg College, receiving a BA in Religion. Lisa did a year of volunteer work through Lutheran Service Corps in Omaha, Nebraska, working with Nebraska AIDS Project, and continued to work for the organization after the volunteer service. She moved to Chicago in 2002 for graduate school, and received an MA in Theology from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and an MSW from the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration in the spring of 2005.

Contact her at 847-390-1447 or Lisa.Hassenstab@LSSI.org

Barbara Tokarski, Executive Administrative Assistant, joined LSSI’s staff in April of 2004. She has a bachelor’s degree in Nutrition from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL. Barb has a strong background in food service management, events coordination and administration.

Contact her at 847-635-4653 or Barbara.Tokarski@LSSI.org.