Think Tank

Deborah graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and from Governor’s State University with a Master of Science in Communication Disorders. She began her career as a speech pathologist and Brain Injury Team Leader on the Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit at Lutheran General Hospital. She continues as a registry speech therapist in the hospital’s Acute Care setting. Deborah began her work as an Executive Director and founded Midwest Brain Injury Clubhouse in Chicago in 1998. In 2011, she founded Synapse House to address the needs of those in the suburbs of Chicago. Her passion for the International Clubhouse Community began as a way to provide much needed long term services to those with traumatic brain injury. Throughout the years, this passion remains strong, inspired by the strength and courage of our members who work so hard to regain the skills lost and live their best life.

Dr. Portela is a Board Certified pediatrician and a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. She graduated from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago with a Bachelor of Science and a minor in Sociology. After college, she worked as a case manager at Casa Central in Humboldt Park. Soon after she graduated with honors from Ross University School of Medicine and a Masters in Healthcare Administration from National Louis University.

Dr. Portela completed her residency in pediatrics at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her special interests are in areas of high-risk pediatric patients: newborns, obesity, nutrition, and asthma/allergy illnesses.

Dr. Portela was born in Colombia, South America and raised in Logan Square. She is bilingual and understands the multicultural facets of society to medicine. Her special interests are in areas of high-risk pediatric patients: newborns, obesity, nutrition, and asthma/allergy illnesses.

Dr. Portela has been an enthusiastic and dedicated member of the Angel Harvey Family Health Center team since her arrival in 2017. She exudes dedication and leads by example in her role as Chief Medical Officer and brings the same vigor and energy to her leadership as she is a provider and leader of our Comer Sano/Eat Healthy group

With 27 years in the design and construction industry, Jenny is an accomplished licensed architect and leader in the Healthcare world with extensive experience managing design teams, coordinating Lean Integrated collaboration across industry stakeholders and advocating on behalf of owner priorities.

For the past 4 years, Jenny has executed DfMa (Design for Manufacturing) for modular healthcare projects, including both slide-in Exam Room pods and full volumetric modular healthcare expansions in Illinois and Wisconsin.

As a moderator, speaker and organizer, Jenny has led and participated in many healthcare presentations including the Lean Construction Institute’s 2021 Congress and Healthcare Design Expo 2021. Jenny serves on the Advisory Board for She Builds as a Founding Member and is one of Crain’s 2020 Notable Women in Construction and Design.

Jenny is also a community leader and social services advocate in Chicago. Since 2007, Jenny has served on the Board of Directors and as Board Chair for 4 terms with the Chinese Mutual Aid Association, a social service non profit organization that serves the multigenerational needs of immigrant and refugee families from all over the world. Since 1999, Jenny has mentored high school-aged immigrant and refugee women with the Young Women Warriors mentorship program as well as a youth in the DCFS foster care system.

Jenny earned her Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University (with her Thesis focused on a Halfway House for Women Coming out of Prison) and a Master of the Arts in the Social Sciences degree from the University of Chicago (her thesis being The Use of Space in the Robert Taylor Homes).

For over thirty-nine years, Sheila has devoted her career as an architect to planning innovation for healthcare facilities throughout the world, with an emphasis on improving the patient, family, and staff experience. She led three award winning regional and national healthcare architecture practices. In 2014 she founded JumpGarden Consulting, a Women’s Business Enterprise, that specializes in healthcare facility planning and programming.

Sheila has directed design and planning engagements for over 70 medical centers world-wide. Her Chicagoland experience includes University of Chicago Medical Center, Northwestern Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Loyola University Medical Center and Advocate Aurora Health.

Sheila is on the Editorial Board of Healthcare Design Magazine and a reviewer for the Environmental Research Design Association (EDRA) and the Health Environments Research & Design (HERD) journal. Sheila was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Illinois and has taught at Northwestern University, University of Kansas, Texas A&M and Kent State University. She has presented at 48 conferences and symposiums and published over 40 articles focusing on current healthcare design trends.

Sheila is an American Institute of Architects Fellow and Fellow and Board Regent for the American College of Healthcare Architects and a former President of Chicago Women in Architecture. Sheila was named one of top twenty-five most influential in healthcare design by Healthcare Design Magazine 2010.

Rose Mabwa serves as the Chicago Region Community Life Director at The Community Builders, supporting several sites and working with TCB’s real estate development, property management and fund development teams.

Beginning in 2012, Rose worked for TCB at Oakley Square Apartments on the west side of Chicago, leading the planning and execution of programs that assisted over 500 residents. Prior to this, Rose worked for 12 years for a national housing nonprofit as the director for Resident Services, and in 2014 was awarded TCB’s Collaboration Award.

Rose holds a Doctorate in Education with a concentration in Organizational Leadership, and a certificate in Psychology of Management from The Chicago Business Booth School. She was recognized for her efforts in galvanizing disenfranchised communities on the west side of Chicago and connecting residents to resources with a Scholarship Award by the Spertus Business School, where she received a Masters in Fund Development. She has several awards from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and most recently received an award from the Rush Hospital network for her work in championing diversity and inclusion.

Abigail graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science in Design and Environmental Analysis in the field of Interior Design. Beginning her career at Gensler in workplace, branding, and retail design, her focus changed to healthcare after experiencing firsthand the loss of a loved one to a hospital acquired infection. In 2003 Abigail joined Northwestern Memorial Hospital providing project management and in house design to the Streeterville hospital. Her early work focused on developing an outpatient clinic network, defining the NM brand for interiors, Prentice Women’s Hospital, and providing spaces that furthered the hospital mission of Patients First.

In 2009 Abigail transitioned to Children’s Memorial Hospital to lead the construction effort of the Ann & Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Her work focused on providing oversight for the hospital interiors, the Community Arts program, and all aspects of the building delivery. The hospital interior was designed to provide an engaging environment where children could receive care while surrounded with meaningful distractions that were both educational and life affirming. Patients with severe immunity issues were able to share the same experiences as those with less acute illnesses as a result of careful planning.

In 2015 Abigail moved back to Northwestern Memorial Healthcare Corporation and began work in the newly formed healthcare system. Her focus involved furthering the early Patients First branding mission and developing the design language for the new Lake Forest Hospital.

Throughout her tenure in the Northwestern System, Abigail has focused on providing interiors that support patient’s needs, and developing unambiguously positive environments that further the comfort, reliability, and trust that patients need to have in their healthcare providers.