Staff Bios
Jack Amberg
Senior Director, Veterans Programs
312.445.5021
JAmberg@McCormickFoundation.org
Jack Amberg began serving as senior director of Veterans programs at the McCormick Foundation in June 2008. His main responsibilities include strengthening the work of organizations already supporting Veterans by building partnerships, effective grantmaking and extensive networking in order to assist Veterans to overcome their unique challenges.
Amberg came to the Foundation after 26 years in the U.S. Army, most recently serving as the director of U.S. Army Public Affairs for the Midwest.
During his military career, Amberg served as the chief of public affairs for the U.S. Army at Camp Zama, Japan. In that position he was deployed to the Philippines in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Previous assignments took him to Kuwait, Germany, and Saudi Arabia in support of Desert Storm.
Amberg currently serves on the board of the USO of Illinois. He is on the selection committee for the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago’s Hero awards and is the vice president of the West Point Society of Chicago. He is active in the military and media subcommittees of Chicago’s Union League Club, the VFW and American Legion in Naperville, Ill., and is a first degree Knight of Columbus.
A Chicagoland native, Amberg holds a bachelor’s degree in leadership from the United States Military Academy at West Point and a master’s in business administration from Eastern New Mexico University.
Amberg is married to Kristen and they have three children. They live in Naperville, Ill
T.J. Houlihan
Program Associate, Philanthropy
312.445.5039
THoulihan@McCormickFoundation.org
T.J. Houlihan has been with the McCormick Foundation since 2005, and has been Program Associate of Philanthropy since 2007. Previously, he worked in the Special Initiatives Program where he focused on the cultivation and stewardship of the arts and culture requests, and oversaw a portfolio of grants. Currently, he works in the Veterans Program, which is the newest of McCormick’s grantmaking programs. Prior to joining the Foundation, Houlihan worked in fundraising at several nonprofit organizations, including Cube Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, Family Matters and Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Houlihan is very active in philanthropy outside of the McCormick Foundation. In addition to volunteering extensively at nonprofits in the Chicago area, he is Executive Vice President of the Ravinia Festival Associates, Vice President of the Chicago Area Alumni Association of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity, and sits on the Development Committee of the Center on Halsted. He is a member of the Donors Forum (a nonprofit membership association in Illinois) affinity groups including Peer Network for New Grantmakers, Funding LGBT Issues, and the Arts & Culture Funders. Houlihan also maintains memberships in the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network, Emerging Practioners in Philanthropy, and is a third degree Knight of Columbus. He studied vocal performance at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, and is an avid sacred choral and early music fan and performer. A Chicagoland native, Houlihan presently resides in the Buena Park neighborhood of Chicago.