Staff

Executive Director/Housing Program Manager

Bibian Guevara serves as Rental Housing Advocate at Lakeside, where she is responsible for helping coordinate agency advocacy and direct-service efforts for low-and moderate income renters ion Chicago's Far North Side, as well as coordinated activities with other community agencies.

In 2011, Bibian added to her responsibilities as Housing Program Manager. In her capacity as Housing Program Manager, she coordinates staff training and reporting, conducts quality control activities, and assists with program development. Bibian is certified in numerous housing counseling topics through Neighborworks America and NHLN.

Bibian is a native of Colombia, who has worked with organizations concerned with immigrant rights, citizenship, and education. While in Colombia, she worked to reform different practices within the fashion industry. Since coming to Chicago, she has worked on citizenship and immigrant rights efforts with Organization of the North East, Centro Romero, and Illinois Coalition for Immigrants and Refugee Rights. Bibian is also the former president of Colombia Vive Chicago, an organization that helps women, in Colombia and Chicago, rebuild the social, cultural and economic webs that have been damaged by the processes of displacement and migration. Through her work in those organizations, Bibian has gained expertise in the planning and implementation of community outreach, education, and direct service activities.

Bibian lives in Edgewater on Chicago's Far North Side.

Community Housing Specialist

Julio is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he received his BA in Urban and Regional Planning. Prior to joining Lakeside, he was the Housing Advocate for the Latino Policy Forum, where he worked with regional and neighborhood housing groups on affordable housing and community development issues. Julio also completed two summer internships at the Congress for the New Urbanism, a national urban planning organization located in Chicago, which contributed to his interest in grassroots community development planning.

As Community Housing Specialist, Julio will coordinate Lakeside’s Citywide Resource Center program, through which the agency provides education and technical assistance services to Chicago condominium owners and association leaders. He will also work with housing organizations and industry groups and contribute to agency research, analysis, and policy advocacy concerning community association topics at the state and local levels.

Community Housing Specialist

Susan joined Lakeside CDC as a volunteer in the spring of 2011, helping conduct a street-level survey of rental housing opportunities in Rogers Park. After completing courses through Neighborworks America and becoming certified as a housing counselor, Susan now serves full time as a counselor with the agency Home Ownership Program. Susan meets with homeowners who are at risk of foreclosure to explain their options and prepare them for negotiations with their loan servicer.

Susan has a diverse background in science technology, health care, and legal work. She enjoys torts and tortes, but finds she prefers the sweet variety to the other. In her spare time, she volunteers at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.