CHIRP Leadership

CHIRP Staff

Shawn Campbell - Founder and General Manager

Shawn Campbell has three decades of broadcast experience, including eight years as program director at Chicago's WLUW, and a stint as a producer and reporter at WBEZ. She’s also been a news writer and anchor, a DJ, a music director, and a news director. The only thing she wanted to do from the time she was ten years old was to be on the radio.

Prior to becoming CHIRP’s first employee in March of 2012, Campbell served as President of the Board of Directors for nearly five years. During that time, she and then-Vice President Jennifer Lizak led a White House meeting on the low-power FM broadcast issue with President Obama’s technology team. In addition to her General Manager duties, she currently hosts a CHIRP show on Saturdays from 12-2pm.

CHIRP Board of Directors

CHIRP is actively seeking applicants to serve on its board. We are especially interested in applicants with expertise in marketing, fundraising, tech and/or data analytics, and finance. Please fill out our board application here.

Edna Ho - President

Edna’s introduction to radio started when she was gifted a very mod Panasonic “Death Star” portable radio. Top 40 hits regularly emanated from the ball and chain, but around the dial she also discovered big band and jazz stations. This was the start of a lifetime search for great music, which she discovers when she listens to CHIRP. She believes CHIRP is a unique nonprofit organization that brings together and champions Chicago’s creative community. Since 2017 she has been helping to support the station as a member of its board of directors.

Jim Drass - Vice President

Jim is an organizational and workflow specialist who joined the Board in 2019 with the goal of combining his extreme passion for music with his business acumen to help his fellow board members propel CHIRP through the next levels of the stations’ strategic goals. This includes operational streamlining and growth in both financial stability and listeners. His passion for music has brought him from and through various parts of North America over the years, but now a 23-year resident of Chicagoland, this IS home, and he’s ready to give back!

Phil Yates - Secretary

Phil is an associate professor of statistics at DePaul University. He jumped at the chance to combine his data analytics skills with his love of radio and music to put them to good use as a board member at CHIRP. Using a wooden tennis racket to pretend to be Andy Summers as a kid eventually led Phil to a lifelong love of listening to and playing music. In his non-statistics world, Phil was the former faculty advisor to Saint Michael's College's radio station, WWPV-FM The Mike, in Colchester, Vermont, and had his own weekly two-hour radio show, Spork! You may occasionally catch him around town playing with his band, Phil Yates & The Affiliates. He lives in Portage Park with his wife, daughter, and an ever-growing record collection.

Suzy Kirkhoff - Treasurer

Suzy’s connection to music started when she was three years old with dance lessons, followed quickly by piano, flute and guitar lessons. Only having access to corporate radio, her early vinyl collection cornerstones were Blondie and ABBA. It took MTV and mixed tapes to broaden her horizons. She’s now a fan of all music but has a soft spot for tunes that have “a good beat and you can dance to it.” Suzy is a Director of Finance for an industrial company. She and her husband live in the West Loop, home to Pitchfork Music Festival, where they enjoy many cultural events in our great city and telling their smart speaker to play CHIRP radio.

Claire Battle

Although Claire is passionate about CHIRP and radio, she has MTV to thank for her lifelong love of music: first her virtual babysitter Martha Quinn, then the Buzz Bin and 120 Minutes, which led her down the rabbit hole in which she still happily finds herself. She is a Jill-of-all-trades attorney for a manufacturing company who deeply values public service, as a volunteer, mentor and previously as a board member for another nonprofit. She is excited to help amplify CHIRP’s mission to share a diverse mix of music (curated by actual human DJs!) and showcase the talent in all corners of the Chicago music scene.

Steven Berry

Steven can be heard DJing on Wednesdays from 9am-noon on CHIRP.

Shawn Campbell

Shawn is CHIRP's founder and General Manager.

Brandon Clark

Brandon stumbled across CHIRP during its earliest days of online streaming and has been listening, supporting, and attending events ever since. CHIRP's wide-ranging format and championship of all things local speaks to Brandon's love of new and interesting sounds and of everything Chicago. Brandon, an attorney, lives in Logan Square (a neighborhood for which he clearly is not cool enough) with his wife, daughter, and dog. When not working, spending time with his family, or listening to CHIRP, Brandon is probably asleep -- but sometimes he can be found biking to record stores, tinkering with old cameras, or watching art house films. Brandon is excited to do what he can to help ensure that CHIRP remains the strong, vibrant, organization that it always has been.

Todd Cywinski

Todd has been a passionate music fan his entire life. His never-ending pursuit of new sounds pulled him from the suburbs in his teenage years to Medusa’s and Metro in Chicago, to multiple club shows per week as an adult that led to meeting his wife at Schubas, and then eventually to listening to and supporting CHIRP radio. For his day job, Todd is an integrated marketing expert who has spent his career working with brands across the globe. Todd has lived in North Center for 20 years, now with a house full of vinyl, music posters, his wife, two daughters, and a dog. He is proud to continue his support of CHIRP as a member of the Board of Directors.

Jennifer Lizak

Jenny Lizak first honed her DJ skills on a Fisher Price record player, and later, a Care Bears cassette player. Several decades later, she studied communication at Loyola University and worked at the college radio station, where she fell in love with radio. Jenny is one of the original board members of the Chicago Independent Radio Project and has served as Marketing Co-Director, Legislative Director, Vice President, and President of the Board. Her favorite CHIRP moment was presenting the case for low power FM radio in Chicago to President Obama's technology advisor in the White House and helping to successfully lobby for the passage of the Local Community Radio Act.

When she's not CHIRPing, Jenny works in the Cultural and Civic Engagement Department of the Chicago Public Library and volunteers with the American Cancer Society and various political campaigns.

Barry Owen

Barry joined the CHIRP Board in 2022 after years of being an avid listener and sustaining member. He thinks Chicago’s music scene is the best in the world because of all of its truly amazing musicians, clubs, concert halls - and radio stations! Some of his favorite Chicago music memories were made at the old Checkerboard Lounge boogying to Vance Kelly and the Backstreet Blues Band.

Barry was born and raised in Rogers Park, and now lives in Lakeview with his wife and two young children. He is an attorney who owns and manages a small law practice with his father. Barry is excited to help CHIRP expand its important role in Chicago’s music and radio communities.

Walter Palka

Walter believes that good music exists within all genres. For people who say they don't like genres like 'Country' or 'Punk' or 'Country Punk,' to that Walter says, "Nonsense! If you find a good representation of any genre, a new world can open up for you." Who knows? You might one day find yourself wearing cowboy boots and a spiked leather jacket. But finding new music is a major reason Walter was drawn to CHIRP Radio. Listening to the mainstream radio can be unbearable not because mainstream radio is bad, it's more that it's just so repetitive. So repetitive. CHIRP offered respite from this and became the go-to station for Walter when driving around town with his daughters.

By day, Walter works in the AR/VR industry helping food manufacturers optimize their in-store sales execution. By night, (...and day again) Walter feels CHIRP is a cool and unique cultural feature for the city of Chicago and is absolutely thrilled to be on the Board!

Board Members Emeritus

Mike Bennett

Tony Breed

Billy Kalb

Erin Van Ness

Past Board Members

Michel Ardaiolo

Kyle Curry

John Dale

Jim Mitsuru Davis

Dustin Drase

Gabe Juarez

Andrew Mall

Andrea Marin

Kristin Marks

Scott McKenna

Jenna Murfin

Mary Nisi

Scott Oltrogge

Keaton O'Neal

Nicole Oppenheim

Robin Osborne

Gail Parson

Elizabeth Ramborger

Erik Roldan

Joe Sanders

Chris Siuty

Micha Ward

Carrie Weston

Chris Whyde

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