Envisioning Justice Breaking Bread Series with Vicki Garza

Vicki Garza is a seasoned nonprofit finance and operations executive with more than 30 years of experience. She has a proven track record of strengthening organizations through strategic financial management, operational excellence, and mission-driven leadership. Currently serving as Senior Director of Finance & Operations at Illinois Humanities, she oversees finance, human resources, operations, and IT, ensuring alignment with strategic goals and regulatory compliance. 

Vicki has previously held leadership roles at renowned institutions such as The Joffrey Ballet and the Chicago Architecture Foundation, where she successfully led financial revitalizations, major system upgrades, and multimillion-dollar project support. She holds an MBA and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Accounting from Olivet Nazarene University. 

In her spare time, Vicki likes to travel and explore various National Parks with her husband, three children, and her dog Cody.

Founded in 1974, we are the state partner for the National Endowment for the Humanities and are supported by state, federal, and private funds. We provide free, high-quality humanities experiences throughout Illinois, particularly for communities of color, individuals living on low incomes, counties and towns in rural areas, small arts and cultural organizations, and communities highly impacted by mass incarceration. 

Learn more at ILHumanities.org/About-Us.

Since 2017, Envisioning Justice has created free public arts and humanities programs in partnership with communities and people affected by the carceral system and provided grant funding for individuals, nonprofits, and collectives. 

The program's mission is to examine and reimagine the criminal legal system through the arts and humanities. Together, we leverage the arts and humanities to examine mass incarceration and collectively shape a more just future. 

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