Kathryn Ciesla, Muriel Collison, Joy Ebhomielen, and Dan Pepoon have all received the endorsement of the Northbrook Caucus following an exhaustive application and interview process. They are a trusted team who have a proven track record of working for the community.
- Kathryn Ciesla, Candidate for Village President, currently serves as the Village’s Senior Trustee and has done so since 2009. She has also been a member of the Village’s Administration and Finance Committee since 2009, and the committee chair since 2017. She is chair of the Ad Hoc Labor Relations Committee and the Joint Review Board and sits on the legislative committee of the Northwest Municipal Conference.
Kathryn is a strong and independent voice for residents and the business community in Northbrook.
In addition to promoting fiscal responsibilities and economic efficiencies throughout her time on the Village Board, Kathryn has championed local groups that support first responders, generated additional revenue sources aimed at funding police and fire pensions, and led efforts to expand how Northbrook communicates with residents. Kathryn is proud of her efforts to encourage sustainability, community, diversity, and inclusion.
Kathryn intends to continue focusing on fiscal responsibility (during COVID-19 and non COVID-19 times), expanding how Northbrook communicates with its stakeholders and promoting a business/resident friendly experience for everyone who engages with Northbrook, from the Village Board to all levels in various departments.
In her personal life, Kathryn is a lawyer advocating for families and acts as a court appointed child advocate. She has lived in Northbrook for 20 years and lives with her partner and two children. Her oldest daughter is a college freshman, and her youngest is a junior at Glenbrook North.
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Muriel Collison, Candidate for Village Trustee, is eager to take on a second term. She has chaired the Communications and Legislation Committee for two years and is chair of the Planning and Zoning Committee. Her goals for the next four years include:
- Ensuring police and fire departments remain fully funded and first responders have all the tools needed to maintain top-notch services.
- Encouraging smart development. Muriel believes an eye of experience is critical for evaluating Green Acres, Grainger, and the corner of Willow and Pfingsten. Impact on residents, schools, traffic, environment, and services all need consideration along with potential tax revenue and consistency with the character of Northbrook and the Comprehensive Plan. Any future development, especially at Green Acres, must benefit all residents of Northbrook.
- Supporting local businesses. Muriel has been a longtime friend of local businesses, hearing their voices and promoting and helping them, especially during the pandemic. She is proud of creating the Northbrook Strong Business Grant program which helped many small businesses.
Maintaining transparency and accessibility. Muriel is active on social media and regularly responds to calls, e-mails, Facebook messages, and texts from residents and business owners. Having lived in the community her entire life, she prides herself on her availability to residents and business owners.
Muriel has three school-aged children and is an attorney representing injured workers. She is a fourth generation Northbrook resident and is thrilled to follow in the footsteps of her father who served as a Village Trustee almost 40 years ago. She knows her experience and non-partisan, moderate, independent views and her desire to serve all the residents of Northbrook is what is needed for the next four years.
- Joy Ebhomielen, Candidate for Village Trustee, is a long-time resident of Northbrook and lives here with her husband and three children. As a daughter of immigrants, she says she was brought up with an “attitude of gratitude” and a belief in philanthropy. Her father, a medical doctor, moved his family to the United States to forge a better life for them but never forgot his past and gave generously to people and causes in his country of birth, Nigeria, as well as his chosen country, America. Joy carries on her family’s commitment and actively serves on the Board of a foundation hospital established by her parents in their hometown in Nigeria.
Joy is also active in the local community. She’s currently a member of the Board of Directors for the Hunger Resource Network and previously served on Northbrook’s Community Relations Commission for four years. She’s also volunteered in a variety of roles at the Northfield Food Pantry.
Professionally, Joy earned an MBA in finance leading to a career that spans from commercial lending to corporate finance and strategy.
Joy recognizes that the Village must make many challenging decisions this year related to the impact of COVID-19, development projects and zoning, improvements to the downtown business district, police, fire and public works. “I feel uniquely able to meet the moment and be a value-added member of the Village Board,” she said.
As a Trustee, Joy aims to focus on continuing the Board's strategic initiatives to promote sustainability and community, with an emphasis on youth development and involvement and issues related to Northbrook’s senior population.
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Dan Pepoon, Candidate for Village Trustee, has been a Northbrook resident for 35 years. He is married with three children, all of whom attended District 28 and graduated from Glenbrook North. As his family grew and became rooted in the community, he learned the values of volunteering and giving back to the community. After several years of coaching youth sports in Northbrook, Dan turned his focus to service to the Village.
Prior to Dan’s appointment to the Village Board in January 2020, Dan served on Northbrook’s Plan Commission and the Bicycle Taskforce for 15 years.
Professionally, Dan is a Senior Vice President, Senior Financial Advisor at Merrill Lynch. Dan will continue to be an asset to the Village Board because of his three decades of financial management experience.
Dan graduated from Valparaiso University as a Mechanical Engineer, after which he predominantly worked in the field of environmental sciences focused on monitoring and cleaning industrial emissions.
Dan is looking forward to applying his experience and knowledge to continue to build upon the strong foundation Northbrook has to offer, including efforts promoting diversity and inclusion.
