Our Executive Board

FFF warmly and officially welcomes Dr. Patti Tuomey to our Board of Directors. Our relationship with her began nearly ten years ago right after our beloved Irv passed away, and our family donated some of his oxygen equipment to her place of work. Since that day Patti has been by our side throughout our entire growth as a foundation, and her valuable advice and guidance along the way has greatly contributed to our success.

Dr. Tuomey currently serves as Advisor and past President and CEO of Josephinum Academy of the Sacred Heart in Chicago. Prior to her joining Josephinum Academy, she served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation. She has more than 25 years of management experience at nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, including strategic planning, program management, financial planning, marketing and fundraising. She previously held positions at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, and The Field Museum. She has taught management and marketing courses at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Northwestern University. Dr. Tuomey graduated from Marquette University and received an M.A. in arts administration from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Doctorate of Education from Benedictine University.

Patti’s dear mother sadly passed away from Pulmonary Fibrosis, and we have no doubt that Patti’s personal passion to bring awareness to Pulmonary Fibrosis in addition to her extensive knowledge in the lung health industry will help us to evolve in the future, and grow our efforts to make a difference in people’s lives per our FFF mission.

FFF is delighted and honored to welcome Gail Heiteen to our Board of Directors. Not only has Gail been a longtime supporter of our mission, but she is also a lifelong friend and is considered part of our family. She and our dad, Irv, had a special relationship from the time she was a little girl up until the day he passed away. Gail’s knowledge and boundless energetic support in our fundraising efforts has been of huge value to our mission since Day One, nearly 10 years ago. It was Gail Heiteen who graciously and expertly ran our very first Irv Poker Tournament Fundraiser, and her extensive connection to all aspects of the Poker world has proven to be invaluable.

We have no doubt that as a newmember of our FFF Board Gail will continue showing the remarkable commitment and time she has so generously been giving to our cause, help generate new donor activity, help expand our fundraising efforts, and create more value to our foundation.

As we welcome Gail to our FFF Board of Directors, we look forward to continuing our work together in honor of Irv, as we move forward to lead and support our mission in raising awareness to improve the quality of life forthose impacted by Pulmonary Fibrosis.

We are thrilled to now have Gail Heiteen officially “all in!”

FFF is proud to announce the appointment of Morgan (Fox) Shutman as Event Chair Coordinator for our Irv Feldman Charity events.  Morgan has been a participant and volunteer at every poker tournament since its inception. Beginning her journey as a drink server, she has progressively advanced her role, most notably assuming responsibilities at the registration table and effectively marketing “stack the deck” tickets. Morgan’s experience has endowed her with understanding of event planning dynamics and awareness of our foundation’s overarching objectives. She brings exciting energy, exemplar skills, innovative ideas, and a fresh approach to FFF, and we are thrilled to extend a warm welcome to Morgan, eagerly anticipating her contributions and approach as we strategize and plan all future events.