Our Staff & Board

Ja’Net Defell

President & CEO

Ja’Net Defell (Ja-Nay De-Fell) is the President and CEO of Community Desk Chicago (The Desk). Ja’Net launched The Desk in March 2023 to help shift power dynamics and improve the quality of life in under-resourced communities through capacity building, technical coaching and coordinated resources.

Under Ja’Net’s leadership, The Desk launched a $3M Neighborhood Developers Initiative program focused on comprehensive capacity-building for neighborhood-based real estate development in the Englewood, South Shore and Humboldt Park communities of Chicago. This initial investment is projected to garner an additional $20M in direct investments to these communities. Ja’Net was also instrumental in helping to formalize a city-wide effort around commercial shared ownership models in communities, now known as Community Investment Vehicles (CIVs). Through her collaborative research, a CIV Playbook was produced to provide a roadmap for communities to acquire and control neighborhood assets. Her efforts led to the recent launch of Wealth Our Way, a $4.1M initiative in partnership with the City of Chicago, to provide capital grants to shared ownership models in the City of Chicago.

Ja’Net’s work has been featured in several articles and media including Crain’s Chicago Business,  Block Club Chicago, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Suntimes, The U, WBEZ, WGN-AM Radio.

Ja’Net has more than 20 years of management consulting, urban planning and real estate development experience. Prior to leading The Desk, Ja’Net served in other key positions including as a real estate subject matter expert for the US Department of Health and Human Services, as a real estate consultant and developer for IFF, a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), business district specialist for the Village of Oak Park and as a management consultant for Arthur Andersen, formerly a Big 4 accounting and management consulting firm.

Ja’Net holds a Master of Urban Planning and Policy (MUPP) degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree from the University of Michigan. She is a board member of the Community Reinvestment Fund, Fulcrum Fellow and a Field Catalyst with the Center for Community Investment, a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and a LEED Green Associate.