From the Helm

June 28, 2023

by Diane Foote

Boats are in the water and work at the Chicago Yacht Club Foundation is at a fever pitch to deliver on-the-water programs this summer! 

My name is Diane Foote, and I am pleased and proud to have joined the Board of the Chicago Yacht Club Foundation fairly recently, beginning my term in January 2023. The mission of the Foundation resonates with me as a sailor, and as a parent. I want all Chicagoland youth to have the opportunities I had growing up, when I learned to sail at summer camp in New Hampshire, and that my own son had, attending sailing camp and then racing with CYC.  

I am currently chairing the Foundation's Marketing Committee and its Audit Committee, which might seem like an unusual combination. I retired as executive director of the Illinois Library Association in September, and I happen to think marketing and communications, and working with budgets and audits, are both fun! My marketing and communications goals include expanding our reach among partners across Chicagoland and keeping all our donors and stakeholders up to date on everything we're doing. My audit goal is to ensure continued healthy stewardship of the funds our supporters have entrusted to us. I'm also pleased to have led the development of a new partnership between the Foundation and the University of Chicago Charter School––Woodlawn (UCW). Incoming first-year UCW students will participate in the Foundation's 2023 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) cruises aboard the 77-foot gaff-rigged schooner Inland Seas, in partnership with the Inland Seas Education Association. Look for the Inland Seas in July; she'll be docked at Monroe to be seen in all her glory in between sails.

I’m excited about the Foundation’s new partnership with the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac for The Mac Gives Back, a collaboration that supports the Foundation’s 2023 tall ship programs, including the STEM cruises, which are happening right around race time, along with our annual Lead HER Ship program. Lead HER Ship is doubling in size this summer, to two five-day cruises for young women aboard the Inland Seas to learn about seamanship, teamwork, leadership, and Great Lakes ecology. The Foundation is thrilled to be able to deliver enjoyment of and education about the Great Lakes and boating to young people who have typically been underserved by maritime opportunity. 

When I'm not working on Foundation business, I can be found paddle-boarding in Belmont Harbor, renting the Club's Sea Ray, or sailing aboard our family's boat, Scarlet Begonias.

Many thanks to all of you for your interest in and support of the Foundation! We can't do any of it without you.