Next in our Meet the Team series is Lara Lebeck!
Lara Lebeck is the Director of Marketing at Gilda’s Club Chicago, where she leads all marketing, communications, and public relations efforts. Since joining in 2023, she has overseen promotion of the organization’s programs and development events while managing its social media channels and brand storytelling. Lara has worked in the nonprofit sector since 2006, with previous roles at Girls on the Run and Lions Clubs International Foundation. Passionate about building community and sharing meaningful stories, she also enjoys volunteering with animal rescue groups, mentoring fellow nonprofit professionals, indoor gardening, and baking deserts that are famous among friends and colleagues.
What is your favorite memory of working at Gilda’s Club?
There are so many! But filming the “cold open” for Saturday Brunch Live with some of the members of the Associate Board playing our favorite SNL character ranks pretty high!
What’s your favorite thing about your job?
Getting to know our members and telling their unique stories, and being able to promote all the Gilda’s Club has to offer.
What’s your most memorable travel experience or dream destination?
Most memorable is a tie between Kampala, Uganda and the border of Poland and Ukraine a few months after the war began in 2022. Next on my travel list is either Morocco or Colombia.
If you could live anywhere in the world for a year, where would it be?
Somewhere warm all year around and close to water.
What is your go-to coffee order?
Iced coffee with a splash of oat milk creamer on a daily basis, but I do love getting an iced honey vanilla latte from Oud!
What is a TV show, movie, or book you could rewatch or reread over and over?
The Good Place, Park & Rec, The Office, and Schitt’s Creek
If someone walked into the office, what is the topic of conversation you leading?
If it’s work related, definitely a new function that I discovered on one of our technology systems. Not work related, I’m playing a TikTok that made me laugh or talking about some random interesting fact that I did a deep dive on.
What’s your favorite way to unwind after a long day?
Cooking dinner, taking a walk, doing plant chores, or simply laying on the floor with the windows open.
Do you have any pets? What are their names/ages?
Sassy (also known a Sassypants, Sassafras, and Bubs) who is 15 years old, and technically Maxwell who is also 15 years old, but he chose to live on the farm with my parents and his favorite animal friends, Rosie and Freckles, during the height of COVID.
What’s the best concert or live event you’ve ever attended?
Serious concert would have to be Ben Folds with the STL Symphony. Not so serious is Pitbull with T-Pain – truly one of the most fun concerts ever!
What’s your favorite Chicago neighborhood?
Pilsen! I also love anywhere on the lake and the West Loop/West Town area (I’m still getting the hang of the neighborhoods!)
Are you a life-long Chicagoan or are you a transplant? If a transplant, from where?
Transplant – I grew up in a tiny town (less than 200 people) between Springfield and STL on I-55 and moved to the Chicagoland area in 2019.