Mariah Balaban
(she/her) Organizational Development Advisor
Mariah Balaban
Organizational Development Advisor
Mariah Balaban has over a decade of experience working with vulnerable youth and adults, focusing on the systems that impact them. She brings expertise in program assessment and evaluation, fund development, grant writing, policymaking, advocacy, government grant-making, and compliance.
A native New Yorker, Mariah moved to Chicago in 2014 to earn a Master’s in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago. She has since worked with the U of C’s Office of Civic Engagement, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, Northwestern Law School's Children and Family Justice Center, and the Illinois Department of Human Services.
Her recent roles include serving as Grants and Planning Director for Free Write Arts & Literacy, Fiscal Project Manager for IDHS’s $80 million State Opioid Response grant, and Disability Rights Manager for the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission, Human Rights Authority.
Mariah is also a dedicated volunteer, providing development consulting for projects benefiting at-risk youth and serving as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for a young adult in the foster care system.
