April McFadden
April McFadden is an award-winning collaborative communications professional with ten years of experience in marketing and communications. Her background in journalism and passion for equity and justice informs her work with individuals, nonprofits, foundations, and corporations. April believes in the mission and vision of Disability Lead because of her desire to endeavor toward a more just and equitable society, and through her own experience living with a visual disability. April's career has allowed her to work closely with people in various environments: mission-focused nonprofits, corporations during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies navigating cybersecurity crises, and on a bus to the Illinois state capitol with mothers against gun violence. She is committed to doing community-centric work, however the community is defined.
April has facilitated media for grand openings and other special events and project-managed Sinai Health System's 100th-anniversary campaign, "Sinai 100: A Century of Caring for Chicago". The project included a centennial website, which featured 100 first-person narratives and videos of current or former caregivers, patients, current and former board members, community members, civic leaders, elected leaders, and other stakeholders connected to the health system. In addition to leading various media activities with a Chicago-based health system, April has worked closely with multiple Illinois county public health departments on awareness-building marketing campaigns. One of which received an American Graphic Design award in 2021. Before that award, in 2018, the Publicity Club of Chicago recognized April with a Silver Trumpet in the digital publications category for her work on Communities In Schools of Chicago's 2017 Annual Report. The Publicity Club of Chicago also included April in its 2020 30 under 30 class of communications professionals. April's varied communications and marketing experience includes working with senior executives. In 2022, she launched and managed the LinkedIn profile of the National Geographic Society CEO.
April graduated from Northwestern University with a bachelor's degree in journalism in 2015. In 2019, she earned her master's in education in instructional leadership with a focus on education policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago.