Elliot Richardson
Co-Founder & President
Elliot Richardson is the Co-Founder and President of the Small Business Advocacy Council, an organization laser-focused on improving the economic environment for small businesses in the State of Illinois. The SBAC strives to empower the small business community by bringing business owners, professionals and entrepreneurs together to speak with a unified, and strong voice.
Elliot Richardson is also a partner at the law firm of Korey Richardson LLP, handling a variety of commercial litigation matters in both federal and state court.
Elliot has been involved in community service since his college days at Bradley University. Presently, Elliot serves on the Board of Directors for Childserv, a large and successful organization focused on helping at-risk children. Elliot is co-chair of the resource development committee of this organization. Elliot is also on the board of Youth Conservation Corp., a dynamic non-profit which provides training in the construction industry to at-risk children.
Elliot formerly served on the Board of Directors for Youth Communications, an organization that empowers children by teaching them crucial writing skills. He also served on the Editorial Board of the Chicago Bar Association and on the executive committee of the Young Lawyers Section of the CBA. Elliot also served on the board of the YMCA Alliance Board.
Elliot received his law degree from the University of Dayton. In law school, he was the member of the Public Interest Law Organization and received the University of Dayton School of Law Pro Bono Publico Service Award. Elliot graduated from Bradley University with a degree in sociology and criminal justice. He obtained a minor in history.
Scott Baskin, Retired President & CEO of Mark Shale
Chief Executive Officer
Scott Baskin retired as President and CEO of Mark Shale in 2011. Mark Shale was Chicago’s largest independent clothing retailer with stores in Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Kansas City, and St. Louis. Prior to his business career, Scott served as Chief Legislative Assistant to the late Congressman Abner Mikva.
In addition to his professional experience, Scott is an engaged community leader. He is a board member of Uptown United, an economic development organization serving Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. He was an elected member of the Northside College Prep High School Local Council and chair of its finance committee, and past treasurer of the Center for Law and Social Work. He is a graduate of Vassar College and Northwestern University School of Law.
Steve Banke, Jr.
Chief Operating Officer
Steve Banke Jr. joined as COO of the SBAC in November 2018, and started as a member in 2015. In his time as a member of the SBAC, Steve has been very active in the Young Professional’s Board, and currently sits as Board Chair.
Steve received his B.S. in Kinesiology from Indiana University – Bloomington in 2014, and moved to Chicago afterwards where he started working at Land of Lincoln Health, Illinois’ Health Insurance Co-Op that was born out of the Affordable Care Act. After Land of Lincoln, Steve started working for a Group Long-Term Care Insurance brokerage in Lake Forest, and spent the next 3 years learning Employee Benefits, Digital Marketing, and Corporate Sales. Steve also is a co-founder of schema.digital – a digital marketing consultancy. As COO of the SBAC, Steve oversees all things operations at the SBAC.
Lisa London
Director of Resource Development
Lisa London is the Director of Resource Development for the Small Business Advocacy Council. Lisa provides leadership, strategic direction, oversight, coordination, and priority setting for the Resource Development team to develop and increase support from individual contributions, major gifts, foundations and corporations, planned gifts, and special events to meet fundraising objectives.
Lisa brings a desire to foster relationships with our members and to curate experiences that create distinction for our brand; likely stemming from her experience as a psychotherapist. Prior to joining the SBAC, she spent 5 years as the Director of a private Outpatient and Inpatient Rehabilitation Center. Lisa has developed an appreciation for the relationships that come from working in such an intimate small business.
Lisa received her BA in Psychology from the University of Dubuque (Iowa) and two MAs from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Currently she is completing her Doctorate in Behavioral Health at Arizona State University. Lisa also volunteers for the Sheilah A. Doyle Foundation as the Director of Volunteering.
Remington Purnell
Membership Coordinator
Remington Purnell first started with the SBAC July 2018 as a Research & Policy Intern and now serves as our membership coordinator.
She hails from California, and received her B.A. from Seattle University in Humanities for Leadership with a specialization in International Politics. During her undergrad, she presented at the Midwest Political Science Association Conference, was a Costco Scholar, and served as a Teaching Assistant for a Humanities program in France.
Prior to the SBAC, Remi was a Research Associate for Safeguard Marine LLC, a navigational consulting firm. For two years, she collected quantitative and qualitative data for the Port of Anchorage Modernization Project in navigational simulators in Seward, Alaska.
In addition to her interest in policy, she is an illustrator. You can find her work here.
