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Home The Chamber The Chamber Elaine Kemna-Irish Bio

Elaine Kemna-Irish Bio

Director of Member Services

Elaine Kemna-Irish, formerly Manager of Administration, Sales & Information Services, brings her experience in community relations, marketing, public relations, advertising, project management, event planning, and sales to the Evanston Chamber of Commerce.

Prior to joining the Chamber, Elaine served as Marketing Director & Community Relations Liaison of Chicagoland Optical (now DBA as Spex) during a high growth period of this optometric practice.  Chicagoland Optical grew from 3 practices to 13 located in Evanston, Niles, Highland Park, Buffalo Grove, Hinsdale, Grayslake, Geneva, Downtown Chicago, Lincoln Park and the West side of Chicago. She honed her interpersonal skills by successfully collaborating on all manners of promotion of each practice including transitioning former owners of practices, managers and their staff.  Elaine is a business professional with over 35 years experience in a variety of fields, both corporate and non-profit.  Elaine brings her knowledge of a variety of computer skills to the Chamber with a goal of making day to day operations more efficient and cost effective.

Elaine, originally from St. Louis, has lived in San Francisco for 9 years, moved back to Chicago for 16 years and has resided in Evanston since 2007 with her husband, John Irish and daughter, Stephanie Irish.  However, she has worked in Evanston for over 8 years in relation to Coventry Eye Care and Sun King Optical, now known as Spex.