About Us
GARDENING PROFESSIONAL GREENS CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS
ELIZA TOPALSKI FOURNIER, CLASS OF 1998
Eliza wanted to explore career options open to environmental studies majors so she signed up for Lake Forest College’s Mentor Program, which pairs students with alumni based on professional interests. The program is designed to help students explore career paths, to create and define professional goals, to understand the job market, and to prepare for the professional world or graduate school.
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Alumni mentors help
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She was matched with Betsey Starinchak Frank, Class of 1988, a former biology major who had worked for Abbott Laboratories and the Shedd Aquarium before opening her own consulting business. They met for coffee, where Betsey shared her own professional background and asked Eliza about her interests and goals. “It was so valuable to hear somebody else’s perspective who had gone to Lake Forest College and see what they’re doing now,” Eliza recalls. “Betsey has had an interesting career path too. “It made me realize the value of a Lake Forest education and that there are tons of career options that are open to you.”
After inquiring about internships at the Shedd Aquarium, Betsey steered her toward a summer opportunity that involved taking care of the gardens. “That’s where I got the gardening bug,” she says. “That kind of fueled the fire. Everything else kind of built on that.” Eliza earned a master’s degree in public affairs at Indiana University, where she specialized in urban management. While working at the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development in Chicago, Eliza realized that she wasn’t cut out for a desk job and applied for an opening at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
She now works as manager of School and Community Gardening, where she oversees a program that trains students about sustainable food systems, organic vegetable production, and teamwork and leadership skills through summer employment opportunities in city gardens. She also supports efforts to sustain community gardens and to integrate gardening into schools around Chicago.