Evelyn “Ev” Fitzgerald has been part of SVP Chicago since its earliest days, collaborating with founding partners in 2012 to shape an organization rooted in equitable, community-driven philanthropy. As Executive Director, Ev leads SVP Chicago’s work to strengthen community-based nonprofits—particularly those serving Chicago’s South and West Sides—while engaging philanthropists as thoughtful partners in creating lasting social change.

Grounded in the belief philanthropy works best when it is relational, under Ev’s leadership, SVP Chicago has become a trusted connector — walking alongside nonprofit leaders, listening to their needs, and helping unlock the resources and relationships that allow community-based nonprofits to thrive. 

Ev’s path to nonprofit leadership was shaped by a career in law and finance and deepened by a personal commitment to addressing systemic inequities. Before SVP Chicago, she held senior leadership roles at Fannie Mae’s Midwestern Regional Office, including Associate General Counsel and Director of Single-Family Business, where she helped establish a business development initiative to better serve small- and mid-sized lending institutions. She began her legal career in the real estate practice at McDermott, Will & Emery.

Ev served on the board of the Chicago affiliate of the International Women’s Forum and as Vice Chair of the Local School Council at Alcott College Prep, a preK–12 Chicago Public School. She has also lectured in Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management’s executive education program, served as a judge in University of Chicago’s Social New Venture Challenge and in Northwestern University’s VentureCat program, served as a selection panelist for Ashoka Fellows, and contributed to Kellogg’s Nonprofit Management Essentials and Nonprofit Board Essentials instructional videos to help ensure community-based nonprofit perspectives are reflected in national conversations.

Ev holds a bachelor’s degree in communications with a concentration in political science and a Juris Doctor from Northwestern University. She lives in Chicago with her husband and daughter.