ROBERT BLACK (President, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Producer) pursued a career in business after graduating from Wheaton College (Illinois) with a major in economics and a minor in music, but it was music that first brought him to the Chicago Sunday Evening Club. From the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, while working as a Senior Account Manager at NCR corporation and Vice President of a small business in the Chicago area, he was a member of the Chicago Sunday Evening Club Chorale. In 1987 he left the business world to join the Chicago Sunday Evening Club staff as Executive Director and Producer and became President and CEO in 1994. Mr. Black did graduate study in non-profit management at the University of Illinois (Chicago) and studied television production at Columbia College. He completed a two-year program at the Academy of Spiritual Formation in 2001. Mr. Black is a member of the Religion Communicators Council (national treasurer 2001-2005) and the Faith & Values Media Member Council (Secretary/Treasurer 2005-2006). He lives in Chicago and is an active member and lay leader at St. James Episcopal Cathedral.

TERRY BRACKNEY (Associate Producer and Executive Assistant) has been with the Chicago Sunday Evening Club for over ten years, first in a part-time capacity and then full-time since 1995. A graduate of the University of Illinois, he continued his education in the health care field and, prior to joining the CSEC staff, served as a health care professional for almost 20 years. As Associate Producer of 30 Good Minutes, Terry works closely behind the scenes with our program guests, assists in coordinating all facets of production, and oversees closed-captioning of the program. His association with the Chicago Sunday Evening Club has provided an enjoyable learning experience in the world of broadcast media as well as an enriching and gratifying second career in this unique television ministry. 

The Rev. Dr. LILLIAN DANIEL (co-host) is Senior Minister of the First Congregational Church of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, where she has served since 2004, following eight years as Senior Minister of the Church of the Redeemer, in New Haven, Connecticut. Lillian has taught preaching at Yale Divinity School and Chicago Theological Seminary and is a writer for the “Biblical Preaching Journal” and the “Christian Century Magazine.” Her new book, “Tell It Like It Is: Reclaiming the Practice of Testimony,” is the story of how God moves in the local church when people speak about God's presence to each other.

MARY ANN MEAD (Accountant) is a native of Houston, Texas and moved to Chicago with her parents at the age of seven. At ten years old she began singing as the youngest member of the choir of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in South Chicago. Mary Ann attended Bowen High School and graduated from the American Conservatory of Music, with a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice. She was a professional singer in Leo Sowerby’s choir at St. James Cathedral, sang opera roles, and worked for the IRS before joining the Chicago Sunday Evening Club office staff in 1973. Mary Ann joined the Chicago Sunday Evening Club Chorale the same year and sang on the broadcast for over 25 years. She is the mother of Elizabeth and the proud grandmother of three.

DANIEL PAWLUS (co-host) has been a 30 Good Minutes co-host since 2005.  His extensive background in the entertainment business includes co-hosting a daily gardening program on HGTV called "Way to Grow” and appearing in the Broadway tour of "Grease." Dan worked in the Hollywood television development world for The Greenblatt Janollari Studio whose shows included "Six Feet Under" and the PBS series "American Family." For the past several years he has worked in the field of fundraising as a development officer for Rotary Foundation, Chicago Shakespeare Theater and Catholic Church Extension Society. In March 2010, Dan was named as Vice President for Communications at the Interfaith Youth Core. Dan is a member of Old St. Patrick's Church in Chicago.

The Rev. Dr. ED PRATT (Vice President for Development) is an ordained Presbyterian Minister.  Ed received his Master of Divinity degree (1981) and his Doctor of Ministry degree (1992) from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.  His undergraduate degree is from the University of Illinois in Chicago, with a major in Psychology.  For twenty years Ed served as pastor to congregations in Illinois, Kansas, and Arizona.  During his career as a pastor, Ed started several not-for-profit organizations including a hospice, a youth center, and an endowment for minority education.  While serving as a pastor, Ed often helped other pastors and organizations adopt better fund-raising practices.  In 2001 Ed moved into development work full time.  Ed was most recently Vice President for Development at Chicago Theological Seminary, and was formerly Senior Consultant and Vice President for Client Services at IDC, a fundraising firm in Henderson, Nevada, where he developed a successful practice for faith-based clients.  Ed worships at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago. Ed has two sons, one grandson and one granddaughter.

LYDIA TALBOT (co-host) has been a host on 30 Good Minutes since 1992. She is Executive Director of Greater Chicago Broadcast Ministries, which produces Sanctuary on ABC Chicago and Different Drummers on CBS Chicago. Lydia serves on the boards of The Christian Century, Chicago Bible Society, and the Chicago Sunday Evening Club, producers of 30 Good Minutes.

KHIEM TRAN (Webmaster/Photographer) joined the Chicago Sunday Evening Club staff in 1985. He is the developer and designer of our award-winning website and Reflect e-newsletter, and is also our staff photographer and in-house video editor.

JUDITH VALENTE (Field Producer) is an awarding-winning journalist, producer, poet and essayist whose  work has been featured on 30 Good Minutes since 2005. She began her career in journalism as a staff reporter for The Washington Post, later joined The Wall Street Journal, and was twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Since 1998,  Ms. Valente has been an on-air correspondent for the national PBS-TV news program Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly. Her reporting has also appeared on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. She has won nine broadcast awards. Ms. Valente is a commentator for National Public Radio and Chicago Public Radio, where she covers religion, interviews poets and authors, and is a guest essayist. Ms. Valente’s first full-length collection of poems, Discovering Moons, is forthcoming from Virtual Artists Collective, and in 2004, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver selected Ms. Valente’s chapbook, Inventing An Alphabet, for the national Aldrich Poetry Prize. She is co-editor of the anthology, Twenty Poems to Nourish Your Soul (Loyola Press, 2005). Ms. Valente is married to Illinois Circuit Court Judge and poet Charles Reynard. They live in Chicago and Normal, IL.