As Chief Financial Officer, Serena is responsible for managing Aspire’s finances, including general operations, controls, compliance, and tax filings.

Serena is also responsible for creating sustainable financial growth for Aspire, which she has learned can only be accomplished through transparency, quality, and financial excellence. Serena strives for financial excellence because she understands that it serves to benefit the people Aspire supports and to provide the highest quality of stewardship for those who donate to Aspire.

Before joining Aspire, Serena worked at EY, a large international auditing and consulting firm. Prior to that, she was controller at Easter Seals, Inc., the headquarters of a national not-for-profit organization providing services for people with disabilities.

What is your key strategic goal for your role at Aspire? To grow Aspire’s financial strength so that Aspire can not only continue to provide services for those with different abilities, but also to expand those services.

What is the most interesting fact of your bio? I used to be an outdoor nature lover who backpacked, rock-climbed, and lived in Yosemite for a summer. Now in my free time I lead two Girl Scout troops. I am helping my daughters connect to nature and understand the importance of giving back to our community.

What do you enjoy the most about Aspire? Working with people who do not settle for the status quo. Aspire doesn’t just try to meet basic needs. It strives to be the future of not-for-profits by thinking differently and energizing all those around them, both within and around the organization.

What’s your all-time favorite book or movie and why? I am a sucker for a good mid-1800s English coming-of-age novel and repeatedly read Jane Eyre. I love her passion and her unbending will to make something of herself while not compromising her values.

What are you listening to right now? Podcasts? I am an avid listener of Freakonomics. On my playlist is anything acoustic – classical music, blues, and coffee house music.

Brad Weir is the immediate past Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kelso-Burnett Co. Kelso-Burnett has been serving the city of Chicago for electrical and communication needs since its inception in 1908.

In 2005 Brad initiated the creation of Newport Industries, which became the Holding Company for the various companies owned by Kelso-Burnett Co. along with the parent K-B entity. This created a platform to enhance future growth in various markets.

Brad came to Kelso-Burnett in 1974 when K-B purchased Systems Electric, his family’s firm. Brad served his electrical apprenticeship in Lake County, Illinois, where he supervised several large-scale projects, including Abbott Laboratories, Baxter Pharmaceuticals, CF Industries and North Shore Sanitary District. While working out of the Lake County Office, Brad taught several journeyman classes in advanced technologies, including fire alarm, security and fiber optic cabling. Brad also served on the IBEW Executive Board for Local 150.

Brad is a graduate of Augustana College. He joined the NorthPointe Resources Board of Directors in 2018 before transitioning to Aspire’s Board of Directors in 2019. He currently lives in Wadsworth, Illinois, with his wife Jo Ann. They have two children, Jeff and John. Brad and Jo Ann have six grandchildren.

Stacey is Chief Labor Counsel and Vice-President of Labor and Employee Relations for Walgreens. Within this role, she oversees the relationship and collective bargaining with all of the unions representing Walgreen’s team members. Stacey also heads the Labor Counsel for Walgreens, which consists of the executive leaders for each functional area of the organization, ensuring cross-functional collaboration in the execution of the labor strategy. Additionally, in Stacey’s role as Vice-President of Employee Relations, she oversees a large team of employee relations experts in their duties of providing retail, supply chain, and office team member support. In this capacity, Stacey is charged with ensuring a positive workplace and exceptional engagement for over 250,000 Walgreens team members.

Prior to joining Walgreens, Stacey served as Vice-President, Human Resources, Labor & Government Relations for Albertson’s-Safeway. In the divisions of the company in which she served (Jewel-Osco and Safeway Eastern), Stacey not only devised and executed on the labor strategy, but also on talent management, succession planning, compensation and legislative activity. Before joining Albertson’s-Safeway, Stacey was employed as General Counsel for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in Chicago, Illinois. Within this role, Stacey negotiated multiple collective bargaining agreements, arbitrated and litigated a variety of issues, and provided legal guidance to the administration. In the earlier years of Stacey’s career, she was employed as a litigation attorney in Dayton, Ohio.

Stacey received her J.D. from the University of Dayton, School of Law, and her B.S. at Ball State University.

Jeff Miller serves as Chief Commercial Officer (COO) of Synchronoss Technologies. Jeff previously served as President for IDEAL Industries Technology Group, focusing on designing and delivering solutions for smart commercial buildings and spaces. IDEAL Industries is a century-old, professionally managed and family-owned business, based in the greater Chicagoland area. Jeff also serves on the Board of 1871, Chicago’s largest start-up incubator, and on the non-profit Boards of Aspire Chicago and Junior Achievement.

Before joining IDEAL Industries in 2017, Jeff completed a 16-year career with Motorola, most recently as Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Operations in North America for Motorola Mobility, LLC. Previously, Jeff was Vice President of Sales for Motorola’s business with AT&T, T-Mobile, and 23 global wireless customers across North America, Latin America, EMEA and the Asia Pacific.

Jeff also spent five years with Somera Communications as the Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing, and he worked for AT&T for eleven years, holding various leadership positions in Sales Management, Marketing and Product Management.

Jeff graduated with a B.S. degree from Miami University and later earned his M.B.A. from The Ohio State University. He and his wife Susan have four children and reside in Chicago’s Lake View neighborhood.

Jeff has spent his career leading and overseeing financial operations in family office, hospitality, real estate, and insurance industries. In his current role as Senior Vice President, Senior Asset Manager – Family Business Group at Northern Trust Corporation, Jeff serves as a director and officer in several family businesses which Northern Trust holds in a fiduciary capacity.

Jeff graduated with a Bachelor of Science, Mathematics degree from Purdue University and later earned his Master of Accounting Science, Accounting from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Debbie L. Sainte-Rose has worked in human services for nearly 15 years. She worked at Job Path Inc., a non-profit organization in New York City that enables people with developmental disabilities to lead full and satisfying lives. She held several positions of increased responsibility, such as coordinator and director of various programs working within high schools, with employers, government partners and in community outreach.

She later worked for the Aramark Corporation in Philadelphia, her latter role being director of a hospitality training program which provided hospitality and food service training to youth aging out of the foster care system. She later continued this work with her following employer, Goodwill Industries of Philadelphia.

Debbie lived abroad with her family in Turkey and Belgium for 7 years and relocated back to the U.S. in August of 2015. She is married to her husband, Stevens, and currently focuses on raising her 3 children: Camille, Deven and Quincy.

Debbie attended the State University of New York College at Oswego and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Writing Arts and Spanish and a Masters of Arts degree in Special Education from New York University.

Adam Beringer currently serves as a Shareholder at Vedder Price and is a member of the firm’s Global Transportation Finance team.

With a focus on commercial aircraft finance, Beringer has significant experience representing operating lessors, commercial banks, finance companies, manufacturers, private equity funds, hedge funds and other aircraft investors in all manner of aircraft finance transactions. Beringer also has experience representing aircraft investors in bankruptcy proceedings involving several airlines, as well as investors and commercial banks in business aircraft finance transactions.

Prior to joining Vedder Price, Beringer served as general counsel to Q Aviation, a global aircraft-operating lessor. At Q Aviation, Beringer advised senior management in the establishment of the company (from inception), the buildup of its initial $1.5 billion aircraft portfolio and the subsequent divestiture of that portfolio. In addition, Beringer had primary responsibility for all legal matters at Q Aviation and was key in developing portfolio and risk management processes and procedures.

Beringer graduated cum laude with his B.A. from the University of Dayton in 1996 and earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law in 1999.

Andy Kettlewell serves as Vice President of Inventory, Advanced Analytics, and Master Data for Walgreens, where he leads the end-to-end supply chain planning, coordination, and execution for Walgreens.

During his tenure at Walgreens, Andy has led working capital improvement by more than $1 billion, while improving store-in-stock conditions by 60% and reducing operational costs thru the creation, adoption, and application of advanced analytics, strategic partnerships, and talent development. Andy has led large-scale transformational integration, leading the supply chain integration of numerous acquisitions (Duane Reade, USA Drug, Happy Harry’s) in the retail and e-commerce space, including the integration of Beauty.com, skinstore.com, and drugstore.com into the Walgreens network.

Andy is a proud husband, father of two amazing kids, backyard beekeeper, board game aficionado, cinnamon roll baker, and aspirational triathlete and mountain climber who loves to explore the world with his family.

Angela is an operations-led Human Resources executive with 20+ years of experience assisting organizations with driving business results through their talent. She currently serves as the Chief Human Resources Officer for Heartland Veterinary Services based out of Chicago, IL.

Throughout her career, Angela has led organization development efforts for Anixter International, Volkswagen of America, Roche Diagnostics, Walgreens Boots Alliance, and most recently, Aspen Dental. Her experience spans across various industries including technology, healthcare, automotive, and retail.

At Heartland, Angela is improving business results through enhancing leadership effectiveness and implementing talent processes that help team members: feel well cared for, bring their whole selves to work, perform at their best, and remain highly engaged.

Angela earned an MBA from LaSalle University in Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Ball State University in Indiana.

Bob Johnson is an attorney and worked for the federal government for 27 years as an Administrative Judge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Concurrently, he worked as a medical technologist for 54 years with Advocate Health Care. Bob was a member of NorthPointe Resources’ Board of Directors for nine years prior to joining Aspire’s Board of Directors in 2019. His wife, Anne, is an R.N. and has worked for organizations for people with disabilities.

Bob has had an interest in people with developmental disabilities and mental illness since his son, Chris, was born with cerebral palsy. Chris currently enjoys living in one of Aspire’s Lake County Community Homes. After living in Arlington Heights for 50 years, Bob and his wife recently relocated to Whitewater, Wisconsin.

Caroline is a communications expert with more than 20 years of experience in the field. She currently serves as the Global Head of Brand and Communications at DRW and is based out of Chicago. She’s passionate about telling complex stories, engaging in constructive debate around strategy, and building high-performing teams.

Before her time as a communications expert, Caroline earned a degree in political science and philosophy from Hillsdale College and went on to graduate from Notre Dame Law School.

Today, she is a member of Aspire’s Board of Directors and serves as an advisor to the Big Shoulder Fund on communications.

Erin Nahumyk is the Managing Director & Chief Accounting Officer of Harrison Street and is a member of the firm’s Management Committee. She is the department leader overseeing all reporting, accounting, tax and treasury functions of the firm’s real estate funds. She is also responsible for the optimization and productivity of the group’s activities, including development of finance strategy. Her team manages quarterly accounting and reporting, annual year-end audits and tax filings. Prior to joining Harrison Street, Nahumyk held the position of EVP, Chief Accounting Officer of Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL Americas), where she led the corporate finance and accounting departments as well as oversaw finance operations. Nahumyk started her career at Ernst & Young (Chicago) in the real estate assurance practice. She is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Illinois. Nahumyk received her B.A. in Accountancy from Michigan State University.

Joe Virgilio is the owner of Travel Center, Inc., a Buffalo Grove, IL, full-service travel agency business. Joe is also retired from the Highland Park Fire Department, where he served 30 years as a paramedic and firefighter.

Joe joined NorthPointe Resource’s Board of Directors in 2009 before transitioning to Aspire’s Board of Directors in 2019. He is a strong advocate for people with disabilities, centered around his love for his brother-in-law, who has a disability.
Joe holds a BA from Augustana University. He lives in Hawthorn Woods, IL, and is the proud father of three sons, Joe, Mike and Matt.

John McGuire is the Founder and Managing Member of Intertide Partners, a platform that partners with families and institutions to make exceptional investments.

Before starting Intertide Partners in 2021, John spent 15 years as the Chief Investment Officer of Pritzker Family Foundations L.L.C., an investment company that serves the families of Penny, Tom, and Gigi Pritzker and their charitable foundations. Prior to this role, John served for 3 years as a senior investment professional at Granite Associates, a New York-based family investment office. Before Granite Associates, John spent three years at Accenture, where he focused on management consulting projects in the finance industry.

John earned a BA in History from Yale University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Kari is currently a Partner at EY in the Central Region Health Assurance practice, with more than 15 years of experience in providing assurance services to public, private and nonprofit organizations as well as other health care organizations. She serves as the EY Executive Sponsor for the Entrepreneur of the Year (EOY) and Entrepreneurial Winning Women programs celebrating and honoring the achievements of unstoppable entrepreneurs.

After attending Miami University and earning a Bachelor of Science degree, Kari became a Registered Certified Public Accountant in the state of Illinois. In addition to serving on the Finance Committee of Aspire’s Board of Directors, she is also a member of the Illinois CPA Society, American Institute of Public Accountants and the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), including the First Illinois HFMA Women in Leadership Committee.

Today, Kari, her husband, John, and their four children reside in the Chicago suburb of Western Springs, Illinois.

Kristen A. Vitale is a Senior Vice President and Investment Program Manager at Chicago-based First Midwest Bank. Kristen has spent over 20 years in the financial services industry as an individual contributor and in various leadership roles. Kristen joined First Midwest in 2003 and is responsible for the overall direction of the bank’s retail investment and insurance business. In her role as Program Manager, Kristen leads a team of Financial Consultants in providing financial advice, planning, investment and insurance solutions to help business owners and retail clients reach their financial goals.

She holds the Series 7, 63, 65 and 24 securities licenses and Life and Health insurance licenses. Kristen has received recognition by the financial services industry magazine Bank Investment Consultant, having been named to the list of Top 20 Program Managers in 2015 and 2016. She has a proven track record of success in developing and executing sales strategies while maintaining a strong client focus.

Kristen is an active member with the First Midwest Bank Women’s Business Resource Group and the Advisor Council of LPL Financial. Previously, Kristen served as a board member of the First Midwest Charitable Foundation, the Hephzibah Women’s Auxiliary Board, the Board of Directors of the Professional Women’s Network and as a loaned executive to the March of Dimes. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Madeline’s expertise lies in the special education field, where she spent the past seven years of her career. She currently instructs in a K-2nd grade self-contained classroom serving students with developmental disabilities at John A. Walsh Elementary School.

Madeline earned her Bachelor of Science in Special Education from Illinois State University and Master of Education, Special Education from the University of Illinois. She has served on Aspire’s Associate Board and been an integral part of helping move our mission of inclusion forward in our communities.

Mark Boutelle serves as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Deublin Company. Deublin, owned by Hoerbiger, a Swiss company, is the global leader in rotary unions, an engineered solution that allows transfer of pressurized fluid from a stationary source into rotating machinery for heating, cooling or transfer of fluid power. Mark joined Deublin/Hoerbiger in January 2021.

Mark serves on several Advisory Boards at Marquette University, where he was honored in 2018 as the recipient of the College of Business’s Professional Achievement Award. Mark is a past Board Member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lake County, IL, and a current Board Member of Aspire of Illinois.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a minor in Economics from Marquette University. He also earned a Master of Business Administration from Marquette University, with specializations in Marketing and Finance.

Mark and his wife, Lori, have three children and reside in the north suburbs of Chicago.

Suzanne is an expert in human resources, with over 20 years of experience leading organizations through the complexities of growth and change. Currently serving as the Chief People Officer at Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP, she is changing the conversation about employee engagement, workplace well-being, and leadership development for a multigenerational workforce. Suzanne is also a Leadership Coach and member of the ICF (International Coaching Federation), after recently earning her certification at Georgetown’s Institute of Transformational Leadership.

In addition to serving as a member of Aspire’s board of directors, Suzanne is involved with the Society for Human Resources Management, the National Hispanic Corporate Council, and the Association for Talent Development.

Before discovering her passion for developing and leading people, Suzanne attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, earning an undergraduate degree in Finance and a master’s degree in Labor and Employee Relations. During her graduate studies, she co-founded the Multicultural Student Association.

As Chief Financial Officer, Serena is responsible for managing Aspire’s finances, including general operations, controls, compliance, and tax filings.

Serena is also responsible for creating sustainable financial growth for Aspire, which she has learned can only be accomplished through transparency, quality, and financial excellence. Serena strives for financial excellence because she understands that it serves to benefit the people Aspire supports and to provide the highest quality of stewardship for those who donate to Aspire.

Before joining Aspire, Serena worked at EY, a large international auditing and consulting firm. Prior to that, she was controller at Easter Seals, Inc., the headquarters of a national not-for-profit organization providing services for people with disabilities.

What is your key strategic goal for your role at Aspire? To grow Aspire’s financial strength so that Aspire can not only continue to provide services for those with different abilities, but also to expand those services.

What is the most interesting fact of your bio? I used to be an outdoor nature lover who backpacked, rock-climbed, and lived in Yosemite for a summer. Now in my free time I lead two Girl Scout troops. I am helping my daughters connect to nature and understand the importance of giving back to our community.

What do you enjoy the most about Aspire? Working with people who do not settle for the status quo. Aspire doesn’t just try to meet basic needs. It strives to be the future of not-for-profits by thinking differently and energizing all those around them, both within and around the organization.

What’s your all-time favorite book or movie and why? I am a sucker for a good mid-1800s English coming-of-age novel and repeatedly read Jane Eyre. I love her passion and her unbending will to make something of herself while not compromising her values.

What are you listening to right now? Podcasts? I am an avid listener of Freakonomics. On my playlist is anything acoustic – classical music, blues, and coffee house music.

As Chief Innovation Officer, Herb is responsible for ensuring the strategic growth and sustainability of Workforce Fulfillment, Aspire CoffeeWorks, DEI Consulting, and more. Each of these areas challenge the status quo and promote inclusion through creative solutions.

Herb sees himself as a conduit, providing opportunities for others to be empowered and maximize their own personal and professional potential. He is passionate about driving individual and team performance to create high quality and innovative life-changing opportunities for people of all abilities and the communities in which they live, learn and work.

Working his way up at Aspire, Herb has held several different roles at Aspire before becoming Chief Innovation Officer, including VP of Kids and Careers, VP of Aspire Kids, Director of Partnership, Director of Clinical Services, Community Residential Services Administrator and Behavior Analyst.

What’s your biggest challenge? My biggest challenge is also a great opportunity and passion: promoting inclusion. Helping communities learn to embrace and welcome persons with disabilities requires intent, focused effort and patience. However, the positive impact in the lives of those with and without disabilities is immeasurable.

What’s something people may not know about you? I am an unapologetic horror movie fanatic and I am absolutely fascinated by the mysteries of the universe.

What do you do in your spare time? I greatly value time with my family – which, at the moment, means a lot of time discussing Disney princesses and having princess tea parties!

As the SVP of Philanthropy, Maggie provides strategic leadership and drives growth at Aspire to achieve greater impact through philanthropy, partnerships, communications and branding. She’s honored and humbled to work alongside Aspire’s supporters, who she calls change-makers. And energized by spreading Aspire’s vision of boundless inclusivity.

Maggie is an Aspire boomerang. Maggie spent her early career at Aspire, helping Jim launch Aspire CoffeeWorks and writing Aspire’s vision. In between, she dove into deep waters, leading public relations at Shedd Aquarium, working with The New York Times, The Today Show and Time magazine. She also drove headlines for purpose-driven companies and entrepreneurs, building a start-up marketing agency.

Now, she’s come full circle. She’s here at Aspire, helping create a movement.

What is your personal mission statement? Every day is a great day. Recognize the adventure!

What’s your idea of the perfect day? It starts in the butterfly haven at Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, being mistaken for a volunteer because I know a little too much about the butterflies and love chatting with people. Then I spend hours reading a novel on a picnic blanket in front of Lincoln Park Conservatory before heading to Chinatown for hot pot.

What are you listening to? After I finish that day’s episode of Start Here, of course, to get pumped up in the morning, I listen to Aspire’s podcast Amplify Inclusion. It gives me a daily dose of inspiration that kick-starts my day. That’s only when I’m not listening to Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” on repeat.

As Chief People Officer, Sharon is responsible for managing Aspire’s People Team to include talent management, organization development, compensation/benefits and HR operations. In her role, Sharon also oversees Information Technology for the organization.

Sharon is responsible for building the HR infrastructure by applying best practices to enable Aspire’s growth strategy, which will be achieved through effective internal and external partnerships built on trust, accountability and excellence. Sharon strives to create exceptional employee experiences through People Team programs and processes, which have a direct impact on the individuals we serve.

Before joining Aspire, Sharon was an HR Executive at NorthShore University HealthSystem. Prior to that, she held HR leadership roles in financial services, hospitality and consulting.

Sharon holds a BS from the University of Illinois and an MS from Northwestern University.

What are some strategic goals specific to your role? Adopting technology and process improvements to enable efficiencies and enhance capabilities to support Aspire’s growth strategy

What’s your favorite book or movie? Marvel movies and Rom-coms

What’s currently on your playlist? Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Panic at the Disco, Little Big Town, Elton John