President: STEPHEN WEBER is the CFO of Educational Endeavors. Formerly, he was the Operation and Sales Manager for Prinz Ltd., a distributor and manufacturer of photo frames and albums. He holds an M.B.A. in International Business (2003), an M.A. in English and Creative Writing (1995), and a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1992). Before moving to Prinz, Steve was a staff accountant with Hochfelder & Weber, P.C. and a bartender at the Gingerman Tavern and Moran’s Bar and Grill. He has tutored at the Uptown Learning Center and he plays a mean lead guitar for the Chicago band, Quiet Kid.
Vice-President and Secretary: JUDY WALLENSTEIN was owner/director of Camp Nebagamon from 1988-2003. Located in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, Nebagamon is a traditional residential boys’ camp of 240 campers and a staff of 120. Being responsible for the fun, feeding, planning, health, and management of this communitylet alone paying the billswere amongst her daily duties. Before camp Judy free-lanced as a foodie, teaching classes at Marshall Field’s and testing recipes at the Sun-Times. She also owned her own gourmet food store, the original Food Works on Armitage Ave. After graduating from the University of Illinois with a degree in education, she was a teacher and social worker. Her hobbies involve cooking, entertaining, being in the out-of-doors, exercising, gardening, and reading.
Treasurer: MATTHEW BIECKER is a Senior Financial Analyst in the Retail Strategic Business Unit of Morningstar, Inc. He received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management in 2005, he is a certified public accountant, and he holds a BS from Ohio State University. Previously, Matthew has been the Director of Financial Operations and Operations Support for Semaphore Partners, and he has worked with Arthur Andersen LLP.
Directors:
ANTHONY ANDERSON, born and raised in Chicago, currently finds himself living in Los Angeles where he is in the arduous final stages of becoming a licensed Architect. Anthony has spent the last three years with Daly Genik Architects where much of his focus has been on the design of several buildings for the Camino Nuevo Charter Academy. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Columbia
University and a Master of Architecture degree from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). But his greatest achievement to this day, he feels, has been the successful 30 seconds of barefoot waterskiing while at summer camp in Wisconsin.
MARIAN ANDERSON is the mother of Joseph Anderson, a Dreamer since the summer of 2007, and Mark Anderson, a sophomore at Mount Carmel. Marian has been the president of the PTA for the last several years and has always been active on parents’ councils at her children’s schools. She has also led fundraising at St. Sabina Academy and, before that, worked in management at UPS for 19 years.
JASON BURRELL, a native Chicagoan, was raised in Hyde Park where he attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools from kindergarten through High School. Jason spent four years in Washington, D.C., where he received a B.A. in English from Georgetown University. Returning to Chicago in the summer of 1994, Jason spent five years working in the service industry for the Levy Restaurant Group. In the winter of 1999, Jason and a co-worker set out on their own and opened The Long Room, a Lakeview tavern which continues to flourish in a steadily growing area. Jason owns and manages the real estate on which The Long Room operates, including residential and retail tenants. In 2003, Jason obtained a real estate license and joined his mother's company, Burrell Realty, as a sales associate. Burrell Realty specializes in the residential market, as well as investment properties and office leasing.
CHARRESE CALDWELL, born and raised on the west side of Chicago, worked with Bank One for fifteen years. She studied accounting and English-at-work at the American Institution of Banking and also attended International Aviation and Travel Academy in Texas and Northwestern Business College on Chicago’s north side. Charrese’s daughter, Jena Thomas, has been enrolled in the Camp of Dreams since 2004.
DEBBI DAMESHEK, born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, has lived in Chicago for the last 14 years. She studied Fashion Merchandising at the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont and has spent the last 13 years working as an HR Consultant for Hewitt Associates in Lincolnshire, IL. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling the US to visit her 5 nephews and her niece, loves to vacation in warmer climates, and she studies ballet.
ERIC DAVIS has extensive experience in the education sector – he has designed, operated, and consulted on programs with public, charter, and private schools, non-profit organizations, camps, and community colleges. Eric has coached, taught middle- and high-school English, and served as Executive Director for several organizations. Eric refined his innovative approach to teaching and learning as founder and director of Educational Endeavors (www.educationalendeavors.org) and as founder and current board member of Camp of Dreams (www.campofdreams.org). Eric was recently appointed Executive Director of the Illinois Education Foundation (www.iledfoundation.org) and continues his pursuit of learning at international conferences, workshops, and through the daily interaction he enjoys with professionals dedicated to improving lives of youth and adults.
CHRIS HARPER graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business. At Penn, Chris was the captain of the men’s varsity track team and became the only person in the Ivy League to win a race four consecutive years (outdoor 200m). After several years in corporate America and helping to start an elementary school Chris has started his own training and fitness company, Apex Training & Wellness, and a Subway sandwich franchise. Chris currently serves on the board of the Camp of Dreams and the auxiliary board for High Jump Chicago.
LOIS HAUSELMAN has spent the last twenty-three years as co-founder and executive editor of Other Voices, an award winning literary magazine housed at the UIC in Chicago. Previously, she was an account executive in an advertising firm in San Francisco and scriptwriter and film consultant with Lifestyle Productions in Chicago. The company produced many short films, which included "Where Is Dead?" a short film dealing with death for children and adults which made its way into public and private schools and won a prestigious Cinema-Chicago Film award. She takes great pride in having been the first woman in l20 years to become president of the Anshe Emet Synagogue and equally values having been the Coach of the Anshe Emet Eagles Girls Softball Team for eighteen years. Married to Marty (who never stops practicing law) for forty three years, they've become very-frequent-fliers to LA, Denver, and Japan visiting kids and grandkids. Between flights, Lois continues to write, paint and play tennis.
BUD HERZOG grew up in Highland Park, Ill. and graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor with a BBA degree. Bud then started a 40 year career in the insurance business with Eliel and Loeb Co. and Meeker-Magner Co. One of his specialties was camp insurance. At one time, Bud insured 17 camps, a few of which were non-profit organizations. Camp Nebagamon was Bud's first introduction to camping, spending 10 years there as a camper and counselor. Bud also has attended Camp Nebagamon's Family Camp each year for the past 25 years. After retirement, Bud now enjoys time with his wife of 41 years, Hazel, and their 3 children and their families, including 6 grandchildren. His hobbies include traveling, fishing, biking, classical music, piano playing, writing songs, and attending Alumni classes at Northwestern.
LINDA KONOP is the Director of Canine Concierge Services, Director of Education and Vice President of Human Resources, Community Relations and Operations at Top Dog Productions. At Top Dog she works with dogs from a variety of backgrounds to ensure their well-being and happiness. Linda has a Me.D. in Teaching from DePaul University (2005) and a B.A. in History from Kenyon College (1998). She has a variety of experience in the camping industry including 14 summers as a camper, counselor, Tennis Director and Director of Wilderness Education at Camp Birch Trail in Minong, Wisconsin and two summers as the Tennis Director at the JCC Apachi Chicago Day Camp in Chicago.
HEATHER McCLEAN is an Associate Director in the Office of Gift Planning at the University of Chicago. Prior to working with the University of Chicago, Heather was an Associate with Baker and McKenzie LLP. Heather received her J.D. from Northwestern University Law School and her B.A. from Vassar College. She is a Junior Board Member with the Heartland Alliance and a cellist with the Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra. She is also a longtime and proud resident of Chicago.
VERONDA J. PITCHFORD is the Vice President of Membership and Communications at the Urban Libraries Council, a 150+ membership organization of metropolitan public libraries and the corporations that serve them throughout North America. She has an undergraduate degree in Public Relations from Central Michigan University and a Masters degree in Library and Information Science from North Carolina Central University, a Historically Black College in Durham, North Carolina. She serves on the boards of Friends of Libraries USA (FOLUSA), Chicago's Neighborhood Writing Alliance which produces the Journal of Ordinary Thought and the Illinois Center for the Book. In her not so recent past she worked as an academic librarian at UIC, sold tunes at a tiny college town record store and was a Gap sales girl. She is a die-hard library chick.
JOHN H. PRATT is the President of Boomerang Information Services, Inc., a Chicago-based research and information firm serving legal and lending institutions. Prior to this position, John worked for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago as Director of the Annual Fund and Interim Vice President of Development, and The Alford Group, Inc., a consulting firm serving non-profit organizations. John received both a B.A. in English and an M.B.A. from Indiana University. His civic commitments include serving as past president of Youth Organization Umbrella’s Junior Board and the Secretary for the Franklin Square Foundation, a family foundation in Chicago, IL.
ANN REARDON is a Senior Associate at Mercer Human Resource Consulting, a global leader for HR and related financial advice, products, and services. Prior to working with Mercer she worked as a consultant at Hewitt Associates. She received her Bachelor of Science from Michigan State University and is a licensed Insurance Agent in the State of Illinois. Ann has also worked at the following organizations; National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse, W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Foundation and the Council Against Domestic Abuse.