CAN Board of Directors

ABOUT CAN

BOARD OF DIRECTORS, COMMITTEE MEMBERS,
AND STAFF PROFILES

Advisory Council • Committee Members • Staff • Community Center Directors

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dave McLeod (Chair) is an attorney with Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone.

Marita Inglehart (Vice Chair) is a psychologist and a faculty member at the University of Michigan. She conducts research on how to reduce oral health disparities and increase access to oral health care for children. She will work on finding ways to bring preventive oral health care to Hikone and Green Baxter Court.

Cedric Simpson (Secretary): Judge Simpson was appointed Chief Judge of the 14A District Court in January 2002, after being appointed to the Bench in September of 1999. He was elected to a full term in November 2000 and currently presides over the 14A-1 District Court located at the Washtenaw County Service Center. He has a BS (Summa Cum Laude) from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and a Juris Doctor from the University of Maryland. He was with the firm of Hamilton, McDonald, P.C. from 1986 until his appointment to the Bench. His career was primarily devoted to civil and criminal litigation, municipal ordinance enforcement, with a concentration in HUD subsidized housing and landlord/tenant affairs.

Joan Pitera (Treasurer) is a Vice President at J P Morgan.

Linda Bennett (Director) is Chief Advancement Officer, Glacier Hills Foundation. Linda’s career in fund-raising began with successfully completing the WCC’s capital campaign to building the Morris Lawrence Building where she learned to listen and act upon donor ideas. As the Executive Director for Major Gifts, SE Michigan, Office of the VP for Development, Linda conceived, planned and presented the elegant Angell Society Dinner at the Ritz Carlton Hotel that recognized individuals who had given $1 million or more to the University’s Michigan Difference Campaign. Linda’s roots are in health care with a BS degree from Ohio State University in Speech and Hearing Therapy and graduate degrees from the University of Michigan in Speech Pathology and Master of Public Health in Health Gerontology. She considers her position at Glacier Hills to be the capstone of her career and the opportunity to bring all her experience and education together.

Stephen Borgsdorf (Director) is an Attorney with Dykema Gossett PLLC

Mike Conboy (Director) is a retired Research Program Manager from the University of Michigan Industrial Development Division. His experience includes elementary teaching, auto industry marketing, consulting for corporations and public agencies and the Director of Michigan Department of Economic Expansion. He works as a volunteer naturalist for Ann Arbor Public Schools, acts as the Steward of Thurston Nature Center, and is the Executive Director of the Serendipity Reading Club.

Mary Danforth (Director) is a Consultant with Peach Mountain Computing. She has many years experience in the Computer industry, formerly serving as VP of Product Development for two software companies, Operations Manager for a systems development company, and Senior Product Manager for a software company.

Judy Gardner (Director) is Tech. Operations Supervisor for Washtenaw County

Meredith Lovelace (Director) is Director of Project Management, Inner Circle Media where she manages client projects, oversees the firms' marketing and public relations efforts, and develops project management processes and systems. Meredith is a journalism graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with more than nine years' experience in communications and marketing. She has been a writer and editor at a variety of business and niche publications, as well as webmistress at several non-profits. Most recently, Meredith was the marketing director at the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce. Meredith sings in the UMS Choral Union and coaches the St. Francis Mustang's seventh grade girls basketball team. She is a recent graduate of Leadership Ann Arbor and serves on the Ann Arbor Area Chamber's marketing committee and the Ann Arbor IT Zone's marketing roundtable.

Sheryl Prince (Director) is an IT employee at The University of Michigan. She has lived in the Ann Arbor area since 1994 and has a teenage son who attends Community High School. As a UM student in 1992, Sheryl was enrolled in a sociology course that enabled her to volunteer at Hikone one day a week. In 1997/1998 she again volunteered at Hikone in the computer room assisting the children. Since then her volunteer activities have mostly been in the Ann Arbor Public Schools, especially with the Black Parent and Student Support Group. She also served on the interview committees for several top level district administrators as well as on the New High School's redistricting committee. Her main passion has always been working to improve the lives of children. Sheryl serves on the CAN Communications Committee.

ADVISORY COUNCIL

Sue Burton is a continuing CAN Board member. She was employed by the Ann Arbor Public Schools for many years, and retired in 1994. She is a devoted community volunteer.

Mikki (Mentzel) Hill earned her MSW in May of 2006 and is working on her Infant Mental Health Certificate. Mikki first was involved with CAN in the fall of 1998 as a volunteer. She then continued working with the organization at Hikone for four years, holding every possible position from volunteer to after school program director. Mikki received her Bachelors of Social Work from Eastern Michigan University in August of 2002. Mikki recently became the proud mother of her first baby, Sianna Rose.

Linda King is employed at Washtenaw Community College, as Special Community Group Education, Continuing Education And Community Services. Linda also serves on the Gateway Community Board, The Washtenaw Community Health Organization Board, and The Senior Advisory Committee of the Catholic Social Service Board. She would like to link up interested adults at Hikone and Green Baxter Court with WCC programs.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Tina Bissell holds degrees in art history, and more recently a MSI from the School of Information Studies at The University of Michigan. She is the Business Manager of MUCI, the Michigan University Commercialization Initiative. She has worked as a curator of a visual resources library and as an information architect. Tina is also a member of Temple Beth Emeth Sisterhood Board.

John Chamberlin is Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, where he has taught since 1970. He teaches courses on ethics and public policy, statistics, and nonprofit management. He has a BS in Industrial Engineering from Lehigh University and a PhD in Business Administration from Stanford. He serves on the CAN finance committee.

Joyce Meier is a Lecturer in English Language and Literature, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. Her class "Community Writing & Popular Culture" is designed around volunteering. She is a grant recipient of The Arts of Citizenship Program at U-M for public and community-based scholarly work in the arts, the humanities, and design. Joyce serves on the CAN Communications Committee.

Francine Fein is a technical writer and graphic artist and has been a volunteer for Washtenaw Literacy and a number of youth-oriented programs over the past 20 years. Francine serves on the CAN Communications Committee.

STAFF

Joan Doughty holds MS and PhD degrees in Human Service Studies from Cornell University as well as a BA in Child Development and Criminal Justice from the University of Minnesota. Prior to joining CAN, she coordinated a program for children of incarcerated parents. She was a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for the Washtenaw County Juvenile Court for six years and currently serves on the Michigan Commission on Juvenile Justice. Joan is a passionate advocate for families living in poverty.

Carla Freeman (Deputy Director). Carla holds a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Sienna Heights College and is completing her Master of Arts in Social Foundations at Eastern Michigan University. She is a Certified Teacher with 3 years social work experience. At the Judson Center, in addition to her role as Life Skills Training Specialist she worked in other capacities writing grants, developing new program concepts, marketing programs to schools, and working with educational leaders to advance education in Washtenaw County.

Leslie Paulson (community needs assessment coordinator). Leslie holds a B.A. Degree from Michigan State University with a concentration in Pre-Law Cognate Psychology. For the past year she worked with the Michigan Primary Care Association’s Community HealthCorps as an Outreach Specialist, devoting her time to health related outreach efforts within the underserved communities their Community Health Centers support.

Sue Keller (Bookkeeper)

COMMUNITY CENTER DIRECTORS

Maurice Cheetham earned a B.S. in Criminal Justice from Florida A&M University, Tallahassee Florida in 1999. Prior to his position as Community Center Director at Green Baxter Court, Maurice worked with youth from diverse cultures and backgrounds, providing program planning and development, mentorship, and recruitment. Maurice most recently served as a Youth Counselor in a program for girls ages 11-17 in need of treatment for mental health problems, substance abuse, trauma recovery, and other psychosocial issues, and as Program Administrator for 5 after-school programs in Detroit, which provided services to over 200 weekly participants. Maurice enjoys working with youth and shows a true calling to serve the community in this capacity — having "a sincere desire to show youth positive alternatives in life."

Aaron C. Pressel earned an A.B. in Political Science and History in April 2005 from The University of Michigan and an A.B. in Secondary Education with High Distinction in December 2006. Aaron also holds a Provisional Secondary Teacher Certificate for the State of Michigan; Adult, Child, and Infant CPR Certification; and Adult and Child AED and First Aid Certification. Since February 2007 Aaron has served as Interim Director and Program Coordinator at Hikone. Prior to this position, Aaron was Program Assistant, Camp Counselor, and Head Cook at Green Baxter Court. In the summers of 2004 and 2005 Aaron was Head Baseball Coach for Ann Arbor Rec & Ed's Fourth and Fifth Grade teams.