Board Members - Senior Care Volunteer Network

Current SCVN Board
Past Board Members

Current SCVN Board

Bob Graham

Chairperson

Bob grew up in Arlington Heights prior to attending Bowling Green State University, where he earned his degree in Industrial Education. While at Bowling Green, he met his wife Karen of 49 years. Over the course of his career, Bob served in the United States Air Force as an instructor pilot for 10 years and retired from American Airlines in 2011 after 26 years of service. Bob and his family reside in Crystal Lake. He has volunteered with The Sparrow’s Nest, Willow Creek Church, Faith in Action (prior to changing our name to SCVN) and continues to dedicate time volunteering at Habitat for Humanity ReStore.

Kate Eisenmenger

Vice Chairperson

Kate has served the communities of Northern Illinois including McHenry, Kane, Lake, and Boone counties for over 16 years providing home care services to seniors and their families. She understands the needs, challenges, and goals for families providing care at home. Her passion is educating and connecting families with the resources they need to thrive.

A 1995 graduate of Rockford University, she holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Human Development. She is a Certified Dementia Practitioner and Certified Montessori Dementia Care Practitioner.

Kate lives with her “partner-in-crime,” Robert, and their blended family (including two crazy Australian Shepherds and an orange tabby cat, Mayhem) in Inverness. Kate enjoys her large extended family, fitness, camping, hiking, and coaching soccer.

Joan Van Allen

Secretary

Joan has over 15 years of financial industry experience, including banking, insurance, retirement benefits and investing, and is an Edward Jones financial advisor.

A graduate of Roosevelt University, she holds a degree in computer science and certificates in financial planning and management and is currently working toward the ChFC (Chartered Financial Consultant) designation from The American College of Finance.

Joan has been a resident of Cary since 1998 and is the proud mom of two Cary-Grove High School graduates. She is an active volunteer in the community and also serves on the board of directors of the Cary-Grove Chamber of Commerce and the Volunteer Center of McHenry County.

Dave Ward

Treasurer

Dave's bio coming soon

Gina O'Connor

Director

A passion for serving and connecting families to services is what motivates Gina in career and volunteer opportunities. After graduating with a Masters Degree in Family Studies from Kent State University, Gina has worked in several roles (Activities Director, Social Worker, and Admission Director) in the senior health care field for over 15 years. Serving as a Care Pastor for Willow Crystal Lake and President of the McHenry County Task Force on Aging are areas that allow Gina to reach out to the community and connect, educate and serve others in need. Gina sees her role on the Board of Directors for the Senior Care Volunteer Network as an opportunity to ensure that the safety and well being needs of seniors in the McHenry County area are being met. “To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world” is an important motivating quote to Gina, SCVN is an agency that allows Gina to ensure that every senior has “That One”. Gina lives in Lakewood with her husband and three daughters; she enjoys traveling, fitness, and spending time with family.

Ken Nicholsen

Director

In 1983, Ken formed Systems Live Ltd, a small consulting group focused on business process engineering and custom financial software development. Since then he has led more than 100 significant IT projects, serving primarily Fortune 500 clients. Meanwhile, as the role of the internet in business grew, he expanded SLL's services to include professional web sites and web-based applications under the name 3 Step Internet. For the last fifteen years, he has focused on providing properly designed, effective websites to a diverse client base. Ken has been active with the Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce for 14 years, including service on their Board of Directors and President's Council. He also currently chairs the Business 2 Business Networking Group.

Jennifer Johnson

Director

Jennifer L. Johnson is a partner with Zanck, Coen, Wright & Saladin, P.C., having been with the firm since 2005. Jennifer graduated with a B.A. from Marshall University in 2002 and earned her J.D. (cum laude) from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 2005. Jennifer is admitted to Illinois Bar, the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, and the Trial Bar of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois. A faculty member of Sterling Education Services and the National Business Institute, she’s led several Illinois workshops on collection and landlord / tenant law. Jennifer further handles adult guardianship, probate, real estate transactions and general civil litigation matters.

Lauren Schmakel

Director

Lauren has been serving the senior community of McHenry County for nearly 20 years as a healthcare professional. Providing in-home caregiving services is not only a career for Lauren but a true passion.
Lauren received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Columbia College of Missouri in 2018 and has been a Certified Nursing Assistant since 2002. She also carries the designation of Certified Dementia Practitioner.
Lauren is a lifelong resident of McHenry County, and she currently lives in Woodstock with her husband, Warren. They enjoy spending their time with family, friends, and participating in local volleyball, bowling, and dart leagues. Lauren volunteers as a co-leader for the Army National Guard Family Readiness Group out of Champaign, Illinois.

Lindsay Halik

Director

A lifelong resident of McHenry County, Lindsay graduated with her Bachelor's in social work and a minor in Criminal Justice from Aurora University in 2021. She is driven by a passion to serve her community and better the lives of those around her.

She currently works in State Senator Villa's District Office as the Community Service Director. In this role she works to resolve both individual and community issues through resources, state agency navigation help and legislation. She currently chairs the Senator's senior advisory committee giving her a wealth of knowledge relating to senior issues and has worked with this group to pass SB1633 which worked to further ensure rights for nursing home residents.

In her free time, she enjoys connecting with nature, investing in her spirituality, writing, reading and enjoying time with friends and family.

Betsy Malpica

Director

Betsy serves as Senior Director of Community Impact & Marketing for Wasson Enterprise (WE), a single-family investment office that invests in what's good: good ideas, good people, and good impacts. She leads their social impact initiatives, focused on empowering the Wasson Enterprise team to do more good within their communities. Additionally, she supports a variety of WE’s portfolio partners with their marketing, communications, and event management efforts, as well as supporting WE’s own marketing strategies. Prior to Wasson Enterprise, Betsy worked at GEMS World Academy Chicago, Presence Health, Walgreens, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Betsy earned a Bachelor of Science in Recreation, Park and Tourism Administration from Western Illinois University and holds a Certificate in Meeting, Convention and Exposition Management from Roosevelt University.

Past Board Members

Bob Blazier

Board Member Emeritus

Bob is retired from CL District 47, the Centegra Foundation, and most recently as president of the CL Chamber. Having failed retirement, like many of our hard working members, he now works for Home State Bank as a Commercial Community Relations Officer and serves on several not-for-profit boards.

Jim Thorpe

Past Board Member

Jim received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign. He has been the President & CEO of Crystal Lake Bank since 2000. He has always been active in the community and has served on many boards including the United Way, the Centegra Foundation and the Raue Center for the Arts. He has also been involved in several Rotary clubs and is a Leadership of Greater McHenry County graduate. Jim lives in Crystal Lake with his wife Beth and they have three daughters. In his spare time Jim likes to go boating, waterskiing, motorcycling and hunting

Justin Hansen

Past Board Member

Justin Hansen is a Circuit Judge for the Twenty-Second Judicial Circuit in McHenry County. Immediately preceding to his appointment, Judge Hansen was an attorney at Swanson, Martin & Bell. Prior to that he worked at Cowlin, Naughton, Curran & Coppedge. He successfully represented individual, corporate and municipal clients in a wide variety of matters including medical malpractice, contract, land use, and criminal and traffic cases. He obtained his J.D. from DePaul University and his undergraduate degree from Augustana College. Judge Hansen and his family live in unincorporated Crystal Lake and he is active in the community.

John McCallag

Past Board Member

John received his Bachelor's Degree in Finance from DePaul University. He worked as a Divisional Manger for Combined Insurance Company for many years. From there, he went on to become President & CEO of Illinois Life Insurance Company. Since 1993 John has been the President & CEO of Financial Services, Inc. in McHenry. He is an active member of McHenry County Chamber of Commerce and the Treasurer and board member of the McHenry County Task Force on Aging.