Our People

Board

Executive Board Members

Melissa Skinner-Liberman, Chair
Junior League of Springfield Representative

Melissa graduated from Illinois State University with a B.S. in elementary education and from the University of Illinois at Springfield with an M.A. in teacher leadership. After teaching at Farmingdale Elementary School, Melissa also taught in Chicago and served as the Director of Advancement for St. John Berchmans School in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood. Locally, she is involved with Lincoln Memorial Garden, Junior League of Springfield, Girl Scouts of Central Illinois, Springfield Youth Performance Group, and Springfield Art Association. Melissa joined the Ronald McDonald House Board in October 2014 where she serves as a member of the Development Committee. Melissa and her husband Colin keep busy with their children Anna, Owen, Alice, and Ernie.

Don Forrest, Vice Chair
Business Development Manager, Farnsworth Group

Don Forrest is a Business Development Manager with Farnsworth Group, a national professional architecture and engineering firm.  He has been with the corporation for 23 years, serving primarily in the Peoria, IL office.  Forrest grew up in a rural community in Central Illinois, graduated from Illinois State University with a degree in geography, and performed graduate work in American history.  He has served on a number of boards and committees including the Greater Peoria Economic Development Council, Peoria Area Chamber, Community Foundation of Central Illinois, Workforce Development, Peoria Area Shared Services Forward, Rural Partners, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and many other local, regional, and statewide organizations.

Ann Ramey, Secretary
Behavioral Consultant, Visions LLC

Ann Ramey is a native of Buffalo, IL. Since 2012, Ann has worked as the Licensed Clinical Social Worker for the Illinois Crisis Prevention Network, providing consultation, training, support and expertise in the area of crisis interventions. She has six years of experience working in community mental health. Ann joined the Ronald McDonald House board in January 2014 and serves on the Review Committee.

Amy L. Sherwood, Vice Secretary
Partner, Sikich LLP

Amy is a native of southeastern Illinois and has lived in Springfield, IL for nearly 20 years. Amy graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1995, where she met her husband, Rase. As a partner at Sikich LLP, Amy’s primary focus is providing audit and attest services to State government and not-for-profit entities. Amy joined the Ronald McDonald House board in October 2014 and presently serves on the Review Committee. She also serves the Springfield community through the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, West Side Christian Church, and Springfield Christian School. Amy and Rase have two children, Kaytlin and Rase Jr. Amy enjoys many hours at basketball and baseball games, and relishes the time she spends and memories created with her family on annual vacations.

Megan Mitchell, Board Treasurer
Director of Business Operations, Memorial Medical Center

Megan Mitchell is a native of northern Illinois and has lived in Springfield for the last seven years. Since 2013, Megan works as the Finance Manager for Perioperative Services for Memorial Medical Center, an affiliate of Memorial Health System. Megan’s previous roles within the Health System include both Treasury Analyst and Accounting Analyst with the Finance Division. She has over 12 years of extensive Accounting and Finance experience with for-profit and non-for-profit entities. Megan joined the Ronald McDonald House board in June 2012 and serves as Board Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee.

Cheri Plummer, Board Vice Treasurer
Commercial Risk Consultant, Lee O'Keefe Insurance Agency

Cheri Plummer is a commercial insurance producer for Lee/O’Keefe Insurance Agency in Springfield. Prior to her insurance career Cheri spent 14 years in the financial industry with her primary focus in residential lending. Cheri enjoys volunteering with several community organizations- Illinois Women in Leadership, Springfield Rotary South and The Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce. She resides in Rochester with her husband Chris and 2 daughters- Paige and Libby. Cheri has been a member of the RMHCCI board since 2012.  She serves on the Fundraising Committee and is the Vice Treasurer.

Gary Birschbach
McDonald's Owner/Operator

Gary Birschbach is an Owner/Operator of three McDonald’s restaurants in Decatur, Illinois. Gary started working for McDonald’s as a Junior in High School in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin in November of 1969. After working several levels of Management for an Owner/Operator in Wisconsin, Gary purchased his first Restaurant in Piedmont, Missouri in 1995. In 2000 Gary had an opportunity to buy two restaurants in Decatur, which grew to seven restaurants in 2007. He then sold four of the seven restaurants in 2009.  Gary has been married for over forty years to Laura, whom he met at McDonald’s, and has five children, all married. They enjoy each of their thirteen grandchildren. Gary’s passions include the McDonald’s business, RMHC, and the Green Bay Packers.

Board Members

Jamie Baird
Program Manager/US Engineer, Levi, Ray & Shoup, Inc.

Jamie Baird is a Program Manager/US Engineer at Levi, Ray and Shoup, Inc. within the Web Solutions® division. He has spent the majority of his life in Central Illinois where he graduated from Robert Morris University and met his wife, Stephanie. They have a daughter, Grace, and a son, Wesley. Jamie joined the board in May 2015.

Justin Ball
Vice President for Enrollment Management, Bradley University

Justin Ball is the Vice President for Enrollment Management at Bradley University and has a passion for promoting access and affordability to higher education. He serves on the board of the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce and is an active member at Redeemer Lutheran Church. Justin was born in Peoria and grew up in Canton, IL. He earned his M.B.A. from St. Ambrose University, Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Leadership Studies from University of Iowa, and is a lifelong learner. Justin lives with his wife, Jessica, and daughter, Chloe, in Mapleton, IL.

Mina Biggs
Vice President of Human Resources, Hanson Professional Services Inc.

Mina Biggs joined Hanson in 2015 as vice president of human resources. She oversees the human resources team and is responsible for the direction of the firm's talent management strategies. Her areas of expertise include HR strategy; leadership development and coaching; talent management, including succession planning; talent acquisition; change management; organization design; merger and acquisition integration; performance management; employee relations; and compensation and benefits.

Prior to joining Hanson, Mina was a human resources staff manager at Allstate Corp. in Northbrook, Illinois, and a director of human resources at financial service firm UBS Global Asset Management in Chicago.

She earned a bachelor's degree in management with an emphasis in human resources from Northern Illinois University (NIU) and an executive master of business administration from the University of Illinois at Chicago. In 2013, she received NIU's College of Business Alumni of the Year Award from the Department of Management.

Mina joined our Board of Directors in July 2019.

Terry Clark
McDonald's Owner/Operator

Terry Clark and his family own 16 McDonald's Restaurants in the Peoria, IL area. Terry has been working for McDonald's 48 years. Having worked his way up through management and supervision to eventually being a McDonalds Owner in 1982. Terry has served on multiple non-for-profit Organizations as well as McDonald's Committee’s. Terry and Nadyne have been married for 45 years and have three children and five grandchildren. Along with Nadyne, their son and daughters are also heavily involved in the McDonald's business in central Illinois. Serving and helping others has always proved to be a blessing for the Clark family. Terry is serving as the co-chair for the Peoria Ronald McDonald House Capital Campaign, and he has been heavily involved in charity work through his church in Peoria as well.

Mark Denzler
President & Chief Executive Officer, Illinois Manufacturers’ Association

Mark Denzler is the President & Chief Executive Officer for the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association (IMA), a statewide advocacy organization representing nearly 4,000 member companies and facilities.

Prior to the IMA, Denzler served in various posts including overseeing Illinois government affairs for State Farm Insurance. He served as director of government affairs for the IMA and was a legislative analyst in the General Assembly focusing on taxes, education and transportation. Denzler acted as liaison for the House Republican Caucus to Governor Edgar’s Eikenberry Commission on School Funding.

Denzler was appointed by Governor Pat Quinn and reappointed by Governor Bruce Rauner to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Advisory Board. He served on the Board of Directors for the Midwest affiliate of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Lincoln Public Library, Lincoln Library Foundation (president), and currently sits on the National Public Affairs Steering Committee for the National Association of Manufacturers. He was a 2015 selection as an Edgar Fellow at the University of Illinois and a graduate of the inaugural class (2015) of the Crain’s Chicago Business Leadership Academy.

Denzler is a 1993 graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University and currently lives in Springfield with his wife (Debbi) and son (C.J.).

M. Jawad Javed, MD, FAAP

Neonatologist—Division Head / Medical Director, OSF HealthCare Children’s Hospital of Illinois

Jawad is the Division Head and Medical Director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Children’s Hospital of Illinois.  A native of the Midwest, Jawad grew up in Northwest Indiana and has been a resident of the Peoria community for the past decade.  He completed his pediatric residency training in Peoria, IL and his neonatal fellowship at Indiana University School of Medicine.

Jawad is tremendously committed to newborn care and improving outcomes in this population.   He has been involved in the education and research of pediatricians over the past decade both regionally and nationally.  In addition, he sits on numerous faculty committees on scholarship, quality, research, and patient outcomes both at the Children’s Hospital of Illinois and the University of Illinois College of Medicine.  Jawad is an avid Chicago sports fan (Cubs, Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks).

Jawad resides in Dunlap, IL with his wife, Zohra, who is also a pediatrician in the Peoria community. They have 1 daughter (Mahek) and two sons (Humza and Zayan). He is very excited and humbled to be selected to be a new member of the Board of RMHCCI.

Brian Jones
Attorney, Sorling Northrup

Brian Jones is a shareholder attorney at Sorling Northrup with a transactional practice including the areas of banking, real estate and entity formation. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he received his J.D., in addition to a B.S. and MBA, both in finance. Brian and his wife, Kristi, live in Springfield with their two daughters, Hannah and Sydney. Brian joined the Board in May 2015.

Jeffery Large
Project Manager, Crawford, Murphy & Tilly

Jeff Large is a Project Manager at Crawford, Murphy & Tilly, where he has worked since graduating from the University of Illinois. He is a native of Taylorville, Illinois and currently resides in Springfield with his wife, Kate. Jeff and Kate have one son, David, and twin daughters, Alice and Rosemary. Jeff joined the RMHCCI board in January 2015.

Julie Locke
Founder, The DAX Foundation

Julie Locke is the Founder of The DAX Foundation and also is currently serving as the co-chair for the Peoria Ronald McDonald House Capital Campaign. Julie has a strong heartfelt commitment for serving children who are battling cancer and is thrilled to be part of the project to help double the impact of RMHCCI in the central Illinois region with the addition of a new House in Peoria. Julie resides proudly in Washington, IL and is married to Devin Moore. They have one daughter Madeline who is 7.

David Matthews
Retired, Prophetstown

David Matthews is a recently retired community banker from Prophetstown located in northwest Illinois.

For over 30 years, Dave was Executive Vice President and a member of the Board of Directors of a $600 million community bank. Upon retirement, he and his wife, Cathy, relocated to Washington, Illinois to be near their family and 5 small grandchildren. Additionally, he served for 25 years as President of a Community Foundation, helped to form an Education Foundation for the local schools and served on a number of boards and committees of various local community organizations.

Dave is a graduate of Illinois State University majoring in Economics and accounting. Dave and Cathy are members of Connect Church in Washington. They both are very much looking forward to being a part of Ronald McDonald Charities, a great organization serving others.

Jack Millan
McDonald's Owner/Operator

Jack Millan located to Central Illinois in 1989 when he and his wife, Gail, were first given the opportunity to become McDonald's franchisees. They have grown from that first restaurant to now owning seven, all small town locations in six different counties and are now partnering with a son-in-law and daughter in the business. Jack is active in all of his communities with various activities, organizations and sponsorships. He is also very active in several McDonald's committees and teams. He joined the RMHC Board in 2011 and considers it to be one of his most rewarding endeavors.

MaryBeth Miller
Operations Manager, HSHS St. John's Hospital, Women and Children's Center

I began my career at St. John’ in 1985 as a staff nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit as a staff nurse. Through the years following I took on various roles and responsibilities including charge nurse, transport nurse, assistant manager and neonatal outreach educator. I was the NICU nurse manager for 8 years just prior to accepting my current position.

As the operations manager I support the leadership team in the Women and Children’s Center. This includes pediatric/PICU, NICU and the Women and Infant Center (labor and delivery, OB intermediated care, OB emergency department and mother baby units). In addition, I am the nursing clinical lead for the NICU renovation project.

My career has been rich and varied and so rewarding, but the babies and their families are truly my heart and always will be.

My husband Scott (deceased) and I have three adult children: Eric who lives in Denver, Allison (husband Steve and daughter Claire) who lives in St. Louis and Meredith who lives in Rochester, IL. My free time is spent reading, gardening, birding and just spending time outdoors with friends and family.

Christopher Setti
Chief Executive Officer, Greater Peoria Economic Development Council (GPEDC)

Chris is responsible for the successful development, implementation, measuring and sharing of Greater Peoria's regional economic development strategy through positive partnerships with local, regional, state, and federal public and private partners. Chris has worked in the economic development field since 2005. He worked for the City of Peoria for twelve years, the last five of which were serving as the Assistant City Manager and Director of Economic Development. He joined GPEDC in early 2018. Prior to his work in economic development, Chris spent 10 years in social services as a program manager and executive leader.

Chris has a Bachelor of Arts in Government and International Relations from the University of Notre Dame and his Master Degree in Public Administration from the University of Colorado. Chris and his wife, Eileen, have two daughters and live on the West Bluff of Peoria.

Julie Welch
Director of Children’s Services, OSF HealthCare Children's Hospital of Illinois

Julie Welch is the Director of Children’s Services at Children’s Hospital Of Illinois. After moving around the United States and being fortunate to have been part of some prestigious children’s hospitals such as Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and Children’s National Medical Center, three years ago she returned to OSF HealthCare System where she began her nursing career. She is active in various nursing organizations and community activities. She began her relationship with the Ronald McDonald House Charities as a volunteer, then a board member of RMHC of Northwest Florida. She is excited to be a new member of the Board of RMHCCI.

Evan Westlake
Vice President, Commercial Lending, Illinois National Bank

Evan has been on the Board since September 2012.  He began his role as Board President in January 2015.  Evan is a proud graduate of the University of Illinois, where he met his lovely wife, Courtney.  Courtney and Evan have two children, Connor and Brenna, and reside in Springfield. During the day, he is a Vice President of Commercial Lending at Illinois National Bank. Evan most recently served as Board Chair from 2014-18.

Pat Young
Human Resources Assistant Vice President, Bank of Springfield

Patricia Young is a native of Chicago, IL and has lived in Chatham, IL for the last five years. Since 2010, Patricia has worked for Bank of Springfield, a growing local community bank where she now serves as the Human Resources Assistant Vice President. She has over 13 years of extensive HR experience with both large and small employers. She also serves as the Website Administration Chair for CIC-Society for Human Resources Management. Patricia joined the Ronald McDonald House board in July 2013.  She is the Board Secretary and serves on the Human Resources and Grant Writing Committees.