Michelle Patzke
Administration Manager

Michelle joined the Our Place staff in 2013 after spending over 11 years working as a lawyer before beginning a career for a hedge fund in Chicago. That work did not satisfy her soul and after a brief stint on the Our Place Board she joined the staff as a Job Coach and Administration Manager.

Contact Michelle -
mpatzke@ourplaceofnewtrier.org

Sara O'Keefe
Program Supervisor

Sara joined Our Place in October 2016.  She has an MSW and BSW from Loyola and James Madison University, respectively.  Sara brings a wealth of experience to her job at Our Place. She has worked in camps for children with autism, managed community relations and even helped with fundraisers in previous positions and internships.  

Contact Sara-
so’keefe@ourplaceofnewtrier.org

Riley Dahiya
Program Leader

Riley graduated from Illinois State University in 2018 where she received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Riley worked for NSSRA in high school and continued working with individuals with disabilities throughout college.  She is very excited to be part of the team at Our Place.

Contact Riley -
rdahiya@ourplaceofnewtrier.org

Aidan Guimond
Senior Program Leader

Aidan started as a volunteer for Our Place in the winter of 2016.  When a part-time position opened at the beginning of 2017, Aidan jumped at the opportunity and soon his part time job became a full-time one.  He is a graduate of the University of Iowa and majored in psychology and minored in educational psychology and human relations.  

Contact Aidan -aguimond@ourplaceofnewtrier.org

Catherine Hattendorf
Senior Program Leader

Catherine has 10 years of experience in Special Education. She has volunteered with individuals with disabilities since high school and worked for the NSSRA throughout high school and college. She received her BS in Special Education from Northern Illinois University after which she worked in schools and then an adult day program as a counselor. Catherine started her work with Our Place in the fall of 2017 and has enjoyed working here ever since.

Contact Catherine-
chattendorf@ourplaceofnewtrier.org

Jack Hattendorf
Program Leader

Jack started as a volunteer for Our Place in the winter of 2018. A part time position opened up a few months later and he was thrilled that he was asked to become a part of the team. Soon after, Jack was taken on as a full-time staff member and is really enjoying the Our Place life. He got his Associate in Arts from Oakton Community College and is looking forward to continuing his education and learning new things every day at both Our Place and in school.

Contact Jack- 
jhattendorf@ourplaceofnewtrier.org

Sterling Humphrey
Senior Program Leader

Sterling has been working with young adults with developmental disabilities for over 16 years. Before coming to Our Place in 2011, he worked as a teacher’s aide at New Trier High School. He attended Loyola Academy High School where he played football and basketball and received an Associate’s Degree from Grand Canyon University.

Contact Sterling -
shumphrey@ourplaceofnewtrier.org

Emily Kerzner
Senior Program Leader

Emily has been with Our Place from the beginning. She was inspired to become a volunteer in 2010 by her brother, Josh—a participant. Since she was young, Emily has known that her dream when she grew up would be to work with people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to live her dream at Our Place. Emily is currently completing her studies to become a  speech-language pathologist.

Contact Emily-
estern@ourplaceofnewtrier.org

Jamie Weller
Senior Program Leader
Volunteer Coordinator

Jamie began as a intern in the summer of 2013 and eventually became a full-time staff member.  Jamie received is BA in psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is interested in psychology because he loves understanding how people’s minds function. He finds working with individuals with developmental disabilities incredibly rewarding.

Contact Jamie-
jweller@ourplaceofnewtrier.org

Frank Kisslinger
Senior Support Coordinator

Frank joined Our Place after a career as a librarian and corporate information manager, where he worked in a wide range of libraries from corporate real estate to public elementary schools. Frank is the Senior Support Coordinator, which means he helps out with administrative and development areas as well as technical and computer related functions.  Frank has a BA in History from Kalamazoo College and an MLS from the University of Missouri. When Frank is not at Our Place, he can typically be found at the Old Town School of Folk Music discovering new genres and helping out at weekend concerts.

Contact Frank-
fkisslinger@ourplaceofnewtrier.org

Brittany Mussen
Senior Program Leader

Brittany leads programs that focus on individual growth and is inspired by how accepting and open the Our Place community is. Her favorite program is Book Club, because it’s the program that she sees participants growing the most in and where it allows her to work more one on one with the participants. Brittany also was an events intern at Autism Speaks. She is a graduate of Illinois State University.

Contact Brittany-
bmussen@ourplaceofnewtrier.org
 

Camille De Frank

Camille De Frank is a Founding board member, and Officer, Women’s Advisory Board, Misericordia. Member of Impact 100 Chicago.

Cathy DiVincenzo

Cathy DiVincenzo is a pediatrician and founder of Kids First Pediatrics  Partners in Skokie, IL.   

Robin Downe

Robin has a degree in education and specialized in teaching children with developmental delays in Toronto, Canada. After moving to Chicago, she worked as a substitute teacher and resource for students with learning disabilities.

Ann Dronen

Director of Student Enterprise Systems, Northwestern University.

Lisa Flanagan

The Cove School, Co-chair of gala and former PTO President, former litigator at CNA

Jane A. Gallery

Jane Gallery is the founder of Our Place and serves as President of the Board of Directors. She is also the Treasurer and Director of The Lowe Syndrome Association and a member of Impact 100 Chicago.

Matt Cohen

Matt Cohen is the founder of Matt Cohen & Associates and is well known for his work in special education law.   He has served on boards at both the national and local levels and has lectured nationally on a wide variety of special education topics, as well as on mental health and confidentiality law and has authored numerous articles on these subjects.

Ellen Hayden

Ellen Hayden is a designer and also serves as an officer of the Woman’s Club of Evanston, fundraiser for Life Span, and is an Auxiliary Board Member of The Ted Fund.

Pamela Sheridan Pappano

Pamela Sheridan Pappano is a practicing lawyer and also serves as Arbitrator, Cook County Board of Arbitration and as a Substitute Teacher at Loyola Academy.

Barbara Saavedra

Barbara Saavedra is a legal assistant and is involved in Special Olympics and special recreation projects.

Avidan Stern

Avi is a founding board member. He is Associate General Counsel of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons and serves as secretary for the Board of Directors of Our Place.