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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
KEVIN BAIRD
BOARD PRESIDENT
Mr. Baird has been the Executive Director of Joey's Song since its establishment in 2010. Prior to joining Joey's Song he spent 25 years with IBM in various technical, marketing and sales positions.
He graduated from Westminster College of Salt Lake City with a BS in Computer Science and a BS in Speech, Theater, and Arts. Kevin resides in Dunedin, Fl, with his wife Jane and their two dogs. Jane is a frequent volunteer at Joey's Song helping with everything from administrative to strategy.
JOANNA BURISH
BOARD VICE PRESIDENT
Joanna moved to Madison at seven years old with her family in January of 1976 from Nazareth, Israel. She received her BA in Accounting with a focus on Finance and Real Estate, and her Masters in Executive Management from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Joanna’s career includes acting and music producing in Hollywood and New York, working in film distribution at the Cannes Film Festivals, being the CEO of a $130 Million-dollar company, and Vice President of a $450 Million-dollar real estate company. Today she runs a holistic financial family office at Northwestern Mutual, as well as owning and being a Broker for her real estate company. Among her proudest endeavors is founding The Brauds Network in 2012 with the mission of women empowering women. Joanna is a community leader involved in various start-ups and non-profit businesses consulting on best business practices, leadership, and sustainable growth. Her most honored experience is being a mother to her daughter Raquel, who is extraordinary in her own right living in New York with her fiancé working for a top publishing company.
DAVID RAMSEUR
BOARD TREASURER
David Ramseur is currently the Dean of The Joseph Business School’s Entrepreneurship program located in Forest Park, IL, and the President of Ramseur Capital Group. Additionally, David has more than 15 years of sales experience in the computer and technology industries.
He holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University and an MBA in finance from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He has worked for technology companies such as IBM, Computer Associates International, Datalogix / Oracle and SynQuest.
David is married with one son and resides in Woodridge, IL
JOHN BLOEMER
MEMBER
John is currently employed as Director of Engineering with Aprilaire in Madison, WI. He graduated from the University of Akron with a BSME in 1984. Throughout his carrer, he has developed products for Scott & Fetzer, Kohler, Saris, and Aprilaire. He is an inventor on over 15 US and foreign patents. He has been a member of the Sun Prairie community for 20 years.
He, his wife, and his daughter are proud to call the Gomoll family their neighbors and more importantly, friends.
CHRIS BONTEMPO
MEMBER
Chris Bontempo is the Chief Marketing Officer for IBM Americas, where he leads all aspects of Marketing for IBM with direct responsibility for marketing sourced revenue, demand generation, and geography marketing professionals across the United States, Canada, and Latin America. Chris works with IBM sellers, marketers, and ecosystem partners to help clients find the right innovative IBM solutions to solve their digital transformation challenges.
Prior to leading geography marketing, Chris was responsible for IBM Cloud and Cognitive Software Marketing in the Americas, focusing on field and channel marketing and demand generation. He supported multiple business units including IBM Public Cloud, Data & AI, Automation, AI Apps, and IBM Security.
He joined IBM in 2005 and has led marketing teams in Market Intelligence, Cloud, and also led Marketing and Offerings for the IBM Security business unit in North America for the past 6 years.
Chris is based in New York City with his family and dog, where he runs, plays and coaches soccer, and occasionally plays guitar and bass in some truly unforgettable bands.
BRIAN CAMPBELL
MEMBER
For the past 31 years, Brian Campbell has successfully led all aspects of sales and marketing within the food industry. He started his career with Kraft Foods in 1991 where he held various field sales management positions throughout the U.S. before settling in Madison, WI, at Kraft’s Oscar Mayer Headquarters. In addition, he has been a Director of Sales for Smithfield Foods, and most recently a Senior Account Manager for The Kerry Group.
Brian holds a degree from the University of Iowa in Marketing and is married with three grown daughters. In his free time, he enjoys being on the lake in N. Wisconsin, taking in a Cub game whenever and wherever, golfing, and walking his Dachshund, Frank.
Brian is proud to have been a Joey’s Song volunteer since its inception and is honored to be part of the Board of Directors in their efforts to increase awareness and funding for epilepsy.
MICHAEL COHEN
MEMBER
Michael Cohen graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Madison with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and is a Marquette University Law School graduate.
Michael has earned his reputation as one of Wisconsin’s preeminent business litigators and presently works at Meissner Tierney Fisher & Nichols S.C. as a shareholder and member of the firm’s executive committee. He concentrates his practice on complex commercial litigation.
He is a Past President of the Milwaukee Bar Association, Past Vice President of the Milwaukee Bar Foundation Board of Directors, and former Governor on the State Bar of Wisconsin Board of Governors.
He and his wife currently reside in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, and have two girls, Madeline and Francie.
JEANNETTE COLYVAS
MEMBER
Jeannette Colyvas is a faculty member at Northwestern University and teaches undergraduate, MBA, doctoral, and executive-level courses related to leadership and organizational change. She has over 20 years of experience helping cultural, arts, social service, and for-profit organizations increase their social impact. In this capacity, she has worked with over 100 different organizations to help them leverage and build their networks, forge alliances for mutual benefit, and develop metrics that meaningfully track their strategic objectives.
She holds a bachelors degree from UCLA and PhD from Stanford University. Jeannette lives in Chicago with her formidably cute dog named Felix.
JOE FOWLER
Member in Memorium
Joe Fowler was a friend of the Gomoll family for over 40 years. He was active in the initial phases of the foundation's setup and was a constant presence at all events and was a guiding force behind the scenes. Joe passed away a few years ago, succumbing to esophageal cancer. In his memory, Joey’s Song also donates to pediatric cancer charities when it is able. Joe Fowler will always be an honorary board member of the Joseph Gomoll Foundation.
STEWART MCVICAR
Member
Stewart McVicar owns Specialized Testing and Balancing, Inc. The company was founded in 1982. Specialized Testing and Balancing, Inc. is a proud member of a Union Local 265 Sheet Metal Association.
McVicar also founded his own charity in 2013. Club 400 was a 4-year long project and lifelong dream. The mission is simple, "Cubs Fans Helping Cubs Fans."
McVicar graduated from Northern Illinois University in 1996. He graduated in the top 20 of his class and was also Public Relations Student Society of Americas President from 1995-1996.
DAVID MICHAELS
Member
David Michaels is a screenwriter, indie producer, and film director. Since his early twenties, he has been an industry fixture, having also worked with renowned auteurs David Lynch and Olivier Dahan. As a committed philanthropist, he also curates art-driven charitable events which directly benefit the David Lynch Foundation.
REBECCA RENK
Member
Rebecca Renk has a BA degree in Communications with a Concentration in Public Relations from North Carolina State University. While working for Coleman Insights, she primarily focused on market research analysis and strategy.
Currently, Rebecca is utilizing her teaching licensure from graduate-level coursework at St. Mary’s of Minnesota to teach middle school math at Sacred Hearts in Sun Prairie.
Rebecca has been an active Sun Prairie community member for over 20 years, where she resides with her husband, Brett, and their two children.
TODD SEARS
Member
Todd Sears graduated from the University of Nebraska with a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Marketing.
During his career in the newspaper industry, he has held several positions at properties in Nebraska, Wisconsin, New Jersey, and Virginia. He currently is the President and Publisher of the Omaha World-Herald.
He and his wife Brenna reside in Omaha, Nebraska, and have two sons, Joey and Jackson.
JOHN SHEEHAN
Member
John has significant experience in health system leadership spanning the full range of operations in a variety of models and markets. In his current role at UnityPoint Health, John is the Chief Operating Officer with responsibility for systemwide hospital, clinic, and accountable care organization operations. John has also held C-Suite positions at the University of Wisconsin Health, ThedaCare, Geisinger, and Centura Health.
John received his master’s degree in health administration from St. Louis University and his Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics from the University of Wisconsin. He is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and received the ACHE Distinguished Service Award in 2016.
JOHN WHALEN
Member
John is the Director of Structural Engineering at Trachte, LLC in Oregon, Wisconsin. A Professional Engineer licensed as a Civil and/or Structural Engineering in a multitude of states. John served nine years on the Sun Prairie Area School District School Board as well as the Sun Prairie Education Foundation and the Sun Prairie Business and Education Partnership. In his free time, John enjoys riding bicycles.
He is a member of the Lymphomaniacs, a group of Madison-area cyclists committed to raising money to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
INDUSTRY ADVISORY GROUP
DAVID MICHAELS • IAG CHAIRPERSON
Filmmaker – Enfant Terrible Cinema
BUTCH VIG • IAG VICE-CHAIR
Artist
ROSANNA ARQUETTE • MEMBER
Artist
SAM BAYER • MEMBER
Filmmaker
JOANNA BURISH • BOARD VICE PRESIDENT
Principle, Custer/Burish Financial
STEPHANIE DENTON • MEMBER
EVP Sales & Business Development 828 Productions
BRUCE FLOHR • MEMBER
Chief Strategy Officer & EVP – Red Light Management
ERIC GREENSPAN • MEMBER
Partner – Myman, Greenspan, Fineman, Fox, Rosenberg & Light
KAY HANLEY • MEMBER
Artist
BILLY HARRIS • MEMBER
Partner – Ombello Agency
SCOTT LESLIE • MEMBER
President – Frank Productions
MARK MICHAELS • MEMBER
CEO & Chairman - United Record Pressing
CHERYL PAWELSKI • MEMBER
Co-founder – Omnivore Recordings
VIC THOMAS • MEMBER
Associate Entertainment Director - Summerfest
EPILEPSY COMMUNITY COUNCIL (ECC)
ANTOANETA BALABANOV, MD
Associate Professor, Rush Medical College, Senior Attending, Rush Epilepsy Center
Rush University Medical Center
RYAN BOVIA
Vice-President
Head of Epilepsy and Movement Disorders Business Unit at Jazz Pharmaceuticals
DR. ANDREW COLE
Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School Director, MGH Epilepsy Service Chief, Division of Clinical Neurophysiology Vice-Chair, Department of Neurology Massachusetts General Hospital
GARY COLLINS
President - Epilepsy Canada
BETH DEAN
CEO - CURE Epilepsy
JASON GRIFFITH
Associate Director, Patient Marketing at SK Life Science
REBEKKAH HALLIWELL
Executive Director - Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Los Angeles
DALILA LEWIS, M.D.
Pediatric Neurologist, Epilepsy Specialist, Medical University of South Carolina
KRISTIN SEABORG
Pediatric Neurologist and Pediatric Sleep, Medicine at University Wisconsin Madison
JESSICA KEENAN SMITH
CEO - Living Well With Epilepsy
DR. TOM SUTULA
Emeritus Professor of Neurology, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Detling Professor and Chair (1995-2016)
Director, Center for Neuroscience, University of Wisconsin (2001-2013)
Chief Scientific Officer, Hexokine Therapeutics, Inc.
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