Board of Trustees:

George M. Bradshaw
George Bradshaw is an attorney with the law firm of Huck Bouma PC. Mr. Bradshaw serves as Outside General Counsel for a number of corporations with an emphasis in the areas of General Corporate, Banking and Commercial Law including Sales, Mergers & Acquisitions, Business and Estate Successor Planning for Family business owners and Commercial Real Estate Transactions and Loan Documentation. He is a member of the ABA, the Illinois State Bar Association, the DuPage County Bar Association and DuPage County Estate Planning Council. He is a member of the Glen Ellyn Rotary Club. Mr. Bradshaw has been a seminar speaker on different topics relating to his practice area of concentration at various forums. He also serves on the Board of Directors for a number of the firm's corporate clients.

Mark Essenfeld
Mark is a Client Advisor, and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM professional at Citizens 1st National Bank in Aurora, Illinois. He holds a Bachelors and Masters Degrees from DePaul University in Chicago, and Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, respectively. Mark’s practice is focused on helping families, with a particular interest in helping those with special needs. He is a seminar speaker on a variety of topics that impact today’s families. Mark has recently been named to the Cambridge Who’s Who among Professionals, andhas received numerous other industry accolades. His certification comes from the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, and he is FINRA registered with PrimeVest Financial Services, and State Insurance Board licensed in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. Outside of work, Mark is active in the Boy Scouts of America as an Assistant Scoutmaster, as well as all of his kids’ school activities which include band, athletics, special olympics, and various other community service projects. He lives in Naperville with his wife Donna. They have seven children, and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. 

PrimeVest Financial Services, Inc. is a registered broker/dealer and registered investment adviser. Member SIPC.  Investment products are: * Not FDIC Insured * May Go Down in Value * Not Bank Guaranteed * Not a Deposit * Not Insured by any Government Agency. Neither PrimeVest, nor Citizens First National Bank are affiliated with Life’s Plan, Inc..

Dennis O'Connell
Dr. O'Connell is retired from the Roselle Public School System after twenty-nine years as an administrator. His educational career covered thirty-seven years as teacher, principal, and superintendent. As a young farm boy in Wisconsin, he received his teaching degree from Oshkosh State Teachers College followed by degrees from Northern Illinois University, University of Illinois, and the University of Toledo in Ohio. Following his retirement from Roselle Public School District in 1997, he has served as a consultant and financial instructor at North Central College and Aurora University. Dr. O'Connell has served as a member of the Board of PACT and the Somonauk Fire Department. He is also an active member of Lions, Rotary, Crusade of Mercy, and Fox Valley Older Adults.

John T. Porter
Mr. Porter has served on various boards and commissions including the Illinois Association for Retarded Citizens, Public Aid Advisory Committee, sub-committee chair for the Illinois Commission on Children, etc. In addition, he has served as an advisor to several minority and women's organizations. Mr. Porter has served on the Boards of the following organizations: Ray Graham Association for People with Disabilities, National Association of Developmental Disability Councils, Illinois Planning Council on Developmental Disabilities, National Conference of State Legislatures, Illinois Self Sufficiency Trust, Illinois Association for Retarded Citizens, Public Aid Advisory Committee, Illinois Commission on Children, etc. In addition, he has served as an advisor to several minority and women's organizations. Mr. Porter is a disabled veteran with a 100% wartime disability. He is the father of a 35 year-old son with multiple disabilities.

Carlissa Puckett
Carlissa Puckett is the Executive Director of Sparc in Springfield, IL. Sparc is a not for profit organization which provides a wide variety of services at 17 locations to approximately 900 individuals with developmental disabilities. Carlissa has worked in the field of developmental disabilities for more than 30 years, starting as a direct care worker in a community agency. Before coming to Sparc she worked for the former Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities. She has a Bachelor's Degree from Eastern University and a Master's Degree from Southern Illinois University.

Luann Rohde
LuAnn Rohde has worked in the corporate world for more than 20 years. LuAnn has extensive experience coordinating and managing for Fortune 500 CEOs, Executive Staffs, and Boards of Directors, including those of Andrew Corporation and William Wrigley Jr. Company. Her earlier experiences in Human Relations and Office Management led her to create the Administrative and Human Resources components of a Chicagoland start-up business from the ground up. She has also coordinated grant programs that provided funding for inner-city children’s activities and a crisis hotline for young mothers. She has had a lifelong commitment to enhancing the lives of people with disabilities and has volunteered for Ray Graham Association for People with Disabilities and Special Olympics. Her inspiration is her brother Larry. Larry lived at home until the age of 22, when he moved to the Ray Graham Association Specialized Living Center until his death in 2006. He continues to inspire and enrich the lives of those at the Larry J. Bell Community Learning Center in Lisle, IL. LuAnn recently relocated from Chicago to Phoenix, Arizona where she lives with her husband Jeff.

Mike Walther
Mike Walther is the founder of Oak Wealth Advisors LLC, a comprehensive fee-only wealth management firm in Deerfield, IL, dedicated to serving families with special needs members.  His passion for serving families with special needs members led him to open the firm in 2008 after two decades of providing financial advice to high net worth families. 

He has written numerous articles for the Chicago Sun-Times, and has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and other national publications.  In 2008, Mike was recognized by Institutional Investor News as one of the 20 Rising Stars of Wealth Management.  In 2011, Mike and Oak Wealth Advisors were featured in Financial Advisor magazine which profiled the firm’s unique focus on serving families with special needs members.  Mike has a long history of serving on not-for-profit boards and his current charitable involvement includes serving as Treasurer of the National Association for Down Syndrome and Chairman of the Planned Giving Committee at Winnetka Congregational Church.  He is also the recent past-president of the Northern Suburban Special Recreation Foundation.

He received his BS degree in Economics and MBA with a concentration in Accounting from Vanderbilt University.  He received his CPA certification from the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, Personal Financial Specialist designation from the AICPA, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER certification from the CFP® Board, and CFA® designation from the AIMR Board of Governors.  Mike is a member of the AICPA, the Financial Planning Association, and the CFA Institute.

Kim Zoeller
Kim Zoeller is the President and CEO for Ray Graham Association for People with Disabilities. Kim began her career at Ray Graham Association in 1994 and held several positions including the Director of Community and Family Supports where she led the agency’s employment services, Community Learning Center programs, and Family Support Services including Respite, Early Intervention, and Home Based Services Facilitation.

Over the past several years Kim has led efforts that include the design of the first Community Learning Center Model to replace the archaic, costly, and non-progressive “sheltered workshop” program. As a result, people now volunteer throughout their community, access community resources, and have opportunities for real work options, including supports for individual micro- business development. Kim developed creative initiatives, and authored grants to private foundations and state entities to secure more than $300,000 for the organization. This includes securing funds from Boeing Corporation to launch autism specific services, and securing funds through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act to advance employment for people with disabilities. Also, her leadership has revitalized Family Support Services by actively promoting Ray Graham Association services in the community of DuPage and surrounding area.

In 2000, Kim was invited to join the international Council on Quality and Leadership (CQL) that provides customized consultation and quality enhancement services to providers of services to people with disabilities internationally. Kim is actively engaged in many local organizations and advisory committees, including the College of DuPage, the DuPage County Transition Planning Council, and several local Chambers of Commerce.

Bob Zwartz
Bob Zwartz is the Tax Director for Union Tank Car Company and its subsidiaries. Bob started working for Union Tank Car Company in the accounting department in 1969 and has held many positions of increasing responsibilities. In 2003, Bob was given the assignment of finding the ideal location to build a “state-of-the-art” railroad tank car plant. During the site selection process, Bob befriended Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and her staff. As a result, the plant was built with over 55 million dollars of financial assistance from the Louisiana legislature and 850 high paying jobs were brought into a rural area of Louisiana that have had a very favorable economic impact. Bob has been recognized by several governors throughout the years for his ability to get things done.

During his more than forty-five years of experience working for large corporations, Bob has had a variety of responsibilities including lobbying various state and federal legislative and administrative agencies, purchasing and selling industrial real estate and minimizing the payment of millions of dollars of corporate taxes. During his career Bob was the President of the Chicago chapter of the National Association of Accountants; Chairman of the Board of the East Chicago, Indiana Chamber of Commerce; Chairman of the Board of the Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce; and President of the National Association of Railroad Property Tax Representatives. He is also a member of the Institute for Professionals in Taxation and is currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Western States Association of Tax Representatives. Bob is also a Licensed Real Estate Broker in the state of Illinois.

He received his BBA degree in finance and accounting from Loyola University of Chicago and an MBA with a concentration in accounting from DePaul University of Chicago.

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