Goodman Community Center | Board of Directors

Board Meetings

The Board meets quarterly in January, April, July and October from 5-7:30 p.m. in the Brassworks Building. All meetings are open to the public. If you would like to attend or have an agenda item you would like to propose, contact amy@goodmancenter.org. Board agendas and minutes are available upon request by contacting amy@goodmancenter.org.

5 Board Committees

Executive & Finance: Letesha Nelson, President & Executive Director, letesha@goodmancenter.org

Development: Noah Salata, Vice President Philanthropy and Community Engagement, nsalata@goodmancenter.org

Program: Sara Nowakowski, Vice President of Mission & Strategy Management, sara@goodmancenter.org

Governance/OD: Holly Beehn, Vice President of People & Culture, hbeehn@goodmancenter.org

Our Board of Directors has been a legal governing board since January 1, 1999 and thus elects its own members.

For more information about serving on our board contact:

Letesha Nelson

President & Executive Director
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Goodman Community Center Board of Directors

Steve King

Steve King, President

Steve King is the retired Executive Director of University of Wisconsin Business School’s Center for Professional and Executive Development. Steve continues to teach at Wisconsin's Center for Professional and Executive Development and in Northwestern's executive education programs. He also teaches in Wisconsin's EMBA program and the engineering school's Masters of Engineering Management program.

Mr. King is a native of Iowa and graduated from the University of Iowa and the University of Wisconsin with degrees in economics. For ten years he worked with the Wisconsin Vocational and Technical Colleges in the northern part of the state before moving to Chicago where he work for many years with three organizations – BMO/Harris, Hewitt Associates, and Baxter Healthcare. Mr. King held various senior human resource roles at the companies including a seven year stint as the head of HR at Hewitt.

While in Chicago Mr. King served on many boards including twelve years on a suburban school board, time on the board of the Chicago Sinfonnia, and membership on several regional UU boards. He is a member of the advisory board for Morehouse College in Atlanta. He also serves on the advisory board for select small businesses.

Rebecca Gerothanas

Rebecca Gerothanas, Vice President and Secretary

Rebecca Gerothanas is the Chief Operations Officer at Summit Credit Union, in Madison, one of the largest credit unions in Wisconsin. Ms. Gerothanas has 24 years of experience in the financial industry, serving in a senior manager capacity for the last 16 years. In her current position, she oversees the branch network, contact center, operations, facilities, and risk management. Prior experience includes roles within marketing and public relations. Ms. Gerothanas served on the United Way Marketing Committee for seven years.

Ms. Gerothanas is a native Madison resident and alum of East High School. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Political Science.

Kyle Stacey

Kyle Stacey, Treasurer

Kyle Stacey is the VP, Controller at Exact Sciences and has been at Exact Sciences since April 2009. Exact Sciences is a molecular diagnostics company, headquartered in Madison, WI, currently focused on the early detection and prevention of some of the deadliest forms of cancer. At Exact Sciences, Kyle oversees the company's finance function as it relates to accounting, financial reporting, treasury, and operational execution. Prior to joining Exact, Kyle served as a financial statement auditor for Grant Thornton in their Madison office, with a primary focus on technology companies and SEC registrants. He earned a Bachelor's degree in accounting and a Masters of Accountancy from the University of Arkansas, and is a CPA registered in the state of Wisconsin.

Holly Cremer-Berkenstadt

Holly Cremer Berkenstadt

Until April 2007 Holly was Chairman of The Wisconsin Cheeseman, Inc. In April 2007 Holly completed the successful sale of The Cheeseman. Holly is currently CEO of LOMOT - 'Life on My Own Terms'. :) Holly enjoys involvement in the community and devotes many hours of support to various organizations which focus on women’s issues, mental health, and at-risk populations. Proud mother of two wonderful children, Becca (born 1987) and Brad (born 1990). Husband, Jim, has left the corporate world pursuing a career as an author. Both are Northwestern University Wildcats! Holly loves to laugh and travel!

Community activities include: (formerly) AnchorBancorp Board of Directors; Unity Point Meriter Hospital and Health Services Board; United Way of Dane County Board of Directors and Foundation; Salvation Army, A Fund for Women; Foundation for Madison Public Schools; Second Harvest; Madison College Foundation; UW School of Education board of Visitors(currently) DAIS Trustee Council; Cremer Foundation; Unity Point Meriter Foundation; Tempo Madison. Awards: YWCA Woman of Distinction; United Way Woman of the year Philanthropy; Charming Shoppes VOICES Award

Adam Barns

Adam Barnes

Adam Barnes was named Wisconsin’s Associate Athletic Director of Business Operations / Chief Financial Officer in July 2019. In this role, he oversees business office operations, including UW Athletics' nearly $160 million budget.

Prior to joining Wisconsin Athletics, Barnes served as the Chief Financial Officer for OneEvent Technologies, a start-up focused on life and property safety solutions, where he oversaw finance and M&A activities. Before OneEvent, Barnes was the Vice President of Finance & Operations for the Center for Advanced Studies in Business, Inc. ("CASB"), a 501(c)(3) organization affiliated with the Wisconsin School of Business and the Center for Professional and Executive Development ("CPED") where he oversaw the finance and operations of CPED and was responsible for the Fluno Center, a full-immersion conference center on the Wisconsin campus. Prior to joining CASB, Barnes worked in public accounting for Grant Thornton LLP in the audit practice. In addition to his work with the Goodman Community Center, Adam serves on the Audit Committee for Blackhawk Church and volunteers coaching youth sports.

Barnes is a Certified Public Accountant and received a Master of Professional Accountancy degree and a BBA in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

He and his wife, Andrea, have two children.

DeVon L. Wilson, M.S. Ed.

DeVon L. Wilson, M.S. Ed.

DeVon Wilson is the Founding Director of the Center for Academic Excellence and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the College of Letters & Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition to his position in the College of Letters & Science, DeVon Wilson is currently a Research Associate in the Wisconsin Equity & Inclusion Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he is focusing on the human capital development within the higher education sector.

DeVon earned a B.A. in Psychology from Beloit College and M.S. Ed. in Adult and Continuing Education from Northern Illinois University with a specialization in Higher Education. For the past 24 years, DeVon worked in the areas of enrollment management, undergraduate research, Federal TRiO Programs, Student Affairs and Student Academic Affairs to increase the access of first-generation, students from economically depressed communities, and multicultural students to higher education and develop a pipeline to highly competitive graduate, medical, and law schools as well as high-demand industries. DeVon is also the founder of RSG Media Group focused on broadening participation in the sports media market sector.

Jennifer Wilson

Jennifer Wilson

Jennifer Wilson is the Principal/Founder at New Leaf Coaching and Consulting, a consultancy focused on helping people in mission-driven organizations be at their best with each other while they achieve outstanding results. She co-founded two high schools in Milwaukee Public Schools dedicated to serving historically marginalized students and has been dedicated to serving youth and families throughout her career. Her most recent achievement is authoring the book Waking Up to Your Worth: Ten Touchstones for Overcoming Imposter Syndrome based on her life experience with surviving childhood trauma and expertise as a coach and meditation practitioner.

Jennifer was a first generation college student and earned her B.S. in Psychology at Carroll University in Waukesha and completed her MA in Counseling and Educational Psychology at the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis. She is an ICF certified coach and NOLS certified Outdoor Educator, and has been an adjunct faculty member at UW-Milwaukee and Cardinal Stritch University.

Jennifer is a Wisconsin native who lives on the northside of Madison with her husband Doug and their rescue cat and is stepmom to Clare, an East High school grad currently studying at Macalester College. She is always in search of a learning curve and loves to spend her free time traveling, reading, writing, and enjoying the outdoors through backpacking, kayaking, hiking, and cross country skiing.

Alex Thompson

Alex Thompson

Alex Thompson is first and foremost, a father of three beautiful children. He is also the Principal of Sherman Middle School in the Madison Metropolitan School District. He has worked in that capacity for 1 year. Prior to becoming a Principal, he was an Assistant Principal for 7 years and a Dean of Students for 2 years at Madison East High School. He has 15 years of experience in Education and has been an East Madison resident since 2012.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater where he excelled in Football and Track and Field. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration and Supervision from National Louis University. When he’s not working, he enjoys going to shows, cooking out, exercise and being with loved ones.

Natalie Erdman

Natalie Erdman

Natalie has 35 years of experience in commercial real estate development and finance as well as community development with a specialization in affordable housing. In 2019 she retired from the City of Madison where she held the position of Director of the Department of Planning, Community and Economic Development and oversaw the daily operation of department activities. In that position she supervised a wide range of City activities related to real estate and land use, community services for low and moderate income people, affordable housing, economic development and small business support. As part of her responsibilities at the City, Natalie also directed and managed the City of Madison's Public Housing and Redevelopment Authority.

Prior to working for the City, Natalie worked for The Alexander Company directing and managing all phases of urban redevelopment projects in communities through the central and eastern United States. She began her career as a commercial real estate lender for lending organizations including Citigroup and Travelers Realty Investment Company. She holds a BBA in finance and real estate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Natalie continues to be active in her community and currently serves on the board of the Wisconsin Housing Preservation Corporation and chairs the Dane Work Force Housing Fund Advisory Committee.

Ellie Rozier

Ellie Rozier

Ellie has strived to be a leader and changemaker in her community for as long as she can remember – eventually leading to her career as an attorney, but briefly interrupted by aspirations of becoming President, a Princess and a Rock Star. Ellie graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a double bachelor's degree in Global Studies and French Language Studies (2017), and more recently earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School (2020).

In her role with American Family Insurance, she serves as in-house counsel supporting artificial intelligence and machine learning initiatives; leads of the Enterprise's Outside Counsel Diversity Strategy in concert with the American Bar Association; co-lead of the Sisterhood mentorship program via our Enterprise Adopt-a-School model; and a proud alumna of the American Family Dreams Foundation's Community Ambassador Program (2023-2024), which empowered Ellie to support the Living Wage Collaborative alongside brilliant Goodman leadership and a myriad of spectacular community partners. In this latter role, she fell in love with the Goodman team, theif shared mission and the diverse communities Goodman serves. Ellie considers herself privileged to be counted among Goodman's esteemed Board members and looks forward to the future we will continue to build together, at Goodman and beyond.

Sandra Bonnici

Sandra Bonnici

Sandra Bonnici (she/her/hers) is a Senior Consultant and strategy partner in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Harvard Affiliated Mass General Brigham Health Care. She brings over 20 years of experience in the field of equity focused strategic planning , change management, and implementation of DEAI practices and policies. She is the founder of Sandra Bonnici Consulting where she partners with clients to envision and implement organizational change that centers equity and inclusion through assessment, strategic planning, facilitation, and trainings grounded in the principles of cultural humility.

Sandra has certifications from YWCA Racial Justice and Deep Diversity® She is also Qualified Administrator of Intercultural Development Inventory. Her work in the non-profit cultural arts sector has been recognized nationally with a National Medal for Museum and Library Service , induction into the Cultural Competency Learning Institute, and selection into the Getty Leadership Institute, She was named a Facing Change Senior Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion Fellow for the American Alliance of Museums in 2019. Prior to that she was the Associate Director of Education, Diversity, and Inclusion for Madison Children’s Museum in Madison, WI.

Molly Walsh

Molly Walsh

Molly Walsh is an experienced event planner and committed board member, who orchestrates large events for nonprofits, corporations, and community-run organizations. Specializing in curating experiences for social good, mission-driven organizations, and corporate clients, she blends creativity with strategic focus to ensure successful outcomes. Molly's commitment to the community is evident through her involvement in various initiatives and organizations, where she leverages her expertise to bring stakeholders together and make a meaningful impact.

Non-Board Committee Members

Development Committee

Lori Vogel

Lori Buechler Vogel is a retired MMSD elementary school and middle school science teacher. She taught many years at Lowell Elementary and Hamilton Middle School. She spends most of her time supporting students in Science Olympiad. Ms. Vogel got involved with Goodman Community Center through the family legacy of Vogel Bros. Building Co.'s commitment to the center.

Mary Lang Sollinger

In 2005 to 2007 Mary served as Chair of the Capital Campaign for the new proposed Atwood Community Center, with a goal of raising $12.3 million. With the generosity of the community, the expertise of the design group Eppstein Uhen and the dedication of Vogel Brothers construction, the project was completed in three years, and the Atwood Community Center was transformed into the Goodman Community Center. Because of her passion about the east side, she volunteered her time daily for all three years. Mary also served as the Honorary Campaign Chair for the Brassworks building which opened in fall of 2018.

Mayor Soglin asked Mary to be a Commissioner in 1990 for the proposed Frank Lloyd Wright Convention Center. For eight years she served in various roles to community outreach with over 90 presentations to the founder of The Friends of Monona Terrace. She lead Friends’ rooftop, inscribed tile program with a group dedicated volunteers. A tile program yield a million dollars for the amenities for the Center.

Mary has served on many city committees, community boards, and has start other initiatives. In her earlier days, she had two women’s clothing stores on State Street that thrived. She taught at the University of Wisconsin and is a proud graduate of MATC/Madison College.

Finance Committee

Jason Joanis

Jason Joanis, CFA, serves as Director of Investments, Senior Portfolio Manager, Partner for SlateStone Wealth. As Director of Investments, Jason oversees the investment research and analysis activities for SlateStone. He is responsible for managing custom investment portfolios for a select number of high-net worth families and institutions. In addition, Jason oversees the day-to-day management of SlateStone’s Core Equity Strategy and stock selection and serves on the Custom Equity sub-committee, while playing an integral role on the broader Investment Policy Committee. Jason joined SlateStone Wealth in 2022.

Jason is a graduate of St. Norbert College with a Bachelor of Business Administration and an Economics minor. He worked at the St. Norbert Survey Center and played on the varsity football team. Jason is a board member and past President of the CFA Society Madison. Jason lives in Fitchburg with his wife, Erin, and their four children.

Darrell Stroud

Darrell Stroud is retired. He recently served as a Vice President and Senior Private Banker at BMO Private Bank from 2014 to 2018. He has more than 20 years of working with and lending to high net worth individuals, and more than 30 years of consumer and commercial lending experience.

Darrell’s prior experience was with U.S. Bank from 1987 to 2013. He received is BA from Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa and his MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management in Milwaukee.

He has been a member of the Community Partnerships Committee, Foundation for Madison’s Public Schools, Community Advocates United for Sustainable Employment, Madison Minority Business Advisory Board and the Exchange Club of Madison for the Prevention of Child Abuse. Darrell has served on the boards of the Madison Children’s Museum and Family Service Inc. and was a former chairperson of the Wisconsin Capital Chapter of the March of Dimes.

Governance/OD Committee

Jalanda Gibonéy

Jalanda Gibonéy is a Human Resource Director at a local non-profit organization where she oversees talent management, staff development, benefits administration, recruitment, payroll, and overall human resource management. Jalanda’s mix of educational and work experience ranges from health care, higher education, consulting, project and event planning to student support programming.

In her spare time, Jalanda enjoys spending time with her family, continuous learning, cooking and reading.