Bob Noonan

Board Chair

Susan Stoga

Vice Chair

Kerry Miller

Treasurer 

Elizabeth Felice

Secretary

Elizabeth Felice, the Let It Be Us Secretary, brings over a decade of experience as an educator to Let it Be Us. Her work as an English teacher, reading specialist, tutor, and coach has provided a rich body of problem-solving experiences and a growing testimony to the power of educational empowerment. 

Through her experience as a high school educator, Elizabeth has learned that families come in endless varieties of function, and she is dedicated to providing the unconditional acceptance and support that only a family can offer to as many young people in need as possible. She is also dedicated to empowering the older children of foster care through the development of educational and life goals, and the encouragement and empathy that each individual deserves.  Elizabeth also has extensive experience with Individual Education Plans (IEP’s). 

Elizabeth holds a BS from Chicago’s DePaul University and an MA from Concordia University. Elizabeth is the mother of two children.

Larry Butz

Board Member

Larry Butz brings over 35 years of corporate and entrepreneurial experience to Let It Be Us. Larry is co-owner and Founder of OEO Energy Solutions, a national leader in the LED industry, and his current role is General Manager.

He was previously Co-Founder and Partner at Daybreak Special Situations Fund and Portfolio Manager at Nite Capital. Larry developed sales and marketing expertise in past roles including executive search and also in the paper industry, with Kimberly-Clark and Scott Paper. He graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Management.

Larry’s family includes his wife Mary Jo and their three daughters. Larry and Mary Jo are the founders of the Megan Patricia Butz Memorial Fund which supports the work of Let It Be Us.

Debra Dyer-Webster

Board Member

With over 30 years of Child Welfare experience, and a Juris Doctorate and Master’s in Social Work, Ms. Dyer-Webster is an exceptional leader talented in utilizing multilayer experience of management, analytical, negotiation, litigation, program development, training, and customer service skills.

Ms. Dyer-Webster was the IL Family First Prevention Service Act Implementation lead and the Manage Care Implementation lead for the Illinois Child Welfare system. She developed a pipeline strategy to recruit and retain a qualified workforce. She collaborated on drafting and editing portions of the “Guide to Education for Children and Youth in DCFS,” a publication that was distributed to school districts throughout Illinois.

Ms. Dyer-Webster was the Chair of the Institutional Review Board of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services from 2014 through 2017. She was the Co-Chair of the State of Illinois’ Child Welfare Employee Licensure Board from 2015 to 2017 and was appointed by State representative, Annazette Collins, to the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice Administration/Organization Transition Team in 2007.

Douglas Locke

Board Member

Douglas Locke has been a member of the Let It Be Us Board since 2015 after meeting Susan McConnell to discuss how to assist the youth in foster care to ensure their graduation from high school. Douglas has his BS in Psychology and MA in Administration and Supervision.

His background includes teaching emotionally and behaviorally challenged special education students in high school. As his career continued, Douglas became a Principal in Proviso township at an alternative high school for severely emotionally and behaviorally disabled boys. His career path led him to private placement coordination, staff development leadership and program innovation. And finally, into directing programs for special education students at four high schools.

He served as a member and then President of the Milton Township Committee on Youth. The committee provided youth services to needy families. Douglas was a member of the DuPage County Gang Task force looking for innovative ways to minimize gang activity. In retirement, Douglas became a CASA volunteer working with the Guardian Ad Litem and the court system in McHenry County, continuing his lifelong passion of supporting at-risk adolescents.

Participating with Let It Be Us, Douglas has been able to continue working with at-risk youth. Through mentorship, he has assisted youth as they leave the foster care system to become independent successful adults.

Douglas lives in Barrington with his wife Nancy for the past 34 years.

Mark Mishler

Board Member

Mark Mishler brings over 35 years of corporate experience in the Specialty Insurance Industry and 20 years of military service as an Army Engineer Officer, to Let It Be Us.

He was the Chairman and CEO of Interstate National Corporation, President, COO, and Board member of The Warranty Group and served on the Board of Paylocity Holdings.  In addition, Mark is a current Board Member of Make-a-Wish, Illinois.

Mark was an early supporter of Let It Be Us, sponsoring the organization’s first fundraising events and providing much-needed support. He is a graduate of Pennsylvania’s Robert Morris University.

Peter Schwarzbach

Board Member

Peter Schwarzbach is the owner of Vin Chicago, a unique chain of wine stores in the Chicago area. A graduate of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and the University of Michigan, he brings over 20 years of business operations and management experience to Let It Be Us.

In addition to his leadership of Vin Chicago, Peter’s background includes work for Toyota in its manufacturing operations and marketing work in the semiconductor equipment industry. Peter enjoys spending time outdoors, running on the lakefront, and is an avid sailor.

Rick Smith

Board Member

Rick brings 30 years of corporate experience in the Insurance Industry to the Let It Be Us team as Co-Chair of the Finance Committee. He has experience in finance, operations, and product development. Rick has been with Allstate Insurance for 30 years and is currently a Product Vice President responsible for managing nearly $3 billion in annual revenue.

Rick received a Bachelor of Science in Quantitative Business Analysis from Louisiana State University and an MBA in Corporate Finance from the University of Dallas.

Rick’s family includes his wife, Michelle, and their 3 adult children.

Eileen Turkot

Board Member

Eileen Turkot is the Latin America Regional Leader for RSM International, a leading provider of audit, tax, and consulting services. In her role, Eileen drives the execution of a unified global strategy across 20 countries within the Latin American region.

Eileen has a degree in International Studies and Spanish from Butler University, and a postgraduate diploma in International Management from the University of Liverpool.  She is a mother to three biological children and a licensed foster parent since 2018.

Eileen is passionate about raising awareness of foster care, and the needs of families with children in care, especially in the Hispanic and Latino communities.  Fluent in Spanish, her mission is to increase the number of licensed Spanish-speaking foster homes.

Brandon Verwijst

Board Member

Brandon Verwijst holds a degree in biomedical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is the Director of Engineering at Quadrant Technologies, where he oversees the development and manufacture of medical devices.

Although an engineer by trade, Brandon brings over a decade of experience as a teacher and mentor to children and young adults. Whether he is tutoring for the ACT, teaching guitar at Craven Academy of Performing Arts, or coaching at Chess2Children, Brandon’s mission is to teach children lessons that are not bound by classroom walls.

He has carried this mission into his work as an Educational Mentor with Let It Be Us, where he works with foster care youth to make a lasting change in how they see themselves in this world. He joins the board as assistant treasurer and has served as a mentor for Let It Be Us since 2015.