Our people

Frances Baxley is a family physician whose clinical experience includes providing primary care for underserved communities in San Francisco, rural New Mexico, and with Erie Family Health in Waukegan, IL. A Fulbright alumna, she earned a medical degree from Harvard University and completed her residency in Family and Community Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital. She currently works for the Northshore University Health System in their Department of Integrative Medicine. She is fluent in Spanish and German. Dr. Baxley joined the Board of the Healthcare Foundation in 2016.

With over 30 years of experience in the healthcare setting, Myleene is a strong advocate for the continuum of care, ensuring seamless transitions for patients and meeting their diverse needs through home care, home health, hospice, and palliative care.

In her current role as Area Vice President at JourneyCare – an Addus HomeCare Company, she leads initiatives providing compassionate hospice and palliative care, helping patients live their lives with dignity and comfort.  These quality care services are provided in Lake County and the surrounding Chicagoland area.  Myleene is dedicated to recognizing and fulfilling patients’ healthcare goals and advocating for equitable access to care.

Myleene earned a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Northern Illinois University and a master’s degree in nursing from Rush University. She joined the Foundation’s Board in June 2024.

Megan is the Managing Attorney of Prairie State Legal Services’ Waukegan office, working with a dedicated team to provide civil legal services to vulnerable individuals in Lake County. Her legal work focuses on providing meaningful access to justice regardless of a person’s ability to pay. She is a current board member for the Association of Women Attorneys of Lake County and St. Gilbert School, a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and Lake County Bar Association, and has previously served on the Illinois Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Advisory Committee. Megan earned her law and bachelor’s degrees from Loyola University Chicago. She joined the Foundation’s Board in 2024.  

Melissa is an internal medicine physician who primarily teaches students at Rosalind Franklin University (RFU) in North Chicago, IL. She is the Clinical Director of the Interprofessional Community Clinic, RFU’s student-led free clinic that delivers free primary care, podiatry, mental health, and physical therapy services to uninsured residents of Lake County. Her professional experience includes work as a hospitalist in Seattle, a primary care volunteer at HealthReach, and resident mentor at Erie HealthReach Waukegan Health Center. Her most recent endeavor is creating a new longitudinal curriculum on health equity for the Chicago Medical School. Her educational background includes Harvard, Vanderbilt, and the University of Washington. Dr. Chen joined the Foundation’s Board in September 2021.

Recently retired as Vice President of Litigation Services at Mindcrest, Inc., the oldest and largest legal process outsourcing company. Mr. Duffy is a frequent author and speaker on e-discovery issues and the legal outsourcing industry. He is currently the sole member of the Law Office of Michael Duffy LLC and represents immigration clients on a pro bono basis. He has over 40 years experience as a litigator that include his position as national counsel and lead trial counsel for a medical device manufacturer. His appellate experience includes arguments before the Illinois Appellate and Supreme Courts. He has over ten years experience as township attorney for Libertyville and Lake Villa townships in Lake County, Illinois. Mr. Duffy also served as an Assistant State’s Attorney with the Lake County Illinois State’s Attorney’s Office. He joined the Healthcare Foundation’s Board in September 2018.

Igael has dedicated over 20 years of his career bringing financial and health awareness to underserved communities through education and outreach. He earned his bachelor’s degree with an emphasis in International Business from DePaul University. Outside of his professional endeavors, Igael utilizes his fluency in Spanish to provide support and guidance to the Spanish-speaking community. Igael joined the Foundation’s Board in September 2021.

Sam is the Director of Behavioral Health at the Lake County Health Department, where a staff of 300 provides behavioral health services to over 10,000 Lake County adults and youth annually through outpatient, residential and community-based care. He has spent most of his career helping to provide or increase access to behavioral healthcare for underserved individuals. Recent projects have included expanding crisis services, collaborating with community partners to address the rise in opioid use and overdose deaths, and increasing services for children and youth. Sam has been with the Lake County Health Department for over 30 years. He is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and has an MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. Sam joined the Board of the Healthcare Foundation in 2022.

A bilingual therapist, counselor, and registered nurse, Magdalena McElroy has worked with adult and youth clients on issues as diverse as behavioral health problems and mental illness, co-occurring medical and psychological disorders, occupational injury, and sexual abuse. She recently retired from the Lake County Health Department’s Behavioral Health Services and maintains a private practice. McElroy received a bachelor of science from Alverno College and an MSW from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She joined the Foundation’s Board in 2015.

Laura Ramírez is a lifelong resident of Lake County with over 20 years of experience in the Lake County non-profit sector. Her background in nonprofit fundraising and outcome-based program management have allowed her to strengthen organizations that promote the health and wellbeing of the Lake County community. She holds a BA in psychology with a minor in social work from Wheaton College and is a graduate of the Illinois Latino Policy Forum’s Latino Nonprofit Leadership Academy and Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management’s Fundraising Capacity Building Initiative. She is bilingual in English and Spanish and has extensive experience working with marginalized populations in Lake County. A former member of the board of directors of the Coalición Latinos Unidos of Lake County, she joined the Foundation’s Board in 2015.

John is a financial advisor at Old National Investments in Gurnee, IL. He has over 15 years of experience guiding individuals in personal financial planning. He earned a B.S. in finance from Eastern Illinois University and holds the Certified Financial Planner™ designation. John currently resides in Gurnee with his wife and two children. John joined the Board of Directors in 2024.

For more than 20 years, Casandra Slade has worked to improve economic stability and prosperity in low- and middle-income communities in Illinois. She began on the nonprofit side, implementing homebuyer education and post-purchase programs in Milwaukee and increasing affordable housing opportunities in Lake County. In 2004, she moved to the banking sector itself, launching successful small loan programs and helping shape effective community reinvestment and development initiatives. In her current role, Ms. Slade provides strategic guidance to Wintrust’s 15 community bank subsidiaries and a variety of community nonprofit organization partners. She joined the Foundation’s Board in 2017.

A sociologist and geographic information system analyst, Carol Sonnenschein works to help governments and nonprofits understand local demographic, social, and economic trends. For 10 years at Chicago Metropolis 2020, she conducted research and analysis in the areas of development and transportation. She has worked to restore and protect the Des Plaines River watershed and taught at Loyola University Chicago. A longtime county resident, she has served on the boards of the Lake County Community Foundation, Liberty Prairie Conservancy, Lake County Affordable Housing Commission, and Metropolitan Planning Council Regional Development Committee. She joined the Foundation’s Board in 2016.

Adam is a serial social entrepreneur transitioning out of the public health, healthcare, and community development finance space to focus on tangible solutions that can be launched in communities of color that address inequality. The first venture on this journey is Drip & Culture, a coffee shop inside Supermercado Gonzalez, a Mexican grocery store he and his wife run in Waukegan, Illinois. They envision transforming Supermercado Gonzalez into a community hub by leveraging Drip and Culture and other brands to launch socially focused, community-based transformation activities. In the past year, he launched a Drip and Culture Run Club, which invites our community to come out for runs in the community. Adam has a Bachelor’s Degree in Hospital Administration from Jackson State University. His graduate studies have included hospital administration, higher education, and urban planning, emphasizing community development. Adam is fluent in Spanish.

Gabriel Conroe received an appointment as an Associate Judge in July 2024 after working as an attorney in the Lake County Public Defender’s Office for 17 years. As an Assistant Public Defender, he was assigned to the Therapeutic Intensive Monitoring Courts, encompassing the Drug Court, Mental Health Court, and the Veterans Treatment & Assistance Court. Throughout his career, Gabriel focused his advocacy on helping the most vulnerable people. He has a particular interest in the interplay between mental health and the law. He also worked in the Felony Trial Division at the Public Defender’s Office. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law. Gabe joined HFNLC’s Beneficiary Selection Committee in 2024.

With more than a decade of experience in the insurance and financial services sectors, David Hatton provides individual investment advice through First Midwest Bank, where he is an investment sales manager, and through his own consultancy, HFS. He has a B.A. in political science from Ball State University and served for eight years in the U.S. Army. A resident of Grayslake, Mr. Hatton joined the Foundation’s Board in 2014. After serving ten years on the Foundation’s Board of Directors, he now sits on the Finance Committee of the Healthcare Foundation of Northern Lake County (Former Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee).

Nadine Johnson is a banking professional with over 25 years of experience. She joined Old National Bank in May 1995. She is a graduate of Columbia College of Missouri with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and earned her MBA from Webster University. She received her Certified Treasury Professional designation in 2007 and is a member of the Illinois Government Finance Officers Association, where she chairs the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Task Force. She serves on the Community Partners for Affordable Housing (CPAH) and the Lake County Community Foundation (LCCF) boards. She sits on the Finance Committee of the Healthcare Foundation of Northern Lake County (Former Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee).

Gary is the Director of Finance for Heart of the City, a soccer-oriented youth development organization program.  Gary is originally from Aurora, Illinois, and after graduating from Illinois State University, moved to Lake County. He has worked in non-profit finance for over 40 years.  Previously, he was a partner at a Waukegan CPA firm and the chief financial officer of A Safe Place, a domestic violence social service agency. He also serves as a Board Member and Treasurer of Art Impact Project, a Lake County Mental Wellness organization.  Gary earned the CPA designation in 1983 after graduation.

Angela Baran holds a masters from DePaul University’s School of Public Service and has experience in healthcare grants management and development through her work with the Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center. A life-long resident of Northeastern Lake County, she understands both the needs and assets of the community. She is committed to improving the health of the community through education and the provision of quality services. She joined the Healthcare Foundation of Northern Lake County in 2011.

After a 20-year career in non-profit health, human services, and academia, Dr. Venoncia M. Baté-Ambrus joined the Healthcare Foundation of Northern Lake County. She began working as a Community Health Worker (CHW) before becoming a community health psychologist and pastoral counselor specializing in diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ), spirituality, and integrated care. Promoting health equity and access to care whether in hospitals, clinics, hospice and palliative care, or behavioral healthcare settings is her life’s work. Dr. Baté-Ambrus was appointed and/or elected to multiple boards, advisories and committees, including sections of the American Public Health Association (APHA) and the American Psychological Association (APA). She is a Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) practitioner, in addition to being a public speaker and educator on cultural humility and social determinants of health. She joined the Healthcare Foundation of Northern Lake County in 2022.

Meredith Polirer has held office administration and accounting related positions at a variety of corporations and nonprofit organizations, including P.M. Haeger & Associates, Delicious Cookie Company, American Academy of Pediatrics, and Michaels Arts & Crafts. She studied administrative office systems at the College of Lake County and holds a bachelor’s degree in technical management from DeVry University in Gurnee. She joined the Foundation in 2012.