BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OFFICERS
Ed Butte
Chairperson
Ed retired in October of 2022 after a 40+ year career in the industrial electrical controls industry. He earned his BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois. Throughout his career, he has been a problem solver, innovator and customer advocate. Ed and his wife Trish live in Okauchee, WI and have four children, six grandchildren and a spoiled rescue dog – Mixie. He is an active member of St. Anthony’s on the Lake Church in Pewaukee. He previously was on the Finance Committee and Parish Council at St. Jerome Parish in Oconomowoc. He became a Group Chair with Executive Agenda January 2023.
Ed and Trish have volunteered with Family Promise for several years assisting with move in and apartment set up.
Lesley Kountz
Vice-Chairperson
Lesley has lived and worked in Waukesha County for the past 26 years. As an OT Practitioner, Lesley has dedicated her professional life to working with children and their families. Lesley is also an Instructor in the OTA Program at MATC. She has volunteered with a variety service organizations such Lake Country Caring, Milwaukee Street Angels, the St. Ben’s Meal Program, the Hope Center, and Family Promise whose missions align with her passion of helping others in the community achieve sustainable housing, food, and basic life necessities. Lesley and her husband Al have three adult children and one grandchild.
Bob McCormick
Secretary
Coleen grew up in Waukesha County, returning in 1996. She earned her MS in Counseling and professionally has worked with youth, adults and families in counseling, social work and ministry roles, currently working in behavioral health in Waukesha County. Most gratifying has been the many opportunities and persons met through volunteer and mission work both in Waukesha/Milwaukee counties and throughout the United States. She and her husband Tim have five children and live in Oconomowoc.
Tim Smits
Treasurer
Tim is the President of the Thomson Companies, who owns the Meadows Apartments in Waukesha. Tim, the Meadows Apartments and the Dorothy J. Thomson Charitable Fund has been actively engaged in supporting Family Promise, especially since the Apartment Shelter Program began. Tim has been married for 20+ years and has a son and daughter, who both attend college in Wisconsin. He graduated from UW with an accounting degree in 1988. Started in public accounting and then joined the Thomson Companies where he has worked for 30 years- the last two as President. Outside of work Tim loves to play golf and just about any other sporting activity that keeps him active.
BOARD MEMBERS
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Claire Bessette
Claire is a Vice President of Community Banking at Waukesha State Bank. Becoming a member of the Board of Trustees gives her an opportunity to become more involved in the Waukesha County community with an organization that aligns with her values. Serving those experiencing homelessness or addiction issues has been a part of her life as she has given time to the Milwaukee Rescue Mission, LA Dream Center, and Adullam Outreach.
The contribution Claire sees herself bringing to the board of Trustees are organization, people skills and an emphasis on team building.
Mike Hallquist
Mike Hallquist is first and foremost a loving husband and father of two great kids. He graduated from nearby Arrowhead High-School & UW-Milwaukee (Political Science), and later obtained his Masters in Public Diplomacy from the University of Southern California.He is currently a Senior Data Architect at GE Healthcare working on data governance & cloud architecture. Mike was elected Alderman of District 4 for the City of Brookfield in April 2020 and advocates for affordable housing, equity, re-development, and increasing the overall accessibility of his community.
Monica Murphy
Monica retired in 2022 after a long career as a civil rights attorney. Most of her career was working for a non-profit on behalf of people with disabilities representing them in employment, fair housing, and special education matters. She has lived in Waukesha County her entire life and currently resides in Brookfield with her husband Tom. She has three adult children, a new grandbaby, and a stepdaughter and three step grandchildren. She currently volunteers as a reading tutor in MIlwaukee Public Schools and was a long time volunteer with the Metropolitan MIlwaukee Fair Housing Council.
Cori Lynn Prahl
Cori is a lifelong resident of Wisconsin and is currently a
shareholder attorney in the Waukesha County law firm of Stone
Ridge Law Offices of Prahl & Snedeker, Ltd., practicing
insurance defense litigation. Cori and her husband Paul have
been married since 1996 and raised their three children in
Waukesha County after both graduating from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, where Cori graduated from law school in 1990.
All three of their children graduated from Waukesha Catholic
Memorial High School and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Outside of work Cori enjoys all UW sports, time on Pewaukee
lake, St. Charles Church, and is looking forward to becoming
more involved in Waukesha Family Promise and serving it’s
mission.
Jen Stemm
Jen graduated in 2004 from the University of Pittsburgh with a business degree focused on Finance and Economics. She has lived and worked in several states since then, moving to Oconomowoc in 2021. She is currently a Regional Director of Controllership for Eaton Corporation - covering North and South America for their Electrical Sector. Throughout her career, she has focused on business partnering, problem solving, process improvements and process automation, specific to finance, accounting, and data analytics. She is a loving wife and mother of 3 wonderful children. She has past volunteer experience with the United Way, Cub Scouts of America, and currently serves as Fundraising Director for the Kettle Moraine Youth Wrestling Club.
Jennifer Veum
Jennifer has lived in Waukesha County for over twenty years with her husband and two children. After receiving a degree in Business Administration from Marquette University, she worked in technical support for a software company for 13 years. For the last fifteen years or so, she has either worked or served in church ministry, holding various roles ranging from children’s ministry leader to Executive Director. Most recently, she served as Women’s Ministry Leader at Thirst Church in Oconomowoc, and during that time received her Master of Arts in Christian Leadership from Grand Canyon University. It is through her work in ministry that her passion to help families experiencing homelessness began, and she desires to aid Family Promise in helping as many families as possible during her time on the board.
Julie Wiech
Julie graduated from Marquette University in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. In 2016,
she earned her Master of Business Administration from Cardinal Stritch. Julie started her career working
as a Staff Accountant for a Milwaukee-based investment advisor and then worked her way up to
Accounting Manager at a global software company headquartered in Milwaukee. She continued her
accounting career at a local nonprofit as the Controller for all three of its agencies and is currently the
Controller at American Deposit Management LLC in Pewaukee. She also serves on the Advisory Board
for the Wisconsin chapter of Playworks. Julie has lived in Southeastern Wisconsin her whole life, and
currently lives in Waukesha with her husband and daughter.