Our Team

President: Alyse Mastrodonato

Vice President:  Cheri Spath

Secretary: Kelly Guthrie

Treasurer: Henrik Turk

Site Director: Shannon Powell

Additional Board Members:  Jill Rabin, Lisa Strons, Kathy Eiring, Chereesca Bejasa, Alejandra Aguirre

Committees:

Outreach: Chereesca Bejasa, Alejandra Aguirre, Kathy Johnson
Programs: Jill Rabin, Alejandra Aguirre
Marketing and Community Engagement: Kelly Guthrie, Heather Rodriguez
Finance: Henrik Turk, Cheri Spath, Chereesca Bejasa
Facility: Cheri Spath, Alyse Mastrodonato, Kelly Guthrie
Fundraising: Alyse Mastrodonato, Chereesca Bejasa,
Volunteers: Kelly Guthrie

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Alyse Mastrodonato, President

AMastrodonato@gigisplayhouse.org

Alyse & her husband Nick found GiGi’s Deerfield after the birth of their son, Conner. With a passion to make a difference, Alyse is excited to be a part of the Deerfield team. Currently a stay at home mom with a love for the outdoors, music & her family, she is anticipating a return to work as an Occupational Therapy Assistant. She strives for everyone’s potential to shine, which is exactly what she plans to do for Conner, his friends & the playhouse. “Let’s make this playhouse ROCK!

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Cheri Spath, Vice President

Cheri Spath is from Lake Bluff, and mom to Grace, our Speech Pathology intern. Grace’s enthusiasm and passion for GiGi’s was infectious, and inspired her to volunteer when Grace returned to school. She has enjoyed helping out behind the scenes, loves ‘getting things done’ and is honored to officially join the Board. Cheri has a degree in Pharmacy, and has recently retired after 28 years in the pharmaceutical industry, primarily at Abbott/AbbVie. She also sits on the Program Council for the Project ADAM affiliate at Lurie Children’s hospital, advocating for CPR/AED education in schools and communities. “I am excited to learn more about Down syndrome, support the acceptance mission and be a part of the continued growth and success of GiGi’s Deerfield”.

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Kelly Guthrie - Secretary

Kelly and her family – husband and son (2) – reside in the Northwest Suburbs. She has been an attorney for over fifteen years and runs her own law practice in Arlington Heights. Kelly is looking forward to bringing the same passion for helping her clients to helping those with Down Syndrome and their loved ones. She is proud to be a part of the Board of Directors for GiGi’s Playhouse Deerfield.

Kelly earned her B.S. from UW-Madison and her J.D. from UIC John Marshall Law School (now known as University of Illinois Chicago School of Law).

In her downtime, Kelly enjoys spending time with her family and friends, camping in the great outdoors, reading books and traveling.

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Henrik Turk - Treasurer

HTurk@gigisplayhouse.org

Henrik Turk and his family (wife Bethany, daughter Vivian, and son Carlyle) live on the northwest side of Chicago in the Edgebrook neighborhood. Henrik was introduced to Gigi’s Playhouse shortly after Vivian was born in 2017. Since then, Henrik and his family have been active participants in classes and events at multiple Gigi’s locations including Chicago and Hoffman Estates, and most recently Deerfield as their “home” playhouse.

Henrik works for Ernst and Young, LLP in the Financial Accounting Advisory group. He received a BA from Valparaiso University and an MBA and MS in Accounting from Loyola University Chicago. He is a CPA in Illinois.

In his spare time, Henrik enjoys spending time with his family outdoors especially at the beach (Chicago, Northern Michigan, and Florida are their favorites!). He also enjoys playing guitar, soccer, and running.

Jill Rabin, GiGi's Playhouse Deerfield Board Member

Jill Rabin, Board Member

jrabin@gigisplayhouse.org

Jill Rabin is a pediatric speech pathologist and international board certified lactation consultant who works with infants to three year olds. She has a private practice in the Chicagoland area where she primarily sees at-risk and special needs breastfeeding patients, children with Down syndrome and children with feeding aversion through the early intervention system. She often follows her patients with Down syndrome as breastfeeding newborns until they age out of the early intervention system. She also counsels pregnant mothers of babies with a prenatal diagnosis about how to establish breastfeeding.  She utilizes the Baby-Led Weaning approach in transitioning babies to solid food feedings, and has found great success in using this approach with babies with Down syndrome and feeding aversion. She has lectured nationally and internationally on topics related to breastfeeding at-risk infants, feeding aversion and the impact of Baby-Led Weaning as a method to transition to solids.  She has authored chapters in a book called Nursing Down Syndrome which is due to be published in the fall of 2018.  She has also been a guest blogger writing posts on facilitating breastfeeding in babies with Down syndrome for Julia’s Way. It is her goal to build a collaborative relationship between speech pathologists and lactation consultants in hopes of increasing the possibility of successful breastfeeding, especially for at-risk infants.

Lisa Strons, GiGi's Playhouse Deerfield Board Member

Lisa Strons, Board Member

lstrons@gigisplayhouse.org

Lisa Strons is married to Eric, and is mother to two beautiful girls, Kelly (11) and Avery (8). Avery was born with Down Syndrome. Lisa is an alumnus of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa with a degree in Life Sciences. Upon retiring from Abbott Laboratories with 26 years of service, she has started a new career at Abbvie. Lisa feels honored to be part of the Board of Directors for GIGI’s Deerfield. She looks forward to positively impacting the families of the North Shore of Chicago who have been touched by Down Syndrome.

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Kathy Eiring, Board Member

Kathy has been a Police Officer for twenty years and is currently at Barrington High School as Campus Security. She enjoys time with her wife Mary and two step kids Emma and Cole. Kathy has volunteered with Special Olympics for 15 years and found a passion for supporting people with disabilities. She is also a huge advocate for elderly citizens. When she is not protecting and serving her community she is rooting on the Chicago Cubs!

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Chereesca Bejasa - Board Member

Chereesca is a technologist and the Founder and CEO of Zenevate, a wellness startup and online platform. She has over 20 years of experience leading custom software initiatives across many industries, and holds a BS in Computer Science and Math from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Chereesca also served on the board of a Chicago non-profit for over 5 years including several years as the Secretary of the Board.

Chereesca is the proud mom to Bodhi who received his Trisomy 21 diagnosis prenatally in 2020. Since then, she dove into the community, exploring resources, and connecting with others. She even started a Facebook group to facilitate further sharing of resources between parents that has almost 500 active members. Chereesca brought Bodhi for his first LMNOP class when he was 6 months old, and they were both immediately hooked. Since then, Chereesca has organized fundraising teams and participated in activities to benefit Gigi’s playhouse. She is passionately dedicated to improving the outcomes for people with Down syndrome and has put her full support into the Gigi’s Playhouse mission.

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Alejandra Aguirre, Board Member

Born and raised in México. Relocated to the Windy City due to Edwin´s (my husband) job.

Proud mom of Thiago. I have a bachelor´s Degree in Nutrition with a diploma in maternal and child nutrition, 15+ years of experience owning my nutritional private practice and worked for the Mexican government designing nutritional school programs for kids.

I love to be with my family and friends. I´m passionate about nutrition, fitness and traveling. I also enjoy cooking, baking, and dancing on my free time.

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Kathy Johnson, Board Member

Kathy Johnson and her husband, Ron, became involved with GiGi’s Deerfield after witnessing the journey of a friend's grandson born with Down Syndrome. Later, they were blessed when their own grandson, Mason, was born with Trisomy 21. With three daughters, two sons-in-law, and three cherished grandchildren (Amelia, Mason, and Callie), their family is their greatest joy.

Professionally, Kathy serves as the Executive Vice-President of Human Resources at Energy Distribution Partners, holding a BS from DePaul University and an ML from Tulane Law School. Her dedication extends beyond the corporate realm; she is deeply committed to fostering social awareness and acceptance within the Down Syndrome community, and actively engaging in organizational outreach efforts.

In their spare time, Kathy and Ron enjoy weekend adventures and spoiling their grandchildren. Kathy is an avid reader and actively seeks out opportunities for personal growth and professional learning.

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Heather Rodriguez, Board Member

Heather Rodriguez is a dedicated advocate at GiGi’s Playhouse, where she found her purpose over 11 years ago. Initially an outsider, Heather quickly discovered a place filled with warmth, celebration, and unwavering support. In life outside of GiGi's, Heather is a Digital Marketing Specialist at C&S Companies.
Heather is thrilled to join the team at GiGi's Playhouse Deerfield to support their strategic plan to reach more people with the message of acceptance for all! She invites others to experience the transformative spirit of GiGi’s, where hearts are opened, lives are enriched, and perspectives are forever changed.

Shannon Powell, GiGi's Playhouse Deerfield Site Coordinator

Shannon Powell, Site Director

Shannon started at the GiGi's Playhouse National Office in 2015 as a place to learn and grow doing something positive while she figured out her long term career goals. Within a few months of her position at GiGi's she "drank the kool-aid" and realized that this was no longer a stepping stone but a life mission. Shannon worked as the jack-of-all trades in many different departments at the National Office but found her niche in marketing and supporting the start-up teams. Working with the Deerfield team inspired her and when the opportunity arose to run the new location she jumped at the chance. She looks forward to connecting to families at the new playhouse and helping to change the way the world sees Down syndrome.

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Cassie Bouy, Program Manager

Hi, my name is Cassie Bouy!

I am so excited to join GiGi’s Playhouse Deerfield as the new Program Manager and Volunteer Coordinator. I have a background in Early Childhood Special Education and was a kindergarten teacher before finding my way to GiGi’s.We are new to the North Shore and have enjoyed making this area our home!   I love baking and traveling with my husband and three kids. I also love snuggling with my mini bernedoodle, Sylvie. I can’t wait to meet you soon!