Meet the Staff
Meet the hard-working team of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Illinois.
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Jeanne Stahlheber Chief Executive Officer Jeanne Stahlheber serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Illinois (BBBS), one of the largest mentoring programs in the state. She has held this position since June 1992, and provides leadership to a staff of 19 professionals. |
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Corey Burrows Vice President of Programs Corey grew up in Bethany, IL, and attended Millikin University, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in History Education. After college he spent two years with the AmeriCorps program, the second at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Macon County. He is in his 15th year with Big Brothers Big Sisters, serves as the Vice-President of Programs, and is currently matched with a Little Brother named Konner. He enjoys spending his free time with his wife, Teri, and two sons, Grant and Will, as well as traveling, playing sports, hiking and fishing. |
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Steve Miller Chief Development Officer Steve has been with BBBSCIL since November of 2008. He brings considerable experience (and age!) to this key position, which is responsible for securing much of the funding to keep us going. Steve has worked in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors. Before joining the team here, Steve was instrumental in both fundraising and construction management when Dove, Inc. moved its domestic violence shelter and most of its offices to the Anna B. Millikin Home on Union Street in Decatur. Prior to that, Steve served on volunteer boards for non-profits in the Midwest and in Colorado. Steve and Trish have three grown children and four grandchildren. They have been Decatur residents since 1988. |
Macon County
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Zach Shields Community Partnership Manager Zach first became involved with BBBS as a Big Brother in 2002. The next year he accepted a part-time position in case management. Since then, he has served as our Enrollment and Matching specialist and then Program Director in Macon County. Recently, he made a transition to concentrate on development and expanding partnership resources. Zach is currently matched with his second Little Brother, Kortney. He is an avid horseman and writer, with interests in fiction, magazine work and screenwriting. He graduated in 2000 from Miami University with a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing and European Cinema. His parents blessed this but predicted (correctly) that he would never get a “real” job. A native of Columbus, Ohio, Zach is an ardent Buckeye fan who still can’t quite believe he hired someone from the University of Michigan. Go Bucks! |
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Chantel Thompson Casework Supervisor Chantel grew up in Chester, IL, which is also Popeye’s hometown. From there, she ventured to the great state of Kentucky where she attended Murray State University. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Human Development and Leadership. During her time in college, she participated as a Big Sister and interned with BBBS in Murray, KY. She’s been a case manager here for two years now and also has a Little Sister, Sierra (pictured here with Chantel). In her free time, she enjoys being around friends and family, scrapbooking, traveling, and watching the St. Louis Cardinals. |
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Saramanda Goodwin Case Manager Saramanda attended Southern Illinois University, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in English Education. Following college she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines, where she worked as an English language teacher trainer. She then spent several years teaching in South Korea and traveling through Southeast Asia. She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Library Science with a focus on Community Informatics. Saramanda served our agency for a year as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer, then accepted a position to continue working with us as a case manager for Macon County’s new Young Mothers Mentoring initiative. She recently became a mentor herself. In her free time, she enjoys hanging out with her Little Sister, Savarra, reading, cooking, hiking, camping and traveling. Saramanda is a Cubs fan, but knows absolutely nothing about sports, so please don’t try to test her loyalty by asking her to name any players. She just knows she likes the Cubs. |
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Tina Owens Case Manager Tina is a native of Decatur and graduate of Millikin University with a B.A. in Human Services. She is responsible for supervising many of the children in our community-based program. Tina has always had a passion for working with youth and has worked with organizations like BBBS & Girl Scouts of Central Illinois as a mentor and Decatur Housing Authority as a Summer Youth Program Coordinator. |
McLean County
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Amanda Wait Case Manager Amanda was born and raised in Bloomington, IL. She went to college at Northern Illinois University, where she received her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology with an emphasis in Criminology. While at NIU, she was a member of the cheerleading team. Amanda has worked with BBBS of McLean County since December 2008 as a Case Manager doing enrollment, matching, and match support for our Community-Based program. She is also currently matched with a Little Sister, Jasmine. In addition to BBBS, Amanda has been coaching a competitive cheerleading program in Bloomington for the past 8 years. |
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Angela Buckley Case Manager Angie considers Bloomington home since she has been there over 20 years, but she was born and raised in Mt. Zion, IL. After graduating from Illinois State University with a degree in Psychology and Elementary Education, Angie’s BBBS experience began in 1997 when she decided to participate in BFKS. Although her bowling score was nothing to speak of, she did strike gold when her name was drawn as the winner for the BBBS Dream Home raffle. Even though she had to split the top prize with three friends, nothing compared to the job interview she scored with Jeanne a week later! Angie officially started her BBBS career in the Decatur office in 1997, then transferred to the Bloomington office and worked there until 2001. After spending the past ten years working with her husband, Tyler, on their family coffee business and raising her children Colton (7) and Emersyn (5), Angie is very excited to get back to working with her co-workers and all of the families and volunteers at BBBS. |
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Ann Howland Case Manager Ann grew up in St. Charles, Missouri, but has been a resident of Bloomington for the past 20 years. She attended Illinois State University, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and her Master’s degree in Criminal Justice Sciences. She is also an Illinois Certified Domestic Violence Professional and has over 11 years of experience in victim services. Ann previously worked as a part-time Case Manager for BBBS in McLean County from 2004-2006, and was also a Big Sister for over 8 years. In her free time, Ann enjoys junior high youth ministry, golfing, concerts, and is a St. Louis Cardinals fan. |
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LeAnn Nolan Case Manager LeAnn was born and raised in Pontiac, IL. She received her Associates Degree from Heartland Community College where she was a member of the Community Scholars Scholarship Program. She attended SIU Edwardsville for a short while and finished her Bachelors in Criminal Justice at Illinois State University. She has enjoyed her new beginning with BBBS in McLean County and is highly anticipating getting a Little Sister of her own! LeAnn is an active member of her church small group, and in her free time she enjoys running, fishing, reading, watching the Cubs (even when they lose) going to concerts, and spending quality time with friends and family. |
Champaign County
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Eric Batsie Community Partnership Manager Eric comes to us from Russia, where he was the National Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters. A native of Champaign County, he has 3 years of experience working in the organization and over 15 years of experience in the child welfare field. Eric obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Slavic Languages and Literatures and his Master’s Degree in Public and Nonprofit Management, both from Indiana University. Eric volunteered as a Big Brother for several years in Indiana, New York, and Moscow. He remains in contact with his former Little Brother, Kirill, in Russia. |
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Brian Bialeschki Case Manager A native of Champaign, Brian attended Dr. Howard, Franklin, and the Centennial before graduating from Lincoln’s Challenge Military School. After graduation, Brian spent several years traveling the country from Florida, to New Orleans, to New York. After returning to Champaign richer in the experience, Brian enrolled at the University of Illinois, where he graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors in Political Science, and minors in History and Philosophy. After college, Brian worked as the VP of Operations for the Community Boys & Girls Club of Wilmington, NC. Brian is very excited to be back home with the task of overseeing our School-based Mentoring Program that matches youth once a week at their schools with a positive and committed role model. |
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Caitlyn Lamb Case Manager Caitlyn grew up in Urbana, IL. She attended Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and graduated in May 2010 with her Bachelor's degree in Psychology and minor in Criminal Justice. In her free time she enjoys spending time with family, friends, playing sports and being outdoors. |
DeWitt County
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Jeanna Salsman Program Director Jeanna Salsman grew up in Effingham, and then moved to Carbondale to attend Southern Illinois University. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Administration of Justice. She met her husband, Todd, while at school. When Todd’s job brought them to Clinton, Jeanna decided to get more involved in her community, enrolling as a Big Sister with our program. She began working as our county director for Dewitt in November of 2007. During her free time she enjoys traveling with her husband, hiking with her dog, and relaxing at home. She is pictured with her Little Sis, Sam. |
Ford County
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Sarah Mutchmore Casework Supervisor Sarah grew up in Paxton, Illinois and has overseen our office in her hometown for the past three years. She graduated from Illinois State University with a B.S. in Health Education, and enjoys being able to serve children in the community where she spent her childhood. Currently a Big Sister, she also enjoys free time with her own two children. |
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Emily Vest Case Manager Emily grew up in Loda, Illinois and is a 2007 graduate of Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School. She attended Eastern Illinois University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree with minors in Kinesiology and Health Education in December 2010. Emily was a Big Sister in High School and worked with several children’s groups while attending EIU. Emily is working in both the Champaign and Ford County offices. During her free time, she enjoys traveling, being outdoors, and spending time with her friends and family. |
