Meet the Nurture Board:
Kathryn Kemp Guylay
Founder
Kathryn Guylay has a B.A. from Emory University and an M.B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. She is currently pursuing her certification in nutritional counseling at Trinity College of Natural Health. Formerly a Senior Manager at the Alexander Group’s management consulting practice, Kathryn’s project management skills are being put to good use coordinating the various resources for Nurture. Her bilingual abilities serve a special purpose in communications with Latino participants. Her love of nutrition and belief in its critical role in good health provide the passion behind this endeavor. Kathryn is excited about the opportunity to encourage healthy, home-cooked meals in place of unhealthy fast food. She herself is no stranger to eating healthy on a limited budget. As a graduate student, Kathryn honed her low-cost recipes, incorporating staples such as whole grains, beans, and lentils. These are the basics for many of the Nurture program’s recipes today. She credits her family for her continued passion for nutrition and healthy living. Jeff, her husband of 12 years, is her best recipe reviewer and is a consistent Nurture volunteer. Her daughter (9) and son (7) love to spend time growing (through gardening) and preparing food. Kathryn’s interests including running, piano, yoga, sustainable farming, and eco-minded living.
Lisa Brewer
Regional Director for Highland Park/Lake County
Program/Committee Leadership: Oak Terrace Elementary School/ Volunteer Coordination
Lisa has a M.B.A. with a concentration in marketing from University of Michigan and a B.S. in Psychology. During her seven years in sales at Procter & Gamble she learned, among other things, how large corporations inspire impulse purchases of less than nutritious food. She’s currently works with small businesses to sharpen their marketing, tailor their product selection, and improve their business processes. She’s devoted much energy to her children’s schools working on strategic planning committees, nutrition committees, and school improvement teams, and chairing carnivals, basketball tournaments, Kid Care Clubs, and dances. Her passion for nutrition and wellness worked its way into these events by incorporating healthy, fun foods such as fruit kabobs and smoothies into the menus and playful exercise into the activities. Lisa credits her mom for making nutritious, delicious meals and healthy habits a way of life. She’s passing on the tradition to her family and wants to help others do the same.
Stephanie Fine
Regional Director for Evanston
Program/Committee Leadership: Family Focus/Program Evaluation
With degrees in History and Spanish, solid scientific training, 20 years of healthcare marketing leadership, volunteer activities that span four continents, and the joyful experience of raising young children, Stephanie brings diverse skills to the Nurture community. Her career in healthcare marketing and education has spanned many complex areas of medicine, but Stephanie’s real passion is family health and wellness. She has integrated a lifelong focus on nutrition, exercise, and preventive medicine with a strong belief in community building and helping others. In 2009, Stephanie launched a healthcare consulting group after 10 years at Publicis Healthcare Communications, the world’s largest network of medical communications agencies, where she was SVP of Strategy and Scientific Planning. Prior to Publicis, Stephanie held leadership positions within Omnicom and the biotechnology sector, while volunteering with professional, church, and community groups and lecturing on medical education at the University of Chicago graduate studies program.
Julia Dunn Goodhouse
Program/Committee Leadership: New Trier Township Food Pantry/Food and Nutrition
Julia Dunn Goodhouse is an avid home cook with special interests in recipe development, health and nutrition. Most recently as a public relations professional, she managed accounts for clients in transportation, retail, local government, and commercial real estate industries. For four years she was a volunteer and eventually a staff member for a nonprofit organization dedicated to sustainable agriculture and education. She also spent over five years in film and television production. She is a graduate from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, with a degree in Communication Arts.
Jeff Guylay
Committee Leadership: Finance/Accounting and Legal
Jeff volunteers at many of Nurture’s classes, particularly the ones his wife and Nurture founder, Kathryn, teaches. Making Nurture a family affair is important to Jeff and Kathryn, particularly to reinforce to their kids, also active volunteers at ages nine and seven, the importance of hands-on community work. Otherwise you’ll find Jeff in their gardens with Kathryn and the kids: preparing, planting, harvesting or just playing. Thanks to Kathryn’s passion and talents, eating simply and well is just part of Jeff’s life. Sharing a wonderful meal together each evening with the kids is key; family dinners together are the norm. By day, Jeff is an investment banker at Colonnade Advisors. He received an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management and undergraduate degrees from Dartmouth College.
Colleen Scopacasa
Committee Leadership: Fundraising and Communications
Colleen Scopacasa is a wife and mother of three currently living in Green Oaks, IL. She holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MLIR from the School of Labor and Employment Relations at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Upon graduating, Colleen worked in Human Resources at The Chrysler Corporation and Motorola, Inc. Colleen has been raising her children full time since 2001 and has committed her time to her kids’ school and community. In 2003, she started a resume writing and career advising business called Résumés+ which is still active today. Having been born and raised in an agricultural community, Colleen is excited to share her experiences with her family’s subsistence farming efforts and her pleasure in preparing and consuming quality, homegrown food.
Heather B. Sullivan, RD, LDN
Committee Leadership: Curriculum Development and Training/Food and Nutrition
Heather is a Dietitian and Clinical Research Coordinator at Radiant Research, a comprehensive clinical research and development company serving the biopharmaceutical and medical device industries. Heather specializes in providing dietary counseling and education to patients in the weight loss, diabetes and cardiovascular disease trials. Heather is also involved in conducting staff training on nutrition and disease prevention topics. In addition, Heather sees private clients in Evanston and Chicago for nutrition and healthy lifestyle consultations. Heather completed the Coordinated Program in Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois in Chicago earning a B.S. in Human Nutrition. She completed her dietetics internship at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago and at the University of Illinois, Chicago Wellness Center, where she developed her nutrition-focused counseling skills with both children and adults. Prior to becoming a registered dietitian, Heather earned a B.A. in Psychology at Marquette University. Heather also studied psychology at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand where she lived for six months.
Meet the Nurture Leadership Team:
Gina Gooden
Program Instructor: Kids Classes
Committee Leader: Community Outreach
Gina was lucky enough to be inspired by two cooks in her family. While her mom cooked for a family of five, Gina also observed her Nonna, “cook Italian”. As a newlywed, Gina has added her own flair and has enjoyed trying out many new recipes. Time is precious, as Gina works full time as Program Coordinator for a local municipality’s Youth & Senior Services; so she is always looking to make tasty, quick and healthy meals for herself and her husband. He loves her cooking! Gina has a teaching background and a Master’s in Clinical Psychology. Gina loves to teach, loves kids, and loves to teach kids to cook.
Meet the Special Topics Advisory Board:
Beth Busch
Beth Busch is a certified personal trainer and believes that fitness and healthy eating are critical for all ages. She has an MBA in Finance from Duke University and a BSBA in Finance from Georgetown University. After a career in corporate finance and foreign exchange sales, Beth followed her passion for health and sports and became certified by ACE (American Council on Exercise) as a personal trainer. She lives with her husband and two children. With both food allergies and hypoglycemia in her family, Beth has spent lots of time evaluating alternative food choices. Eating well and exercising should be fun – that way it is easy to make them a natural part of life.
Cindy Dooley
Cindy’s life-long interest in nutrition and holistic well-being is defined by her core belief that ”you are what you eat.” Her passion for healthy, informed eating turned practical in 2000 when her husband was diagnosed with Celiac disease, a condition corrected by dietary modifications, which was almost unheard of at the time. Today, as the mother of three young children, one with severe food allergies and Celiac, Cindy’s mission is to 1) learn as much as she can about the relationship between food and well-being, 2) teach her family about making healthy eating and lifestyle choices and 3) influence and share her knowledge with others whose lives she touches. Cindy has taken nutrition classes at Harold Washington College and works with a nutritionist to stay up-to-date on the issues. Currently, Cindy works part-time for Cannon Frank, an interior design firm, managing marketing and public relations efforts; and previously she worked for several years at an international advertising agency. She earned a B.A. from Truman State University in Missouri and is a volunteer with the Junior League of Evanston-North Shore.
Emily K. Hadley, MS, RN
Emily Kenderdine Hadley is a Registered Nurse and employed part-time by Advocate Health Care as a Special Projects Coordinator in the Advocate Center for Pediatric Research. Emily holds a B.S. in Nursing from Texas Christian University and a M.S., with an emphasis in Nursing Administration, from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Emily has had the opportunity to work with many families where nutrition plays an integral role in their child’s diagnosis. As a new nurse, she worked at a children’s hospital in Texas and provided care to many children with diagnoses such as cystic fibrosis, cancer and diabetes. Upon moving to Chicago, Emily worked as the Diabetes Educator at Children’s Memorial Hospital. After graduate school, she was employed at UIC as the Project Director on a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded research study working with families that have a child with a genetic condition. Emily is also an active volunteer in the community and further cultivates her passion to help others through these civic activities.
Tia M. Rains, Ph.D.
Tia is the Director of Medical Writing and a Principal Scientist with Provident Clinical Research & Consulting, a firm specializing in the design and management of clinical trials in nutrition and disease risk factor management (obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes). Dr. Rains also serves as a nutrition consultant to the food and beverage industry. Prior to joining Provident, Dr. Rains spent nine years at Kraft Foods in various positions within the research and development organization. While at Kraft, she was the lead nutrition scientist on business acquisition teams, worked closely with product developers to develop healthier products for both the grocery and food service sectors, and designed and executed several large scientific studies on diet and health. During her tenure at Kraft Foods, Dr. Rains taught nutritional biochemistry and food chemistry courses at Rosalind Franklin University in West Chicago, IL and at the University of Illinois in Chicago, IL. In addition to her professional commitments, she frequently speaks to schools, professional groups and other scientists on health and nutrition topics and has been involved in restructuring food programs at several childcare centers and school districts. Dr. Rains earned a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in Nutritional Sciences, where her research interests included body weight and appetite regulation as well as vitamin and mineral nutrition. Prior to graduate school, she earned a B.S. degree in Foods and Nutrition while competing on the Arizona State University swim team as a scholarship athlete.
Jenniffer Weigel
Jenniffer Weigel is an Emmy Award winning broadcaster from Chicago. She currently runs JCW Productions, creating for-entertainment programs and stories for television as well as her website staytunedwithjen.com. Before entering broadcasting Jenniffer was a professional actor, performing roles such as Queen Margaret in Shakespeare’s “Henry VI” and the role of Renee in “M. Butterfly” with Chicago’s Wisdom Bridge Theater. She later transitioned into a career in broadcasting; first in radio, where she was teamed up as a sidekick for radio personalities such as Jonathan Brandmeier, Danny Bonaduce, Steve Cochran, and movie critic Richard Roeper. She then moved into television, reviewing movies and filing entertainment reports for superstation WGN for three years before moving over to CBS news. She spent three years at CBS affiliate WBBM-TV in Chicago as an anchor and reporter, where she was honored with an Emmy Award in 2001 for her on-camera reporting. Jenniffer hosted a weekly talk show on both WLS-AM radio and WGN radio for two years. She travels the country speaking to women’s groups, schools and the media about ethics in journalism and encouraging people to follow their dreams. Jenniffer’s writing has appeared in the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun Times as well as Today’s Chicago Woman, where she was an entertainment columnist for two years. She is also the author of the critically acclaimed book “Stay Tuned; Conversations with Dad from the Other Side”.
