President:
Montez McDuffie

Vice President:
Joe Fantozzi

Treasurer:  
Gary Eisnor 

Secretary:  
Jennifer Mingus Mountcastle

Executive Director:  
Mary Ann Creamer

Curriculum Director:  
Jane Kaftan

Allison Bacon – Auditor / former peer student leader
Brittany Defazio – teacher / former peer student leader
Steve Furey – financial advisor
Buffy Greenawalt – Guidance counselor
Kathie Hammond – retired educator / former peer mentor
Justin Harris - Attorney
Poppy Lee – psychologist
Diane Lieblein – Auditor / former peer student leader
Nancy McKeen – Former county commissioner
Jenn Mountcastle – Attorney / former peer student leader
Judy Pfleiger – retired school counselor
Jennifer Williamson – financial auditor / former peer student leader
Keri May - Corporate Consultant (Convergent Performance LLC)

Board Member Biographies

President of the Board – Montez McDuffie has been involved in education for 34 years.  Montez spent 14 years in the classroom as an elementary teacher for Cleveland public schools and Sandusky city schools and 16 years as an administrator for Sandusky city schools.  Montez currently serves as a coordinator of Gifted Services for the North Point Educational Service Center.  Montez served on the Board of Directors for United Way for 15 years, the BGSU Firelands College Advisory Board, as well as several local and state civic committees.  Montez has been married to his wife Mary for 29 years, and they have 2 children, Erin and Daniel.

Vice President of the Board - Joe Fantozzi – is currently an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for Summit County. His prior legal experience includes private practice, the Ohio Attorney General's Office, and the City of Sandusky. Joe attended Ohio State, Oxford University, Notre Dame Law School, and Toledo College of Law. While at Toledo Joe served as Editor-in-Chief of the Law Journal and worked as a Research Assistant for Understanding Trusts & Estates. While at Huron High School, Joe was a member of the Peer Team.  Joe serves on the Board of Directors for Pegasus Farm in Hartville, Ohio and is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, and the Italian American Professional Businessman's Club of Akron. Joe was born and raised in Huron, Ohio and now resides with his wife Mary, in Akron, Ohio.

Board Treasurer - Gary Eisnor began his career as a school teacher, he then assumed the position of manufacturer’s representative for 29 years in the furniture business, and is presently working at Herman's Furniture in the areas of sales, service, and operations.  Gary has been active in coaching youth sports, serving in different leadership roles at his church.  Gary has also been involved in various professional design and product development teams in the furniture industry. He and his wife Susan, have three married children and six grandchildren scattered across the country.  His youngest two children were active in the peer service-learning class while in high school and have attained numerous benefits grasping the life changing reality of service learning.  Gary has served on various boards over the years including a private school, counseling center, Young Life, elder boards at two churches, and two homeowner associations where they have lived.  Gary has a strong compassion for service and feels that his service opportunities have greatly enhanced the life of his family.

Allison Bacon is a 2002 graduate from Huron High School where she actively participated in the Huron Peer Team.  After high school she attended Miami University where she studied Organizational Leadership Management and graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor's degree in Business.  Afterwards, she attended Bowling Green State University and graduated in 2007 with a Masters in Business Administration degree, with a specialization in Accounting.  Currently she is an Audit Senior Assistant at Deloitte & Touche LLP in Cleveland, OH.  She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Ohio Society of CPAs.  Allison has a passion for service, and has enjoyed working closely with the TLC Youth Council.  In her spare time she enjoys spending time with family and friends, working out, and singing throughout the local community and at her church. 

Mary Ann Creamer: Executive Director conceived Teen Leadership Corps on the notion that there is no greater gift that we can give our youth than opportunities to lead and serve others. She initiated, developed, and taught service- learning for 13 years at the secondary level. The service-leadership program she taught was the largest in the state of Ohio, and her students were recognized as Ohio’s outstanding peer team. Mary Ann was voted Outstanding Educator of the Year, was chosen by her students to be published in the Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, and was a member of the Congressional Youth Leadership Council. Mary Ann has coached four state tennis champions, led 18 athletic teams to conference titles, co-owned and managed a teen nightclub, and served as the special events manager for Five Seasons Sports Country Club, where she teamed with 3 other department managers and working together increased club revenue by 39% over a period of two years through innovative programs and events. Mary Ann holds both a B.A. and M.A. degrees, from Miami University and Ashland University respectively.

Jane Kaftan: Curriculum Director grew up outside of Washington, DC, in Chantilly, Virginia. She graduated from Mary Washington College with a Bachelor’s in sociology. She has worked as a social worker in a number of areas including Head Start, truancy and delinquent teens, adolescent psychiatric treatment, and employment services. Jane became involved in the service-leadership programs as the school-based mentoring coordinator with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Jane’s enthusiasm for service learning grew as she took on a significant role on the Board of Directors of Teen Leadership Corps, which led to her current position as the curriculum director for Teen Leadership Corps.

Diane Lieblein is a 1996 graduate of Huron High School where she actively participated in the Huron Peer Team.  In 2000, she graduated with her Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from Miami University, and in 2001 with her Masters of Accountancy, also from Miami.  A native of northern Ohio, she moved to Cleveland shortly after graduating to begin her career in external audit at Deloitte & Touche LLP.  Diane is beginning her ninth year with Deloitte, and her experiences include areas such as accounting and auditing, evaluation and review of control process design, and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.  She has worked with clients in the public utilities/energy, manufacturing, construction, and aerospace industries.  In addition, Diane plays an active role in recruiting campus new hires, as well as in the firm’s learning development program through facilitating national trainings.  She has recently completed a term in Deloitte’s Women’s Initiative Management Action Committee (WIMAC), where she was selected to participate as one of eleven managers from various functions across the country. 

Elizabeth "Buffy" Greenawalt is currently an elementary school counselor (K-5) for Vermilion Local Schools. She holds a Master's degree in Clinical Counseling with School Counselor and teaching licensure. Prior to employment at Vermilion, Buffy was the Supervisor of Prevention Services at Bayshore Counseling Services in addition to being their Parent Educator and Chemical Dependency Counselor. She has held a multitude of positions including teaching seniors to preschoolers, victim advocate, and domestic violence liaison. She is involved in her church as liturgist, Sunday school teacher, and member of the Staff, Parish/Relations Committee.  Buffy and her husband, Thom, are the proud parents of Nolan, Faith (former Peer student) Trevor, Cameron, Chase, and Chloe. 

Jennifer Mingus Mountcastle is a practicing attorney and partner in the Cleveland office of the law firm of Thompson Hine LLP.  She graduated summa cum laude from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, where she was vice chair of the moot court program and an executive editor of the Cleveland State Law Review.   She received her undergraduate degree in political science from Bowling Green State University, where she was active in a number of organizations.  Jennifer grew up in Huron and was a member of one of the first Huron High School Peer Teams. She has been involved in a variety of volunteer activities over the years and previously was a member of the board of directors of the Center for Community Solutions.  Jennifer currently resides in Avon Lake, Ohio, with her husband and two daughters.

Brittany DeFazio is a 2002 graduate from Huron High School where she actively participated in the Huron Peer Team. After high school she attended The University of Toledo where she studied education and graduated in 2006 with a Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education. She is currently a Title I teacher at Berlin Elementary. Brittany is an annual volunteer for Give Kids The World, a non-profit organization that provides children and their families with life-threatening illness and their family a cost-free visit to Florida.

Steve Furey started his career as the sales and marketing director of Abex Corporation. After ten years Steve became the national sales manager for Tenneco Automotive, a Fortune 500 company.  Steve has also served as vice-president of sales and marketing for Mark 3 conversion vans and Sandusky International.  Steve currently owns and operates the local Edward Jones office where he is a financial advisor.  Steve is former president of an estate planning association, and former board member of the Huron Rotary.  Steve and his wife, Shirlee’s two daughters’, Jenn and Amanda, were active participants in the Huron service-learning program. 

Kathie Hammond was a teen mentor for many years, hosting a succession of students from the Huron High School Peer Leadership Class, and was chosen to receive the Peer Class Appreciation Award for her contributions to the students and the community. During her tenure as a middle school science teacher, Kathie founded the McCormick Ecology Club for middle school students.  This club was responsible many community beautification service projects in the city of Huron. Since retiring from a 33-year career in elementary education, Kathie currently assists in the training and supervising of teens participating in programming for the local health department, and for the past nine years she has been a Child Assault Prevention facilitator for local youth.  Kathie is secretary of Firelands Area Running Club, volunteers for the Sandusky State Theatre, and is an active member of the Friends of Erie MetroParks.

Justin Harris is an attorney who focuses his legal practice in the area of general litigation, with experience handling complex commercial, products liability, real estate, medical malpractice, and general insurance issues. Justin is also an adjunct professor at Bowling Green State University Firelands College, teaching health care organization and Structuring, as well as health law, to future medical providers and business students. He is a member of various professional associations, including the Erie County Bar Association, The Ohio Bar Association, and The American Bar Association.  Justin is on the board of trustees of the Erie County Bar Association, the chair of the respiratory care advisory board for BGSU, and is the vice president of Teen Leadership Corps. Justin enjoys volunteering his time to helping others, and he is no stranger to the benefits and rewards being involved as a teen leader can have on an individual and the community.

Poppy Lee is a partner is a private counseling practice.  Poppy specializes in treating both adolescents and adults, with experience in alcohol and drug counseling, marital therapy, mental health diagnosis, personality disorders, behavioral therapy, and short-term transitional counseling.  Poppy formerly served as the head inpatient mental health therapist at Firelands Hospital.  Poppy holds both a B.A. and M.S. degrees, from University of Michigan, and Case Western Reserve University respectively.

Judith A Pflieger is a retired high school counselor.  Judy’s areas of interest have been in teen counseling, peer counseling, and at- risk counseling.  Currently, she is the youth council advisor for the Sandusky-Erie County Foundation, she is also the scholarship chairperson for Sandusky College Women’s Club.  Judy has served many years as a YMCA board member and was the advisor for the Erie County Youth in Government Program.

Jennifer Williamson is a former Huron peer class student.  Upon graduation at Huron High School, she attended The University of Toledo where she earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, majoring in finance and human resource management.  After graduation she began her career in St. Louis, MO with Edward Jones as a portfolio manager in their Trust Company.  During her time in St. Louis, Jennifer was asked by the firm to head her divisions United Way campaign.  In this role, she attended many events and volunteered at facilities that receive United Way donations, including the  Ranken Jordan Pediatric Specialty Hospital and Epworth Children and Family Services.  Her division and the firm helped to raise $3 million for the United Way of Greater St. Louis.  Since then, she has relocated with her husband, Joe, to Avon, OH, where she continues her career with Edward Jones as a field auditor......