At the JDRF Annual Celebration on Monday June 10, 2019 the JDRF Northeast Wisconsin Chapter Board of Directors elected five new Board Members; Casee Hawkins, Nikolas Osol, Jerimiah Janssen, Adam Steineke and Lee Cleveland.  We look forward to working with them on JDRF’s critical mission to cure, better treat, and prevent T1D. Welcome!

 

Casee Hawkins runs her family owned floral shop, Branching Out & Company. She also owns her own business with Rodan + Fields. She is happily married with five children. She has worked with JDRF primarily on events and fundraising and is interested in helping out more via a board position.

 

 

 

 

 

Nikolas Osol is a husband and a dad to 2 beautiful daughters.  He loves sports and enjoys watching his daughters enjoy their passions of dance and soccer.  His family enjoys traveling together, jet skiing, going on the pontoon boat and family time at their cabin in Gwinn, MI in the summer.  He is interested in joining the JDRF board because his father passed away from ALS and his best friend passed away from colon cancer.  While these two diseases are not the same as Type 1 Diabetes, he has seen what these two men had to go through and the stress it caused on their families.  His hope of being on the JDRF board is to raise money to offset the stress and financial burden that diabetes has on families.

 

 

 

Jerimiah Janssen is currently the Vice President of Commercial Banking at First Business Bank with a focus on supporting local businesses and nonprofit organizations throughout Northeast Wisconsin.  He is a graduate of St. Norbert College with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and serves on the Appleton Education Foundation Board and volunteers his time with Fox Cities Pop Warner Football, Appleton Area Hockey Association and Kimberly Youth Lacrosse.

Having a sister-in-law and close friends with Type 1 diabetes, he has seen how it directly impacts their families and their strong support to find a cure.  Their local Chapters provided much assistance when they needed it and he is interested in joining the Board to do his part to end Type 1 diabetes and limit the complications.

 

 

 

Adam Steineke is a 20 year IT Professional working for Neenah Inc., he lives in Omro, with his wife, Trish, and recently adopted two dogs. Besides spending time on the bicycle, they also enjoy riding their motorcycle and horses.

His first exposure to JDRF was as a donor to the ride program. Seeing the dedication to train and determination to succeed in both the ride itself along with the fundraising aspect of the program was amazing. After several years of being on the fringe, wanting to participate but unsure about his abilities to succeed, he finally took the plunge in 2017 and signed up to ride in Lacrosse after being encouraged by friend and Coach, Dan Woolf.

His experience at the JDRF Ride events can be summarized as “awe inspiring”.  From the comradery and friendships, dedication to safety, discussions about current activities in diabetes research, to the storytelling and celebration.  Every single time he attends a JDRF event, he is moved and reinvigorated to continue to work for the organization even though he has no direct connection.  He has witnessed some incredible progress in the form of technological methods for management and monitoring and he wants to continue to be a part of it!  He has signed up for his third JDRF Ride and wants to offer whatever additional services and skills he can, to do even more to make a difference and to find a cure.

 

 

 

 

Lee Cleveland is a Registered Dietitian who is Certified in Diabetes Education.  He is currently employed as a Diabetes Educator with the Ascension Medical Group.

He has a passion for helping those individuals and families impacted by diabetes, because he has been personally impacted by two significant relationships.  His mother was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes several years ago and one of his best friends in high school was diagnosed at 18 just prior to graduation.  Fortunately, his mother is doing well with her health; unfortunately his friend Chris passed before he turned 40 from complications of diabetes.

So both of his personal and professional interests align very closely with those of the JDRF.