HARMONY HOUSE / CASA PROGRAM OF LA PORTE COUNTY - BOARD of DIRECTORS - 2012
Douglas Waters - President
Board Member since September 2006.
Douglas is a resident of Michigan City, IN, and a graduate of Indiana University School of Business. He has been active in the real estate business for many years with Century 21 Long Beach Realty, and serves on La Porte County Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors and MCNEAT in Michigan City.
Douglas is a resident of Michigan City, IN, and a graduate of Indiana University School of Business. He has been active in the real estate business for many years with Century 21 Long Beach Realty, and serves on La Porte County Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors and MCNEAT in Michigan City.
Matt Presley - Vice President
Board Member since January 2008.
Erika Stallworth - Secretary/Treasurer
Board Member since January 2009.
Erika is currently the Executive Director of the La Porte County Juvenile Services Center. She obtained her Bachelors degree from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, her Masters degree in Social Work from the University of Michigan and her Juris Doctorate degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She is a 1996 graduate of La Porte High School.
Erika is currently the Executive Director of the La Porte County Juvenile Services Center. She obtained her Bachelors degree from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, her Masters degree in Social Work from the University of Michigan and her Juris Doctorate degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She is a 1996 graduate of La Porte High School.
Ric Federighi
Board Member since January 2009.
Shaw Friedman
Board Member since January 1998.
Shaw Friedman was one of the co-founders of Harmony House which began in 1999. He is the Board President of Swanson Center, the county's community mental health center which is a strong supporter of our program and has provided its former outpatient facility at 1005 Michigan Avenue as our permanent home. Working with Executive Director Karen Biernacki and former CASA Board President Betty Daniel-Lanie, Friedman helped create the concept of Harmony House. A practicing attorney in La Porte since 1984 with the law firm of Friedman & Associates, PC he is very committed to non-profit programs such as Harmony House/CASA Program and says some of his most "satisfying work is seeing programs like this one grow and thrive and provide much needed services for our community".
Shaw Friedman was one of the co-founders of Harmony House which began in 1999. He is the Board President of Swanson Center, the county's community mental health center which is a strong supporter of our program and has provided its former outpatient facility at 1005 Michigan Avenue as our permanent home. Working with Executive Director Karen Biernacki and former CASA Board President Betty Daniel-Lanie, Friedman helped create the concept of Harmony House. A practicing attorney in La Porte since 1984 with the law firm of Friedman & Associates, PC he is very committed to non-profit programs such as Harmony House/CASA Program and says some of his most "satisfying work is seeing programs like this one grow and thrive and provide much needed services for our community".
Sudha Kora
Board Member since October 2010.
Debra Strieter
Board Member since September 2010.
Mark Yagelski
Board Member since September 2009.
Karen Biernacki - Executive Director
While taking a Social Work class at Purdue University North Central in 1989, my research led me to National CASA and the concept of utilizing volunteers to advocate for abused and neglected children. In January of 1991, I became the first Director of the agency. I received a degree from Indiana University in 1999 and a Mediation License in 2002 from Valparaiso University. Currently, I am a member of the Child Abuse Advisory Team, Family Court Advisory Board, Juvenile Court Advisory Board, the Domestic Violence Task Force, Women in Management, Kiwanis, and the League of Women Voters. I also serve as an appointed member to the Indiana Commission on Abused and Neglected Children and Their Families and the Advisory Commission for GAL/CASA to the Indiana Supreme Court.
You must have long-range goals to keep you from being frustrated by short-range failures.
~Charles C. Noble~
~Charles C. Noble~
