Reading Power Board of Directors
Kathryn Nattier McFarland, PhD., Chairman & CEO
Retired Abbott Executive
Kathy became a Reading Power tutor in 2011 and joined the Board of Directors in 2013. She was elected CEO and Chairman of the Board in 2014 and also chairs the Strategy Committee. Kathy’s background spans a 35-year career in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries where she held executive positions in product development, project management, and manufacturing. She has her PhD in organic chemistry.
Marra Lochiatto
Community Leader, Vice Chairman
Marra began tutoring with Reading Power in 2011 and joined the Board of Directors in 2018. She has a background in financial planning and management in the airline industry. Marra is an active community volunteer and has served on the executive boards of several organizations, including the Lake Forest Caucus. An experienced storyteller, she shares this passion with elementary children through her work with North Chicago Community Partners.
Kathleen Cowie, Secretary
Community Leader
Kathleen began tutoring in 2010, joined the Board the following year and chairs the Fundraising Committee. After a decade in marketing research, Kathleen has been involved with many nonprofit boards including the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, the Goodman Theater Board, and the Winnetka Community Associates of the Art Institute of Chicago. Kathleen was elected to the Kenilworth District #38 School Board for two terms, where she served as President.
Nancy Smith, CPA, CMA, Treasurer
President of Smith Research
Nancy joined the Reading Power Board in 2013 and was elected Treasurer in 2014. She has been Vice President/ Chief Financial Officer of Smith Research for 30 years. Nancy is the Illinois Province Alumnae Chairman for Alpha Chi Omega Fraternity and Treasurer at her church. She is a member of Village Quilters of Lake Bluff/Lake Forest and of Iota Lambda Iota Alumnae Chapter of Alpha Chi Omega.
Ann Bates, EdD
Retired Assistant Professor, National Louis University
Ann joined the Reading Power Board in 2017. Ann is a literacy consultant with more than 35 years of experience in education. She has been a classroom teacher, reading specialist, assistant professor and clinical director of Reading and Language at National Louis University. Her interests include early literacy, the assessment and diagnosis of reading, and the instructional materials and practices that support at-risk and struggling readers. She is co-author of Reading Diagnosis for Teachers and Teaching Struggling Readers in Common Core Reading.
John Davidson
Consultant, Spencer Stuart
John joined the Board of Reading Power in 2014. He brings a wide range of executive search experience to Spencer Stuart’s Automotive and Aviation, Aerospace and Defense practices. He’s also worked extensively in private equity and earlier founded Lake Forest Executive Search, a boutique search firm located in Chicago’s northern suburbs.
Mark Goodman, JD
Partner, Freeborn & Peters
Mark joined the Reading Power Board in 2016. Mark has more than 30 years experience providing corporate, transactional and regulatory legal advice to clients in the financial services industry, particularly the insurance business. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Forest Park Project Corporation and of the Insurance Regulators Education Foundation.
Mary Jane Hender, EdD
Reading Power, Co-Founder
Mary Jane Hender developed and co-founded Reading Power in 2003 after 20 years of teaching students from prekindergarten to masters’ levels. Her concern over the disparity in students’ literacy opportunities between North Chicago and neighboring school districts motivated her to form Reading Power. Mary Jane served as Reading Power’s first Executive Director, has been on the Board of Directors since 2003, and is a past board vice-chairman. Mary Jane also serves on the board of the Spring Island Trust, an environmental nonprofit in South Carolina. She is now the Site Coordinator for the Reading Power program at Joseph Shanklin Elementary School in Beaufort, S.C.
Todd Litzsinger
Chairman, Follett Corporation
For more than 20 years, Todd has held numerous leadership positions with the Follett Corporation, including President of Follett Library Resources. Todd joined the Reading Power Board in 2010 and also serves on the board of the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.
Melinda Mooney
Community Leader
Mindy has been a Reading Power tutor since 2005, including a four-year post as a volunteer site coordinator and lead tutor. She joined the Board in 2008, is a past board secretary, and chairs the Communications Committee. Mindy worked in book publishing public relations management for more than a decade. She is an active community volunteer with nonprofit, civic and arts organizations.
Beverly Raudabaugh, MBA
Community Leader
Beverly began tutoring with Reading Power in 2006 and has served on the Board of Directors since 2008. She chairs the Governance Committee overseeing board development. Beverly worked in health care management for a decade and has enjoyed leadership roles in non-profit, education and religious organizations. She also leads two cancer support groups.
Frank Sibley
Retired Vice President, National Association of Realtors
Frank joined the Board in 2012, started tutoring in 2013, and is a former board secretary. Frank spent 43 years managing print, TV, radio and Internet communications companies. He is an active member of the Lake Forest Rotary.
Tad Turner
Forester, Gogebic and Ontonagon Land Company
Tad Turner of Lake Bluff has been a professional forester in the northern Midwest for more than 40 years. He comes to the Reading Power Board with a long history of literacy tutoring. He volunteered with the Head Start program in the late 1960s, and tutored student athletes while attending Michigan Technological University. He now enjoys tutoring young children for Reading Power several days per week. “I find it most challenging and enjoyable.”
Forester, Gogebic and Ontonagon Land Company
Tad Turner of Lake Bluff has been a professional forester in the northern Midwest for more than 40 years. He comes to the Reading Power Board with a long history of literacy tutoring. He volunteered with the Head Start program in the late 1960s, and tutored student athletes while attending Michigan Technological University. He now enjoys tutoring young children for Reading Power several days per week. “I find it most challenging and enjoyable.”
Mary Weber
Community Leader
Mary joined the Board in 2016. For many years, she was a literacy volunteer for The United Way of Lake County in Waukegan’s elementary schools and volunteered with CASA (court appointed special advocate). Mary was an academic advisor at Illinois State University for 14 years in the Special Education Department.
Thomas W. Wood
Retired, Samuel Ramirez & Co, Inc., Manager of Chicago office
Tom began tutoring in 2014 and joined the Board in 2017. Tom retired in 2014 from a 40-year career in financial services, including 30 years with Goldman Sachs. His career has included institutional sales, sales management, recruiting and training. He has been active on two college parent advisory boards, and has been a fundraiser for several secondary schools, colleges and the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
Reverend Gordon Butcher, DMin, President Emeritus
Reading Power Co-Founder
Gordon Butcher, a Presbyterian minister and literacy activist, collaborated with Mary Jane Hender in launching Reading Power in 2003. He is a founding member of the Board of Directors and became President in 2005. For 41 years, Gordon saw many achievements as a pastor of the Presbyterian Church including the establishment of mission outreach programs and literacy programs for Latino and Balkan immigrants.
