CRDF Board

Jacqueline Whelan Lambert joined the Caneille Regional Development board in January of 2018.

Jacqueline graduated magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University in 2007. A recipient of the Holmes-Abernathy Merit Scholarship, she received a Bachelor’s Degree in Human and Organizational Development with double major in Spanish. She obtained her Master of Nursing degree at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2016. She currently works as a Senior Portfolio Manager as well as a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Nurse at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At Children’s, Jacqueline is responsible for account management and project portfolio oversight for several key areas of the health system including Primary Care and Marketing and Communications, with a focus on Digital Health strategy.

Jacqueline also works part-time as a NICU nurse at Children’s and loves the time she spends caring for babies and educating caregivers. Jacqueline is a member of 100+ Women Who Care Milwaukee, a group of local women who support not for profit organizations in the greater Milwaukee area. Her inspiration for joining CRDF came from a mission trip to Ecuador in 2006 where she saw the impact of sponsoring and providing an education to under-served populations to help overcome the cycle of poverty.

She serves on the executive and governance committees. Contact her at jacqueline@caneille.org.

Rebecca Zornow is co-founder of the Caneille Regional Development Fund and currently serves as Past Board President. Rebecca created the CORE Support Team to provide donors with an enhanced connection to the school, executes large-scale fundraising events, and travels to Caneille, Haiti to assess project work.

Rebecca graduated from Lawrence University in 2010 with a Bachelor’s of Arts and was recipient of the Alexander Wiley Prize for principled independence of thought, moral courage, and creative commitment to a significant cause in honor of her work in Haiti. She served in the US Peace Corps as a Youth Development Specialist in Swaziland and has worked at several nonprofits in an educational capacity. Rebecca is a writer and runs the book coaching business, Conquer Books. She is the 2020 nonfiction winner of The Hal Prize.

Rebecca is a mother to two twin girls, Madeline and Lydia, and a son, Pierce. She enjoys traveling, reading, painting, cooking, writing, hiking, and all of the good things in life that allow her to learn, create, and do good.

She serves on the fundraising, marketing, and executive committees. Contact her at rebecca@caneille.org.

Oliver Zornow founded the Caneille Regional Development Fund in 2006. As a response to his senior research project at Valley New School, Oliver organized friends and family around the cause of providing opportunity through education in the rural region of Haiti he visited in February 2006. Since this time, Oliver has led the organization as President from its inception through 2014 and has led group working trips to the region – facilitating a community dialogue and addressing operational challenges. In 2014, Oliver was elected the organization’s Treasurer and remains the primary contact for CRDF’s partners in Haiti as founder.

Oliver graduated magna cum laude from Lawrence University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Government and Economics in 2010. Oliver has diverse nonprofit and international development experience which allows him to contribute perspective and innovation in his role on the CRDF board. This experience includes eleven years at the Building for Kids Children’s Museum, two years as the Community Engagement Manager at the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra, two years serving as an Education and Youth Development Specialist in the United States Peace Corps, and two years as the Education Manager for the Fox Cities Building for the Arts. Oliver’s other volunteer commitments have included serving on the boards of First Five Fox Valley, IndUS of Fox Valley, and as a committee member for the Nonprofit Leadership Initiative.

He serves on the grants and executive committee. Contact him at oliver@caneille.org.

Leslie Dempsey obtained an Associate Degree in Administrative Assistant while on the Dean’s List and earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Lakeland College in Specialized Business and graduated manga cum laude in 2011. She also earned an Associate Degree in Human Resources from Fox Valley Technical College in 2016 while on the Dean’s List. Leslie worked in Kimberly-Clark Corporation’s Legal Department, performed an internship through Fox Valley Technical College’s Administration Department, and took part in Fox Valley Technical College’s BIZsquad Internship program which volunteering to work on projects for local organizations and businesses.

She serves on the governance and executive committees. Contact her at leslie@caneille.org.

Jane Zornow a Director of Human Resources and joined Caleb Hayes Enterprises in January 2019. She leads the people strategy and talent management efforts for the enterprise with the goal of attracting, developing and retaining a workforce that creates value while building organizational capabilities and culture.

Jane has 25 years of diversified human resources experience. Her background includes strategy and policy, leadership and organizational development, change management, employee relations, performance management, training and compensation.

Before joining CHE, Jane was the Director of Workforce Relations for Thrivent. In this role, she led the Employee Relations function and was instrumental in a number of strategic corporate initiatives such as the Thrivent Builds’ Worldwide program—a national partnership between Habitat for Humanity and Thrivent. In 2005, Jane led the first Thrivent Builds’ Worldwide team in Cluj, Romania.

Jane holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in human resources and marketing from Marian University.

For more than two decades, Jane has been actively involved as a non-profit volunteer and leader. Currently, she serves on the Caneille Regional Development Fund Board which provides grants for tuition-free education, health care and community development opportunities in the rural region of Caneille, Haiti. She has served on the Board since its inception in 2006 and traveled extensively to Haiti. She currently serves on the fundraising and grant committees.

She serves on the fundraising and grants committee. Contact her at jane@caneille.org.

Kara Patterson joined the Caneille Regional Development Fund Board of Directors in January 2021. She is on the fundraising and marketing committees.

Kara holds a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree from DePauw University, with an emphasis on Creative Writing, and German and Russian Studies. She graduated in 1999.

A writer, storyteller and communicator with a passion and mission to serve the global community, Kara volunteers with her family to raise funds for Roots Ethiopia, a nonprofit that supports community-identified solutions for job creation and education in Southern Ethiopia, which is her daughter’s birth region. She also is a member of the Fox Cities Book Festival Board of Directors and a United Way Fox Cities Health, Healing and Crisis Intervention Impact Area volunteer.

Kara won awards for her work in journalism during her 14 years as a Post-Crescent staff writer, including in her role as the newspaper’s arts writer. For the past five years, she worked at the nonprofit NAMI Fox Valley, in the positions of NFV volunteer coordinator and as a peer companion at Iris Place Peer Run Respite, a program of NFV.

Kara is a certified peer specialist in the state of Wisconsin. She writes nonfiction and poetry, and is an avid reader. She lives with her husband Josh, their daughter Mihret, 14, and their puppy, Bamboo, in downtown Appleton, where the family loves neighborhood walks, especially to the library.

She serves on the marketing and fundraising committees. Contact her at kara@caneille.org.

Steve DeMay has been a big fan of the Caneille Regional Development Fund for a long time and is proud to join the CRDF Board.

Steve first worked with Oliver and Rebecca Zornow when they were high school students. As one of the founders of Valley New School (VNS – a project-based charter school in Appleton, WI), Steve was a firsthand witness to the inspiration, groundwork, and formation of the first school in Haiti that led to the CRDF. While he has been a financial supporter and cheerleader for the CRDF for many years, Steve looks forward to stepping-up his support of this life-long project.

Steve received a Bachelor’s of Science from Michigan State University and earned his Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership at UW Oshkosh. He retired in June of 2021 after 33 years as an educator. Steve’s experiences as a founder and leader in a unique charter school (VNS) bring valued perspective to the CRDF Board.

Contact him at Steve@Caneille.org.

Ella DeMay, Junior Board Member, 2019-2020

Ashley Fleming, Fundraising Coordinator, 2016-2020

Stefanie Montgomery, 2019-2020

Jenny Jansen, Marketing Coordinator, 2015-2018

Lynn Bridges, 2011-2014

Michael Kieffer, 2011