CASA Announces Newest Board Members
CASA of St. Louis CEO Jennifer V. Howard today announced recently elected members of the nonprofit organization’s board of directors. “These talented business and community leaders bring strong legal, financial and non-profit management expertise and experience to CASA,” said Howard. “They will be involved in a range of areas from program development to fundraising, finances and governance, and with the existing 8 board members will help us fulfil our mission to provide critical support and advocacy to children in foster care in the St. Louis City and County Circuit Courts.”
The new members are:
Ami Boehlje, A Leader in establishing Humboldt Academy and eliminating lead paint from a Saint Louis Public School; Program Manager, Junior Achievement of St. Louis
Patrick Dogan, Compliance Director, Edward D. Jones & Co. LP
Katie Kearins, Retired Partner, Moneta Group
April Ladner, Attorney and Owner, Ladner Law Firm, PLLC
Katie Ricks, Associate Attorney, Armstrong Teasdale LLP, former CASA and current President of CASA’s Young Professionals
Robert A. Ring, Vice President, JES Holdings LLC; Retired Chief Financial Officer and Chief Development Officer, Sansone Group and a current CASA
Stephanie Sachs, Retired Executive Director of Recruitment and Employee Relations for Saint Louis Public Schools; former member of the faculty of the University of Missouri St. Louis, Ph.D., in Education and a long-time CASA
Soumitra Surange, Experienced software engineer and technology expert, who is earning an MBA from Olin Business School Washington University in St. Louis
The new members join the following existing CASA board members, who, in addition to CEO Jennifer Howard are:
Kimberley Vuitel, Chair, of the CASA of St. Louis board and Director Wenger Product Management Victorinox Swiss Army
Scott Larson, Treasurer of the CASA board, Regional President, Carrollton Bank
Amy Ruiz, Vice Chair of the CASA board, active community leader
Cindy Murdoch, Secretary of the CASA board, Vice President of Human Resources Neocova
Kerrin M. Kowach, Professor, St. Louis University School of Law
Sharie McLafferty, Senior Account Executive, KTVI-TV, Fox 2
Leonora M. Trawick, Retired IS Regulatory & Legal Officer, Edward Jones.
“These highly accomplished veteran board members will continue to serve CASA well and welcome the addition of eight new members, who will significantly strengthen our board,” said Howard.
Newly Named Members of the Board of CASA of St. Louis
Ami Boehlje led a parent group that collaborated with Saint Louis Public School officials to establish Humboldt Academy of Higher Learning. She also advocated for lead paint remediation at another St. Louis public school, Wilkinson Early Childhood Center, and chaired the Metro High School PTO. In 2011, Parenting Magazine chose her as the Mom Congress Delegate from Missouri, and in 2012, she received the outstanding Parent and Community Involvement Award from the Saint Louis Public School System Parent Assembly. Boehlje also worked as Program Manager of Junior Achievement of Greater St. Louis, charged with volunteer recruitment and training and cultivating relationships with community leaders.
Patrick Dogan is Compliance Director of Edward D. Jones & Co. L.P. In that role, he is responsible for directing several compliance teams at the Fortune 500 investment company and providing compliance solutions and support services for Edward Jones clients. He joined Edward Jones in 2015 after serving in senior level positions in compliance, operations and regulatory reporting at major investment firms in Alabama and Georgia. He also managed conversion projects teams and operations control at a Minneapolis investment banking and brokerage firm. Dogan graduated magna cum laude from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA, earning a bachelor of science business degree.
Katie Kearins spent her professional career as a Wealth Manager. In 2012 she decided to pursue her long-time goal of mentoring adolescent girls and began serving as a tutor and a mentor with Boys Hope Girls Hope-St. Louis. She mentors youth at Riverview Gardens High School through the Little Bit Foundation SOAR program. Katie is also passionate about issues related to food insecurity and serves on the board of Food Outreach, where she volunteers to help poverty-stricken men, women and children with HIV/AIDS or cancer. When she is not working on her non-profit passions, she enjoys travelling and spending time with friends and family.
April Ladner is an attorney, owns Ladner Law Firm, PLLC, which represents clients in areas of probate, civil litigation, collection and corporate law. Ladner is a member of the Missouri, Mississippi and Alabama bar associations and in 2018 was named by Portico Magazine as rising young attorney on its “Who to Watch” List. She holds a BSBA in accounting from the University of Southern Mississippi and Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law. Ladner has served on the boards of Kids Hub CAC and Noe Strong Pediatric Oncology Foundation and as a member of the Advisory Council for Christian Services.
Katie Ricks is an Associate Attorney, Litigation Practice Group, Armstrong Teasdale LLP. Prior to joining Armstrong Teasdale, she interned as a law clerk on the Missouri Court of Appeals. Before earning her law degree from Saint Louis University, she was an Internet Marketing Manager at Unified Development, of Chesterfield, MO. Volunteer activities include chairing the CASA of St. Louis Young Professionals Board; serving as a member of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis Young Lawyers Division Executive Committee; being a member of the Armstrong Teasdale Tramble Scholarship Fund Campaign Committee; and coaching the BAMSL High School Mock Trial Competition at Thomas Jefferson School.
Robert Ring is Vice President of JES Holdings, LLC, Columbia, MO., a real estate development, construction, management and tax credit syndication firm. He retired from Sansone Group, as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Development Officer. Sansone is a leading commercial real estate development and management firm in St. Louis. Bob Ring also served as Vice President of Finance and of Operations, based.in the St. Louis regional office of Paragon Group Inc., also a real estate development management and syndication firm. Ring has been active with the St. Louis Shriners Hospital for Children and as a volunteer for CASA of St. Louis.
Stephanie Sachs holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Missouri St. Louis, where she served on the Clinical Faculty from 2000 to 2003 and supervised student teaching. She was also Executive Director of Recruitment and Employee Relations for the Saint Louis Public Schools. Since 2005, Sachs has volunteered at CASA of St. Louis. She is also active on the Bible Study Fellowship, where she facilitates discussion and teaches preschoolers. Sachs has served on the board of The Covering House, an organization that helps sexually exploited and trafficked children. She has tutored survivors of domestic violence through Lydia’s House and adult refugees through International Institute.
Soumitra Surange expects to earn his MBA in 2021 from the Olin Business School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis. He holds a bachelor of mechanical engineering degree from India’s Pune University Army Institute of Technology. In Pune, Surange worked as a software engineer for HCL Technologies LTD and Dassault Systemes and as an Information Technology Engineer at Torino Laboratories PVT LTD in Pithampur, India. From 2017 to 2019, Surange volunteered with Make A Difference, a non-profit helping orphans in shelters in 23 Indian cities. As Regional Manager, Surange built and led a team of 12 volunteers to support five at-risk youth and recruited 125 volunteers for Make A Difference.