People » CASEL Staff and Consultants

For general inquiries, please contact Jeanne Osgood at 312.226.3770 x339.

Email: info@casel.org

Phone: 312.226.3770; Fax: 312.226.3777

Staff

Patricia Chesler
Interim Executive Director
pchesler@casel.org

Andrew Wade
Director of Public Affairs
awade@casel.org

Ruth Cross
Illinois Training Specialist
rcross@casel.org

Christina Foster
Training Specialist
cfoster@casel.org

Carol Haynes
Office Manager/Executive Assistant
chaynes@casel.org

Susan Keister
Product Development Specialist

Kristy Ogren
Program Specialist
kogren@casel.org

Elizabeth O'Halloran
Administrative Assistant
eohalloran@casel.org

Jeanne Osgood
Communications Outreach Coordinator
josgood@casel.org

Hank Resnik
Communications Consultant

Staff Biographies

Patricia Chesler joined CASEL as Interim Executive Director in September, 2009. She is an expert in strategic change management with the goal of helping children, families, and the agencies that serve them.  Over the course of her career in human services – 20+ years in the private sector and 10 years as a public official – she has specialized in agency start-up and agency turn-around.  In recent years, she has worked with public and private agencies that are struggling to deliver needed services with shrinking revenues. 

In competitive environments, she has been able to help private agencies grow and adapt to changes in their fields. In the public sector, she has designed system improvements proven to reduce costs and improve outcomes for children and families. Her ability to form strong partnerships and develop innovative strategies has garnered over $330 million in new revenues for agencies. She has worked in the areas of education, child welfare and mental health, juvenile justice, youth advocacy and youth development, and substance abuse prevention and brings these perspectives to her work at CASEL.

Andy Wade comes to CASEL with nearly two decades experience in education reform, strategic communications, public policy and organizational development. He brings a track record as a resourceful program builder who advances complex education agendas by integrating many tactics, including public awareness campaigns, legislative advocacy, strategic alliances, coalitions, publications, and electronic media. CASEL duties will include leading the communications and marketing functions, engaging new audiences in evidence-based SEL practice, facilitating planning of public policy strategy and building new capabilities to support and engage the SEL community. Most recently, Wade ran his own strategic communications firm specializing in education, not-for-profit and government clients, which included elected officials, state education agencies, school districts and national education advocacy organizations. From 2004-2006, he managed the Ounce of Prevention Fund's two-year campaign to help pass Illinois' landmark Preschool for All legislation, the nation's most aggressive expansion of high-quality early education. Prior to that, Wade spent six years as founding executive director of the Chicago School Leadership Cooperative, a citywide education reform organization.  Other experiences include developing training videos, consulting on employee engagement and corporate communications, writing about research-based school reform strategies and teaching at the high school level. Wade earned a bachelors in history from Macalester College and has completed doctoral level courses in education policy and leadership at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Ruth M. Cross has been an educator for 34 years, as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, and assistant superintendent until her retirement in 2007. As a building principal she was instrumental in the implementation of programs that enable students to acquire skills to improve interpersonal relationships and prevent conflict. During the past several decades, she has taught workshops for parents and teachers on the program I Can Problem Solve in Kane, DuPage, Cook and St. Clare Counties. Ruth continues to serve as an SEL Coach for the DuPage Regional Office of Education.

Prior to joining CASEL as a staff member, Ms. Cross co- chaired the CASEL-IC Advisory Council which had a primary goal to assist schools with the implementation of comprehensive, research-based social and emotional learning programs in Illinois. From 2003-2007, she was co-chair of  the School Policy and Standards Committee, which was created by the Children's Mental Health Act of 2003 as a part of the Children's Mental Health Partnership (ICMHP). As CASEL's Illinois Training Specialist, Ruth continues to work to expand the practice of SEL across the state by presenting Administrator Academies and leading workshops around the state on the importance of teaching the SEL standards to students. She also oversees the CASEL collaboration with Robert Marzano to write assessment rubrics that will determine how well students are acquiring the SEL skills.

Christina Foster translates science into practice through development and delivery of CASEL’s professional development materials and programs. Prior to joining CASEL, Christina led the University of Illinois Extension program’s statewide efforts to help schools bring SEL into the classroom, earning awards for early service, communications, and curriculum development.

She also co-developed the Character@Work™ program to help small business leaders develop an organizational culture based on core values. Earlier while working for the Ounce of Prevention Fund, Christina provided project management, training, and technical support to help county health departments build Birth-to-Three networks. Additionally, Christina has years of practical experience promoting youths’ social and emotional development in a variety of educational and therapeutic settings. She currently chairs the School Policy and Standards Communications Subcommittee of the Illinois Children’s Mental Health Partnership. Christina has a masters degree in Holistic Education from Norwich University and a bachelors degree in Communications from Northern Illinois University.

Carol Haynes has extensive experience in office management and accounting procedures in the corporate and non-profit sector. Carol served for five years as the Office Manager for the Chicago Regional Office of the Anti-Defamation League managing day-to-day office operations, vendor relationships, operations budget and accounting procedures, as well as selecting and supervising administrative staff for the 20+ person office. She spent 15 years as a contractor for Ameritech. In addition, Carol worked as the liaison for Ameritech with a team of management consultants during their transition from Ameritech to SBC, centralizing their administrative process and establishing their operational procedures.

Susan Keister is an author, speaker, workshop facilitator, and educational leader with more than 25 years of experience in leading the research, development, and training of international programs and professional development in comprehensive school reform, positive prevention of drug use and violence, social and emotional competencies, character development, conflict management, and service-learning.  Between 1983 and 2000, Susan served as Director and Vice President for Program and Training Development at Quest International and lead the development of the internationally acclaimed positive youth development programs, including Lions-Quest Skills for Growing and Working It Out (Grades K - 5), Skills for Adolescence and Working Toward Peace Grades 6 - 8), Skills for Action, Teen-- Alcohol and Other Drugs, and Promoting Peace and Preventing Violence (Grades 9 - 12), along with writing numerous articles for national publications, serving as Editor of Quest's Energizer magazine, and developing  over a dozen K-12 professional development workshops. Currently, she is President of Integral Vision Consulting and provides consulting services to the Service-Learning and Life Skills Network, Lions Clubs International Foundation, the Learning for Living Institute, and the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL).

Kristy Ogren is a Program Specialist at CASEL. She is responsible for the management and delivery of technical assistance to selected states and districts in order to strategically expand schoolwide SEL efforts. Prior to joining CASEL, Ms. Ogren was Vice President of Training and Programs for The Change Companies. In this role, she developed curricula, facilitated trainings and coordinated evaluation efforts for the company. She was the lead author of “In My House,” a substance abuse prevention program for youth ages 10-13. She also coordinated a multi-site research project documenting this program’s effectiveness. Previous to her role with The Change Companies, Ms. Ogren was a high school English teacher. 

Ms. Ogren has a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Northwestern University and a Master’s Degree in Policy Analysis and Evaluation from Stanford University.

Elizabeth O’Halloran has worked for one of the fastest growing real estate brokerages in Chicago providing broad-based administrative support to a team of more than twenty people.  She was responsible for managing routine office tasks, maintaining client relationships and training  new employees in a deadline-driven environment.  She performs many of these similar tasks for CASEL.  Elizabeth holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is currently working toward her Masters degree in Urban Planning with a focus in grassroots community development. 

Jeanne Osgood is responsible for support and communications to CASEL subscribers and related organizations. She serves as the "front door" of CASEL by responding to questions about the organization and SEL from the general public.

Jeanne's interest in SEL and CASEL developed through her experience as a parent and co-chairman and project manager for the district-wide implementation of SEL in the Hinsdale, Illinois (District 181) Schools. This included assessment, analysis, reports, and communication to the wider community about SEL. She brings this experience to her current position. Her earlier career was in art and museum education, and includes teaching positions at the Art Institute of Chicago and other area museums, DePaul University, and the public schools.  As a member of her local school district's foundation board, she actively supports education through community partnerships with the public schools.

Hank Resnik is a writer, editor, and filmmaker who specializes in education, public health, the environment, and urban planning. He has served as a communications consultant to CASEL since 2002, writing, producing, and publishing a variety of books, reports, and media, including assistance with the CASEL website and electronic newsletters and bulletins. He has also consulted with Special Olympics, Inc., developing a comprehensive K-12 program focused on acceptance of individuals with learning disabilities, and the California Department of Education, for whom he was the principal writer for a book and videos on early childhood education. He has worked closely with many leading SEL organizations across the country, among them Quest International, the Developmental Studies Center, and Developmental Research and Programs in Seattle. A resident of Berkeley, California, Mr. Resnik was a founder of the Berkeley Public Education Foundation, a mentor to high school students, and co-chair of the Concerned Citizens Committee for Berkeley High School.