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Illinois State Museum Society Board of Directors
Officers
Matt Berry, Chairman
Matt Berry currently serves as Chief of Staff for the Illinois Community College Board where he is responsible for policy development, legislative affairs, public relations, human resources, fiscal management.
He has over fifteen years of experience in higher education finance and policy having previously held positions at the Illinois Board of Higher Education and Office of the Illinois Senate President. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Illinois College and has a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Illinois at Springfield. Berry is active in fundraising for community organizations. He was a member of the Westminster Cooperative Preschool Board where he spear-headed their fundraising efforts and has served on the Phoenix Center’s Fundraising Committee. Matt and his husband and son live in New Berlin.
Lynn Fisher, Secretary
Lynn Fisher is a faculty member in the Sociology/Anthropology Department at the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) and an Adjunct Research Associate in Anthropology at the Illinois State Museum.
She grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, earned a B.A. in Anthropology from Oberlin College in Ohio, and earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Michigan. Fisher's archaeological research is based in southern Germany, where she spends time each year studying stone technology and land use among prehistoric farming societies. She teaches courses in archaeology and biological anthropology at UIS and has connected UIS students with the Illinois State Museum through student research projects, internships, and field trips. Fisher has served as chair of the UIS Campus Senate and a member of the University Senates Conference, and in various elected positions with University Professionals of Illinois / Illinois Federation of Teachers.
Candice D. Trees, Vice Chairman
Candice D. Trees has been a lifelong resident of Springfield, Illinois, dedicated to improving her community through volunteering. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Illinois Springfield and a Master's in Organizational Behavior from Benedictine University. She has gained experience working at the local, state, and federal levels, but her most significant roles have been as a wife, mother, and grandmother.
Trees has volunteered for many years and has been actively serving various organizations. She is a member of the Executive Council of AARP Illinois and is actively involved with the Phoenix Center and the Dana Thomas House Foundation. She is also an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Springfield-Decatur Area Alumnae Chapter, where she serves as Chair of the International Awareness and Involvement Committee and is the Primary Advisor for the undergraduate chapter on the University of Illinois Springfield campus. Additionally, she is a member of St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church in Springfield.
Lisa Stevenson, MBA, CPA, Treasurer
Lisa Stevenson is the Managing Partner of NPO Accountants, LLC, a public accounting firm based in Phoenix, Arizona. The firm was founded in 2014 by Stevenson as Stevenson CPA LLC and renamed NPO Accountants, LLC in 2024. The firm works exclusively with Nonprofit Organizations. Ms. Stevenson has worked with nonprofit organizations since 2001 and began her career in nonprofit organization accounting in 2003. Born and raised in Illinois, she lived in Phoenix, Arizona, for 27 years and now lives in Chatham, Illinois. She is CPA licensed in both Arizona and Illinois.
Stevenson is married to her favorite pharmacist, John Schneider. They have five amazing children among them. She is also a dog mom to two dachshunds, Charlie and Lola. In her spare time, Stevenson engages in many activities, such as spending time with her husband and family, traveling, hiking, biking, pickleball, line dancing, kayaking, playing cards and games, cooking, baking, decorating, reading, stained glass and a little light gardening, but she doesn’t mow the lawn!
Members
Erica Austin
Erica Austin is a native of Springfield, Illinois. She works at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine as the Regional Community Liaison and Project Manager for the COVID-19 Centers.
Formally, Austin was an AmeriCorps Program manager through Springfield Urban League and a 4-H Educator through the University of Illinois Extension. Recently, she decided to take a leap of faith and JUMP to do what God has been telling her to do for years. Her leap of faith is starting her youth program. In October 2019, she started her youth program entitled “The L.Y.N.C. (Leading Youth, Networking Communities).”
Corinne Mayfield
Corinne Mayfield spent her formative years in Macomb, Illinois, but has lived in Central Illinois for over ten years. She earned a B.A. in History and an M.A. in Public History from the University of Illinois Springfield. She serves as the Records Management Officer for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency - Office of Homeland Security (IEMA-OHS).
Mayfield is committed to advancing the records and information management field through professional and volunteer engagement and her membership with the National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators (NAGARA). Before finding her place in the Archives, Mayfield dedicated her time to studying and supporting historical institutions and material culture as a lens into the past.
She lives in Springfield with her husband, Mike, and their corgi, Kyle.
Ashley Nippert-Yoggerst
Ashley Nippert-Yoggerst is a native of Geneva, Illinois, who attended Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, where she majored in Forestry and Natural Resource Management.
With over 20 years of experience in outdoor education, Nippert-Yoggerst co-founded an all-women-led outdoor and experiential-education nonprofit in 2016 to support families in rural and underserved communities surrounding Mount St. Helens in Washington. She is a former Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Guide and Americorps Vista Alumni, having served the National Society for American Indian Elderly. In addition, Nippert-Yoggerst has worked for a decade in grant and nonprofit management for education and environmental conservation.
She lives in Springfield, Illinois, with her husband and two children and serves on the City of Springfield's Historic Sites Commission.
Jacob Thornton
The biography will be available shortly.
Michael Wiant
Michael Wiant was hired by the Illinois State Museum Society in 1982 and, in 1983, joined the staff of the Illinois State Museum. He retired from the museum in 2017 as Director of the Illinois State Museum—Dickson Mounds (2003—2017), caretaker of the Illinois State Museum (October 2015—December 2017), and Executive Secretary of the Illinois State Museum Society (November 2015—July 2017).
He earned a B.A. in Social Sciences Comprehensive and an M.S. in Sociology-Anthropology from Illinois State University and received an M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology from Northwestern University. His archaeological research concerns Native American history in the Illinois River valley, especially Early Archaic and Middle Woodland period life.
Committed to building a constituency for the Illinois State Museum, Wiant presented hundreds of public presentations on Native American history, provided educational content for dozens of Illinois State Museum Society Field Trips, and contributed to developing museum exhibits.
Bryan Finn
Bryan Finn recently retired from the Illinois Department of Human Services, Bureau of Policy Development, as the Manager of Research and Reporting. Previously, he worked in healthcare for 30 years in various administrative capacities.
As a resident of Springfield for over 37 years, he has served on various community and professional boards, striving to enhance the services these organizations offer. Finn earned a B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh and an MBA from the University of Illinois – Springfield.
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Cathy Popovitch
Cathy Popovitch is a native of Bloomington, Illinois, and has lived in Springfield for the past 11 years. She is the Illinois State Archives’s Deputy Director and the Illinois State Historical Records Advisory Board’s Deputy Coordinator.
She holds a B.A. in History from Millikin University and a M.S. in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Popovitch is an active Council of State Archivists member and currently serves as Vice President/President-Elect for that organization. A sixth-generation resident of Illinois, Cathy has served on the Advisory Board and the Board of Directors of the Illinois State Historical Society since 2017. Cathy lives in Springfield with her husband, Jonathan, and two children, Joseph and Jacob.
Pamela M. Salela
Pamela M. Salela recently retired from her career as an academic librarian. She earned a Master of Arts in Philosophy of Education and a certificate in Women’s Studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Additionally, she holds a Master of Science in Information Science from UIUC’s School of Information.
Salela has held positions at St. Cloud State University, Miami University, and the University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS). In addition to her work as an academic librarian, she frequently taught courses in Women and Gender Studies throughout her career and continues to write reviews for Resources for Women and Gender Studies, a University of Wisconsin publication. At UIS, Salela also served as the coordinator of the Central Illinois Nonprofit Resource Center (UIS, Brookens Library), which provides workshops and resources for the nonprofit community, as well as for faculty and students.
Salela is a Vision Council of the United Way of Central Illinois member. She serves on the executive board of the Retirees Chapter of University Professionals of Illinois (Illinois Federation of Teachers). Furthermore, she is an American Association of University Women member and volunteers with the Motherland Community Project in Springfield.
Recreationally, Salela is embarking on an organic gardening adventure of her own. She enjoys hiking and kayaking with Central Illinois Women’s Outdoor Adventures. She participates in various music and theater productions in Springfield and the East Village of New York City.
Lauren Yoggerst
Lauren Yoggerst is a native of Springfield, Illinois, and currently serves as the Psychiatric Response Team Lead Clinician at Memorial Behavioral Health. With over 15 years of experience in the central Illinois mental health field, she has previously worked as a child and family therapist for a foster care agency and at an alternative school. Yoggerst holds a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Eastern Illinois University and a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Southeast Missouri State University.
In her free time, Yoggerst enjoys volunteering as a hospice worker at Memorial Health System, crocheting, and reading. She currently resides in Springfield.