Elyse's Story

"I got involved with Waukegan to College in 2009, early in the planning stages. It all started when an acquaintance told me about soaring dropout rates and poor performance at schools only ten miles away from my house. Something began stirring in my heart to think about all the young people who weren’t getting a good education and a chance at a better life.

They were being doomed to a life with little hope, living paycheck to paycheck. And we as a broad community were being doomed to a future with many young people unable to find fulfilling work, or maybe any work at all. This started bugging me. At first it was like the little voice in the evening that calls me from the freezer, the ice cream calling my name. Over time, this grew from a tiny voice to be a full body slam in the direction of working on improving educational opportunities. I called my pastor and she recommended that I check in with Lake County United. And so began my journey to create and build Waukegan to College, the journey of a lifetime."

As our Founding and Executive Director, Elyse has been working since 2008 to help Waukegan students and their families pursue their interest in higher education. She manages operations and works within the community to develop our volunteer, advisory, presentation and funding resources. Improving the educational prospects for Waukegan students by helping them recognize and develop their natural talents to grow to be their academic best is Elyse’s passion… and the foundation for our mission. A former business development director and management consultant, Elyse earned an MBA at the University of Chicago and a BA in mathematics from Northwestern University. She is a National Partnership for Education Access presenter and member of the Partnership for College Completion and Chicago-based College and Career Access, Persistence and Success Task Force.