Clearwater Camp Foundation Board Member Biographies
The members of the Clearwater Camp Foundation Board come from a variety of professional backgrounds, but share a unique love for the timeless traditions of Clearwater Camp. As campers, counselors or parents, each have witnessed and experienced the profound sense of well being and purposeful maturity the Clearwater experience has offered girls and young women for more than 75 years. The Clearwater Camp Foundation Board is committed to continuing without interruption or alteration the traditions many have come to hold so dear.
Judy Brown Howser - Board President
Claudia Aho Hoogasian
Melissa Moore Koengeter
Grace Moore Palmer
Karen Brown Poehlman
Tom Swaney
Carol Altorfer Vance
Judy Brown Howser
Board President
Judy is a second generation alumna whose daughters have attended Clearwater for many years. She obtained her nursing degree from the University of Michigan and then later went on to John Marshall Law School. As a nurse, she worked for Children’s Memorial Hospital for a decade in both the infectious disease area and the intensive care unit. After law school, she worked as a trial attorney in medical malpractice for Clausen Miller P.C. , then as an associate University attorney for the University of Illinois specializing in medical and insurance coverage.
Judy also brings to the board an extensive history as a volunteer. She has been a member of the Junior League of Evanston for nearly 25 years, where she served on the executive board and helped raise $2 million in the annual income enterprise. She has served as a volunteer for schools from pre-school through New Trier High School and the Yale Parent Fund Board. She is also working for the Winnetka Board for Northwestern University Settlement House and Rush University North Shore Board. In addition, she has served her church, scouts, sports teams and political and social organizations. She was named Chicago Volunteer of the Year 1995.
As a granddaughter of Clearwater Camp Founder Sarah “Halokwe” Sprague and a former Clearwater Camper, Liz Baker brings a tremendous amount of history to the Foundation in addition to an impressive nonprofit career. Five generations of Liz’s family, including her sister and nieces, have attended Clearwater Camp. Since her camping days, Liz has been a nonprofit executive at several youth organizations. In 2001 and until recently, Liz was the executive director of Youth Center, Inc. in Adams Massachusetts, where she oversaw staff, volunteers and programming for the organization. She is currently with the Pittsfield (MA) Public Schools as the 21st Century Community Learning Centers District Coordinator. A graduate of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Liz earned her master’s degree in communication and information management and a certificate in nonprofit management from Bay Path College in Longmeadow, Massachusetts.
Sarah Boles’ history with Clearwater spans four generations. She often notes that she has spent her life surrounded by those who speak of Clearwater with the love and reverence it deserves. Her grandmother, Julia Lee Bowen, recruited for Clearwater in her hometown of St. Louis, MO. Her mother, Betsy Bowen Boles, and her aunt, Beverly Bowen Vickrey, were both campers in the 1940s. Sarah’s daughters Alicia and Katherine Zimmel and three nieces have all been veteran campers in recent years.
Sarah also comes to the Foundation board with a wealth of business and civic experience. After attending Pomona College in California for several years, Sarah transferred to the accelerated business program at Washington University in St. Louis where she earned both a bachelor’s of science and an MBA in 1981. Soon after graduation, Sarah moved to New York City where she worked at Goldman Sachs in fixed income sales and trading for five years before working in capital markets for Credit Suisse First Boston for another five years.
Since then, Sarah has transitioned into being a full-time mother to her four children. In addition, she is an active and dedicated community volunteer in and around her home of Greenwich, CT. Sarah has served on many boards and has also led numerous capital campaigns for non-profit organizations. Recently, Sarah also purchased a log cabin on Tomahawk Lake and is now a neighbor to Clearwater. During the summertime, she enjoys her view of Clearwater's iconic footbridge, its historic boathouse and the camper's activities around the waterfront.
Sara Friedle says she considers herself a “Clearwater girl” even though she never went there herself. As a child, she would watch the campers’ activities like council fires and regattas from across the lake at her family’s summer home. Her two daughters, Ellen and Hannah, have both been longtime Clearwater daughters. Today, Sara is thrilled to serve on the Foundation board of directors, where her experience as a project manager for numerous residential and commercial real estate projects will be put to work as Clearwater enhances its long-term planning. Sara approaches her discipline as a vocation, working to establish clearly identified goals that provide a footpath to numerous volunteer members and keep projects on-time and in-budget.
Born and raised in Wausau, Wisconsin, Sara received her bachelor’s degree in housing from the University of Minnesota’s College of Design. Sara and her family now live in Wheaton, Illinois. Sara’s civic commitments in recent years included participating on the building committee for a major remodel of her local Episcopal Church, which included a feasibility study and a capital campaign.
Claudia Aho Hoogasian
Claudia was a close friend of the late Marcia Moore Dunaway, a friendship discovered through church and encouraged by a common love for Northwoods camping traditions they both shared. As a camper for many years herself at nearby YMCA Camp Jorn, where she also serves on the board, Claudia brings an appreciation won only by direct experience of the Northwoods.
Professional experience Claudia also offers the Foundation includes an extraordinary body of legal expertise. Claudia earned her undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin Madison and her law degree from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Illinois. She is retired from the Lake County State's Attorney's Office where she was the chief of the Child Support Division. Claudia is the widow of the late Judge Jack Hoogasian, the mother of four children and has three grandchildren.
Melissa Moore Koengeter
Melissa Koengeter, Sunny's fourth daughter, had been visiting camp from an early age before becoming a full time camper in 1970. She was a camper from 1970-1976, and a leadership in 1977. As a counselor from 1978-1981, she followed in her sister Marcia's footsteps as head of sailing. She also enjoyed leading long Canadian and Isle Royale trips with her sister, Grace.
Melissa has been active in recruiting and staff hiring with Sunny, and has been employed at camp doing the payroll, accounting, budgeting, and reports. Melissa was instrumental in bringing camp in to the computer age with the EZ Camp system. Melissa has also served as a part time nurse at camp. A member of the Clearwater Camp, Inc. board of directors for many years, Melissa lives with her family next to camp. Her family has been involved in camp in various capacities and they enjoy keeping a close watch on things during the off-season.
Melissa went to the University of Iowa and graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing. She has been active in nursing since 1982 and works in Minocqua at Howard Young Medical
Center. She and her family have been living in Minocqua since 1985.
Ian Lambert
Although Ian Lambert cannot claim to have been a camper at Clearwater, his association with the camp is nonetheless long and deep. His daughter Lis Lambert Thompson attended from the age of eight and is a current counselor. Lis was also married at Clearwater Camp to John-Neil Thompson in a beautiful celebration the entire Lambert family coordinated. In addition to Lis, Ian's two goddaughters attended camp, and now his three nieces are about to become Clearwater campers as well.
Ian is a retired widely traveled corporate executive and active volunteer for numerous organizations. In addition to his work for the Foundation, Ian manages the Web site and other projects for Early Music Now in Milwaukee, and sings in the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus. Born and raised in England he received an undergraduate degree with honors from Oxford University and a master's degree in business studies from London University. A chartered financial analyst, Ian and his wife, Kathy, a trusts and estates lawyer, live in Milwaukee.
Ian recognizes the central role that Clearwater Camp has played in the development of Lis' self-esteem, leadership abilities and character and of many girls like her. He is determined to do all he can to preserve and perpetuate Clearwater Camp as a resource for future generations of girls.
Grace Moore Palmer
In the midst of Grace's Clearwater camping experience, Halokwe made that historic request of Grace's mother, Sunny Moore, to be her successor. Grace enjoyed seven years at Clearwater as a camper, advanced tripper, and leadership during Clearwater's first transition in directorship.
Grace began sharing her artistic talents as a counselor in 1974 as the head of Arts & Crafts while studying fine arts at Illinois Wesleyan University. She would return three more summers to the Northwoods as the Head Tripping Counselor, in between making time to marry her husband Bill and honk through camp on the way to the reception. Since then, Grace has shared the Clearwater experience with her three daughters, Katie, Molly and Laura, while returning 11 more summers to assist in various capacities at camp, from teaching basket weaving to helping in the kitchen or co-directing with fellow board member Carol Vance. Grace continues to produce artworks depicting life at Clearwater and in the Northwoods.
Karen Brown Poehlman
Camping in the Northwoods is a family tradition for Karen Brown Poehlman. Her father, Tom "T.K." Brown, attended Camp Minocqua for Boys in the 1940s and 1950s, while her aunt, Annie Brown Short was a camper with Sunny and returned in the 1990s as a counselor and brought her indefatigable approach to canoeing and camp craft classes each summer.
Karen herself was a camper in '76, '79, and '80, and a leadership in '83. She returned as a counselor in '85 while studying computer science and mathematics at Purdue University. Karen shares invaluable talents with the board gleaned during five years with Andersen Consulting, now Accenture, and 10 years with Intel Corporation in planning, programming, and managing projects in supply line management and disaster recovery. Today Karen is primarily a stay-at-home mom, a decision she made at Clearwater's Sunday Service. She is able to share her corporate expertise with purposeful projects dear to her heart, from strategic planning for her son's parent advisory board to the Clearwater Camp Foundation.
Salvatore F. Polizzotto
Sal Polizotto is the parent of a longtime Clearwater Daughter along with being a partner at Gonser Gerber Tinker Stuhr LLP, Naperville, IL for over 20 years. Sal has been providing development consulting services to colleges, universities, independent schools, hospitals and healthcare systems, religious congregations and other non-profit organizations. Services focus on strengthening Board of Trustees; annual, capital, major and planned gift programs; utilization of volunteers, strategic planning, public relations, marketing and other aspects of institutional development. Sal worked with various universities and medical institutes for over 10 years prior to joining GGTS LLP.
In addition, Sal has spent over a decade on the Board of Directors, President of the Alumni Association or Chairman, Board Development Committee for St. Mary’s University of Minnesota. He has also been a member of various other organizations and committees for Chamber of Commerce, YWCA, Chileda Institute for Multiple Handicapped Children and selection committees for United States Military Academies 3rd Congressional District Wisconsin. Sal has a B.A. from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota and Urban Teacher’s Preparation Program, Syracuse University.
Tom Swaney is the father of two Clearwater Camp alumnae, Julia (Schilling) and Molly (Clark), and also a close neighbor of the camp, having owned a summer home for over 25 years in the Pottawattomie Colony community surrounding the camp.
Tom is a Senior Counsel with the Chicago law firm of Sidley Austin LLP where he practiced law as a partner for 35 years. His law practice focused on individuals clients and charitable organizations, and he continues to work with a few families he has represented for many years. He has served on several boards over the years and brings decades of experience to the Clearwater Camp Foundation Board.
Carol Altorfer Vance
Born and raised in Peoria, Illinois, Carol Vance is also part of a three-generation tradition at Clearwater Camp. Her mother, Harriett Pearson, was a counselor and Carol started going to camp when she was 10-years-old. During the 1960s, Carol was a camper on the Harbor, Cape and Point. She also returned to be a riding counselor in 1969 and 1970.
A graduate of Pine Manor Junior College and the University of Arizona, Carol is married to Hobey Vance.
When her daughters became Clearwater campers - and her son was at Camp Highlands, nearby - Carol began joining the administration at Clearwater Camp for weeks at a time. It soon became an annual tradition. During her 15-year tenure on the Clearwater Camp management team, Carol served as transportation director, assistant director and on the Clearwater Camp Inc. board. She and her husband also purchased a summer home in the community surrounding Clearwater Camp. Carol is now proud to serve on the Clearwater Camp Foundation board as part of the efforts to continue these traditions for future generations.
Carol is also involved with her church, served on many PTA boards - including two years as PTA Council President - is in involved in numerous other volunteer activities. Carol is now involved in a family owned business in Southlake, Texas.
A Chicago native, Danielle credits her experiences as a camper and a counselor as being among the most signficant of her childhood and young adulthood. She says that the gifts of self-esteem, friendship, and sense of stewardship imparted in a community of unconditional love remain important to her everyday.
Danielle's camp experiences began at Camp Hilltop in Spring Green, WI, during its final summer in 1984. She then went to Campo Fiesta in Boulder Junction, WI, where she attended as a camper from 1985 through 1990. She returned as a counselor-in-training during the camp's final summer in 1991. In 1994, Danielle came to Clearwater Camp, where she remained as a counselor for six full summers. She found that her personal growth and development were as profoundly impacted as a counselor at Clearwater as her years as a camper.
Moved by her own experiences of camp closings through the years, Danielle's extensive professional marketing communications background was critical to the early efforts of the Clearwater Camp Foundation and its mission to ensure that Clearwater "spans the generations." In the Foundation's early years, Danielle helped lay the groundwork for direct and digital marketing campaigns as well as the Foundation's web presence. Danielle now joins the Foundation board in an effort to expand the marketing and alumnae relations for Clearwater's ongoing development efforts. Now living in Denver, she and her husband John Welch are looking forward to starting their own family of future campers.