As President of The Sherwood Group and one of the firm's owners, John Waxman leads a team of more than 50 professionals providing services to hundreds of thousands of members, meeting attendees, publication readers and other constituents of the firm's nonprofit client organizations. He leads the executive group that manages the firm's corporate operation with the knowledge that Sherwood's steady, controlled growth and the success of its clients are predicated on a stable organization, positive environment and ethos of quality and service.

The Sherwood Group is one of the largest and oldest association management firms in the country, and Waxman is a leader in the association management community. He is a frequent panelist and session leader at industry meetings on association management issues and is currently serving his second term as a board member for the industry's association, the International Association of Association Management Companies. He was interviewed for the ASAE-published book, "Association Turnarounds."

Waxman began his career in association management with the American Planning Association, where he served as assistant member services director and later as director of conference and education. He then moved to the National Sporting Goods Association, where as manager of trade shows he produced the association's three exhibitions each year. The shows featured nearly a million square feet of exhibit space and attracted more than 100,000 buyers.

After 13 years with "captive" organizations, Waxman decided the time was right to step up to fresh challenges and a faster pace with a professional management firm. He joined The Sherwood Group as an account executive in 1986, and immediately become the firm's rising star. He produced results for client organizations and participated in corporate marketing and management, quickly earning more responsibility.

One year after joining the firm he was named general manager, and a year later, in 1988, he was promoted to vice president. Waxman's integrity and success allowed the company's president to withdraw from active participation and pursue other interests, and in 1990 Waxman was named Sherwood's second president. In 1992, Waxman successfully led the effort to purchase the firm from its founder.

Sherwood's president manages the firm's client relationships, supports account executives and provides strategic support and consulting to associations.

Waxman earned his B.A. in political science from the University of Illinois and M.A. in public administration from Roosevelt University. In addition to his service with the International Association of Association Management Companies, he is a member of the American Society of Association Executives and the National Association of Exposition Managers.

Late in 1984, Greg Schultz' journalism school dean recommended him to the editor of a trade magazine looking for help. Two weeks later Schultz left his job as manager with a national book store chain and joined the staff of the trade journal as its advertising manager. The organization publishing the journal hired a new management firm barely a year later, and Schultz was hired by the firm, thus launching the Sherwood Group's communications department.

Over the next six years, he would hold a variety of positions within the firm, including writer, editor, designer, director of communications, computer systems analyst and account executive. In 1990 he was named vice president and in 1991 became a partner in the firm. His marketing and communications work has resulted in dozens of awards for the firm and its clients, and his writing for clients has been widely published, from magazines and journals to a college textbook. Schultz' corporate and client work has helped The Sherwood Group to grow from a staff of 12 into a respected organization that is also one of the largest in the field.

Schultz continues to provide The Sherwood Group and its clients with marketing, technology, strategy and program integration "consulting". In the mid-80s, for example, he helped the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management become one of the first international societies to accept meeting presentation abstracts in a variety of electronic formats. This reduced costs and improved the quality and timeliness of the organization's abstract book, then more than 1,000 pages. (Today the book is published on CD-ROM.)

Schultz serves as Executive Director the Society for Vertebrate Paleontology and is directing the startup of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. He has helped his clients achieve significant growth in international representation, membership, member services and financial reserves, and is called upon to serve as a member of their boards and committees.

Schultz is a leader in the association management community, serving as a board member on the American Society of Association Executives Association Management Council and as a frequent speaker on editorial management, marketing and technology issues for nonprofit and for-profit organizations. In addition to his ASAE membership, he is a member of the Association Forum of Chicagoland's Association Management Company Interest Group.

Schultz earned his journalism degree (with honors) from Roosevelt University in Chicago.

As Sherwood's Vice President of meeting & convention services, Liz Freyn guides a team of meeting planning and support specialists responsible for dozens of successful meetings and trade shows each year. The department manages meetings for organizations of all sizes in locations throughout the world. Freyn provides fresh ideas for client programs and events to fit each organization's unique objectives and personality, from bankers to paleontologists. Freyn's creativity, experience, grace under pressure and legendary energy make her a meeting planner's meeting planner - a compassionate field general with the ability to inspire staff and address the myriad details and issues that arise on site.

Freyn joined The Sherwood Group in 1988 as an account executive. The firm had not yet centralized its meeting management functions, and Freyn achieved her greatest success and satisfaction managing her clients' meetings. She was soon responsible for managing large conventions outsourced to the firm by organizations with independent headquarters operations. With Freyn's guidance, the meetings blossomed.

In 1993 the firm's meeting operations were consolidated under Freyn, and she was named director of the new department. The concentration of expertise resulted in continued innovation and improvement for Sherwood client events. The departments combined purchasing and coordinated contract negotiation provide clients with unprecedented leverage and value. Meetings produced by the department continue to break client records for participation and revenue.

Freyn's successes led to her becoming a partner in the firm and its Vice President, Meeting & Convention Services, in 1996. She is a member of Sherwood's executive management team.

Prior to joining Sherwood, Freyn served as Assistant Executive Director for the Automobile Dealers Association of Indiana, Inc., where she developed a successful marketing program for the association's services corporation.

Freyn's roots are in Evansville, Indiana. She earned her B.S. degree in business from Indiana University. She is a member of the American Society of Association Executives, International Association of Exposition Managers and Meeting Planners International. She has served on the Board of Governors of the Indiana Society of Association Executives and as an officer of the Indiana Press Club.

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Accounting/Financial Services

Scott M. Freeman, CPA, joined The Sherwood Group Inc. as the company's chief financial officer and chief operating officer in June 2005.

A seasoned accounting and finance executive with more than 20 years of experience, Scott served for the past six years as CFO and treasurer for Lamb's Farm, a not-for-profit organization providing residential, vocational, social and recreational services to developmentally disabled adults.

Scott brings highly regarded skills in budget and audit preparation, efficiency and process improvement, and a technology-savvy outlook to all of his projects. His tenure at Lamb's proved his commitment to efficient and thorough accounting procedures. He redesigned the financial statements to allow for better understanding of the organization by management and the board of directors, uncovered significant under-funding and was instrumental in negotiations with the State of Illinois to increase funding. His detailed analysis of business operations and vendor relations resulted in reduced costs in several areas.

Prior to his work at Lamb's Farm, Scott spent more than 5 years as senior vice president and controller at Dovenmuehle Mortgage, Inc., one of the largest privately held residential mortgage servicers in the country. There he managed an accounting staff of 11, supervised the internal auditor and provided financial reporting, analysis, and forecasting for the company and its related entities. He worked for three years as internal auditor and acquisitions manager at Dovenmuehle before being promoted to controller.

Scott also worked as director of accounting for Cohen Financial Corporation, as a commercial banking officer at the American National Bank and Trust Company of Chicago, and held the position of staff accountant and tax specialist at Altschuler, Melvoin and Glasser, Chicago’s largest local accounting firm at that time.

He earned a BBA with a concentration in accounting from Emory University and an MBA with a concentration in marketing from DePaul University. He has been a certified public accountant in Illinois since 1984.

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Communications

Hronek's talent, organizational skills were evident when she first joined Sherwood as an editor in 1988. She consistently produced work of high quality within budget constraints. After two years as an editor and production artist for brochures, magazines, newsletters and other publications for Sherwood's client organizations, Hronek left the firm in search of new professional challenges.

Hronek rejoined the firm in 1999, bringing the insight and expertise gained from nearly a decade of professional work in publishing and communications management and practice - the ideal candidate to lead Sherwood's communications department.

As director, communications, Hronek manages a team of editors, designers, and marketing specialists. The department's work reflects an emphasis on the transition to electronic communications. Web teams support a dozen client web sites; additionally hundreds of magazines, newsletters, directories, brochures and other publications are produced in print or as electronic documents for distribution via e-mail, on CD-ROM or online.

During her hiatus from Sherwood, Hronek first served as production manager for a publishing company specializing in healthcare publications. There she edited, designed and scheduled quarterly journals for Marion Merrell Dow pharmaceutical company, and monthly newsletters for Clintec Corp. and GBC Corp. among others. She managed and designed advertising for Telocator, a telecommunications-advocacy association in Washington, D.C., and provided marketing support for the company.

Hronek then went on to establish and develop Jade Publishing, a design and publishing division of a 150-year-old printing company. Within a short period of time, the firm built a stable client base of more than 40 corporate customers, including Midas International, Rush-Presbyterian Hospital, DePaul University and numerous trade associations and societies. Hronek was responsible for overseeing all aspects of the operation, including business and program development, editing, art direction and production, management and operations, technology and accounting. She produced award-winning design work for the American Library Association and others.

Hronek is a member of the American Society of Association Executives and the Society of National Association Publications. Originally from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, she earned a B.A. in journalism with an emphasis in public relations and writing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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IT/Web Services

Skip MacWilliam joined Sherwood in 2006 as the firm’s Director, Information Services, ready to lend his expertise in providing valuable IT offerings for organizations of all types and sizes.

He has been working with the Internet from its infancy in 1983 by starting his own internet service provider business before ISPs were common knowledge. After selling his own ISP, he served as operations manager for a similar company, expanded its service coverage from the local area into four states, increased its customer base from 1,000 to 15,000 and grew the company’s service offerings.

Skip has also worked with the world’s largest health care association as a programmer and systems analyst and was instrumental in launching the organization’s members-only Web site seamlessly integrating multiple technologies and platforms. More recently, he worked as a systems administrator for the association management firm Smith, Bucklin & Associates, implementing a stable multiple-server hosting environment.

He has more than a decade of experience with programming in all versions of Visual Basic from version 3 thru .NET, Cold Fusion, and is experienced in PHP, ASP, PERL and SQL Server.

Skip is a skilled project manager and no-nonsense team builder who is happiest when there’s a challenge set in front of him.

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Member Services/Administration

Lee Ann Clark joined The Sherwood Group Inc. in September 2007 and serves as the executive director of the American Pediatric Surgical Association.

She was formerly employed by the National Congress of Parents and Teachers, where she held a number of management positions in the areas of member education and development, meeting planning and training. She was responsible for growing the organization’s member management services from a department of one professional to multiple departments focusing on membership growth, field service, training and member services.

As a member of senior management, she led her team in developing a nationwide training program for parent involvement; working with staff and volunteer leadership, she revamped the organization’s management development instruction, resulting in a consistent, annual training agenda for all state leaders. As a field service professional, she worked with state leaders to develop their skills in management and membership services.

Lee Ann worked for the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce for eight years, serving in a variety of capacities including leading community development programs and guiding local leaders in chapter management. She began her career as a middle school, junior, and senior high school teacher.

Lee Ann earned a bachelor of fine arts in music education from Arkansas Tech University. She is a member of the Association Forum of Chicagoland and the American Society of Training and Development.

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Sally Finney, CAE, relocated from Olathe, Kansas, to Northbrook, Illinois, in May 2005.

Sally’s most recent position was as the president and CEO of Sunflower House Inc., a charitable not-for-profit organization dedicated to the prevention of child abuse and neglect.

Prior to that, Sally spent seven years as executive director of the Kansas Public Health Association in Topeka, where one of her main responsibilities was promoting the organization’s mission through government affairs and grassroots activities, and public speaking engagements.

Sally also spent six years as the director of the State AIDS Program for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Managing the statewide public health program’s multi-million dollar and multi-source budget was her main task. She also was successful builder of volunteer coalitions of public health care program managers.

Sally has proven team-building and management skills and brings a unique perspective to her supervisory duties. She is a successful strategic planner and has a strong background in fundraising from corporate, foundation and government sources.

Sally earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in secondary education from the University of Arizona at Tucson. She earned her Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation from the American Society of Association Executives in 2003. She will manage the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the Academy for Eating Disorders.

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Rick Koepke joined The Sherwood Group Inc. in April 1998. Since then he has served as executive director of two health-industry educational nonprofits and one scientific professional society.

Prior to joining The Sherwood Group, Rick served as executive director for two specialty societies managed by the American Hospital Association in the area of health care consumer advocacy and social work administration. He helped both organizations achieve impressive results in improved member services, strategic planning, public policy initiatives, cost reduction and revenue generation.

Prior to working at AHA, Rick managed a long-term care facility for adults with mental illness. His responsibilities included financial management, marketing and operations. He also spent eight years at the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, where he provided direction is the areas of member services, research, planning and evaluation, and information systems.

Rick earned a bachelor of arts degree in theater from Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois, and a master of social work degree from Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He then earned a master of science degree in information systems from the business school of Roosevelt University in Chicago.

Rick is a member of the American Society of Association Executives and the Association Forum of Chicago.

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Vicki Loise, CAE, joined Sherwood in April 2005 as the administrative director for the Association of University Technology Managers, a dynamic and growing association serving one of the most active growth sectors of the U.S. economy.

Vicki spent the past 12 years in various management positions at the National PTA, a 6-million volunteer member organization serving as the oldest and largest child advocacy group in the country, most recently as development director. She worked closely with the executive team to implement the strategic direction of the organization and was instrumental in identifying, researching and cultivating potential sources of funding from corporate, foundation and individual donors, which resulted in a 63% increase in donation revenue in 2004.

She is a savvy team leader who also excels at events management and marketing.

Prior to the PTA, Vicki spent two years as the Administrative Associate for Meetings and Conferences at the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons in Rosemont, Illinois. There her proven skills as a coordinator, negotiator and exhibits manager came into play.

Vicki earned a bachelor’s degree in interpersonal and public communication from Central Michigan University and has been a certified meeting professional since 1995. She was awarded the certified account executive (CAE) designation in 2005 from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). She is a member of ASAE, the Association Forum of Chicagoland and the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

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Brian is an association executive with 20 years of strong service and account management experience with a variety of nonprofits, including those in manufacturing, distribution and service. Prior to joining The Sherwood Group, he developed the market and grew the sales of food safety auditing, certification and consulting services at NSF International, an international nonprofit public health and safety company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

From 1991 to 1997, Brian was the managing director of the Plastic Pipe and Fittings Association (PPFA), where among other duties, he improved business processes and implemented the association's national lobbying strategy. Before PPFA, Brian worked eight years at association management firm Smith, Bucklin & Associates holding dual roles as both public relations account supervisor and association account executive, serving a variety of clients.

Brian earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism/public relations from Northern Illinois University, and is pursuing an MBA in marketing from Benedictine University, Lisle, Illinois. Brian earned the certified account executive (CAE) designation in 2007 from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). He is also a member of the American Marketing Association.

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Nancy Witty
Account Executive