Chamber Staff
Jeanette has been with the Illinois Chamber since November, 1983. She began her career with the Illinois Chamber as receptionist. In this role she became known to members throughout the state as that friendly voice who answered phones in the Chicago headquarters. She later worked in Membership Marketing as the Secretary and provided assistance to the Vice President and the membership sales staff. In 1999, Jeanette was promoted to the Finance Department serving as Supervisor of Financial Transactions. In 2001, Jeanette assumed the duties of Office Manager, and continues to assist the Finance Department and the Membership Department in its efforts.
Jim Bajt has served with the Illinois Chamber for over 11 years as a Member Services Manager with the responsibility for membership growth and retention. Jim works with the entire membership to educate them on current legislative initiatives that impact their businesses. He has also worked in the same capacity with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for 4 years and he held similar positions with the Florida State Chamber of Commerce and the Chicagoland Chamber for two years with each organization.
As Director of Customer Service, Julie is responsible for customer’s inquiries regarding the Chamber’s Business Services activities which include publication sales as well as webinar, seminar and conference registration and management. Julie fields the Illinois Chamber’s HR Helpline calls and assists in the day-to-day operational functions of the Springfield office.
Since 2000 she has also worked as Grant Administrator for the Illinois Chamber’s Drug Free Workplace Program. Prior to joining the Chamber, Julie worked for thirteen years as office manager for an independent insurance and real estate agent in Springfield
Elizabeth Dailey joined the Illinois Chamber as Director of Sponsorship Marketing in February of 2011. Her responsibilities are the development, planning and organization of sponsorship efforts for the Chamber’s larger initiatives. Elizabeth has an extensive Sponsorship and Events background. Prior to joining the Chamber, Elizabeth was the Sponsorship Manager for a non profit in Detroit which produced the two largest civic events for the community. In this role, she demonstrated her initiative in bringing value to sponsors and detail to a high level of satisfaction and professionalism.
Elizabeth attended Central Michigan University, majoring in Commercial Recreation.
Stacey Duncan serves as a Publication and Event Sales Representative in our Business Services Division of the Illinois Chamber. She promotes our HR print materials plus our webinars, seminars, and conferences, all of which help keep Illinois businesses in compliance by educating them about the many federal and state regulations and laws.
Stacey is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education. Prior to joining the Chamber Staff, Stacey taught music for a variety of age levels in both the public and private school settings. She continues to be active in the Ball-Chatham School District as a piano accompanist for intermediate and middle school band and chorus students.
Megan comes to the Chamber with a background from the medical field in numerous office adminstrative capacities. She has also spent time in the tourist industry with Time-Out Chciago. Megan has an educations background in Psychology and Art History from DePaul Univeristy in which she spent time in Rome, Italy. Megan joined the Chamber in June 2010 as Operations Management Administrative Assistant; she works directly with the president and vice president of operations as well as various projects with in the Chamber.
Upon graduating from Southern Illinois University in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, Sarah joined the Chamber full time as Manager of Legislative Relations. Her main duties under Government Affairs include the day-to-day lobbying of legislators for pro-business legislation. She is also the writer and editor of the weekly Government Affairs Reports and videographer of the weekly interviews with legislators throughout the legislative session as well as the Two Minute Warnings: This Week in Springfield. Sarah also assists with the Communications department and website development.
Sarah participated in an internship program through Southern Illinois University Carbondale which placed her at the Chamber in January of 2007. Prior to working at The Chamber, Sarah worked as an Office Coordinator for the Case Management/Social Service department at Memorial Hospital.
Peggy joined the Illinois Chamber staff in February of 1983. During her tenure she was the Administrative Assistant to the Vice President of Membership Sales and Services, assisting with the day-to-day operations of the department along with working with the Executive Staff and Board of Directors. Peggy was promoted to Membership Retention Executive in June of 1996. As membership executive she was responsible for $2.5 million in renewal revenues. Her duties included contacting member companies for membership renewal and obtaining feed-back from members on issues that impact their operations in Illinois.
Peggy is now Membership Accounts Manager. In this position, Peggy works closely with the Executive Staff, Vice President of Membership and Marketing and with the Directors of Corporate Partnerships. She is responsible for the Chamber members annual billing and other member related invoicing along with maintaining the Chambers’ membership database.
Other responsibilities include: assisting members with export documentation information on Certificates of Origin, Affidavits, Chamber of Commerce Declarations and supplying general information to members and non-members.
Pam Holleman joined the Illinois Chamber of Commerce as a Human Resources Specialist and Publication Sales Representative. Pam handles publication sales and registrations for seminars, webinars, and conferences. Pam previously worked for the Illinois Chamber for 3 years as the Human Resources Information Manager. In this role she ran the HR Helpline, edited the HR blog and contributed to the HR Exec.
Before working for the Illinois Chamber, Pam had a strong background in Human Resources including 10 years working as a Human Resources Manager for various manufacturing companies. Her experience includes handling a whole host of H/R issues including: interviewing, hiring, disciplinary action, benefits administration, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, safety, and discrimination claims. She has also done some consulting work on employment law issues. With this background in Human Resources, Pam understands the products and events of the Illinois Chamber and can better assist members and clients to make informed decisions about what they need to run their business successfully.
Pam holds a Bachelor’s degree in business with a concentration in Human Resources from Trinity Christian College, in Palos Heights, IL.
Andrew joined the Illinois Chamber as Director of Advocacy in April 11, 2011, coming from the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce where he served two years as Public Policy Manager. Prior to that, he worked as a Legislative Research Analyst for the House Republican Staff from 2004 to 2008, Illinois Field Director for the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Campaign, Ohio Regional Director for the McCain-Palin Presidential Campaign in 2008, and East Central Illinois Regional Director on the Mark Kirk for Senate campaign in 2010.
Andrew’s primary duties as Director of Advocacy include developing and implementing Chamber programs related to grassroots activism, candidate support, advocacy fundraising, assisting in direct lobbying activities and member outreach initiatives. He also serves as the liaison to caucus political committees and individual candidates for public office.
Andrew received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2004.
Tom Rath began his career as a sales engineer for a machine tool distributor located in the Chicago suburbs. His territory covered some of the Chicago area but also downstate as far south as Effingham and west to the Mississippi river. Working with both larger manufactures to the small business owner throughout the state Tom has a keen understanding of the diverse business community Illinois enjoys. Tom moved on to become the Membership and Marketing Director for the Evanston Chamber of Commerce, spending nearly seven years at the Evanston Chamber. Through his various roles, Tom understands the unique challenges each sector of the business community faces.
He is a graduate of Northwestern University with a degree in Leadership and Organizational Behavior.
Jeff Schulman is responsible for new member development, and works to build strong coalitions between businesses interested in international business and energy. eff brings more than twenty years of experience in sales to the Chamber, primarily in home and resort property development and sales. He served most recently as a Regional Manager with BlueGreen Resorts of Bolingbrook, where he assisted in opening two new locations and hired and trained new sales representatives.
Laurie Silvey joined the Chamber in 2010 as the Director of Events and Social Media. She has a background as co-owner of a motorsports magazine for 20 years, with experience in publishing and page layout, extensive event planning, promotions and marketing of an annual consumer trade show and several annual motorsports events.
She most recently served as Executive Director of Menard County Tourism Council, where she designed and maintained their website, planned monthly and annual meetings, promotions and marketing of county tourism fundraisers. She was also Regional Administrative Coordinator of the Great Lakes Region of Horace Mann Insurance Corporation, planning numerous conferences, rallies, and district meetings.
Mary came to the Chamber with 28 years experience working in administrative capacities with a Fortune 500 manufacturing company. She joined the Chamber in December 2002 as Receptionist at the Springfield headquarters. Her current duties include a variety of administrative assignments including working with the Director of Local Chamber Relations. In this role, she maintains the Illinois Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (IACCE) membership and financial information as Office Manager. Mary also assists in the day-to-day operational functions of all aspects of the Springfield office as well as assisting with the preparation of materials for regular meetings of the Chamber's Board and Executive Committee.
Amy joined the Illinois Chamber as Director of Corporate Partnerships in January of 2012. She is responsible for developing and nurturing relationships with local Chambers as well as building small business coalitions and acting as the liaison for small businesses in Illinois. Amy has a strong small business / local Chamber background and has worked with different state Chambers for the last few years in her previous role as Director of Marketing and Affinity Services at American Chamber of Commerce Resources. Amy’s professional experience is focused on developing business and marketing, which will enable her to concentrate on recruiting new members while also assisting new and existing small companies in growing their businesses.
Amy also manages the Chamber’s Small Businesses and Entrepreneurship Council – the Chamber’s newest council – developed to help small companies connect with other business leaders and provide access to trusted resources to help save time and money.
As the Manager of Corporate Communications for the Illinois Chamber, Lisa Weitzel additionally acts as the Director of Communications for the Illinois Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives. A small business owner, Lisa also serves as the vice-president of the Ball-Chatham CUSD Board of Education. Lisa is a board member with Illinois Women in Leadership and is a former director of the Springfield Art Association and Westminster Presbyterian Cooperative Preschool.
Lisa honed her communications skills during her board experiences and as a freelance photographer in the Springfield area. She is active in the Illinois Association of School Boards and comes to the Chamber with excellent writing, editing, and design skills.
Lisa is a graduate of Northern Illinois University with her bachelor’s degree in Political Science, and interned with United States Senator Alan J. Dixon.
Bethani Whiting brings years of experience in the sales, marketing, and business to business development. She has a strong background in the real estate and lending industry. Her responsibilities are building strong coalitions in Corporate Tax, Workers Compensation, and Infrastructure through their various member councils.
Bethani attended Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan majoring in business administration. She is originally from Michigan and currently resides in the western suburbs of Chicago, IL.
