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.
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.
Candace serves as Vice President of Operations for the Chamber. She joined the Chamber staff as Executive Assistant to the President in November 2001 in which she worked closely with President and CEO Doug Whitley. Candace has responsibilities for the IT and HR functionality of the Chamber as well as interfacing with the Board of Directors. She closely works with the CEO and COO in various capacities of day-to-day operations and long term planning. She also assists Membership and Business Services in an administrative capacity on various initiatives.
Candace previously served with a computer consulting company as Office Manager for eight years where she facilitated day-to-day activities of the office, worked with the President and Regional Director, and was the Human Resources Coordinator.
Candace earned her bachelor's degree in international studies with a minor in business administration from Millikin University and a certificate under the Society of Human Resource Management from DePaul University in Chicago.
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.
As Vice-President of Membership & Marketing at the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Alex Perry is in charge of the daily membership and marketing operations, serving over 2,500 members across Illinois and managing five staff members within this department. Perry works closely with the VP of Business Services and VP of Government Affairs to ensure our members have access to our advocacy programs/information, educational seminars and conferences and opportunities to connect with business and government leaders across the state.
Alex graduated Cum Laude from Northwestern University with a B.A. in Political Science.
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 Board of Education. She is also a former director of the Springfield Art Association Board, and served on the Board of the Westminster Presbyterian Cooperative Preschool Board of Directors.
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.
As president and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Douglas L. Whitley leads the Chamber’s charge to aggressively promote the interests of Illinois business. With Whitley’s leadership, the Chamber has taken unprecedented actions on behalf of Illinois employers, strengthened its role in shaping state and federal legislation, and renewed its status as the unifying voice for business in Illinois.
Whitley has a long record of business leadership and expertise in taxation and regulation, which he has earned in a career spanning the public and private sectors. Before joining the Illinois Chamber, Whitley was President of Ameritech Illinois for the six years. Whitley served two years as Director of the Illinois Department of Revenue during the administration of Governor Jim Edgar. Prior to that, Whitley was president of the Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois for 14 years. In earlier years, he was a legislative staff member in the Illinois House of Representatives.
Throughout his career, Whitley has held leadership positions with numerous business and civic organizations. Whitley co-founded and co-chairs the Transportation for Illinois Coalition, and the Chamber is a founding member of the Illinois Coalition for Jobs, Growth and Prosperity. Whitley’s other leadership positions have included the Illinois Business Roundtable, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Club of Chicago and Mayor Daley’s Work Force Development Board. Whitley has served on the Illinois Workforce Investment Board and the Employers’ Advisory Board to the Illinois Department of Labor. He is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, the Executives’ Club, and the Illinois State Historical Society.
A lifelong Illinois resident, Whitley holds a bachelor’s degree in government and history from Southern Illinois University. He was granted an honorary doctorate degree from Western Illinois University. Whitley spent his youth in Atwood, a small, central Illinois farming community of 1,200, where he achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. Whitley and his wife Joanne live in Kane County; they have three children.
