Board of Directors

NPH USA is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. In addition to our national office located in Illinois, we have six regional offices, each of which has its own volunteer Board of Directors. The members of our boards have diverse professional backgrounds and expertise, but each actively works to raise funds for and awareness of NPH USA and our mission.

National Board – Officers

Kelly McNamara Corley, President

Kelly McNamara Corley served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Discover Financial Services, a leading consumer credit, payments and online banking company from 2007-2019. Ms. McNamara Corley’s responsibilities included serving on the firm’s 10 person Executive Committee responsible for management and strategic direction of the Company and managing the Company’s legal advisory, litigation, regulatory and government relations matters. Prior to becoming General Counsel, Ms. McNamara Corley was Managing Director for Morgan Stanley’s Global Government and Regulatory Relations.

Under Ms. McNamara Corley’s leadership Discover’s legal department has been recognized for Pro Bono initiatives, Diversity and Inclusion and Innovation. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California, a J.D. from Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University and an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from George Mason University.

Kelly has been involved with NPH for 10 years. She currently sponsors three children at the NPH home in Guatemala where she has also visited and one child at NPH Nicaragua. She has served on the Midwest Region Board of NPH for five years and is currently serving as Chair.

John Duffey, Vice President

John Duffey is currently a Principal in Lionfish Capital LLC, a private equity company focused on owning and managing small to mid-sized companies. In 2016 and 2017 he served as a director as well as President and Chief Executive Officer of Six Flags Entertainment, an international theme park company with over 40,000 employees. From 2010 to 2015, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Six Flags. Prior to joining Six Flags, Mr. Duffey served as Executive Vice President and Chief Integration Officer of Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics from 2008 to 2009, and was responsible for leading the integration of Siemens Medical Solutions Diagnostics and Dade Behring. Prior to Dade Behring’s acquisition by Siemens AG, from 2001 to 2007, Mr. Duffey served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Dade Behring Inc., the largest company in the world solely focused on clinical diagnostics, where he negotiated and led the company through a debt restructuring and entry into the public equity market. Prior to joining Dade Behring, Mr. Duffey was with Price Waterhouse in the Chicago and Detroit practice offices as well as the Washington D.C. National Office. Mr. Duffey holds a B.A. degree in Accounting from Michigan State University (1982).

John joined the NPH USA National Board in 2018. He and his wife Becky have a long history with NPH and visit several of the NPH homes each year. They are also ardent supporters of organizations that assist children with autism and people with developmental disabilities.

Mike Meyer, Treasurer

Mike Meyer brings 35 years of financial experience to NPH USA. He spent 30 years at Pentair, a multi-billion dollar publicly-held global diversified industrial company, where he served in financial roles of increasing responsibility including financial reporting, controllership, tax, audit and treasury. He was Treasurer from 2002 – 2015 and an Officer. His role at Pentair also included significant experience with its foundation which supports water, education and community based programs. Prior to Pentair, Mike worked for 5 years at Ernst & Young in the audit division. He is a CPA, inactive.

Mike and his wife Kelly, live in Plymouth, MN and have three adult children. They have a passion for supporting faith-based charities that provide assistance to poor and disadvantaged people globally.

National Board – Members

Chris Heim

Chris Heim is currently the Executive Chairman of HelpSystems, an IT infrastructure software company located in Eden Prairie with over 900 employees. Previous to this position, Chris served as CEO from 2015 to mid 2019. Chris has a strong track record of success serving previous stints as CEO of Axium Software, Amcom Software, and HighJump Software.

During his tenure at HelpSystems, the company grew from $100 million in revenue to $260 million in revenue. The company completed 14 acquisitions during this time period and greatly accelerated organic growth. Prior to HelpSystems, Chris was CEO of Axium Software, a Portland, Oregon based software company that was sold to Deltek to June of 2014. While Chris was CEO only 18 months, the value of the company increased six fold during this period. From 2007 to 2012, Chris was CEO of Amcom Software which grew from $12 million to $52 million in revenue before being sold to Spok Corporation.

Chris began his career at HighJump Software where he held a variety of roles before becoming CEO in 1997. Under his leadership, HighJump Software grew from $8 million in sales in 1997 to a run rate of $80 million in sales in 2006 and became the fastest growing company in their space. In 2003, Heim was selected as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. HighJump was sold to 3M in 2004.

Chris Heim received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science and a Masters of Business Administration degree in Marketing from the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN. He proudly serves on the board of Ascentis, Aventri, Calabrio, Digi International, Field Nation and HelpSystems. Chris is married with two adult children.

Dr. Jeff Kempf

Dr. Jeff Kempf has practiced pediatric medicine for over forty years , working for the last thirty in pediatric emergency medicine at Akron Children’s Hospital in Akron, Ohio. While working in Akron he established the office of Pediatric Global Health dedicated to providing services to children outside the walls of the hospital, both domestically and internationally. This work included service in Guatemala, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Kenya, Belize, and Haiti.

In January 2010, two weeks after the earthquake, he traveled to St. Damien Hospital Haiti to provide relief work. There he fell in love with the Haitian people and the incredible work being done by NPH. After returning home, he founded the St Damien Pediatric Collaborative, a group of children’s hospitals in the US and Canada, whose mission is to provide clinical, educational, financial aide and equipment to the St Damien’s Hospital.

During his medical career in Akron, he has served in other leadership roles, including Director of the Pediatric Emergency Department, Director of the Pediatric Residency Program, Medical Staff President, Medical School Clerkship Director, Akron Children’s Hospital Board, and the Board of Gift of Life of NE Ohio. He met his wife, Dr. Ellen Kempf,a practicing pediatrician, in Fort Myers, Fla while working in the Public Health Service Corp providing health care to children of migrant farmers and the indigent poor of SW Florida.

Together they share a passion for work internationally for nearly forty years, and though recently retired in Akron, they continue to volunteer in the Costanza Region of Dominican Republic. They are blessed with three grown children and two grandchildren, all residing in the Akron area.

Casey Guevara-Lehker

Casey Guevara-Lehker is the Senior Manager of Development at the U.S. Soccer Federation, the governing body of soccer in the United States with a clear and simple mission: to make soccer, in all its forms, the preeminent sport in the United States and to continue the development of soccer at all recreational and competitive levels. In this capacity as Senior Manager of Development, Casey is responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of the Federation’s fundraising operations.

Prior to his role at U.S. Soccer, Casey was the Director of International Engagement and Executive Office at NPH USA.

Casey received a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and his Master’s degree in Nonprofit Administration from Grand Valley State University in Michigan. Casey is a lifelong soccer player and fan. Casey strongly believes the sport of soccer is a unique thread within our society’s fabric, serving everyone by bringing together people from all over the world while also elevating marginalized cultures and communities.

Casey lives in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago with his wife, daughter, and their affectionate cat, Nala.

Liz Prior

After spending six years in advertising and marketing, working with large consumer brands, such as Kraft Foods, Coca-Cola and Nestle, Liz Prior began working for her family’s business, The Patrick Auto Group, in 2001.  After seven years, she decided to leave Patrick to venture out on her own and start L2TMedia, an automotive digital ad agency based in Evanston, Illinois.  Recipient of Inc. Magazine’s list of fastest growing privately held businesses for 7 consecutive years and Crain’s Chicago Business Fast Fifty for five years, L2T is one of the top automotive digital dealer agencies in the country with more than 1000 clients, premiere partnerships with media platforms, such as Google, Amazon and Facebook and on the preferred agency rosters of Chrysler, General Motors and five other auto manufacturers.

Prior her BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1989 and an MS from Northwestern University in 2000. She is a mother of three children. Sarah (19), Charlie (15) and Mimi (13). She is deeply committed to empowering women and girls, and in January of 2021 launched a social enterprise called Rowan, which is designed to increase women’s income in developing economies around the globe by leveraging their artisanal skills and the raw materials of their regions.

Cindy Shinsky

Cindy has a passion for working with school leaders and staff to support quality programs and services for students. She comes to us with more than 40 years of experience serving within charter and traditional school systems and at the University level. Cindy’s experiences include serving as an affiliate professor within GVSU’s College of Education, Educational Leadership program and as a School Support Specialist with special education oversight within the GVSU Charter School Office. She has also served as the Director of Special Education for National Heritage Academies, Assistant Superintendent at two ISDs, Director of Special Education at two local districts and as a special education teacher. Currently, Cindy is serving as a contracted consultant for the Saginaw Valley State University School Partnership Office with special education oversight responsibilities.

Cindy graduated from Michigan State University with her B.A. in Elementary Education/Special Education, M.A. in Special Education and Ed.S in School Administration. She is married, has two children and five grandchildren. In addition, she and her husband opened an orphanage in Mexico 12 years ago and have served over 150 children.

Jeff A. Stevens

Jeff A. Stevens is a co-founder and the President of Franklin Mountain Energy, and upstream Oil and Gas company focused on production in the Permian Basin. He is also a Principal at Franklin Mountain Capital, a multi-family office investing directly in Real Estate, Energy, Healthcare and Venture Capital across the Southwest United States. Jeff was the co-founder of Western Refining Company (NYSE: WNR) and has served in various roles at Western Refining Company and its subsidiaries, primarily as Chief Executive Officer and President. Jeff led the sale of Western Refining and it’s three public subsidiaries to Tesoro / Andeavor in 2017.

Jeff attended the University of Arizona where he met his wife, Sharon. Jeff and Sharon received the 2018 Alumni Achievement Award, the highest honor the UA Alumni Association can bestow upon alumni.

Jeff serves on numerous private and public company boards as well as other civic organizations. Jeff and Sharon focus their philanthropic efforts on helping those in need, especially faith-based organizations that assist families and children. They have been involved with NPH for many years and currently sponsor four children at the NPH home in Honduras. Jeff and Sharon have taken multiple trips to visit and serve NPH homes in Central America.

Jeff and Sharon reside in Paradise Valley, Arizona. They have two adult children and six grandchildren nearby.

Karin-Joyce (KJ) Tjon

Karin-Joyce (KJ) is a retired executive, formerly Chief Financial Officer at Alorica, and brings more than two decades of demonstrated expertise in finance, technology, and operations to the NPH USA National Board. As a member of Alorica’s executive leadership team, KJ leads the company in global corporate finance.

KJ hails from the Netherlands, and worked in Europe and Asia before coming to the U.S. This gives her a unique perspective and ability to build and lead diverse teams while working effectively across very different cultures. KJ comes to the NPH USA National Board of Directors with more than 20 years of demonstrated experience in numerous industries—including Telecommunications, Logistics, Information Technology and Manufacturing—having served as CFO and COO for both public and large-scale private organizations.

Prior to joining Alorica, KJ was COO and President at Scientific Games, where she oversaw P&L for two divisions that accounted for approximately $2.4 billion. Previously, she served as CFO and Executive Vice President at EPIQ Systems, where she managed all areas concerning international corporate finance.

KJ received her bachelor of specialized studies from Ohio University, and her MBA from Columbia University.

KJ and her family have a long history with NPH. Her grandmother was an ardent supporter of NPH’s founder, Father William B. Wasson, and a significant donor in the early stages of NPH. In 2000, KJ’s mother continued to support NPH and volunteers twice a year at NPH Guatemala.

Miguel Venegas

Miguel Venegas joined the NPH family when he was 15 years old along with his two siblings. He graduated from secondary school and then completed his year of service to the NPH family at the home in Miacatlán. He attended the English program in Yarnell, Arizona, mastered the English language, passed his GED, and pursued his college education in the U.S. at the University of Texas at Tyler. Miguel earned his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science with a minor in mathematics.

In 1997, he served as the administrator and accountant for the newly opened NPH home in Guatemala. After two years in Guatemala, Miguel returned to Mexico to develop the Finance Department of NPH International (NPHI) where he served as Finance Director for six years.

Miguel is now the Executive Director of NPH International (NPHI) and is based in Cuernavaca, Mexico. He is a member of the NPHI Project Committee, NPHI Consejo Familiar, and chairs the NPHI Finance Committee.