Karen Grupe
President
Karen lives in the rural Cleveland area with her husband, Keith and their children. They have three sons and one daughter. The two older sons have left the nest and reside in Green Bay and Madison. Their daughter attends the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The youngest attends the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater. She loves to spend time with her family first and foremost. She also enjoys traveling, reading, hiking and is a novice bird watcher.
Currently Karen works with her husband, Keith, who is a Thrivent Financial Representative. She is a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Sheboygan Falls. She loves spending her time and using her God given talents to make a difference in our community. Thrivent, Sheboygan Leadership Academy and SCIO provide countless opportunities to serve others and make a positive impact every day.
Jensen Bartels
Vice President
Jensen lives in Sheboygan with her bloodhound, Cooper. Together they like exploring new places and making new friends. She recently graduated from Lakeland University with a bachelors in business administration with an emphasis in nonprofit management. Her passion for helping others is what initially drew her to SCIO. She is excited to bring fresh ideas, thoughtful problem solving, and her understanding of nonprofit management to the team.
Emily Grzesiak
Treasurer
Emily is currently employed as an accountant at Kohler Company. She is a Lakeland University graduate.
Kristine Feggestad
Secretary
Kristine lives in Sheboygan with her husband, Paul. They have two sons; one in college at St Louis University and one at North High School. She loves to be outdoors, walking, running, biking, hiking or gardening.
Kristine has been a behavioral/mental health counselor for over 20 years. She has worked in a number of community and higher education settings. She currently works as a Behavioral Health Intake Counselor with Aurora Health. She understands the importance of meeting people where they are at and providing what they need to move forward and improve their quality of life.
Zac Vredeveld
Julie Mavity Maddalena
Julie lives in Sheboygan with her spouse, Mike, and two children, one in elementary, one in middle school. She enjoys hiking, reading, coffee, and wine, and is beginning to explore gardening. Julie is the University Chaplain, Ulrich Ethicist in Residence, and Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Lakeland University. She is ordained in the UCC and is a member at First Congregational UCC Sheboygan.
While completing her MDiv at Emory University in Atlanta, Julie lived in a homeless shelter for women and children, serving as the resident manager. Her transformative experience there led her to more work with single mothers and doctoral work at Southern Methodist University in Religious Ethics. Julie’s dissertation centered the voices of single, working-class mothers and explored ways to create and support systems that promote justice, equality, thriving, and dignity for women across racial identities. Julie teaches university and community courses on ethics, intersections of class, race, gender, and sexuality within the US political economy, and social justice within the Christian tradition.
While still new to the area, Julie is thrilled for the opportunity to support and promote the important work of SCIO as it aligns with her commitments, passion, and focus of the past twenty years.
Kelly Schramm
Kelly now resides in Sheboygan raising her four children. She has a background in radio and television broadcasting as well as marketing. Kelly enjoy running marathons on Netflix. She has a savage attitude and a heart of gold. She is working hard on a life she loves.
Emily Kaiser
Emily lives in Sheboygan with her husband, Zach and their three children. She is a member of the Sheboygan Northside Catholic Parishes and her two older children attend Trinity Lutheran School. She enjoys being active, thrifting, reading, traveling, and running.
She is currently an Events Planner at Sargento Foods. Prior to that, she was the Director of Donor Engagement at United Way of Sheboygan County, which was where she was introduced to the great work that SCIO does. She strives to make a positive impact in the lives of others, and is excited to continue supporting the community as an SCIO board member.
Kat Weber
Kat Weber is a Wisconsin native residing in Sheboygan. She graduated from St. Norbert College in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, and studied abroad in Limerick, Ireland during her junior year. She currently works for Kohler’s Hospitality department as an IT Systems Analyst. She also volunteers at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, and with Horizons4Girls as their website manager. Kat is currently pursuing a graduate certificate in sex therapy from UW Stout. She enjoys knitting, swimming in Lake Michigan, playing ukulele and piano, hiking, tennis, and board games. Kat is excited to bring her love of community to SCIO.