Agencies
Services
Illinois State Museum Society Board of Directors
Officers
Matt Berry, Chair
Matt Berry currently serves as Chief of Staff for the Illinois Community College Board where he is responsible for policy development, legislative affairs, public relations, human resources, fiscal management.
He has over fifteen years of experience in higher education finance and policy having previously held positions at the Illinois Board of Higher Education and Office of the Illinois Senate President. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Illinois College and has a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Illinois at Springfield. Berry is active in fundraising for community organizations. He was a member of the Westminster Cooperative Preschool Board where he spear-headed their fundraising efforts and has served on the Phoenix Center’s Fundraising Committee. Matt and his husband and son live in New Berlin.
Dr. Lynn Fisher, Secretary
Lynn Fisher is a faculty member in the Sociology/Anthropology Department at the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) and an Adjunct Research Associate in Anthropology at the Illinois State Museum.
She grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, earned a B.A. in Anthropology from Oberlin College in Ohio, and earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Michigan. Fisher's archaeological research is based in southern Germany, where she spends time each year studying stone technology and land use among prehistoric farming societies. She teaches courses in archaeology and biological anthropology at UIS and has connected UIS students with the Illinois State Museum through student research projects, internships, and field trips. Fisher has served as chair of the UIS Campus Senate and a member of the University Senates Conference, and in various elected positions with University Professionals of Illinois / Illinois Federation of Teachers.
Candice D. Trees, Vice Chair
Candice D. Trees has been a lifelong resident of Springfield, Illinois, dedicated to improving her community through volunteering. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Illinois Springfield and a Master's in Organizational Behavior from Benedictine University. She has gained experience working at the local, state, and federal levels, but her most significant roles have been as a wife, mother, and grandmother.
Trees has volunteered for many years and has been actively serving various organizations. She is a member of the Executive Council of AARP Illinois and is actively involved with the Phoenix Center and the Dana Thomas House Foundation. She is also an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Springfield-Decatur Area Alumnae Chapter, where she serves as Chair of the International Awareness and Involvement Committee and is the Primary Advisor for the undergraduate chapter on the University of Illinois Springfield campus. Additionally, she is a member of St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church in Springfield.
Lisa Stevenson, MBA, CPA, Treasurer
Lisa Stevenson is the Managing Partner of NPO Accountants, LLC, a public accounting firm based in Phoenix, Arizona. The firm was founded in 2014 by Stevenson as Stevenson CPA LLC and renamed NPO Accountants, LLC in 2024. The firm works exclusively with Nonprofit Organizations. Ms. Stevenson has worked with nonprofit organizations since 2001 and began her career in nonprofit organization accounting in 2003. Born and raised in Illinois, she lived in Phoenix, Arizona, for 27 years and now lives in Chatham, Illinois. She is CPA licensed in both Arizona and Illinois.
Stevenson is married to her favorite pharmacist, John Schneider. They have five amazing children among them. She is also a dog mom to two dachshunds, Charlie and Lola. In her spare time, Stevenson engages in many activities, such as spending time with her husband and family, traveling, hiking, biking, pickleball, line dancing, kayaking, playing cards and games, cooking, baking, decorating, reading, stained glass and a little light gardening, but she doesn’t mow the lawn!
Members
Dr. Erica Austin
Erica Austin is a native of Springfield, Illinois. She works at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine as the Regional Community Liaison and Project Manager for the COVID-19 Centers.
Formally, Austin was an AmeriCorps Program manager through Springfield Urban League and a 4-H Educator through the University of Illinois Extension. Recently, she decided to take a leap of faith and JUMP to do what God has been telling her to do for years. Her leap of faith is starting her youth program. In October 2019, she started her youth program entitled “The L.Y.N.C. (Leading Youth, Networking Communities).”
Bryan Finn
Bryan Finn recently retired from the Illinois Department of Human Services, Bureau of Policy Development, as the Manager of Research and Reporting. Previously, he worked in healthcare for 30 years in various administrative capacities.
As a resident of Springfield for over 37 years, he has served on various community and professional boards, striving to enhance the services these organizations offer. Finn earned a B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh and an MBA from the University of Illinois – Springfield.
Dr. Brian K. Mitchell
Brian K. Mitchell is a noted scholar of “Difficult History.” Mitchell taught African American and Public History at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for fifteen years.
The author of several books, book chapters, and papers. Mitchell’s most recent book, Monumental: Oscar Dunn and His Radical Fight in Reconstruction Louisiana was the winner of several prestigious book awards including, the Phillis Wheatley Book Award, The American Association of State and Local History’s (AASLH) Excellence Award and was a finalist for the Organization of American Historians’ Best Civil War and Reconstruction Book Award.
Pamela M. Salela
Pamela M. Salela retired in 2024 from her 19+ year career as an academic librarian at the University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS). She earned a Master of Arts in Philosophy of Education and a graduate certificate in Women’s Studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Additionally, she holds a Master of Science in Information Science from UIUC’s School of Information.
Salela has held academic positions at St. Cloud State University (MN), Miami University (OH), and the University of Illinois at Springfield. Additionally, she frequently taught courses in Women and Gender Studies and continues to write reviews for Resources for Women and Gender Studies, a University of Wisconsin publication. At UIS, Salela oversaw the Central Illinois Nonprofit Resource Center (UIS, Brookens Library), providing workshops and resources for the Central Illinois nonprofit community and UIS faculty, students, and staff.
She lives in Jerome and enjoys gardening, hiking, kayaking and cycling. She also enjoys performing in music and theatre productions.
Dr. Michael Wiant
Michael Wiant was hired by the Illinois State Museum Society in 1982 and, in 1983, joined the staff of the Illinois State Museum. He retired from the museum in 2017 as Director of the Illinois State Museum—Dickson Mounds (2003—2017), caretaker of the Illinois State Museum (October 2015—December 2017), and Executive Secretary of the Illinois State Museum Society (November 2015—July 2017).
He earned a B.A. in Social Sciences Comprehensive and an M.S. in Sociology-Anthropology from Illinois State University and received an M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology from Northwestern University. His archaeological research concerns Native American history in the Illinois River valley, especially Early Archaic and Middle Woodland period life.
Committed to building a constituency for the Illinois State Museum, Wiant presented hundreds of public presentations on Native American history, provided educational content for dozens of Illinois State Museum Society Field Trips, and contributed to developing museum exhibits.
Ava Carpenter-McPike
Ava Carpenter-McPike is a force of nature and an inspiration. She has dedicated her adult life to working with at-risk youth who often don’t have a voice for themselves and have endured traumatic events. She puts her heart and soul into advocating for them and helping them change the course of their lives for the better.
Carpenter-McPike is a Senior Probation Officer/Individual Program Coordinator for Sangamon County Court Services. Over the past 28 years, she has made an immeasurable impact on minors who have committed crimes or are at risk of committing a crime. Over time, she has expanded her duties to help others in the community. In 2003, she was presented the Probation Officer of the Year Award by the state of Illinois. She has served on various boards including United Way and Illinois State Museum Society. She volunteers at District 186 grade schools and Contact Ministries, among others.
Corinne Mayfield
Corinne Mayfield spent her formative years in Macomb, Illinois, but has lived in Central Illinois for over ten years. She earned a B.A. in History and an M.A. in Public History from the University of Illinois Springfield. She serves as the Records Management Officer for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency - Office of Homeland Security (IEMA-OHS).
Mayfield is committed to advancing the records and information management field through professional and volunteer engagement and her membership with the National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators (NAGARA). Before finding her place in the Archives, Mayfield dedicated her time to studying and supporting historical institutions and material culture as a lens into the past.
She lives in Springfield with her husband, Mike, and their corgi, Kyle.
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Cathy Popovitch
Cathy Popovitch is a native of Bloomington, Illinois, and has lived in Springfield for the past 11 years. She is the Director of the Illinois State Archives and the Illinois State Historical Records Advisory Board’s Deputy Coordinator.
She holds a B.A. in History from Millikin University and a M.S. in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Popovitch is an active Council of State Archivists member and serves as Vice President/President-Elect for that organization. A sixth-generation resident of Illinois, Cathy has served on the Advisory Board and the Board of Directors of the Illinois State Historical Society since 2017. Cathy lives in Springfield with her husband, Jonathan, and two children, Joseph and Jacob.
Jacob Thornton
The biography will be available shortly.
Lauren Yoggerst
Lauren Yoggerst is a native of Springfield, Illinois, and currently serves as the Psychiatric Response Team Lead Clinician at Memorial Behavioral Health. With over 15 years of experience in the central Illinois mental health field, she has previously worked as a child and family therapist for a foster care agency and at an alternative school. Yoggerst holds a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Eastern Illinois University and a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Southeast Missouri State University.
In her free time, Yoggerst enjoys volunteering as a hospice worker at Memorial Health System, crocheting, and reading. She currently resides in Springfield.