Desiree Witte is interested in serving on The Caucus of Lake Forest. She believes she can add value to this Board given her diverse background. Previously, she has volunteered her time on The Center for Excellence in Education, Role Models and Leaders program, The LASIC committee, various roles for the APT including President, VP of Donor Relations for The Spirit of 67, and VP of Donor Relations for The LFHS Foundation. She and her husband have enjoyed raising their four children in Lake Forest public schools over the past 18 years. Additionally, she has her MBA and Master of Education both from Northwestern University. She spent almost 10 years working in the City of Chicago for a condominium developer in a variety of roles and a few years teaching secondary education.
Category Archives: Ward 1 Commitee
Tyler Lisenby
Tyler Lisenby and his family have lived in Lake Forest since 2020. He holds an undergraduate degree in Information Systems Management and is certified in Information Systems Project Management from Northwestern University. Tyler has spent his career in the group insurance industry, where he currently manages a high performing Account Management team. Tyler and his wife, Raeonin, serve as board members of the Deer Path Art League. He also serves on the Associate Board of the Lake Forest Open Lands Association. Tyler is honored to be considered for this important position and hopes to humbly serve this community for years to come.
Stephen Metcalf
Stephen Metcalf and his wife, Adriana, moved from NY to Lake Forest in 2018, seeking a nurturing environment to start a family. Lake Forest’s small-town charm community provided the perfect backdrop to raise their three children (ages 5,4, and 1). Stephen works at PwC, collaborating with global Financial Institutions to address pivotal challenges. Prior to earning an MBA from the University of Chicago, Stephen worked in Equity Research at Credit Suisse and obtained a BA from Texas A&M University. Stephen is passionate about serving Lake Forest and embrace the opportunity to give back to the community.
Emily Clark Delfino
A proud member of the North Shore community for over twenty years, Emily Clark Delfino grew up in Lake Bluff and moved to Lake Forest in 2021. She graduated from Purdue University with a BS in Dietetics and Nutrition. Her volunteer work and extracurriculars include leading the Young Professional Board of Pilot Light and Marillac St. Vincent House, completing The Chicago Marathon, and receiving her Yoga Teaching Certification. You can find Emily playing mahjong in the winter, tennis in the summer, and running year-round on Sheridan Road with her beagle. She and her husband, Brandon, have been married for 7 years and have two daughters.
Jason Akemann
After graduating summa cum laude with a B.A. in History from Illinois State University, Jason co-founded what is now a national restaurant company. Jason’s company, Bottleneck Management, has 16 locations in seven different states including eight in the greater Chicagoland area. He has worked extensively with development partners such as Walt Disney World and The Dallas Cowboys along with some of the largest real estate partners in the world. Over the past twenty-plus years Jason has helped guide Bottleneck from having just two employees to employing well over a thousand people today. The constant changes to the hospitality landscape over the years have tested his organizational skill, leadership ability, and management style. Jason is looking forward to bringing these global life lessons to bear while serving the local community.
Jason’s childhood was spent growing up in the northwest Chicago suburb of Elgin where his extended family was enthusiastically involved in local politics. After an almost twenty-year stint in the city of Chicago, Jason, his wife Jennifer, and their three children, proudly became residents of Lake Forest in 2017. They could not be happier with the place they now call home and look forward to participating in the community through the Caucus.
Kelly Guerrero
Kelly is a lifelong Lake Forest resident. She attended both LFCDS and DPM as a child. Kelly’s professional background is in Structured Finance, having worked in Chicago for a private equity firm after obtaining her M.B.A. in Accounting. Kelly resides in town with her husband and their three children, who attend the School of St. Mary where Kelly is an active volunteer, room mother, and parishioner. As a family they like to travel, watch the kids’ various sporting events, see concerts at Ravinia, and enjoy all the blessings of our beautiful town.
Annie Liddle
Annie has lived in Lake Forest since 2020 with her husband Ryan with whom she has two young children, Reese and Harrison. She is a native of Winnetka and graduated from New Trier High School before earning a B.A. degree from the University of Michigan majoring in Political Science. She lived and worked in Washington, D.C., and came back to Chicago to obtain a degree from Harrington College of Design to pursue her other passion. She has been in the interior design industry for over 15 years, starting her own company in 2020. She is an active board member and enjoys volunteering for the Infant Welfare Society of Lake Forest. She is thrilled to be back in the North Shore raising her family and looks forward to serving the residents of Lake Forest as a Caucus Committee member.
Charles Stephens
Charles Stephens was born and raised in Lake Forest, and moved back in 2020 with his wife Kate and children Mary and Charlie who are at DPM and Sheridan, respectively. After graduating from LFHS, he earned a BA from Northwestern University and later returned to earn an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management. During his early career in consulting with A.T. Kearney and Ernst & Young, he moved to the Bay Area for 6 years and later joined the Gap’s e-commerce division, kicking off a new career in tech. Moving back to Chicago in 2007, Charles held a variety of roles with startups and established companies in e-commerce, marketing and transportation. Most recently, he owned Zipcar’s Chicago market, was an executive at Lyft and is currently the SVP & General Manager of Future’s coaching business. Now back in Lake Forest, Charles is looking to give back to the community that shaped who he is so that his children may benefit from the same strength of community he did.
Janet White
Janet and her family have enjoyed living in Lake Forest/Lake Bluff for the past 28 years. She is a licensed clinical psychologist with her own private practice concentrating in child and adolescence and teaches doctoral students at National Louis University. Raising five children kept her busy with Cub Scouts (three of four sons attained Eagle Scout status and the fourth is nearly there), the Grants Committee of LDA, the School of St. Mary Parent Club, Open Lands, and Catholic Charities. With only two children still at home, she is looking for new ways to contribute to the community.