Who We Are

President

Karen Cunningham is a Managing Director at Deloitte Consulting where she focuses on enabling her clients to manage industry disruptions and realize their transformational goals by driving adoption of new ways of organizing, operating and behaving. She specializes in strategic change management, organization alignment, workforce of the future and persona-driven engagement. She also leads Deloitte’s Human Capital US and global markets for ESG and Sustainability, Climate & Equity, advising her clients on the organization and workforce imperatives to drive meaningful change, impact and value. Karen earned her Masters of Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the Illinois Institute of Technology and a Bachelors of Psychology from The Ohio State University. She serves on several boards, including chairing the Development Committee on the Valley Art Center board.

​Past President

Melissa Bertke is Senior Counsel at Progressive Insurance where she manages complex commercial litigation and class action defense. Formerly a litigation partner at BakerHostetler, Melissa has significant experience in the defense and prosecution of general business litigation. She is also a graduate of FDCC Ladder Down -- a year-long leadership, development and mentoring program for women lawyers. Prior to attending University of Michigan Law School, Melissa received a B.A. in English from Kenyon College and spent a year serving as an AmeriCorps volunteer in Colorado. A mother to two young boys, Melissa is passionate about the arts and is a longtime fan of the Valley Art Center and Art by the Falls.

Treasurer

Adam Philipp is a Partner with Cedar Brook Group. He helps counsel a select group of corporate executives, professionals, business owners, and other high-net-worth individuals and families on investments and a wide range of financial planning issues. Adam received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and history from Northwestern University and a law degree from The Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law. As an attorney, Adam clerked for Judge Raymond Moore on the United States District Court for the District of Colorado in Denver and then became a corporate and capital markets associate with Jones Day and Calfee, Halter & Griswold. In these experiences, Adam maintained an active pro bono practice.

​Born and raised in the Cleveland area, Adam is passionate about Northeast Ohio and the region’s vast potential. He also coaches baseball as a member of University School’s staff. Adam enjoys international affairs and foreign policy and he is a Council on Foreign Relations term member. He also enjoys attending American Council on Germany and Cleveland Council on World Affairs events. Both Adam and his wife, Mariam, grew up on the east side. They currently reside in Shaker Heights with their young children, Arthur and Lily.

Secretary

Pam Wilson is the Vice President of Products at Premier Packaging, LLC. After spending over a decade managing research and development labs and promoting sustainability within coatings, she now oversees custom packaging design and automation. Pam has a PhD in Macromolecular Science and Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, and a BS in Chemistry from Rochester Institute of Technology. She is an avid collector of local art, including masterpieces from her two creative children!

Michael Butler is a nine year resident of Chagrin Falls. Originally from Hilliard Ohio and later attended Morehead State University in Kentucky. Michael has been in the automotive business for over 42 years.  40 of those years in management. Currently with the Junction Auto Family in Chardon. Mike is on the Board of Directors of the Chagrin Valley Chamber of Commerce and served as past president. He is also a member of the Chagrin Valley Rotary and Leadership Geauga. In Michaels spare time he is a avid golfer, frequent guest of the Chagrin Falls restaurants and has attended pottery, leather, and painting classes at the Valley Art Center.

Jennifer Crawford brings nearly 25 years of design and marketing expertise to her role as a Creative Partner at Impel Creative, Inc. With decades of small agency and freelance graphic design experience, Jennifer prides herself in the details and take a fresh approach to each new design challenge. With a focus on print media, she has managed and designed projects ranging from corporate identity and logo design, brochures, annual reports, and magazines to exhibit design, product design and email marketing.  Jennifer has three children including a daughter who takes jewelry classes at Valley Art Center. Jennifer resides in Twinsburg but spends significant time in Chagrin Falls and is excited to support the arts community with her time and creative skills.

Andrea Dawson is a staff pathologist at the Cleveland Clinic, where she has spent the past twenty one years providing expert diagnoses for patients with breast cancer. She grew up in Wyoming, which she attributes her love of the outdoors to and went to medical school at the University of Utah.  She been on the board of Urban Squash Cleveland, a program for inner city Cleveland children and is an active volunteer in the local squash community.
Her exploration of  the art world began in the last several years when she enrolled in classes at the Valley Art Center.  At the same time, she had the opportunity to participate in a photography mentorship with a Martha’s Vineyard based photographer. These experiences have inspired her to find the connections between her photography and painting of the natural world and to continue her “art education”.  She is very grateful to the teachers and mentors at the Valley Art Center who have been instrumental in encouraging her to show her art in local juried and student art shows. One of these days she will quit her day job and just focus on her art..…in the meantime, she is excited to be a contributing member of the Valley Art Center Board and will work to create opportunities and exposure to the arts for our community. 

A graduate of Chagrin Falls High School (’99), Jeremy Galante earned his BFA in Painting and Printmaking from Miami University of Ohio, and MFA in Animation from Rochester Institute of Technology. He has directed and produced a variety of award winning independent and for-hire short films, and has produced content for Sesame Workshop for over 10 seasons. His work has appeared in over 100 film festivals worldwide, and has been screened at the Ottawa International Animation Festival, the New York International Children's Film Festival, and the ASIFA-East awards. He is currently an Associate Professor Animation at Pennsylvania Western University in Edinboro, PA.

Margaret S. Heydorn learned that it is never too late to discover a new passion.  Despite having no prior art education, she attempted her first oil painting at age 56 and found a surprising hidden ability.  She has subsequently taken various classes and workshops, including at the Valley Art Center since 2013, and has participated in numerous local art shows.  She enjoys exploring and growing as an artist and encourages others to do the same. 

Since 2018 Margaret has been a member of S2UDIO, a working studio/gallery next door to the Valley Art Center, where she and six other artists paint and support each other with advice and critiques.  She feels fortunate to be a part of such a vibrant art community in Northeast Ohio and, with her participation on the VAC Board, hopes to contribute to its success.

Formerly a lifelong New Yorker, Margaret and her husband moved to Shaker Heights in 2012.  She had a 50-plus year career in financial services, initially with JPMorgan Chase and other institutions, and later with the investment advisory firm she founded in 2001.  She has recently retired and is excited to see where this next chapter leads.   

Yelena Katz is an attorney in the Labor & Employment practice group at Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLC, an AmLaw 200 business law firm with offices in Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Hackensack, New York, San Francisco, Shanghai and Wilmington. Yelena works with employers on a variety of federal and state labor and employment matters. She has represented employers before administrative agencies and in courts nationwide, and also counsels businesses of all sizes on best practices for employment-related matters. Yelena serves on the steering committee for Benesch’s Women’s Initiative group and on the firm’s Associate Development Committee. Prior to graduating from Case Western Reserve University School of Law with her Juris Doctorate, Yelena received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management (Marketing) also from Case Western Reserve University. Yelena lives in Orange Village with her husband, two sons (both budding artists in daycare!), and Standard Poodle Charlie. The family has been attending Art by the Falls for many years and Yelena is excited to serve on the Valley Art Center Board. Yelena chairs the Board’s Governance Committee. 

Erin has a background in marketing, graphic design, and nonprofit consulting. She enjoys fine art and has been taking classes at the Valley Art Center since she was a kid. She earned her masters from Case Western Reserve University in nonprofit management, and particularly enjoys consulting with arts organizations. She has two teenage sons, a handy husband, and a hysterical corgi dog.

Lynn Rogers Vail is a retired sales professional from Sun Microsystems, a $12 billion company focused on products and services for network computing.
With a strong customer service background and enthusiasm for the products and professional services she was commissioned to sell, Lynn exceeded in her field.
Upon her retirement, Lynn sought out new experiences and found the Valley Art Center. With no art background, Lynn began her art journey with a jewelry beading class with Kim Mettee.  She loved the environment, people and vibe of Valley Art Center. She took that experience forward and ended up diving into the craft of Polymer Clay.  She now sells her polymer clay art in the VAC Art/Shop and continues to take various classes to expand her art knowledge.
Lynn lives in Chagrin Falls and is a member of the Bentleyville Road Neighborhood Club, member of the Gates Mills Garden Club, former employee of Be.Gallery of Chagrin Falls, and is active in volunteering around the Chagrin Falls area.

Marianne Veniero is an artist, biologist, teacher, and community volunteer. After earning her PhD in Cell Biology from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, she went on to share her love of science as a professor at the collegiate, elementary, and middle school levels for many years, Marianne can now be found volunteering throughout the community often in leadership roles as well as performing improv in the greater Cleveland area. A proud mother of two grown children, Marianne has been a student of many mediums and an exhibiting artist at Valley Art Center's Annual Juried Art Exhibition. Marianne enjoys continuing to learn the art of jewelry design at VAC and fabricating her metal creations.

Allyson Dean is a Chagrin Falls lifer, who has a passion for the well being of the community. She volunteers for non-profit in and amongst the Valley. 

Ally currently works for Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC as a Product Manager, where she oversees the development of the online individual shopper experience and agent portal for Under65 Medical, Medicare and Ancillary sales. During her previous position at Guardian Life Insurance she delivered an Omni-channel experience for their absence program.  

She has an MBA from Franklin University and an Actuarial Science Bachelor's degree from Ohio University.

She and her husband Brad enjoy cooking on their blackstone, spoiling their dog Baxter and going to Cleveland Guardians baseball games.

​Stephen Burks has spent more than 30 years bridging enterprise and creativity.  He is the Principal and Creative Director of GoodCity Concepts, a digital storytelling/media production company with local, national and global clients including Unger Enterprises, CT3 Education, the University of Southern California at San Francisco, Deakin University Australia, the Cleveland Clinic and more.
Stephen received his degree in Music Theory and Composition with a minor in Marketing from the Dana School of Music in Youngstown, Ohio and held positions with The Nashville Symphony, The Louisville Orchestra, the Hendersonville Arts Council and The Glema Mahr Center for the Performing Arts. Stephen was the founder of the East Asia Arts Partnership and coordinated cross cultural visual art shows and concerts by American artists at the Two Cities Gallery in Shanghai, China, as well as venues in Beijing and Suzhou, China and Bangkok, Thailand.