Board of Directors

JAMES W. GLASGOW - Chairperson
Will County State's Attorney

MIKE KELLEY - Vice Chair
Will County Sheriff

AL ROECHNER - Secretary
Chief, Joliet Police Department

DAVID THORNTON, CPA - Treasurer
Carey & Thornton Financial Services

MIKE FRICILONE - Executive Committee
Will County Board Member, Dist. 7
EVP, Midwest Office Interiors

RICH WILK - Executive Committee
Commander - Zone 3, Illinois State Police, Dist. 5

DR. RITA GRAY - Executive Committee
Director of Clinical Training - Behavioral Health, Will County Health Department

MICHAEL FERGUSON - Executive Committee
Area Administrator, Illinois DCFS

DUFFY BLACKBURN, CPA, CFE
Will County Auditor

REV. HERBERT  BROOKS, JR.
Will County Board Dist. 8
Pastor, St. John M. B. Church

CHRISTOPHER BROWN
President, Chief Strategies

RUTH A. COLBY
President & CEO, Silver Cross Hospital

ANNE DRALLE
Retired, Will County Board Member

JIM HOLLAND
Mayor, Village of Frankfort

ALAN NOWACKI
Owner, Nowacki Insurance

MISSEY SCHUMACHER
Mayor, Village of Channahon

SCOTT SLOCUM
Program Director/Broadcaster, WJOL Radio

RICK SMITH
Adult Probation Supervisor, Will County Adult Probation

DENNIS WOLFF
Sales Director, Hawk Chevrolet Joliet

Operations

  • Lisa Morel Las, M.Ed. - Executive Director
  • Beth Kasper, M.B.A., M.S. - Operations Manager
  • Savannah Regis, B.A. - Intake/MDT Coordinator

Lisa Morel Las M.Ed.
Executive Director

Lisa Morel Las was selected by Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow, with Board of Directors approval, for the position of Executive Director in August 2015.

Previously, she served as the Chief Executive Officer for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties. During her 11-year tenure at Big Brothers Big Sisters, Lisa raised the organization’s community profile, secured more than $1 million in federal grant funding, spearheaded a successful capital campaign to purchase new office headquarters in Joliet, and opened satellite offices in Grundy and Kankakee counties.

She also previously served as District Administrator for Illinois Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson, and before that, she served as State's Attorney Glasgow's Director of Information & Public Administration where she was instrumental in securing federal grant funding that led to the establishment of the Will County Drug Court program. Lisa was also instrumental in the lobbying efforts for Glasgow's successful legislative initiatives.

In 2012, Lisa was honored by the Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce with the ATHENA Award, and in 2011 she was awarded the Joliet Catholic Academy Alumni Association's Career Achievement Award.

Lisa earned a Bachelor’s degree from Saint Mary’s College - Notre Dame and a Master’s degree in Counseling Education from Loyola University, Chicago. She also completed postgraduate business administration courses for not-for-profit organizations at the University of Notre Dame. She is a member of the Joliet Rotary Club and the Holly Club of Joliet.

Beth Kasper M.B.A., M.S.
Operations Manager

Beth Kasper manages cash flow, financial reporting for grants/contracts and monthly financial reporting. She works closely with the Executive Director and programmatic staff to ensure that the organization’s current and future financial needs are met.

Prior to her work at the Will County CAC, Beth worked in a financial capacity with both for-profit and not-for-profit companies including Nabisco, Midwest Generation and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties.

Beth holds a BBA degree from Loyola University Chicago, MBA and MS degrees from Saint Xavier University Chicago. She and her family have lived in Will County for over 15 years.

Savannah Regis B.S.
Intake Coordinator

Savannah Regis attended Eastern Illinois University where she received a degree in Family and Consumer Sciences with a concentration in Family Studies and a minor in Psychology.

As the Intake/MDT Coordinator, she is in charge of scheduling the forensic interviews, communicating any needs the children may have to the multi-disciplinary team, and assisting the families to ensure their children have the best experience possible at the Children’s Advocacy Center.

Advocacy Services

  • Maricruz Diaz B.S. - Senior Family Advocate, Back-Up Forensic Interviewer 
  • Gabriela Mancera B.A. - Family Advocate, Back-Up Forensic Interviewer
  • Cheri Johnson - Child Sexual Exploitation Advocacy & Outreach Coordinator, PAWS-4-KIDS Coordinator

Maricruz Diaz B.S.
Senior Family Advocate, Back-up Forensic Interviewer 

Maricruz joined the Will County Children's Advocacy Center in May of 2016 as the Intake/Family Advocate Coordinator. Since then, she has become the Senior Family Advocate and Back Up Forensic Interviewer.

Maricruz’s previous experience includes providing a year of service with AmeriCorps VISTA in which she was stationed with a mentoring agency in Joliet. Additionally, she has had the opportunity to work with various age groups within the social service field.

Maricruz earned her Bachelors of Arts in Sociology with a minor in Spanish and Family and Child Studies from Northern Illinois University. She is currently pursuing her MSW at Aurora University

Gabriela Mancera B.A.
Family Advocate, Back-up Forensic Interviewer

Gabriela (or "Gabby") provides advocacy, crisis intervention, and short-term case management services to child and their families who are referred to the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center.  She received a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she was on the Dean's List of the College of Liberal Arts, for high academic achievement.

Previously, she worked at Lutherbrook Child and Adolsecent Center, a youth residential treatment center, as a mental health professional with youth ages 6-18 who experienced multiple complex traumas.

Cheri Johnson
Child Sexual Exploitation Advocacy & Outreach Coordinator, PAWS-4-KIDS Coordinator

Cheri is the Child Sexual Exploitation Advocacy & Outreach Coordinator for the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center where she provides confidential case management, support and advocacy to youth who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation.

Cheri also is the Coordinator for the Paws-4-Kids program, which is a part of Will County State’s Attorney Jim Glasgow’s League of Extraordinary Canines.   Three Labrador Retrievers (Jackson, Malley and Kiwi) are available at the Children’s Advocacy Center to comfort the children who come there for services.

Cheri previously served as Jim Glasgow’s Executive Assistant for 11 years.  Before joining the State’s Attorney’s Office, Cheri served as Director of Development for the Rialto Square Theatre for two years, and Director of Development for the Joliet Region Easterseals for 15 years.

Trauma Therapy

  • Lorraine (Lorena) Guerrero Neumayer M.S.W., L.C.S.W. - Senior Trauma Therapist
  • Denise Arroyo M.S.W. - Trauma Therapist
  • Ivette Nodal M.S.W., L.S.W. - Trauma Therapist, Back-Up Forensic Interviewer
  • Billie Terrell, Ph.D. , L.C.S.W. - Clinical Supervisor

Lorraine (Lorena) Guerrero Neumayer M.S.W., L.C.S.W.
Senior Trauma Therapist

Lorraine, a  was born and raised in a large family in Will County. She has just over a decade of experience as a social worker in a myriad of positions including Sexual Assault Advocate, Director of Social Services and School Social Worker at beloved organizations throughout the community.

Lorraine has served as a member of the Board of School Inspectors of Joliet Public Schools and as a Commissioner on the Housing Authority of Joliet board. Her favorite current volunteer work is teaching citizenship classes at the Spanish Community Center.

She spends most of her spare time with familia, practicing Spanish, reading anything about social justice and listening to NPR. Lorraine aspires to travel the world and to learn more about both of her parent’s cultures. She loves anything rainbow, Dr. Seuss, photographs and hope filled quotes. “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome”--Booker T. Washington

Lorraine earned a Bachelor's degree in Social Work from Lewis University, and a Masters degree in Social Work with school social work concentration from Aurora University. She successfully passed the LCSW exam in November 2018 and is now a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the State of Illinois. She earned her . She is a proud alum of Joliet Township Central & Joliet Public Grade Schools.

Billie Terrell, Ph.D. , L.C.S.W., A.C.S.W.
Clinical Supervisor

Dr. Billie Terrell, Ph.D., LCSW, ACSW retired as professor emeritus from the University of St. Francis in August 2017. She previously served as the program director of their Bachelor of Social Work program, and then she developed and chaired their Master of Social Work program which was fully accredited in 2010.

Dr. Terrell previously practiced medical and psychiatric social work extensively at Silver Cross and St. Joseph Hospitals in Joliet, IL. Other career achievements include opening her own practice for multicultural families and working as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Illinois until becoming a full-time faculty member at the University of Illinois in 1985.

After earning her Bachelor's degree in social work from then-College of St. Francis, Dr. Terrell earned a master’s degree in social work from the University of Illinois and a doctorate from the Institute for Clinical Social Work in Chicago.

Terrell serves her community by participating on the board of several community agencies, including the Guardian Angel Home and the Center of Correctional Concerns. She currently serves as the president of the Will County Board of Health.

Denise Arroyo M.S.W.
Trauma Therapist

After completing an internship at the Will County CAC in 2016, Denise returned in August 2017 as a Mental Health Counselor to provide bilingual, trauma-specific, individual, group, and family therapy.

Previously, Denise worked at Family Focus in Aurora as a Family Support Worker for first-time teen mothers where she also co-facilitated a teen mothers weekly support group. Denise also has training and experience working with sexual assault and domestic violence victims.

Denise earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lewis University and a Master of Social Work degree from Aurora University.

Ivette Nodal M.S.W., L.S.W.
Trauma Therapist, Back-up Forensic Interviewer

Ivette Nodal earned a Master’s degree in Social Work from Edinboro University and a Bachelor's degree in Social work from the University of St. Francis. and is currently working towards LCSW licensure. She previously worked at La Rabida Children’s Advocacy Center where she served as their MDT Coordinator and Bilingual Family Advocate.

Ivette also serves as a back-up Forensic Interviewer, after completion of the Corner House Forensic Interview training in May 2018. She has experience providing crisis intervention, individual therapy, as well as family and group therapy under the supervision of clinical supervisors.

Forensic Interviews

  • Jaclyn Lundquist M.S.W. - Senior Forensic Interviewer
  • Cruz Ramirez Arzuaga M.S.W. - Forensic Interviewer

Jaclyn Lundquist M.S.W.
Senior Forensic Interviewer

Jaclyn first joined the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center staff in August of 2002 as a Case Manager and went on to be trained as a forensic interviewer at CornerHouse in Minneapolis. She continued serving as a Case Manager/Back-up Forensic Interviewer until February of 2006. During that time she conducted over 500 Forensic Interviews.

After starting a family and earning a Master’s degree in Social Work, she returned in July 2008.  A few months later, she obtained her Advanced Child Sexual-Abuse Forensic Interview Certificate of Achievement from CornerHouse. Since that time, Jaclyn has been the primary Forensic Interviewer and has since conducted close to 2,500 interviews with children, adolescents , and vulnerable adults, resulting in a career total of almost 3,000 forensic interviews.

Jaclyn graduated from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois in 2001, earning a Bachelor of Science in Family Social Services. She graduated with honors from University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois in 2008, earning a Master’s in Social Work.

Cruz Ramirez Arzuaga M.S.W.
Forensic Interviewer 

A native of California, Cruz began working with the Will County Children's Advocacy Center in January 2017 as a contractual Mental Health Counselor. She then moved into to a newly-created Child Sexual Exploitation Victim Advocate position where she provided crisis intervention, ongoing case management services, and assistance in getting basic needs met.

In October 2017, she transitioned to the newly-created, bilingual Forensic Interviewer position -- to help children tell their story through a series of unbiased, non-leading questions in a one-on-one setting, to elicit information about the abuse in an age- and developmentally-appropriate manner.

Cruz received a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Sociology and Master's Degree in Social Work from the University of St. Francis. She lives in Minooka with her husband Marco, and son Abraham.