We regret to announce the departure of our vice president, Alyse Hammonds. Alyse's knowledge of fundraising and the nonprofit world has been a great help in setting us on the path toward opening our doors. We'll miss her active involvement as a member of our board of directors.
But there's happy news as well, as we welcome two new members onto our board: Dave Ducat and Nina Sethi. Dave is a national practice director for Slalom Consulting, a business and information technology consulting firm. Aside from being a longtime chess player, Dave is an active volunteer for the Boy Scouts of America, a counselor for the chess merit badge and an Eagle Scout; he's also served as a Little League umpire for 30 years. Nina is an elementary school and English as a second language teacher who has taught students of all ages both locally and internationally and worked with many chess clubs and organizations. She holds a master of arts in teaching English to speakers of other languages from Teachers College, Columbia University. Over the last 15 years, she supported her family in starting a chess and philanthropy program in the Chicago suburbs that grew into the nonprofit Chess Without Borders. She also started Chess Without Borders' largest and longest-standing fundraising effort, which provides medical care and education for a burn victim in India. Welcome, Dave and Nina!