Board Member Biographies

Noelle moore - president

Noelle Moore has over 25 years of experience in the nonprofit sector with a focus on fundraising, management and organization development. Connecting an organization's mission with community awareness and donor partnership has been a theme throughout Noelle's career. She is an experienced thought-partner in fundraising, board development and operations, program evaluation, strategic planning, communications, and marketing.

With experience in organizations that address mental health and a growing awareness of the need for support across our community, Noelle is honored to have been appointed as an inaugural member of the Vernon Township Community Mental Health Board. She is an advocate for expanding access to mental health care, social supports, and community engagement to make Vernon Township a model community for Mental Health Boards across Illinois. 

joanne johnson - vice president

Joanne has served as a Trustee on the Buffalo Grove Village Board since 2015. Prior to that, she served on the Village’s Planning and Zoning Commission, as well as the Buffalo Grove Days Committee. In addition to her work with Buffalo Grove, Joanne is Vice President of GiveNKind, a nonprofit that partners with businesses to place their excess goods with hundreds of other nonprofits instead of putting those goods in landfills. She is retired from a career in nonprofit public relations and marketing communications.

Through her public service, Joanne has had a front-row seat to the mental health crisis in our country. She has found the current structure of available services to be frustrating in its inability to adequately address the needs of people suffering from the debilitating effects of untreated mental Illness and substance abuse. She also yearns to see all young adults with developmental disabilities be given the opportunity for a satisfying career and the self esteem that coincides.

carolyn lewis - secretary 

A transplant from New Jersey, Carolyn moved to Chicago in 1997 and attended the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, earning a Master of Arts degree in Social Work. Her formal social work career began in Buffalo Grove as a Youth and Family Treatment Specialist and Prevention Specialist at OMNI Youth Services eventually moving on to specialize as a school social worker. Carolyn has been in her current position as a social worker at Aptakisic Junior High School in District 102 in Buffalo Grove since 2007.  At Aptakisic, Carolyn sponsors the Catalyst Club (drug and alcohol prevention), Acceptance Club (genders and sexualities alliance), Black Tranquility Group (racial equity), and Mosaic Variety Show (talent and self-esteem).  Outside of her work life, Carolyn enjoys living in Buffalo Grove with her husband and three children. In her free time, Carolyn sings in the BG Singers Buffalo Grove Park District chorus, volunteers with her synagogue, and enjoys supporting the passions and endeavors of her three children.

Carolyn joined the Vernon Township Community Mental Health Board to help promote mental health awareness and identify gaps in community supports and resources.  As a direct service provider in Vernon Township, she can see firsthand the rising mental health, disability, and substance abuse issues in our community and as a board member, hopes to help assist community organizations in better providing services for individuals who are most impacted.

al dorfman

Al is retired from Abbott Laboratories. He is a current Board member of the Northwest Suburban Chicagoland National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) chapter. Al’s volunteer activities in NAMI include participating in health and wellness fairs and answering the chapter’s phone line as well as helping people and their families find mental health services.

Al joined the 708 Mental Health Board because there are many people in our community needing mental health services and are not sure where to turn for that help. Mental health issues affect individuals, their families, and the community. Al wants to help make this great community an even better one.

akrom hossain

Akrom Hossian is dedicated to public service in general and specifically dedicated to improving access to care. Akrom lives in Long Grove with his family. He has been an executive at healthcare corporations in Illinois for the last 20 years. During these times, Akrom worked with various organizations to bring parity between physical and mental health services.

Akrom joined Vernon Township Mental Health Board as he is passionate to connect community-based care organizations with payer and provider communities for cost-effective care models.

sheila sebor

Sheila Sebor is currently a Trustee for Vernon Township and is the Township’s liaison for the 708 Board. Prior to public service, she spent more than 25 years in nonprofit management, the last six as VP, Operations. She is also a Director on the Vernon Township Food Pantry and the OMNI Youth Services Boards.

Sheila has been involved at the Board level in social justice organizations and her congregation, as community service is important to her. On a personal level, she and her husband fell in love with sailing more than 20 years ago and owned a sailboat until two years ago. She also enjoys travel and handicraft work, as well as playing with her grandchildren.

sally thoren

Sally Thoren has spent more than 40 years in the behavioral health field, focusing on substance use and mental health disorders. Over her long career, Sally held many roles including direct patient care, admissions and assessment, outreach, advocacy, public education, grants management and leadership. .

Sally has lived with her family in Vernon Township since 1989, and joined the Mental Health board to increase awareness, reduce barriers and help bring these necessary services to the township. Sally believes our greatest challenge will be overcoming the stigma associated with substance use and mental health disorders.

kashyap rajesh - youth advisor

Kashyap Rajesh, a rising senior at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, IL, is an ardent activist and passionate changemaker with a focus on policy adoption in the substance use and mental health space. Last fall, Kashyap mobilized volunteers across the Vernon Township community for the passage of the 708 Mental Health Board Referendum. Now serving as the board's inaugural youth advisor, he represents the voices of thousands of young students, ensuring that mental health policies and services prioritize the needs of his generation, which was disproportionately impacted by anxiety and mental health concerns post-pandemic.