Meet Jenn, Cheryl, Sandi, Shelley, Rochelle, And Jamie

Jennifer Oberg

I grew up in Middleburg Hts. receiving my undergraduate degree from Baldwin Wallace College in 1992 with a dual major in Sociology and Communications. In 1990 I was inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa which is a national leadership honor society in the United States. After college I fell into a career in the financial service industry which ended up being a perfect fit for me. I am proud to say that throughout my career I have received 9 promotions between the 4 organizations I have worked for. During 2002-2007, I stepped away from my career to be a stay at home mom. I was awarded as a National Achiever in 2013. I have resided in Brunswick for the last 17 years with my husband (Russ) and two sons (Chase & Ethan).

Cheryl Parzych

I am someone who believes in the power of an individual to change the world. After a long and successful professional career in the private sector, predominately holding leadership roles in the wealth management industry within banks such as KeyBank most locally, I moved to the nonprofit side. With my training and technical discipline in fiduciary work, my work was with people on many fronts – as clients, employees and peers. What interests me the most is the challenge of motivating people to take action to achieve their dreams and resolve their issues. I have been blessed by and engaged in purposeful work throughout my career, helping families and organizations define and pursue their aspirations and solve their problems. Now, my work as CEO of the United Way of Medina County expands that opportunity to caring for a community.
Proudly, I received the National Diversity Council’s 2011 Pennsylvania Most Powerful and Influential Women award, am a graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh’s Class XXVII, Leadership New Hampshire’s Class of 1997, and hold a B.A in Psychology from State University of New York at Potsdam. Always a proponent of community engagement and leadership, I previously held board positions for organizations focused on health and wellness, empowerment, equity, historic preservation, and the arts.

Sandi Sammon

Sandi Sammon is the Director of Development and Community Relations for SHC/The Arc of Medina County,
Sammon manages all matters related to SHC/The Arc’s fundraising and development, coordinates and executes the nonprofit’s marketing, including social media and web presence, and serve as a liaison to various community events. The mission of SHC/The Arc of Medina County is to partner with individuals with disabilities and their families to provide a full range of services to assist them in living a quality life in their chosen community.
Before coming to SHC/The Arc, Sammon was the Business Manager and Public Relations/Marketing Coordinator at Feeding Medina County, a local nonprofit addressing the needs of the hungry in Medina County.
She also worked for the Gallipolis Daily Tribune as a reporter, copy editor, and columnist.
Sammon has lived in Medina County for seven years with her husband and children.

Jamie Stilla

I am a lifelong resident of Medina County and have been using the Medina County District Library since I was a young girl. Fond memories of visiting the library and working there as a Page for 6+ years (1997-2004) helped to foster an enduring love and appreciation for books, learning, and libraries. Shortly after graduating from Baldwin Wallace University in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in education, I made the decision to pursue a master’s degree from Kent State University in library and information science, which I completed in 2007. Both degrees were earned with Summa Cum Laude honors and while at Baldwin Wallace, I was inducted into the Dayton C. Miller Honors Society. I spent 10 years in the marketing world (2004-2014) after college before following my dream of working in a library. In July of 2014, I joined MCDL as Librarian for the Seville Library and was promoted to Manager in December of 2014. Since becoming Manager in 2014, our library has experienced at least a 20% increase in attendance in both adult and teen programming. I’m very privileged to have found a home at the Seville Library. The community in Seville is wonderful and the people are fantastic. Since coming to the library, I’ve joined several community organizations including the Downtown Seville Business Association, Seville Bicentennial Committee, and the Seville Chamber of Commerce. I serve as Volunteer Coordinator for the Medina County District Library system as well. In August of 2015, I led our team of volunteer liaisons in hosting a countywide Volunteer Fair which brought together over 30 local organizations with nearly 500 potential volunteers.

Shelley Tender

Shelley Tender is the Interpretive Services Manager for the Medina County Park District, which she has been with for 11 years. Prior to joining the park district in 2005 as Volunteer and Program Coordinator, she held seasonal naturalist positions at Stark County Park District and the Wilderness Center, and worked as youth program coordinator for Rittman Recreation Center. In her current position, Shelley oversees the interpretive department which consists of 5 full-time naturalists (including herself) and a part-time volunteer coordinator.

Shelley’s love of nature is part of who she is. As a child, she spent most of her time outdoors – collecting critters, exploring fields and forests and getting dirty! Her inborn excitement and wonder at the complexities of the natural world allow her to maintain her enthusiasm and inspire others to get excited too.

A stay-at-home mom at the age of 22, Shelley did not even begin her career path until after the age of 30. Her years spent with her young children, and babysitting for other people’s children, made her realize just how much she enjoyed being around children and gave her the perfect outlet for sharing her love of nature with them. Much of their time was spent playing outside, exploring the local parks and learning about the environment. Wanting to learn more and desiring to find her niche in life, she began taking classes at the University of Akron, majoring in an interdisciplinary studies degree that combined outdoor education, early childhood education and business and graduating Summa Cum Laude in 2003.

In her time with the park district, she has more than tripled public programming opportunities and has worked to develop working partnerships with dozens of community agencies, businesses and individuals. She enjoys the diversity that the job provides, enabling her to work with a wide array of people. While Shelley enjoys teaching people of all ages about the intricacies and fascinations of nature – she will admit that her favorite age will always be preschoolers because of their innate curiosity and inquisitiveness.

Rochelle Thomas

My name Rochelle Thomas. I began my career with Akron General Medical Center as a Nurse Tech in 1997.
In 1998 I transferred to Patient Registration, I remained there until year 2000. While in that position I earned several certificates through Akron General’s Professional Development Program. In 2002 I was promoted to Patient Financial Representative and Quality Audit Specialist. In 2007 is was promoted to Coordinator of Financial Counseling. In 2012 I was promoted to Manager of Patient Registration and Volunteer Services at Lodi community Hospital.