Annie Laurie Cadmus has returned to the Midwest after working as the Coordinator of Student Activities at Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vermont. She holds a B.A. in Communication Studies and a Master's in College Student Personnel Administration from Illinois State University. During her graduate work, she served as the Environmental Programmer for Residence Life at the University of South Carolina and as the Environmental Stewardship Advisor at Illinois State University. In both positions, she worked to promote sustainability education, youth program development and campus action. While in Chicago, Annie Laurie is looking forward to providing area youth with the resources necessary to become connected to their own communities through service-learning and civic engagement. When not in the office, Annie Laurie takes every opportunity available to play outdoors, take naps, sew and bake. She is thrilled to be back near family and friends in northern Illinois.

Leah Schwalenberg

Educator | Outreach & Partnerships Coordinator

Leah has more than 5 years of experience in the non-profit sector as a volunteer, service-learner, market researcher and development professional. She has worked with organizations such as Global Impact, Growing Power, Punta Mona and Heifer International. She is also a working musician, chess teacher, collector of vinyl and advocate for global environmental justice through youth empowerment.  A proud native Midwesterner. Leah was raised in northern Wisconsin, and learned to care for, respect and cultivate the earth at a very young age--she was “an outdoor kid,” and never has trouble getting her hands dirty.  

Before ACE, Leah served as a the Midwest Regional Development Consultant for an international federation of charities, and she considers herself a “lifer” in the non-profit sector. She has hopes of melding her background in the life sciences, her experiences working with the developing world, and her adventures with ACE, to realize the passionate vision she has for transforming Chicago into an ecologically sustainable environment. Leah adores reading ethnographies, hanging with her dogs at the beach and cooking Indian food. You may also find her shopping the local farmers’ markets or jamming to NPR, where she hopes to be a guest someday.