Who We Are

Executive Director

Tim Eby is the Executive Director of the Special Education Foundation (SEF) and has been in this position since April of 2022. He had previously led nonprofit public radio organizations in three Midwest cities since 1982. Before joining SEF, he was the Director and General Manager of St. Louis Public Radio from 2009 until 2020. Tim has also served on several local and national nonprofit boards, including Easter Seals Midwest, Focus St. Louis, and National Public Radio.

Tim earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Evansville. He is currently a board member of the National Association of Education Foundations and the St. Louis Civic Pride Foundation. He is married to Kathi and the father of three amazing daughters.

Program & Communications Manager

Shannon Benedek is the Program and Communications Manager for the Special Education Foundation. She earned a Master’s in Education (M.Ed.) with a Specialization in Reading from the University of Missouri St. Louis and holds a Missouri Lifetime Career Professional Teaching license. Her teaching experience included 6th grade, Kindergarten, 2 years as a Learning Consultant, and 6 years as a Parent Educator for Parents as Teachers in the Valley Park School District.

From there, she transitioned into marketing and communications and has over 13 years of experience. Some of her work as a Marketing Manager and Communications Strategist includes a local Chamber of Commerce, internationally overseeing marketing for a multi-level marketing company focused in the Asia-Pacific region, and for a marketing agency as Project and Training Manager.

Operations leadership, event, and international conference planning adds to her experience and led her to SEF. Here, she combines the rewarding educational aspects to serve the families and students from the Special School District with expanding on programs SEF offers to bring awareness to aid more families in need.

Events Manager

Jill Salinas joined the Special Education Foundation as Events Manager in April 2023. As Event Manager, she will oversee all current and new events presented by the Special Education Foundation, including the annual Dan McLaughlin Charity Golf Tournament and Live Auction, receptions, ceremonies, and other fundraising and cultivation events.

Jill previously worked as a Market Center Operations Manager for Keller Williams in Newnan, Georgia, and an Assistant Market Center Administrator for Keller Williams in Chesterfield, Missouri. While in Georgia, she served on the Junior Service League of Coweta County where she helped raise money for local foundations that help women, children, and families in need.

She is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Kennesaw State.

Chair

Julia R. Burke, Ph.D., retired as a school administrator after serving in public education for 35 years. Prior to retirement, Dr. Burke served as the associate superintendent for human resources in the Hazelwood School District where she supervised the human resource functions for over 3,000 staff. In addition, she served as assistant superintendent for student services supervising alternative education, special education, guidance and counseling, social work, school safety, school resource officers, health services, enrollment and residency. During this time in the Hazelwood School District, Dr. Julia Burke spearheaded writing and securing a $6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education designed to develop safe learning environments, promote healthy childhood development, mental health care, and prevent youth violence and drug use. She also led and implemented district-wide active intruder professional development and training procedures for staff, students, and board members.

In 2018, Julia Burke started her own consulting company, Educational Services by Burke, LLC, which specializes in executive coaching, human resources and educational consulting, business development, and special education advocacy. Currently, Burke serves on the executive board as Board Vice Chair for the Special Education Foundation. She previously served as a Board Member for Annie Malone Children and Family Services and Lutheran Family and Children Services of Missouri. Julia Burke is a proud graduate of Saint Louis University, where she completed her Bachelor of Science in Communication Disorders. She holds a Master’s degree in Educational Administration from the University of Missouri-Saint Louis. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Saint Louis University. Dr. Julia Burke currently works as a consultant/coach for the Missouri Prevention Science Institute on behalf of the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Vice Chair

Michael Corry is the Special Education Foundation’s Board of Directors Vice Chair and has been involved with SEF since 2017, and has also served as Chair/President of 7 other organizations. Michael graduated from the University of Missouri St. Louis with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Finance and an Autism Certificate through their Special Education Graduate school. Currently, Michael is driving SEF’s campaign to help St. Louis Companies implement an Autism Hiring Program for neurodiverse individuals similar to what Microsoft and 40 other major companies are doing. As a part of other organizations, he is a member of the Advisory Board of Caring Solutions and enjoys coaching St. Louis Arc’s basketball team for adults with disabilities.

Vice Chair

Mr. Lackey is President and Managing Director of Total Rewards Strategies. He has over 30 years of experience in human resources, compensation and benefits consulting including, design, funding and expense projections for executive compensation and employee benefit programs.

Prior to founding Total Rewards Strategies, Mr. Lackey was Managing Principal and Global Compensation Practice leader of JPMorgan Compensation and Benefits Strategies (formerly CCA Strategies). He was previously National Compensation Practice Leader for Palmer & Cay and worked for Towers Perrin as Manager of the St. Louis office. Mr. Lackey also worked for William M. Mercer in the United States and Canada and was Director of Compensation and Benefits for a multinational Canadian company.

Mr. Lackey is a member of the Board of Directors of the St. Louis Arc and The Special Education Foundation. He is a former member of the Board of Directors of Art St. Louis, the St. Louis Chapter of the American Heart Association, the St. Louis Art Fair and Safe Connections.

Treasurer

Richard Carver has been a member of the Special Education Foundation Board of Directors since 2015. He has also been a Des Peres Audit and Finance Committee member since 2015. Carver is a Certified Public Accountant and has held various accounting positions with increased responsibility with Centerre Bancorporation and Boatmen’s Bancshares from 1976-1991, and was Senior Vice President and Treasurer of Boatmen’s Bancshares from 1991-1997.

As the former Chief Financial Officer of the Special School District, he came to SEF’s Board of Directors after his retirement in 2015 and became a part-time C.F.O. of the St. Louis Language Immersion School from May 2018- November 2021. He is married to Sharon Carver and has two stepdaughters.

Secretary

Todd Streff is the Executive Director of Streff Behavior Consulting. In 2018 he established the Skills Center, at Boone Center Inc, which is a vocational training facility for individuals with disabilities. He is a Board Certified and a Missouri Licensed Behavior Analyst. Since 1994 he has been providing services to a variety of populations including children and adults with autism, dual diagnosis, traumatic brain injury, and typical development.

During the last three decades he has developed and owned two leading companies that specialize in intervention services for individuals with disabilities. He has developed school based ABA programs, training programs for school staff and parents, addressed challenging behaviors and specializes in the startup of new training programs for individuals with disabilities. He has presented at state and national conventions, served as an adjunct faculty, and has conducted many workshops, staff trainings and invited lectures in the United States and internationally. He currently chairs the Missouri Behavior Analyst Advisory Board.

President Emerita

Debbie Bentele is the President Emerita for the Special Education Foundation. She had been a member of SEF’s Board of Directors since 1999 and held both Vice President and President positions during that duration. Debbie established the Women Leaders in 2009 based on the guest’s interest in a friend-raiser on how they could help. The group settled on hosting a fashion show to raise money to support the students, headed by Debbie.

Prior to her work at SEF, Debbie was Executive Director of Stepstone Productions, producing videos for non-profit organizations. She was also involved with Heroes with Heart and held President and Chairman positions on the SIDS Board of Directors. That knowledge and experience were shared with SEF, paving the way to 20+ years of annual golf tournament fundraisers for the Foundation.

Michael Barbercheck is a Wealth Advisor at Krilogy and has been a member of the Special Education Foundation Board of Directors since 2021. He fulfills his mission at SEF to provide a supportive and inclusive environment for children with special needs.

Michael earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Saint Louis University and serves on the Foundation’s Finance Committee. As an active member in the greater St. Louis community, Michael also serves on the Leadership Council at Glendale Lutheran Church. He and his wife Kelsey reside in Brentwood, MO.

Eric Crider is currently the Director - Operations within PwC's (PricewaterhouseCoopers) Advisory Acceleration Center. Eric brings 14 years of progressive and diverse client service experience focused on leading teams to help clients improve their risk management posture, strengthen business processes and internal controls and enhance operational efficiency.

Eric earned bachelor's and master's degrees in accountancy from the University of Missouri and is a Certified Public Accountant in Missouri. He and his wife live with their two young children in Kirkwood, MO.

Geoffrey Grammer currently works at Ameren as Corporate Counsel and has been part of the Special Education Board of Directors since 2022. He has a J.D. from Southern Illinois University and a BSBA from the University of Missouri and serves on SEF’s Finance Committee. Grammar is also part of the Thomas Dunn Learning Center, MICDS Board of Trustees, MICDS Alumni Association, Association of Corporate Counsel – St. Louis Chapter, and the Energy Bar Association – Midwest Chapter.

Tracy Hayes is a Senior Wealth Advisor with Mariner Wealth Advisors and has been on the Special Education Foundation Board of Directors since 2022. She serves on the Foundation’s Finance Committee. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from University of Missouri- Saint Louis and also serves on the Advisory Board of Ladue Early Childhood Education.

Tracey Heckman (Hanfling) is a Managing Director and Client Portfolio Manager for real estate at Apollo, specifically dedicated to the firm’s products for global wealth investors. Ms. Heckman has approximately 20 years of institutional real estate experience, having worked on investment strategies across the capital stack in both the public and private markets.

Most recently, Ms. Heckman was a Managing Director and member of the US debt team at BentallGreenOak (BGO), where she was responsible for helping to launch and grow the firm’s capabilities in US commercial real estate lending. Prior to joining BGO, Tracey’s experience in the industry includes leading product and business development for BlackRock’s global real estate debt business as well as leading product management for Franklin Templeton’s real assets platform.

Ms. Heckman graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Gettysburg College with a B.A. in Management.

Sekhar Nadella is a seasoned technology leader with over two decades of experience in software architecture, engineering, and digital transformation. With a strong focus on leveraging technology to drive organizational efficiencies, Sekhar has consistently delivered innovative, scalable solutions that align with business goals and enhance operational performance. Currently serving as an adjunct faculty member at Washington University in St. Louis and a technology advisor for Startups, Sekhar's career includes pivotal roles at Mastercard, where he led high-impact engineering and architecture initiatives that transformed software delivery, improved system resilience, and significantly increased productivity.

Sekhar’s pursuit of excellence is not confined to his professional life; it also encompasses his fervent dedication to nurturing and empowering young students and engineers.

He holds an Executive MBA from the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis and a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Communications from Gulbarga University, India.

Allen Palmquist and his wife Jill have five children, ages 18-29.

They reside in Webster Groves and his hobbies include: Running, f3 boot camp, volunteering as a Parish School of Religion second grade catechist, reading and cooking.
He is passionate about mental well-being, financial literacy, and children’s causes.

Allen's “Why” for wanting to serve on the Special Education Foundation is because his oldest daughter is a Special Education teacher and she’s shared the challenges her students and their families face and has inspired Allen with the triumphs of her students at Parkway South.

Thomas Shortal has served as a Co-Chair on the Planning Committee for the Special Education Foundation Dan McLaughlin Annual Golf Tournament for the past six years. Helping children with special needs is close to his heart. Tom has a sister who is profoundly deaf who recently retired from Central Institute for the Deaf as a counsellor for almost 40 years. His wife, Mary, spent her career in deaf education as a teacher for CID and the Moog Center for Deaf Education. Also, one of his daughters is a teacher with SSD of St. Louis County.

Tom has a B.S. Degree in Accounting and an MBA from St. Louis University. As an advisor with Arch Brokerage, he specializes in Insurance/Investment & Estate Planning along with Employee Benefit Planning for Closely-Held Business Owners. He and his wife, Mary, have four children and five grandchildren and reside in Kirkwood.

As an SEF Board Member, Tom’s focus will be on raising awareness and support for the benefit of all our special needs students throughout the St. Louis Community.

Carin Fahr Shulusky was born and raised in west St. Louis County, Missouri. She attended the University of Missouri, Columbia, where she received a Bachelor of Journalism in 1973. After college, she went on to be the first professional woman in the advertising departments of several major corporations.

After a 25-year career in marketing, Carin created her own firm, Marketing Alliance. She was president of Marketing Alliance from 2002 – 2014. She is a past-president of the Business Marketing Association of St. Louis and has received their Lifetime Achievement Award. She was a member of the National Association of Press Women. Carin currently serves on the board of the Special Education Foundation. She has volunteered for Springboard to Learning as a coach in their WiseWrite program.

Carin retired in 2014 to devote more time to writing. Her first book, In the Middle, was inspired by her own battle to care for her beloved mother, Dorothy Hoehne Fahr. Carin’s second novel, Finding Light in a Lost Year, follows a successful fictional St. Louis couple as they traverse the drama and difficulties of the pandemic. Although the characters are fiction, the trials they face were very real. And yet, they find a light in this historic year.

Carin lives with her husband, Richard Shulusky. They have two grown children and are proud grandparents to one granddaughter. Carin is a lifelong member of Pathfinder Church in Ellisville, Missouri. She has served for over thirty years in their Children’s Ministry.

Will Skowyra has been with SEF for the past 6 years. He has a Bachelor of Arts from Stetson University. Will is also part of the Golf committee to help organize the annual Dan McLaughlin Golf Tournament. He also serves on the Finance committee to discuss budget reviews and other financial-related topics.

Eugene (Gene) Toombs IV retired as a Division President from MiTek, a St. Louis-based Berkshire Hathaway business, after 28 years of service. His career focused on leadership development and coaching and mentoring to build high-performing teams to deliver business objectives. He has Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees from Bucknell University and a Masters in Business Administration from Washington University.

Gene also serves on the Board of Directors for The Magic House and Central Institute for the Deaf and supports other charitable organizations with his family. Gene is married to Lynn Toombs and they have college age twins.