ASSH Staff
Page Content The staff of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand is ready and eager to serve you! If you have questions about an upcoming course, the Annual Meeting, ASSH publications or any other ASSH product or service, the Chicago staff can help.
ASSH Central Office
6300 North River Road, Suite 600
Rosemont, IL 60018-4256
Phone: (847) 384-8300
Fax: (847) 384-1435
E-mail: info@assh.org
Mark C. Anderson, FASAE, CAE - Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer
Mark is our visionary and innovative leader. His charge to staff is as follows: 1. If it ain’t broke, break it. Enjoy the mess you’ve made. Then fix it in the most cost effective and efficient way you can. 2. Never compromise on service to our members, to our customers, and to each other. You can see proof that Mark’s method works in ASSH’s positive bottom line -- and in the offices and cubes of the ASSH central office, where each staff person stands out from the crowd. Be sure to check out his wind-up toy collection when you visit us. |
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Dawn Briskey, CAE - Deputy Executive Vice President
Dawn began working for ASSH the day the office opened in Chicago. She develops, refines and implements ASSH initiatives; works closely with the Executive Vice President in managing the day-to-day operations of the central office; and contributes to discussions centered on the future of the Society. When she’s not at work, you’ll find her smashing plates to make mosaics, playing word games, or fixing up the garden.
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David Hood, CPA - Finance and Administration Director
Dave is our numbers man, and is happiest when he’s working in his corner office creating spreadsheets, budgets, and reports. Although he has the added responsibility of making sure all the machinery in the office works, he’d much rather calculate gains and losses than call for IT support. When Dave’s not working for ASSH, he’s hanging out with his kids, playing softball, and being a dad. |
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Angie Legaspi, CMP - Meetings & Education Director
Angie has more energy than the rest of us combined. She’s the driving force behind all the ASSH meetings, ever present and watchful, making sure they come off as close to perfect as possible. She questions everything, in a way that lets all who come in contact with her know who’s really in charge. If Angie says she’ll take care of it, you know it will be done in a top-notch manner.
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Tara Havenga - Director of Communications
Tara came to ASSH after studying public policy and law. She started as the governance coordinator, learning the Hand Society from the inside out, and now manages the publications program as well as public awareness, communications and marketing strategy. The most rewarding part of her job is engaging with members and brainstorming and testing new ideas. Tara loves being a part of this dynamic organization and keeping initiatives, new and old, “on their toes.” Outside of work, Tara is an avid reader. She also loves cooking, CrossFit, and above all, spending time with family and friends. |
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Mike Lakas - Director of Information Technology
Mike is the resident technologist at the Society. He worked at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he was founding member of the prestigious ʽLansoftʼ systems group, close to a decade before coming to the Society. While at the Society, Mike has assisted with many strategic technology initiatives and led several website upgrades. Mikeʼs interests include software engineering, photography, history and music. His free time is spent with wife and sons.
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Nicole Renn - Marketing & Communications Manager
If you have received marketing material from ASSH, you have seen some of Nicole's work. She also lends her talents to the publications department, the meetings department and serves as serving as the staff liaison to the Public Education Committee. In 2006, Nicole played a large role in the redesign of the ASSH logo. In her free time, Nicole enjoys reading, photography, playing Barbies with her daughter and cheering on her favorite hockey teams- her son’s Mite team and the Chicago Blackhawks. |
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Sarah Meyer Hughes - Special Projects Manager
Sarah comes to the ASSH after working in corporate communications in advertising, media and law. She works with the research division, helps keep our website updated and works on publications. In her spare time she volunteers for the League of Women Voters and the Ernest Hemingway Foundation in Oak Park, IL. When she’s away from the office, you’ll find her traveling to Europe, hanging out with friends and playing with her puggle, Moxie.
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Jeanne Bloesch - Senior Membership Coordinator
Jeanne is our manager of details. She’s in charge of everything that gets entered into our membership database, down to the apostrophes. Jeanne keeps us all on our toes, making sure we fully understand the implications of decisions that are made related to our members. Jeanne has three rescued feral cats, including one that was found outside the ASSH Central Office.
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Danielle Roesmann, CMP - Meetings and Corporate Relations Manager
As manager of Corporate Relations, Danielle works closely with the Corporate Advisory Council to bring preeminent surgeons and industry leaders together to develop programs and initiatives that help advance the field of upper extremity surgery. Additionally, she manages the year-round corporate support and exhibits program offered in conjunction with meetings, courses, and Foundation activities. On the Meetings and Education side, she provides support for ACCME-approved CME activities, working closely with faculty to develop educational programs that help decrease knowledge gaps and improve patient care. Danielle loves the opportunity her work provides to interact with a diverse set of volunteer leaders and industry supporters. In her free time you’ll find her running, reading, cooking and researching her next international travel destination. |
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Jessica Daniels - Meetings and Foundation Coordinator
Jessica supports the meetings team with exhibitor management and course coordination while also working with the Foundation’s Board of Trustees and its many donors. She comes from a background in associations after starting in the non-profit world of Theater management following her graduation from Ohio University. Jessica loves a good crossword and spends the colder months knitting and the warmer times biking around the city with her husband.
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Alex Mitchell - Publications and Communications Coordinator
Alex specializes in strategic communications that deliver on the organization's goals by increasing revenue, cutting costs, and enhancing brand. With a focus on serving the ASSH membership, the public, and customers, Alex coordinates various ASSH products, including digital/print publications and social media. Alex spent nearly a decade in the newspaper/book publishing industries before transitioning into organizational communication. He holds a BA in Communications from Marquette University.
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Carrie Corona - Accounting Coordinator
Carrie is our Task Master. She assists all staff with various projects from time to time. She reconciles daily transactions. She is the go to person for anything relating to our CRM system (Membership Database). She processes orders, registrations, donations, payments and refunds. She tracks our product inventory and works with our warehouse to get orders processed. Carrie likes learning new things and trying to figure out better more efficient ways of doing things. When Carrie is not working at the ASSH, she enjoys hanging out with her three children and two dogs. She’s also a big time DIY’er…she works with her husband on projects around the house and knows her power tools. |
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Donna Decker - Registrar and Meetings Assistant
Donna is our substitute for voicemail, offering a cheerful voice and knowledgeable responses to all our callers. When she’s not on the phone, Donna handles all the faxed and mailed paperwork that comes in our office, registers doctors for meetings and processes orders for books and DVD’s. Ask Donna about her trips to Disney World and you’re sure to get some interesting stories.
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Diana Shkap - Meetings Coordinator
As a member of the Meetings department, Diana made the leap from the corporate publishing world and is truly excited about her journey in becoming a Meetings Coordinator. The transition was a natural career progression with her attention to detail and outgoing personality. When she’s not hard at work, she is enjoying all Chicago has to offer such as local concerts, good food and cheering for the Cubbies!
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Alexzandra Wallace - Governance Coordinator
Alex is a recent graduate of Northwestern University with a B.S. in Organizational Change. While she may be new to ASSH, Alex is no novice when it comes to taking challenges head on. She is excited to be a member of the ASSH team. When Alex isn't fulfilling her governance responsibilities, she enjoys visiting all of the Chicago Museums and sampling international cuisine.
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Kim Mackey - Editorial Coordinator
Kim is our in-house coordinator for the Journal of Hand Surgery. She vets journal submissions for adherence to the author guidelines, and she works with the Editor-in-Chief, the authors, and Elsevier to make sure that each party has what it needs to keep the JHS running smoothly. Kim comes to ASSH from the medical publishing world of Philadelphia, where she worked on both clinical reference books and nursing textbooks. She enjoys traveling, trying new restaurants, and savoring each bite of a Philly soft pretzel.
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Karol Bort - IT Coordinator
Karol works with Mike on strategic technology initiatives for the Hand Society. From a young age, he has been interested in technology, and decided to make a career out of his passion. Karol’s journey began in Poland, and after graduating from college, he decided to pursue better opportunities overseas. He is currently pursuing his master's degree in internet technologies. With his positive energy and hard work ethic, Karol is excited to be a part of the ASSH team. |
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