Friendship Senior Options is overseen by a distinguished Board of Directors and led by a talented Executive Staff.
Chair
Clark Delanois joined the Friendship Senior Options Board in 2009. Mr. Delanois is a Senior Vice President at The Northern Trust Company at the Lake Forest Financial Center where he leads a team of professionals that service Personal and Private Banking, Investment and Fiduciary services and co-leads the strategy for the Northwest suburbs.
He is a graduate from the University of Illinois.
Mr. Delanois serves on the board of directors for Harper College Educational Foundation, is a Trustee for Cenegenics Educational and Research Foundation, and a board member for Roosevelt University. He also serves as a Commissioner for the Village of Schaumburg Business Commission.
Bradley Barrie joined the Friendship Senior Options board in 2014. Mr. Barrie is a financial advisor with Ameriprise Financial since 1998 and holds a leadership role with Ameriprise Financial as a Registered Principal, supervising 200 other financial advisors.
Mr. Barrie participates in the community through Feeding America as well as Feed My Starving Children. He has supported the Alexian Children’s Hospital in Hoffman Estates.
Mr. Barrie is a graduate of Rockford College.
President and Chief Executive Officer
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As Friendship Senior Options President and CEO, Mr. Flynn brings to his position over 32 years of experience in senior living, including 25 years with FSO. An expert in tax-exempt financing and regulatory and corporate compliance, Mr. Flynn previously served from 2012 to 2021 as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, with responsibility for all aspects of the financial operations of both FSO and affiliate organizations.
From 2006 to 2012, Mr. Flynn was CEO at Smith Senior Living, a nonprofit sponsor of two Life Plan Communities in southwest Chicago and suburban Orland Park. Prior to joining Smith Senior Living, Mr. Flynn served 15 years as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Friendship Village of Schaumburg.
Mr. Flynn holds a BS in Accounting from DePaul University and an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Retirement Housing Professional.
Mr. Flynn has served in leadership positions for many state and national senior living associations, including chair of the financial advisory panel for CARF/CCAC, a nonprofit accreditor of Life Plan Communities; chair of LeadingAge Illinois; and chair of Life Services Network, a statewide association representing providers of older-adult services. He is a sought-after speaker on senior living and care issues. An advocate for healthy aging, Mr. Flynn competes in triathlons and Ironman events. He resides with his family in Arlington Heights, Illinois.
Bill Powell joined the Friendship Senior Options Board of Directors in 2015. Mr. Powell is a retired small business owner. He ran a courier service specialized in international trade documents, which facilitated shipments of goods coming into the country as well as goods being exported to various nations around the world.
Mr. Powell attended Iowa Wesleyan College prior to entering the U.S. Army for eight years. After active duty, he served 12 years on the Board of Directors of Orchard Village in Skokie, IL, a home for mentally disabled adults.
Mr. Powell resides at Friendship Village.
Past Chair
Geoffrey Roehll is the Chair of the Friendship Senior Options Board of Directors. He joined the Friendship Senior Options Board in 2014. Mr. Roehll serves as leader of the Senior Living Studio at Hitchcock Design Group, where he has demonstrated his management, planning and design skills on prominent projects throughout the country. Since joining Hitchcock Design Group in 1990, he has directed many landmark projects in the senior living and assisted care market. His portfolio of built work confirms his passion for good design and keen eye for detail.
In addition to his leadership role with Hitchcock Design Group, Mr. Roehll’s diverse background includes an annual engagement with the Chicago Botanic Garden as an instructor for the Therapeutic Garden Certification program. He has been a guest lecturer at regional and national healthcare and senior living conferences and enjoys sharing, with attendees, his ideas on site planning and landscape elements that promote healing and respite.
Mr. Roehll is a graduate of Purdue University with Bachelors of Science and Landscape Architecture. He is a licensed Landscape Architect in the State of Illinois.
Vice Chair
Mary Sheahen, MS, BSN, is a healthcare executive with 40 years of leadership in a hospital setting with skills in overall operations, strategic planning and leadership, performance improvement, team facilitation, organizational culture change, staff development and new business opportunities management. Her last two roles included serving as the CEO of Midwest Medical Center and Northwest Illinois.
Mary is currently the President of Sheahen Group founded in 2000, a healthcare consulting practice specializing in providing senior leadership coaching, team building, organizational training and project management. She is a Registered Leadership Coach.
She serves as the Board Chair of Midwest Center in Galena and Vice Chair of Northwest Community Healthcare in Arlington Heights.
Mary and her husband, Chuck, live in Rolling Meadows with their dog named Daisy.
Connie Fako Shoemake is a business and technology leader specializing in strategy, management, operations and business development. She has significant consulting experience in technology, business and marketing strategy, business and innovation process improvement, and leadership development across industries and company size.
Connie has worked as a Senior Consultant for Moran Technology Consulting specializing on developing actions plans to identify and maximize the benefits of IT systems. Engagements included working with education, public sector and commercial clients both globally and in the U.S. Previous to this role Connie worked at IBM. Her last position at IBM was Vice President for Global Client Centers. In this role she provided thoughtful leadership and direction to IBM’s global network of client centers, enhancing the capabilities of the centers to provide outstanding client experience, streamline center operations, drive incremental sales and enable sales teams and partners to showcase IBM’s solutions and technology capabilities.
Connie has successfully held multiple executive and management positions in sales, marketing, strategy, transformation, project management, business partner development, acquisitions and technical support. Connie joined IBM as a software sales engineer in 1981.
Connie is currently an advisor and board member for Illinois State University Business School, and National Children’s Center (NCC) in Washington DC. Connie is actively involved on the state board for Illinois Special Olympics and volunteers for Chicago’s Arts and Business Council. She is a former board member for Immanuel Lutheran School, Illinois Technology Association and the Chicago Mayor’s Council on Technology. Connie has been active in professional organizations, including Women in Technology and the Chicago Executive’s Club.
Connie is actively involved as a substitute teacher for grades K‑12 in Illinois school districts 15, 211 and 220. Connie and her husband reside in Palatine, Illinois, where they are active in the local community. They have four grown children. Connie’s hobbies include mentoring, reading, traveling and entertaining.
Secretary
Cathie Tardy joined the Friendship Senior Options Board in 2014. Ms. Tardy is a Vice President of Baird & Warner Real Estate, with over 27 years of Branch Manager experience.
Ms. Tardy was recognized as the “Realtor of the Year” in 1991 and “Real Estate Sales Manager” in 1996 by the Realtor Association of Fox Valley.
In 2001, Ms. Tardy served as the President of the Realtor Association.
Treasurer
Loren Trimble joined the Friendship Village Board in 2017 and is the Founder, CEO, and Managing Director of AArete LLC, a global management consulting firm. His primary focus is setting the strategic direction of the firm and creating and molding AArete’s go to market strategy and execution. In addition to Mr. Trimble’s primary focus, he also plays a significant role in thought leadership for the firm and is at the core of AArete’s Knowledge Management Center™. Loren lives and breathes everyday his passion for excellence with AArete’s personnel and clients.
He has extensive business and operations strategy experience, serving clients globally in the following industries: healthcare- provider, payer and pharmaceutical, as well as higher education, distribution, consumer products, and business services. Specific areas of expertise include strategic cost reduction, revenue optimization, pre- and post-merger valuation and synergy integrations, and advanced data analytics.
Before founding AArete, Loren was a Managing Director and Strategic Sourcing Practice Lead at Huron Consulting. Prior to Huron, he started the Strategic Sourcing services for Arthur Andersen, developing the methodology and refining the approach through numerous client engagements.
Loren has presented for a number of organizations and authored numerous articles. He holds a Masters of Business Administration from The University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Accounting from The University of Iowa. He is a CPA and a long term member of Rotary International and the AICPA.
President and Chief Executive Officer
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As Friendship Senior Options President and CEO, Mr. Flynn brings to his position over 32 years of experience in senior living, including 25 years with FSO. An expert in tax-exempt financing and regulatory and corporate compliance, Mr. Flynn previously served from 2012 to 2021 as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, with responsibility for all aspects of the financial operations of both FSO and affiliate organizations.
From 2006 to 2012, Mr. Flynn was CEO at Smith Senior Living, a nonprofit sponsor of two Life Plan Communities in southwest Chicago and suburban Orland Park. Prior to joining Smith Senior Living, Mr. Flynn served 15 years as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Friendship Village of Schaumburg.
Mr. Flynn holds a BS in Accounting from DePaul University and an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Retirement Housing Professional.
Mr. Flynn has served in leadership positions for many state and national senior living associations, including chair of the financial advisory panel for CARF/CCAC, a nonprofit accreditor of Life Plan Communities; chair of LeadingAge Illinois; and chair of Life Services Network, a statewide association representing providers of older-adult services. He is a sought-after speaker on senior living and care issues. An advocate for healthy aging, Mr. Flynn competes in triathlons and Ironman events. He resides with his family in Arlington Heights, Illinois.
Executive Director, GreenFields of Geneva
Tony Madl is the new executive director of GreenFields Geneva. The resident of Elk Grove has worked with GreenFields’ sister community, Friendship Village Schaumburg since 2012.
A graduate of Northern Illinois University, Madl studied health and aging with a minor in gerontology. He earned his MBA in 2003 from Keller Graduate School of Management while working full time.
Madl began his career at Resurrection Presence Health Care Systems, where he was an administrator in skilled long-term care for 11 years. He joined Friendship Village as administrator for Briarwood Health Care.
Vice President of Sales and Marketing
Mark Zullo has been passionate about the senior living industry for 32 years, helping senior living communities in Greater Chicagoland build their market presence, maximize occupancy and ensure that seniors make the best choices for their futures. At FSO, Mr. Zullo develops and implements marketing strategies and manages sales teams for GreenFields of Geneva and Friendship Village Schaumburg, where he previously served as Marketing Director from 1994 to 2004.
Previous to his current position, Mr. Zullo was Executive Sales Director at both Chicago-area Lifespace Communities for over 12 years, as well as Director of Sales and Marketing at Sedgebrook in Lincolnshire, IL. Mark has successfully increased or stabilized occupancy for all the communities he’s served by developing strong sales teams, and directing his teams to be laser-focused on providing prospects with exemplary customer service.
Mr. Zullo holds a BA in Health Services Management from Chicago’s Benedictine University and is a Certified Senior Advisor. A lifelong Chicago White Sox fan, he lives near Naperville with his wife, Jackie. They have two amazing children, Michael and Stephanie, and a new puppy named Gigi.
Corporate Director, Human Resources
Mr. Flaim brings to his work over 15 years of experience as a senior living HR professional, with a particular focus on enhancing employee experience and retention. At Friendship Senior Options, Mr. Flaim plans and directs the Human Resource functions of both Friendship Village of Schaumburg and GreenFields of Geneva, ensuring legal compliance and implementing benefits, training programming and talent strategy.
Mr. Flaim has had a long association with FSO communities, beginning as an HR Assistant at Friendship Village in 1993. Previous to his current position, Mr. Flaim was Human Resources Operations Manager at FSO; Manager of Human Resources at GreenFields of Geneva; and Operations Manager for the Refrigeration Services Engineers Society (RSES), a not- for-profit training and certification organization.
Mr. Flaim holds a BA in Communications and Media Studies from the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater. He is a Society for Human Resource Management – Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) and a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR). A self-described Orangetheory® fitness fanatic, Mr. Flaim lives in Algonquin, Illinois with his wife, son and daughter.
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