Leadership Team

 Meredyth Richards
 President
 mrichards@chicagoyrs.com

Hailing from beautifully conservative Kentucky, Meredyth came to Illinois for college. Following graduation from the University of Chicago with a degree in History, she spent a year in Jerusalem learning Hebrew and studying Israeli Politics. Meredyth's experience abroad during the traumatic 2008 presidential election, however, pulled her focus away from the Middle East and towards the domestic upheaval back at home. After returning to Chicago in mid-2009, she immediately joined the Chicago Young Republicans, helping plan CYR events, coordinating community outreach efforts, and later serving as the Political Action Committee Chair. Like nearly everyone else, Meredyth is in the process of applying to law school. One day, if the economy ever recovers, she hopes to promote economic liberty and fight intrusive government regulation as a public interest lawyer.

Laura Kotelman
Vice President
lkotelman@chicagoyrs.com

Laura was born and raised in the Chicago area and has lived in the Lakeview neighborhood for more than a decade.  She previously served as the CYRs' Communications Director.

Laura has a B.A. in Political Science and Spanish from Lake Forest College where she was the College Republicans chapter president for two terms. After a year with the Illinois State Senate Republican staff, she attended the University of Illinois College of Law where she was elected to the University Senate.  After law school, Laura worked for Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan in the Policy and Program Development Unit. She left the AG's office to work in state government relations for a major insurance trade association.  Laura currently is a practice development manager at a law firm.

Laura serves on the executive committee of Central Lakeview Neighbors, the Board of the Chicago Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society, and on the Illinois State Bar Assocation's Insurance Law Section Council.
 

Rachel Moguel
Secretary
rmoguel@chicagoyrs.com

Rachel graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in May of 2007 with a double major in Political Science and Sociology. In the spring of 2010, she earned a J.D from DePaul University College of Law.  For the past four years she has been working in the field of immigration law and plans on continuing her career in immigration law.  

Kyle Stone
Membership Director
kstone@chicagoyrs.com

A Michigan native, Kyle graduated from the University of Michigan in 2005 with high honors in History, and earned his law degree from Loyola School of Law in 2008.

Now a practicing lawyer in Chicago, Kyle defends doctors and hospitals at a downtown medical malpractice defense firm.  Formerly, he worked for the City of Chicago Law Department prosecuting in its Municipal Prosecutions Division. With a passion for anything political, Kyle serves as Membership Director and enjoys working to expand this impressive collection of Chicago YRs. 

Aside from the Chicago YRs, Kyle also serves as a youth coordinator for the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) in Chicago.  To read some of Kyle's articles, check out his contributions to American Spectator,American Thinker, and Fresh Conservative.

Kyle is an avid sports fan, especially his beloved Michigan and Detroit teams. He also enjoys reading and writing about history and, quite naturally, politics.

Shawn Healy
Treasurer
shealy@chicagoyrs.com
Shawn was born and raised in Wisconsin and moved to Chicago for graduate school in 2001. He currently works for a local nonprofit specializing in civic education and engagement. Shawn previously served as a social studies teacher at the high school level. A 2001 James Madison Fellow from the State of Wisconsin, he holds an MA from the University of Illinois at Chicago in political science and earned a bachelor’s degree with distinction in Political Science, History and Secondary Education from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Shawn is currently a doctoral candidate within the Political Science Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago specializing in American and urban politics.

Shawn’s political involvement reaches back to 1994, when he volunteered for Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson’s re-election bid. He campaigned in Iowa in 1996 with Senator Phil Gramm, and back in Madison for Representative Scott Klug. Upon moving to Illinois, Healy helped Jack Ryan in the 2004 U.S. Senate race, and then served as a 2008 delegate for Senator John McCain’s presidential bid. He also co-chaired Illinois Young Professionals for McCain. He has been a member of the CYRs since 2005, and served a previous stint on the board as Membership Director from 2008-2009. 

Angel Garcia
Political Director
agarcia@chicagoyrs.com

Angel has worked on numerous local, state and national campaigns. In addition to his work with the Chicago Young Republicans, Angel also has served as President of The John Marshall Law School Federalist Society and Chairman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Cook County. Angel has also been a political commentator for NBC Telemundo where he advocated the GOP position against a number of elected Democrats.

Angel has a J.D. from The John Marshall Law School and is an MBA candidate.  He currently works as a white collar crime investigator.  Angel is a lifelong Chicago resident. 

Daniel Anthony
Marketing Director
danthony@chicagoyrs.com 

Daniel was born and raised in Syracuse, NY and went on to spend his teen years in Mexico and Singapore working on various humanitarian aid projects with his family. He is fluent in Spanish. Daniel completed his BA in foreign languages and linguistics in Normal/Bloomington at Illinois State University and his MBA in international business at The Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School.

Currently, Daniel works with a top global ideas company as a marketing strategy consultant. In this role he works with numerous Fortune 500 companies to build out their marketing strategy around issues of sustainability and corporate stewardship. Prior to this he was the Director of the National Youth Leadership Forum on Technology, a Washington, DC non-profit that focused on finding solutions to real-world problems through technology innovation.  

Jacqueline DeFoe
Events Director
jdefoe@chicagoyrs.com

Jacqueline grew up in a small town in Wisconsin and moved to Chicago for graduate school. She graduated with a B.S. in Chemistry from Marquette University in 2006 and received the American Institute of Chemists Student Award. Jacqueline is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Chicago, where she received her M.S. in Chemistry in 2007. In 2008, the U. of C. Department of Chemistry awarded her the Joan Shiu Award for Student Service. During the 2008 presidential campaign, she represented the McCain campaign during a science policy forum at Northwestern University.

Currently, Jacqueline is the chair of the activities committee for the U. of C. Graduate Council, a regular volunteer for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana and a tutor for students of General and Organic Chemistry.  

Garett Skiba
Republican Business Coalition Director
gskiba@chicagoyrs.com

Garett has lived in Lincoln Park for the past nine years and recently completed his M.B.A at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Prior to school he was a Director at Bridge Finance Group LLC and also worked with KPMG in their Transactions Services Group.

Garett is a CPA who graduated with an undergraduate and master’s degree in accounting from the University of Notre Dame Along with his work with the Chicago YR’s, Garett also serves on the St. Vincent DePaul Finance Commission and is a member of the Associate Board for the Boys and Girls Club of Chicago.

Aside from politics, Garett has a passion for playing golf, Blackhawk hockey and Notre Dame football.  

Wayne Heusel
Comptroller
wheusel@chicagoyrs.com

Wayne grew up in Normal, IL and earned undergraduate degrees in Economics and Political Science from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.

During college,  Wayne was active in his fraternity, served on the Student Senate, and also interned for the U.S. Senate in Washington, D.C. Wayne earned his MBA in Financial Management from Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA in 2006.

Wayne lives in downtown Chicago and serves on his condominium board of directors. He works as a Corporate Finance Consultant.