Board of Directors – Executive Committee
Karin Krause, RN, ED, Founder
Karin is the Executive Director and Founder of the Hope & A Future neighborhood vision. Karin graduated from UW School of Nursing in 1979. She has worked as a staff nurse and supervisor in a broad range of settings, as a utilization review and independent consultant, continuing education provider for nurses and nursing home administrators in Minnesota, self-employed private duty nurse, small business owner of Intergenerational House LLC, an Adult Family Home. She currently works as the Executive Director of Hope & A Future Inc. in Madison, Wisconsin. While developing the business plan and support for Hope & A Future, Karin ran Intergenerational House out of her private residence for 12 years. Her AFH was the pilot for long term support for frail older adults in need of fiscal assistance in the state of Wisconsin. Karin is also a CNA instructor. She has been pursuing her vision of a Therapeutic Interactive Intergenerational Neighborhood (TIIN) since 2003. Her interest in geriatrics and experience supervising single parents trying to stay in the workforce led her to the idea of an intergenerational community. She is dedicated to the idea that interactive support for struggling young families and older adults can be of mutual benefit. Karin has considerable background in program development in a variety of educational and health care settings as well as multigenerational programs she has run in her home — using music, arts and crafts, photography, cooking, baking, and gardening. Karin believes that, “If we continue to see our population of older adults as a burden, we will miss the resource that they are”.
Mark Barnard, MA, MSc, PhD, Board President
Mark is a senior lecturer in the Wisconsin School of Business at UW Madison. Prior to joining UW Madison, Mark was a business professor at Edgewood College. He has served on the Advisory Council at Hope & A Future since it was formed in 2016 and served on the Grants & Program Evaluation Committee in 2017. He joined the Board of Directors as President in 2018. He brings to this role a strong educational background with a PhD in Business Management. His areas of teaching and research include international business, ethics, strategy, organizational behavior, and entrepreneurship. He has worked in various HR positions and previously helped establish a non-profit educational organization that recruited and placed English teachers in universities in China. The vision and mission of Hope & A Future are appealing to him from a business perspective as well as from community, social, and spiritual perspectives. He finds inspiration in the opportunity for Hope & A Future to impact not only Madison but also the broader community and he looks forward to assisting with Hope & A Future’s continued development.
Paula Reif, MA, CFLE, Co-Founder, Board Vice President
Paula is a Coordinator of an Americorps Seniors National Service Program. As a co-founder of Hope & A Future, she has been a part of the vision and program development from the very beginning . She graduated from University of Wisconsin Green Bay with degrees in Human Development and Interdisciplinary Studies and a minor in Business Administration, completed her masters degree in Human Services – Family Life Education from Concordia University in St. Paul, MN. She is a Certified Family Educator and a Certified Family Life Coach. She is an experienced program developer and team leader who has been working in non-profit management and human and social services roles engaging people of all ages in intergenerational relationships in the community.
Derek Kraemer , BA, CPA, Treasurer
Derek is a Lead Financial Analyst at M3 Insurance Solutions, Inc. Derek received his Master’s in Business Adminitration from Edgewood College in 2012 and earned his CPA designation in 2014. We met and recruited Derek as Treasurer on the Board of Directors through the 2018 Nonprofit Draft Day. Derek is excited to support Hope & A Future’s mission and vision and the opportunity to give back to his community.
Nancy Whitney, Secretary
Nancy was introduced to Hope & A Future by two Board members. Having lost both parents in 2015 the project struck her heart chord. Nancy joined Hope & A Future staff as their bookkeeper in July 2016. Nancy worked at TruStage (aka CUNA Mutual Group) in Retirement Plan Services working in various roles in the financial, marketing and sales, retirement plan administration and compliance departments. In 2018, Nancy retired from TruStage and added the role of Administrative Assistant at Hope & A Future. Nancy is a member of the Capital Campaign Committee and joined the Board of Directors as Secretary in 2024.
Directors:
Michael Rehberg
Michael grew up in Racine County, attended UW-Madison and earned a Master’s Degree in Marketing.
Michael retired from the newspaper business after 38 years with the same company…and turned his energy and attention to Black Point Estate and Gardens on Geneva Lake – the Wisconsin Historical Society’s newest museum site.
As Lead Interpreter since 2013, he is an active docent, researcher, writer, and presenter of historical outreach programs; including Beer Barons of Geneva Lake, House Research: Getting Your House to Talk, Place Names: Why Is It Called That?, Land Grabs and Frontier Justice, From Temperance to Prohibition, and The Golden Era of Steam Yachting on Geneva Lake.
He has earned a Certificate from The Non-Profit Leadership Program at UW-Parkside, and his interests include strategic planning, board development, and marketing for non-profits.
He’s been a summer resident on Lake Como in Walworth County since 1960 where he now lives full time with his wife, Monica. His hobbies include local history, gardening, and remodeling houses with his son and Monica – an interior designer.