Our people are like your very best members—servant leaders. Studies show that the greatest career success and satisfaction happens when people do three things: they know their purpose, they continually work toward mastering their craft, and they are given appropriate autonomy to achieve the mission at hand. People like that are stewards of something extraordinary. You’ll work with them at Affinity Strategies.
“Empowering Associations to Accelerate Healthcare”
Elizabeth Schumacher, JD, LLM, is the Founder and CEO of Affinity Strategies. A four-time kidney transplant recipient and lifelong patient advocate, Liz founded the firm with the intent to provide the best professional expertise to medical subspecialty associations with the goal of advancing medical research and improving patient care. Liz brings her passion, experience, and entrepreneurial spirit to everything she does.
Liz’s favorite part of working at Affinity Strategies is helping clients grow and scale to advance their mission, vision, and values. Her passion is working with boards and her team to best utilize their greatest talents toward the common mission that both Affinity and its clients share–the patient is our purpose. Liz received her BA, JD, and LLM from the University of Wisconsin. She is a past board member of UNOS, National Kidney Foundation, Gilda’s Club, and Ellevate Women’s Network.
“Ensuring Financial Stewardship”
John is the Managing Partner of Bellenfant, PLLC, which is a CPA firm located in Nashville, Tennessee. Prior to Bellenfant, PLLC, John worked for EY and Crowe, 2 of the top 10 national accounting firms. John attended the University of Tennessee, where he graduated with honors and obtained a Master of Accountancy degree.
John and his team specialize in the non-profit industry and are responsible for providing professional accounting and tax services to all clients of Affinity Strategies. John currently sits on the Federal Taxation Committee of the Tennessee Society of CPAs and is currently serving his seventh term.
John and his wife, Jordan, have three children: their daughters, Ryman and Leighton, and their son, Graham. In his spare time, John enjoys health and fitness, the outdoors, watching sports, personal finance, and real estate.
“Strategic Stewardship Meets Seamless Solutions”
Cayla Marconi graduated Western Illinois University with a double major in Communications and Supply Chain Management. After college she worked at an international logistics company working in the international import freight department. Her background in logistics has helped her excel as Chief Operations Officer for Affinity Strategies, keeping the daily operations functioning.
Cayla Marconi has been a vital member of the Affinity Strategies team for almost a decade. She has served in multiple roles, and has helped lead her clients to serve their missions, visions, and values. Cayla has had the joy of working with small state associations to large international associations. She loves that Affinity clients are truly passionate about what they do which makes our jobs that much easier to do!
When she is not on conference calls or attending meetings, she is running around with her toddler, husband and three large dogs.
“Ensuring Association Success”
Stephanie Taylor is Vice President of Client Services at Affinity Strategies. Stephanie is a seasoned association management executive with experience in radiology, surgical and physical therapy societies. Stephanie has expertise in developing business growth strategies and achieving operational excellence. She brings a wealth of experience in board governance, strategic and scenario planning, operational management and medical education and accreditation. She is frequently described by volunteer leaders as calm, insightful and detail oriented. She is passionate about advancing medical research and education and thrilled to align her personal and professional goals by joining the Affinity Strategies team.
Stephanie received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Northern Illinois University. She is and is a graduate of the US Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Organization Management program. She is also an active member of ASAE and Association Forum.Outside of work, Stephanie is very involved in hunger-relief organizations and is an avid reader and museum nerd. She has two daughters and one furry friend. She is working her way through an eclectic list of “50 things to do in my 50’s.”
“Empowering Associations to Accelerate Healthcare”
Becky Cira is the Director of Meetings & Events at Affinity Strategies. Prior to joining Affinity, Becky held management roles in Finance, Management Consulting and Hospitality. Becky’s extensive professional experience has enabled her to excel in her role and understand various stakeholder perspectives. In her role at Affinity, Becky enjoys advancing the Patient Is Our Purpose mission through innovative thinking and developing great relationships with Affinity clients. Becky leverages our client’s top educator and researcher roles and the hospitals, universities, and state of the art equipment to provide excellent client events.
Becky received her degree in Finance from Loyola University of Chicago. Becky’s favorite part of her job is traveling to places she has never seen before. Becky has three children and two very large, sweet rescue dogs.
“Creating Innovative Revenue Partnerships”
Rosaleen cultivates industry relationships for Affinity Strategies, seeking innovative ways to create funding opportunities and empower the mission of Affinity’s Association Partners. Her years of experience as a Learning Express Toy Store Owner coupled with her Communication and Strategic Planning role at McDonald’s Corporation bridge the gap between industry and our clients. Rosaleen led development of Affinity Strategies’ Partnership 365 model, designed to elevate the important relationships between associations, industry and patient outcomes.
Rosaleen holds a degree in Business Administration from Elmhurst College. Rosaleen can be found spending time with her family, golfing and addressing her bucket list to attend every non-dome NFL stadium. She also joins the ever-growing Packers Nation team at Affinity Strategies rooting “Go Pack Go!”
“Where Strategy Meets Creativity”
Claire Krzyzewski serves as the Director of Creative Operations, ensuring the successful design and implementation of digital initiatives and omni-channel campaigns for Affinity Strategies and its clients and has worked in non-profits for over 25 years. She has experience working both in-house and freelance with non-profit organizations, including developing an in-house design department, and developing creative solutions to client problems. As part of the leadership team at Affinity Strategies, she believes that effective communication and collaboration are key to advancing the “patient as our purpose.” She enjoys collaborating with clients to craft a finalized project that seamlessly combines both informative content and thoughtful design.
Claire received her degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a specialty in Graphic Design. Outside of work she serves on the board of Max’s Mission, a suicide prevention foundation, and follows college basketball with her husband.
