Meet the CILL Team

CILL’s team brings together expertise in a variety of essential domains to bring you state of the art, research-based leadership development programs. Our experiences encompass leadership, education, instructional design, psychology, writing and curriculum design expertise.

  • Image of Janet Shlaes, smiling woman with white hair and glasses.
    Janet Shlaes, PhD, MBA, MA, ICF/ACC

    Director, Center for Innovative & Lifelong Learning

    Janet has held a variety of leadership roles in the financial and non-profit arenas and is passionate about creating and designing programs that foster transformation in the organizational change, career, strategic planning and leadership development realms. Her areas of expertise include transformational leadership, change management, women’s leadership, communication skills, influencing strategies, negotiating, executive coaching and navigating organizational culture.


    In her spare time, Janet loves to engage in hiking and learning adventures that expand her knowledge and comfort zones.
     

  • Image of Katie Oczkowski, smiling woman
    Katie Oczkowski

    Manager, Center for Innovative & Lifelong Learning

    Mission-driven, Katie is passionate about transforming organizations into great places to work. She utilizes her creative, integrative and strategic thinking to consistently design and deliver exceptional educational solutions for organizational needs. Before joining RUSH in 2018, Katie worked with a for-profit educational company for 12 years focused on leadership training and online education that resulted in measurable increased employee and faculty engagement and student success. 


    In her spare time, Katie relishes anything creative – painting, embroidery, Japanese flower arranging and anything new that sparks her interest.
     

     

Image of Nina Lill, smiling woman with brown hair
Nina Lill, MA

CILL Instructional Designer

 

Nina is a lifelong learner who is passionate about developing research-based programs that help organizations solve problems and improve performance, engagement, and retention. Prior to joining Rush, Nina created learning solutions for a health care quality and safety organization and for a multinational technology company. She is currently pursuing her research interests as an Education Policy, Organization & Leadership doctoral student at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. 

In her spare time, Nina loves volunteering and spending time with her family outdoors, especially kayaking, biking, and hiking.
 

Image of Christine Simokaitis, smiling woman with blond hair and glasses.
Christine Simokaitis, MFA

CILL Instructional Designer

 

Christine’s instructional design practice is informed and enriched by her many years of academic teaching. She utilizes her creative writing background to design and develop educational materials that are appealing, impactful, and a pleasure to engage in. As a life-long learner herself, Christine is passionate about understanding ever-evolving learner needs so that she can develop new ways of meeting them. 

When she’s not at work, Christine enjoys visiting Chicago’s many cultural institutions and doing her best to win the day’s puzzles on the New York Times games app. 
 

Image of Ebony Nelson, smiling woman with long, brown hair
Ebony Nelson, MHA, BBM

CILL Program Coordinator

 

Ebony is an integral team member who supports CILL’s programs by providing a seamless experience for learners.  She has a passion for fostering a positive workplace culture and a supportive work environment. Prior to joining RUSH, Ebony’s work focused on quality initiatives aimed at providing the best customer service and patient care. 

In her spare time, Ebony likes to travel and spend time with her family.