Officers
Heather Vunovich | Epsilon| Board Chair
It was during ROW’s formative years that Heather was introduced to the organization through a family member. She spent many years supporting the cause from the sidelines until recently, at the perfect time, joined the Board. Although she is new to the sport of Rowing, she has a deep passion and vested interest in the fight against Breast Cancer inspired by her mother; a 25-year survivor.
Heather brings more than 25 years of Marketing & Communications experience to ROW. She spent most of her career at WPP in cross functional leadership roles where she championed major automotive brands through transformation. In her most recent role at Epsilon, she serves as VP, Marketing Strategy. Importantly, Heather has a passion for teaching, and mentoring young professionals as they grow in their career.
Heather is looking forward to spending more time with the team at ROW and to involving her husband and two young daughters to Rowing.
Laura McNally | Loeb & Loeb | ROW Member & Vice Chair
Laura first joined ROW in early 2016, when she was midway through her chemotherapy regimen and bald as a cue ball. Prior to that first indoor practice, Laura had never been a rower and had not participated in team athletics since playing on the men’s water polo team as an undergraduate at Northwestern.
Laura is a partner in the litigation department at the law firm of Loeb & Loeb, where she serves as the Co-Chair of the Retail and Consumer Brands group and head of the Chicago Pro Bono Committee. She teaches young lawyers across the country as a faculty member for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy. Laura regularly volunteers at the Healing Boutique at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where she provides wigs free of charge to people undergoing chemotherapy treatment. She is the proud mom of two young daughters, who now view all of the ROW team members as their unofficial aunties.
Allison Romer | ROW Member & Secretary
Allison was diagnosed with breast cancer in January 2016. She joined ROW in November 2017 after completing treatment and having enough hair, so that she was comfortable with ditching her wig! Allison had never been a rower. The last time she participated in team athletics was skiing on the first women’s ski team at Williams College in Massachusetts. She quickly fell in love with rowing and her teammates and coaches. For Allison, the silver lining of having breast cancer is being able to call her teammates sisters, who inspire her to live each day with purpose, courage, and gratitude and refuse to let cancer define or limit them.
Allison’s business career spans senior executive roles in strategic planning, marketing, communications, sales, business and program development, and advocacy at global healthcare companies and non-profit professional associations including Baxter, Cardinal Health, Hollister, American Association of Diabetes Educators, American Medical Association, and American College of Healthcare Executives.
ROW has had a profound impact on Allison’s life and she is passionate about helping patients and survivors get and stay active, while learning a great sport and connecting with an amazing community.
Directors
Kevin Murphy | BDO USA, LLP
Kevin is an assistant general counsel at BDO USA, LLP, primarily supporting the firm’s Advisory practice group. He worked previously for the Center for Research in Security Prices at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business; the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP; and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, U.S. Congress, where he was a legal fellow. He has served a board member for ShawChicago, a theatre company dedicated to the works of Bernard Shaw and his contemporaries, and Aakriti’s Kids, a foundation that promotes the healthcare and educational needs of disabled orphans in Kathmandu, Nepal.
As an undergraduate, Kevin spent four years coxing the Lightweight Women’s Varsity Four for Middlebury Crew, and was a volunteer coxswain for ROW from 2012-2014. He is honored to be joining the ROW board and serving as a part of the fight!
Sue Ann Glaser | ROW Member & Co-Founder
Co-founder of Recovery on Water, Sue Ann has spent her 22 years in Evanston as a mom and community volunteer, active in local school classrooms and School Improvement Teams and on the boards of early childhood education, mental health, arts and civic organizations. Diagnosed in March 2007 with breast cancer, Sue Ann’s oncologist urged her to exercise as a way to mitigate side effects of chemotherapy and to reduce recurrence. When she read about a rowing team for breast cancer survivors, she felt this could be an antidote to chronically falling off the exercise wagon: a team, she thought, could provide motivation and support that she had trouble providing for herself. 6 weeks after crossing paths with co-founder Jenn Gibbons, Recovery on Water was born!
Melody Todd | Campbell & Company
Melody was introduced to ROW in 2022 and felt an immediate connection to the organization’s mission. Although she has no rowing experience, as a long-time fitness enthusiast she understands the positive impact that both exercise and community have on total well-being. In her professional life, Melody is the Director, People & Culture for Campbell & Company, a national nonprofit consulting firm that helps organizations create greater impact through fundraising, communications, executive search, and strategic information service. In this role, she leads the firm’s people strategy covering the full employee lifecycle. Melody brings over 12 years of strategic and tactical HR experience to ROW. She is thrilled to be a member of the Board and to help advance ROW’s vision.
Phil Allen | Vitality Group
Phil is a Vice President at Vitality Group, a global health and wellness organization supporting over 20 million members spread across 26 global markets. Phil leads application development of the Vitality platform for the North American market and is responsible for maintaining and enhancing Vitality Group’s service offerings to meet the needs of their partners and clients. Phil is a lifelong athlete, having played football in high school, competed in martial arts in college, and most recently competitive volleyball. Both Phil’s professional and personal experiences have reinforced a strong belief in physical activity as the foundation for holistic wellness.
Barbara Guido | Northwestern Medicine
Barb is a Nurse Practitioner in Breast Surgery at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, IL, and is a member of the Oncology Nursing Society. With over 30 years of experience as an advanced practice provider and specialist in breast health and cancer risk assessment, she coordinates care for patients in the high-risk breast program which is part of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. Barb is excited to work with ROW which promotes exercise and connection with others which is a crucial component of breast cancer survivorship.
Bill Crane | Foundation for Senior Services
Bill is a change and communications leader with 25+ years of experience driving strategic change programs across organizations of all shapes and sizes, equipping him with both deep and broad operational expertise to help organizations drive real change and make true impact. Bill is currently the Chief Operating Officer with the Foundation for Senior Services, an LA-based nonprofit dedicated to providing services, education and resources to help seniors age well and maintain their independence. Bill is excited to join ROW and help drive our mission. He has had several friends and family members impacted by breast cancer. In addition, he understands the power of building community through sports and fitness programs, though his rowing experience is limited to indoor rowing classes!
Dr. Samman Shahpar | Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
Despite having no rowing experience himself, physiatrist Dr. Samman Shahpar has been a fan of ROW since becoming familiar with the program in 2014, and he has been referring patients to ROW with great enthusiasm. Dr. Shahpar leads the Cancer Rehabilitation Program at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. After completing his training in the field of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) in 2009, Dr. Shahpar moved to Chicago and began developing his expertise in Cancer Rehabilitation. Since then, he has become a member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University and gained extensive experience in assessing and treating cancer survivors of all diagnoses. His focus is on changing the culture of cancer care to ensure that the functionality and fitness of survivors is not an afterthought.
Kathleen Behner | ROW Member & Former Staff
Kathleen was introduced to ROW and joined the team in 2009, five years after her cancer diagnosis. As a long-time believer in regular exercise and one who gained great benefit from attending a cancer support group, she was thrilled to find an organization which combined both regular exercise and support from women at various stages of their cancer journey. Her love for the team influenced her decision to join the ROW staff in 2017 as Manager of Operations and Outreach where she worked until 2022, expertly managing the accounting operations and staffing outreach events to encourage women to join the team and stay active in their recovery.
Now retired, Kathleen brings to the board over 40 years of accounting and operations experience from her work in health care and non-profit organizations. She is happy that retirement has afforded her more time to plan active vacations, with her passion being exploring European countries on a bicycle. She loves witnessing women becoming stronger through rowing and hopes for a day when all breast cancer oncologists include regular exercise as part of their standard cancer treatment plans.