Staff

J.J. Lewis, Ed.D.(c), CFRE, Chief Executive Officer
J.J., a native of Howell, has over 20 years of nonprofit management experience with a focus on communications, fundraising, strategic planning, and volunteer management. He has been a passionate supporter of the SeriousFun Children’s Network since his initiation into the Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity in 2004, the same fraternity as Paul Newman. He is currently finishing his dissertation and Ed.D. from the University of Southern California and holds an MA in Educational Leadership from San Diego State University and a BS degree from Central Michigan University in History and Political Science. He also has a Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate from Georgetown University and is a Certified Fundraising Executive.

J.J. is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Kappa Delta Pi, Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity, and Rotary. He serves on the Association of Fundraising Professionals West Michigan Chapter Board of Directors and chairs their National Philanthropy Day Committee, the Central Michigan University National Alumni Association Board of Directors and chairs their Scholarship Committee, and the Phi Kappa Tau Foundation Board of Trustees and chairs their Scholarship Committee. He previously served on the City of Howell Economic Development Council, George Mason University Department of Global and Community Health Advisory Committee, and as Phi Kappa Tau’s National Service Advisor.

J.J. firmly believes in the magic of camp and invites you to connect with him at jj@northstarreach.org to explore how you can get involved.

Patrick Smith, MA, Chief Program Officer
For over 30 years, Patrick has been involved in camp programs for children with serious health challenges. Volunteering at a camp for kids with cancer did more than change the lives of campers, it changed his too. The magical, transforming fun kept him coming back and eventually led to being part of designing, building, and opening two new universally accessible purpose-built camp facilities and programs. Thanks to camp, he is passionate about the power of play, building community, and becoming a person of irresistible influence.

Jeff Boots, Facility Manager
Jeff has over 25 years within the non-profit camping industry, as an experienced facilities management professional with a proven record of implementing operational, maintenance, repair, and regulatory compliance to support high-quality residential, recreational, healthcare, and learning experiences for young people. Jeff has deep expertise in health and safety building management for individuals living with disabilities. He is a clear and proactive communicator who drives results-oriented project goals and provides excellent team management, training, and customer service. Jeff has successfully designed and implemented cost-effective, end-to-end facility management systems, including building inspection processes for medical-specialty camps from startup to sustaining year-round operations for hundreds of pediatric patients and their family members. He has executed all aspects of reporting and tracking required by local and state agencies, including database integrations, to provide exceptional experiences to campers, volunteers, donors, and staff without any major health or safety incidents in 6+ years while at NSR. Jeff has also been recognized for exceptional customer service with the University of Michigan Outstanding Staff Award.

Board of Directors

Sheri Mark, RN, JD, Chair
Community Advisor

Sheri was a member of the first NSR Board of Directors and a key fundraiser in the capital campaign that built North Star Reach.

Sheri is a former rehabilitation, labor and delivery, and OCHD public health nurse. She is also an attorney. In private practice, she specialized in business litigation, healthcare law, and commercial leasing. She has served on the boards of Planned Parenthood of SE Michigan and ALS of Michigan. She was the president of the Board of Michigan Citizens for Stem Cell Research and Cures, and she played a significant role in the passage of Proposition 2 in 2008. Sheri currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Ronald McDonald House Charities-Detroit as well as the ALS Center of Excellence Advisory Board at U of M. Sheri is a graduate of U of D Mercy and Wayne State University Law School.

Anna Maiuri, JD, Vice-Chair
(Retired – Dickinson Wright)

Anna was a member of the first NSR Board of Directors and a key fundraiser in the capital campaign that built North Star Reach.

She is a retired environmental attorney and was a member at 2 of Detroit’s most prestigious and largest law firms—Miller Canfield Paddock and Stone (1992-2013) and Dickinson Wright (2013-2022). Anna served as a managing director (Miller Canfield) and practice group leader (both Miller Canfield and Dickinson). She also served as a co-chair of the firm’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee at Dickinson for which she received Dickinson Wright’s Champion of Diversity Award—December 2020.

Additionally, Anna was the Chair of the Environmental Section of the Michigan State Bar-2012. She represented large corporations, real estate developers and municipalities in virtually all aspects of environmental law. She has been included in The Best Lawyers in America© since 2007 for her work in Environmental Law and Litigation – Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy). Anna was named the Best Lawyers® 2020 Environmental Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Troy, Michigan.

Anna is the mother of a 2-time kidney transplant recipient (1989 and 2002). Her son participated in the US Transplant Games for several years starting in 1992. She has been a supporter of Michigan Transplant Camp experiences for many years.

Matthew Denenberg, MD, Secretary
Chief of Pediatrics, Corewell Health, Beaumont Children’s Hospital

Dr. Denenberg serves as Chair and Chief of Pediatrics, Beaumont Children’s, Corewell Health and Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine

He has been active in many state and national medical organizations, including the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network, the Children’s Hospital Association, and the CDC Caring for Community Influenza Pandemic Readiness Grant program. Dr. Denenberg is also one of 10 physicians on the Michigan Children’s Hospital Clinical Leadership Collaborative helping to reduce incidence of COVID-19 and respiratory illness in children and adolescents. Additionally, he holds federal grant funding in the Eastern Great Lakes Pediatric Consortium for Disaster Response and the Regional Pediatric Pandemic Network.

Dr. Denenberg grew up in southeast Michigan and is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. In addition, he has earned master’s degrees in bioethics from Michigan State University, in health quality and safety at Thomas Jefferson School of Population Health, and in health administration at the University of Providence.

Edward “Skip” Walton, MD
Director of the Medical Informatics Unit, Office of Academic Affiliations, US Department of Veterans Affairs

Dr. Walton earned his BA in biology from Middlebury College and his MD from Dartmouth Medical School. He then completed Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics residencies at the University of California, San Diego. Currently, Dr. Walton is Director of the Medical Informatics Unit (MIU) at the Office of Academic Affiliations, US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA); one of his primary roles in the MIU is to ensure that the VA’s 113,000 health profession trainees are integrated into the VA’s new electronic health record. He also has been actively involved in the MHS Genesis electronic health record deployment within the miliary health system. Dr. Walton also practices emergency medicine at Lieutenant Colonel Charles S. Kettles VA Medical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 2020 he completed a Master of Health Professions Education at the University of Michigan and the 10×10 informatics certification from the American Institute of Medical Informatics.

Dr. Walton also serves as a Captain in the US Navy Reserve Component. He has deployed to Afghanistan, Cuba, and, most recently, to the Javits Center in New York City as a member of the military COVID–19 response. In February 2023, he assumed the role of Commanding Officer for Navy Reserve NAVCENT Medical and Reserve Fleet Surgeon. This unit supports 5^th Fleet activities from their base in Bahrain. In addition, Dr. Walton has been involved in youth camps and camp health research for twenty years and was the founding Medical Director for North Star Reach.

Dan Craig
President & Chief Operating Officer, Hatch Stamping Company

Dan has over 40 years of service in the automotive manufacturing industry. Currently, he is the President, Chief Operating Officer, and Co-Owner of Hatch Stamping Company. During his manufacturing related tenure, he has held progressively responsible positions related to engineering, production, and operations. Under his leadership, Hatch Stamping Company has grown from a single site, local Michigan company to a multi-site global company with facilities in Asia, Mexico and the United States of America. Along with his family, Dan is committed to community, not-for-profit and educational endeavors in North America as well as globally. They are dedicated to youth and have participated in many outreach programs supporting their wellbeing. He supports numerous charitable activities from building with Habitat for Humanity to offering support to local robotics teams.

Previously, Dan served on the North Star Reach Board from 2014 to 2017. He is looking forward to continuing contributing to the success of North Star Reach during this pivotal time. He also served as a Trustee for Cleary University. Additionally, Dan is an avid aviator and holds his private pilot license with instrument rating.

Cristina Spurlin
Senior Program Consultant, Health Equity and Population Health, Trinity Health

Cristina Spurlin currently works at Trinity Health as a Sr. Program Consultant Health Equity and Population Health. As part of her role, she leads the development of National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP) quality dashboards, delivery and outcomes, interventions addressing patient social needs, and progress toward funding deliverables. She also, supports the clinical delivery partners and referral activity for the NDPP. Cristina works at a system level to manage system-wide quality improvement for the provision of language services, enhancing cultural sensitivity at care sites, access to high-quality care for patients and community members with low English proficiency, and compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Across all program Cristina works with EPIC- TogetherCare to align EHR and social needs. Before this role, Cristina worked at an emerging bio-tech company where she trained clinicians and medical staff on the firm’s medical equipment.

Cristina graduated with her master’s in Healthcare Management from Michigan State University in 2022 and Bachelor of Science degree focusing on Cell and Molecular Biology and Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 2017. Cristina also serves on the Professional Board for North Star Reach – a camp for kids with serious health needs.

Past Board Chairpersons: Lisa Schwartz, 2018-2021; Steven Berger, 2017-2018; Brian Rooney, 2015-2016; Sean Bryne, 2014; Sheri Mark, 2011-2013

Founder
Doug Armstrong, RN, MS