Board Members

Chairman Charles Schmadke is a partner-in-charge of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP's Springfield office. He has more than 25 years of litigation, mediation and administrative law experience and concentrates his practice representing business and governmental clients in litigation and mediation, including cases involving employment issues, civil rights defense, regulatory matters, and contract and tort claims. He has represented and counseled governmental clients on a wide variety of matters, including governance, organization and fiscal issues, civil rights, regulation enforcement and employment. Before joining Hinshaw & Culbertson in 2003, Chairman Schmadeke served in senior positions in Illinois state government. He was the General Counsel to the Illinois State Comptroller, where he advised the Comptroller on constitutional and statutory matters and fiscal affairs, and also conducted cases before the civil service board and handled litigation with cemeteries, funeral homes and other entities regulated by the Comptroller. He also worked 11 years for the Illinois Attorney General as Chief of the General Law Bureau, which represents all state agencies, state officers and state employees in federal and state litigation. In addition to supervising a staff of 21 attorneys and overseeing an active caseload of thousands of cases before federal and state courts and administrative tribunals, Chairman Schmadeke personally handled many cases including matters involving civil rights, professional regulation and employment issues.

Member Dionne R. Hayden is a seasoned corporate attorney with over 14 years of experience with corporate investigations involving various types of misconduct including fraud, embezzlement, and ethics, compliance and policy violations. Member Hayden currently holds the position of Assistant Vice President, Employee Relations at CNA Insurance Company. Her role includes investigating and resolving a wide range of matters which may include misconduct, compliance, ethics, conflicts of interest and policy violations. Member Hayden began her career in private practice as a corporate litigator at McGuire Woods, LLP's Chicago office and later joined Miller Canfield, PLC. After over a decade of work as a litigator, corporate counselor and investigator, Member Hayden left private practice to take a role as Senior Legal Counsel at the international corporate insurance company of Allianz, Global, Corporate & Specialty in their North American division in Chicago, IL. During her career, Member Hayden has been recognized by Illinois Super Lawyers and Illinois Leading Lawyers and was named a "Top 40 Labor and Employment Attorney under 40 in Illinois" by the American Society of Legal Advocates. Member Hayden received her Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from the Katz Business School for undergraduates at the University of Pittsburgh and her law degree from Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia.

Member Jim Kolar has a thirty year career as an accountant. He recently retired from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) after 37 years. Member Kolar has a broad range of experience with corporation partnerships and joint ventures in a variety of sectors. Prior to his retirement, Member Kolar served as the Senior Relationships Partner on many large audit and non-audit clients in the pharma, consumer products, financial services, and construction and engineering service sectors. He has spent time on several boards as a member and chairperson for World Business Chicago, the Commercial Club of Chicago, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, and the PwC Charitable Foundation Board. Member Kolar graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of St. Thomas.