Diveheart board & crew

Meet the leaders, volunteers, and advocates driving Diveheart’s mission to make adaptive scuba accessible to all.

Diveheart board & crew

Meet the leaders, volunteers, and advocates driving Diveheart’s mission to make adaptive scuba accessible to all.

Our board of directors

Jim Elliott

President & Founder

Jim Elliott was once a volunteer guide for blind downhill skiers. After years of being inspired by the impact that skiing had on individuals with disabilities, Jim—also a passionate scuba diver—decided that scuba diving would be the perfect candidate to replicate this tremendous, positive experience.

In 1996, Jim left his career in the media industry—working with Chicago Tribune, WGN Radio and CLTV News—to become a full-time volunteer and teach individuals with disabilities how to scuba dive. Five years later, in 2001, he founded Diveheart, a volunteer-driven organization focused on building confidence and independence in disabled children, adults and veterans through scuba diving.

Jim, who has been diving since 1976, is also a scuba instructor with PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) and an H.S.A. (Handicapped Scuba Association) & SDI Instructor Trainer.

Jim’s efforts have been widely recognized by the Illinois Skin and Scuba Council—receiving the “Humanitarian of the Year” award in 2005—and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago—receiving the “Community Award” in all of 2005 through 2007.

ron rispoli

Vice President

Ron has been a volunteer with Diveheart for 20 years and has been a member of the Diveheart Board since 2009. He has worked on various committees, including the Volunteer and Marketing committees, and has chaired several of the Diveheart golf outings.

Ron has worked with individuals with disabilities for the past 25 years, 22 of which have been at the Illinois Center for Rehabilitation and Education-Roosevelt in Chicago. For most of his career Ron has been an advocate for people with disabilities, and has studied and trained as a Recreation Therapist, educating and introducing young adults with severe physical disabilities to adaptive leisure activities, including scuba diving.

dan koors

Secretary/Treasurer

Dan’s contributions to the mission of Diveheart started in 2007 when he first volunteered at a Diveheart Scuba Experience program, that included at the time, the Illinois Director for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Tammy Duckworth. Since then, Dan has participated and supported many similar Diveheart events throughout Chicagoland. His experience and background as a CPA helped to benefit the Angelfish Foundation, a non-profit that served to support Diveheart’s operational endowment.

Dan and his family are outdoor enthusiasts. He and his wife relocated from Ohio to Downers Grove in 2000 where they have raised their three kids and been active in the community.

william “bill” bogdan

Director

Bill Bogdan serves as the disability liaison to Illinois Secretary of State, Jesse White, and is responsible for the coordination, development, and implementation of programs and services for persons with disabilities for the office. He also works on legislative issues impacting persons with disabilities, and addresses accessibility issues in driver service facilities and buildings operated by the office.

Bill was appointed Chairman of the Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities (ICDD) by Governor Pat Quinn in 2010. ICDD works on a wide range of programs to help improve the opportunities for people with developmental disabilities in our state including education, employment, transportation, community living, and health care. In addition, Bill serves on the Illinois Elevator Safety Advisory Board, and is immediate past president of the Spinal Cord Injury Association of Illinois. He is president of Diveheart’s Hall of Fame for Divers with Disabilities.

Bill was named the DePaul University School for New Learning 2001 recipient of the Arthur Weinberg Social Activist Award for a video he produced entitled Exercising Your Rights Through Advocacy. He was also the recipient of an Award for Excellence.

Sean Barker

Director

Sean C. Barker is an entrepreneur and President of OMADAS LLC., leading a business and information technology-consulting firm with fortune 500 clients in the wholesale / retail, energy, call center services, application development, mobile technology, healthcare, engineering, ecommerce, food service, and entertainment industries.

Prior to starting OMADAS he was the Vice President of Global Operations for Ingram Micro the world’s largest broad line distributor with over 35 Billion in revenue, Director of Information Technology for WellPoint Health ( now Athem) with 45 Billion in revenue and President of S2 Networking consulting firm. In addition to his substantial information technology experience Sean also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and an MBA

Steve woodham

Director

Steve Woodham has spent his life in the service of others. He spent 22 years in the United States Marine Corps, and recently retired from the Naperville Police Department after 24 years. He is a Wood Badge certified Boy Scout Leader, and has used his extensive and diverse experience as a leader, mentor, trainer, and coach to assist not only his three sons, but many others in setting and achieving their goals.

Steve began participating in SCUBA in 2017 after being injured and needing a low-impact activity to assist with his recovery. He has participated in many of the Diveheart Military Wounded and DSE events as a result of his involvement with the Aurora Vet Center. He has earned his SCUBA certification and plans on continuing on to become trained not only as an Adaptive Dive Buddy, but also ultimately, an Instructor.

Steve hopes to bring his skill set to Diveheart and the Diveheart Military Wounded programs to help them expand and thrive, and continue to provide this valuable resource to the Veteran community.

Corissa Leung

Director

Corissa Leung’s involvement with Diveheart began in 2016 as the Team Lead and volunteer for the Florida Suncoast area, coordinating Diveheart scuba experiences, local dive outings and training. Corissa started diving in 2001 and is currently a scuba certified divemaster and Diveheart advanced buddy.

Corissa’s professional career began at global management consulting firm, where she progressed from analyst to managing director in the healthcare practice. She has more than 20 years of experience working in US, Asia and Europe, executing strategic delivery of programs, services and complex implementations for organizations.

Corissa now utilizes her skills developed as a global management consultant to make a positive impact on communities, causes and people. She works with nonprofit organizations to coordinate events, support fundraising initiatives, solve problems and operationalize solutions.

Corissa and her husband are avid travelers, and when she’s not supporting one of her causes, she can be found exploring different parts of world and learning about other cultures.

Our crew

tinamarie hernandez

Executive Director

tinamarie.hernandez@diveheart.org

Julie smith

Training Director

training@diveheart.org

Gabe Espino

Lead Instructor Trainer Examiner

gabe.espino@diveheart.org

Barb Tsao

Program Coordinator

programs@diveheart.org

Jody Seal

Southern California Team Lead

jody.seal@diveheart.org

Corissa Leung

Tampa/St. Pete Team Lead

corissa.leung@diveheart.org

Mark & Shannon Whiteley

Oklahoma Team Leads

okteam@diveheart.org

Syed rahman

Malaysia Team Lead

syed.rahman@diveheart.org

Bruce Bittner

Gear Locker Quartermaster

Jesse Kolek

Equipment & Operations Staff

Steve Woodham

Diveheart Military Wounded Liaison

Mike Prostka

IT Director

Sabryna Cornish

Special Projects

Denise brown

Office Manager

Jessica Collins

Social Media & Marketing Lead

HAVE QUESTIONS?

Reach out to info@diveheart.org or submit the contact form and our team will guide you – whether you’re ready to get involved, or just want to learn more.

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