Board of Directors

President, Jackie Weissenburger

Executive & Finance Team Chair
Higher Education Committee Chair

Jacalyn (Jackie) Weissenburger is a retired educator. She had nineteen years of experience in PK-12 education and 20 years in higher education. She worked as a high school teacher, school psychologist and school counselor in the states of Iowa and Wisconsin before becoming a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. After teaching college courses in special education, counseling, and school psychology, she became an administrative leader at UW-Stout and UW-Superior. Jackie earned her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology (with an emphasis in learning disabilities) at the University of Minnesota. She has considerable interest and experience in promoting scientifically validated practices in teaching and the assessment of student learning.

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Vice President, Nancy Dressel

Executive & Finance Team Member

Nancy is starting her 21st year working in WI public schools and has served as a library media specialist, educator, instructional coach, and curriculum specialist. She took a brief detour to support her own dyslexic children. Nancy is dyslexic herself. She served on The 2018 Legislative Council Study Committee on the Identification and Management of Dyslexia which resulted in Wisconsin’s first dyslexia bill, Act 86. She was also a member of the advisory council for the WI Informational Guidebook on Dyslexia and Related Conditions and is a co-author of the WI Dyslexia Roadmap. Nancy also worked part-time as Justice Involved Educator for Northwood Technical College teaching sub-literate adults in a county jail and providing tutoring, coaching, and educational consulting services through her business Brain Difference. She recently started a new position as a K-5 Curriculum and Instruction Specialist in the Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District. She also enjoys doing volunteer work for WI Reads and Turningpoint and anything outside or with her family. Nancy is thrilled to serve as a WI DPI Early Literacy Council Member.

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Treasurer, Lauren Zepp

Executive & Finance Team Member

Lauren is an Assistant Professor of Special Education at the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater where she trains pre-service and in-service teachers to implement the science of reading. She previously served as a special educator, reading teacher, and reading specialist. Lauren has served on the University of Wisconsin Foundations of Reading Test (FoRT committee for three years and participated in the first ever higher education cohort of Launguage Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling.

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Secretary, Mary Gordon

Executive & Finance Team Member

Mary possess multiple teaching and admin licenses. Her focus is on skill-development and alternative means of inspiring students to learn. She is currently in the ABD (all but dissertation) part of her doctoral journey.

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Director, Melissa Schmidt

Missy completed her undergraduate degree in elementary education at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay in 2022. She became a licensed Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist in 2007 after earning her Master's Degree in Reading from Cardinal Stritch University. As a Wisconsin K-12 educator, Missy has taught Preschool, Kindergarten, and 7th grade Science and Language Arts and is currently providing reading intervention to students in the Grafton School District.