Our People
The KemperLesnik team is passionate and professional. Agency leaders strive to hire smart, creative, experienced and dedicated people to produce effective communications programs and provide attentive service to clients.
If you'd like to be a part of the KemperLesnik team, please contact us at jobs@kemperlesnik.com.
Officers and Directors
- Steven Lesnik, Chairman
- Steven Skinner, Chief Executive Officer
- Josh Lesnik, President
- Tom Valdiserri, Senior Vice President
- Eric Jonke, Senior Vice President
- Amy Littleton, Vice President
- Palmer Moody, Group Account Director
- Cybil Rose, Account Supervisor
- Briana Wells, Director of Events
- Susan Sommers-Evans, Director of Human Resources
Steven Lesnik
Chairman
Steven Lesnik is the founder and chairman of KemperLesnik and KemperSports. Steve founded KemperLesnik, formally called Lesnik Public Relations, in 1979 as a multi-functional communications firm specializing in public relations, public affairs, sports marketing and event management.
Steve is the founder of The First Tee of Chicago and an honorary member of the Illinois PGA. He is ranked by Golf, Inc. magazine among the five “most powerful people in golf.”
In addition to founding KemperLesnik, Steve originated the idea for KemperSports in 1978 when it was established by Kemper Corporation, then headed by James Kemper, Jr. Today, KemperSports is one of the largest developer/owner/operators of golf properties in America. Well known in the industry, he is currently ranked "fourth among the most powerful people in golf" by Golf, Inc. magazine.
Steve is a graduate of Brown University and a former journalist, lobbyist and public relations practitioner. He is an accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America, and is also chairman of the board of Career Education Corporation, a post-secondary education company. He was inducted into the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame in 2009.
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Steven Skinner
Chief Executive Officer
Steven Skinner was named as KemperLesnik and KemperSports’ second chief operating officer in its 30 year history in 2008. He formerly served as president and CEO overseeing the day to day operations of the companies. Throughout his tenure, which dates back to 1998, Skinner has been charged with various assignments, including piloting the company's growth initiatives and development arm.
In 2000, Steven helped to establish The First Tee of Chicago, an initiative dedicated to providing young people of all backgrounds an opportunity to develop life enhancing values through golf and character education. Steven is an active member of the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame Board and a National Trustee of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
Prior to joining KemperLesnik, Steven practiced law and served as an official in the first Bush Administration. He earned his law degree from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from Lawrence University.
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Josh Lesnik
President
Josh Lesnik was named president in 2008 after serving as vice president of marketing. He is responsible for the overall operation of nine golf properties, including strategy, policy and financial affairs.
Josh previously served as general manager during the pre-opening and first-year operations of The Glen Club in Glenview, Ill. He began his career as general manager at the internationally acclaimed Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore. where he spearheaded the grand opening and managed daily operations.
Josh holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Drake University and a Master of Science in Integrated Marketing Communications from Roosevelt University. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Chicago District Golf Association and Western Golf Association. Josh is also a member of the Golf Writers Association of America.
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Tom Valdiserri
Senior Vice President
Tom Valdiserri is the senior vice president of KemperLesnik. In this position, he oversees the public relations, sports marketing and event management businesses for both KemperLesnik and its affiliate, KemperSports.
Tom, who joins KemperLesnik after serving as senior vice president of entertainment and sports marketing for The Marketing Store, has more than 25 years of sports marketing experience. He has served on the board of USA Basketball and the Promotion Marketing Association, been Commissioner of the Continental Basketball Association and has held executive positions at multiple Chicago-based sports marketing organizations including Sports Partners/Italia Advertising, Frankel & Company and D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles.
Valdiserri is a graduate of Notre Dame, where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing.
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Eric Jonke
Senior Vice President
Eric Jonke is the senior vice president of business development and sports marketing at KemperLesnik. In this position, Jonke leads sales efforts for events, public relations and sports marketing. Eric has extensive experience in golf, including PGA TOUR, LPGA Tour, USGA and NCAA events.
For 19 years, Eric was senior vice president at IMG, where he sold sponsorships and built partnerships with global brands, such as Samsung, Office Depot, Home Depot, Lexus, and McDonald’s. Eric also sold title sponsorships and negotiated contracts for projects such as NBC’s “Tribute On Ice” and IMG’s “The World’s Strongest Man” competition, as a principal at Jonke & Associates, an independent sporting events and promotions consultancy.
He is a graduate of The Ohio State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, International Business.
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Amy Littleton
Vice President
Amy Littleton leads KemperLesnik’s public relations organization, focusing primarily on driving strategic communications programs for the company’s core PR clients, managing the agency’s PR staff and developing new client relationships.
Amy joined KemperLesnik in 2003 after close to 10 years working at Edelman, Slack Barshinger and in her own PR agency business, developing and implementing strategic communications programs for clients such as Auntie Anne’s Hand-Rolled Soft Pretzels, B2BWorks, Business Logic, Curves for Women, iProperty.com, Illinois Power, UNext.com and others. In addition, she assisted in managing the media relations and logistics components of a nationwide promotional campaign featuring the gold medal winning U.S. Women’s Olympic Hockey Team for General Mills, Inc.
Amy holds a Bachelor of Science in Business/Marketing from Florida State University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Loyola University Chicago’s Graduate School of Business. She is currently president-elect of the Public Relations Society of America’s Chicago Chapter, and has received numerous awards for marketing excellence.
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Palmer Moody
Group Account Director
Palmer Moody is KemperLesnik’s group account director. Moody manages the agency’s public relations clients, including Wilson Golf, KemperSports and the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational.
Palmer joined KemperLesnik after serving as vice president of consumer brands at Edelman where he managed the Wal-Mart consumer account. Prior to Edelman he held positions at Ronald McDonald House Charities, McDonald’s U.S. Communications and Six Flags.
He has more than 20 years of PR and marketing experience, including managing the legendary McDonald’s All American High School Basketball Game, and developing PR programs for the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney and the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. Palmer also helped develop marketing communications programs for McDonald’s alliances with Disney, NASCAR, NBA, CART (since acquired by the Indy Racing League) and NHRA.
Moody is a graduate of Western Michigan University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications.
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Cybil Rose
Account Supervisor
Cybil Rose is the account supervisor for KemperLesnik and has more than 10 years of communications and public/media relations experience.
Rose joined KemperLesnik from the State of Illinois Department of Central Management Services where she advised the senior leadership team on media outreach and responses, organized press events and handled internal communications. Prior to the State, she served as executive producer and assignment editor at CLTV News.
Rose holds a Bachelor of Arts in Radio and Television Communications from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.
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Briana Wells
Director of Events
Briana Wells oversees the firm’s event management practice, primarily focusing her energies on the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational, college basketball's premier early-season tournament.
At the helm as tournament director since 2002, Briana currently manages all aspects of the annual Division I basketball event, including sponsorship sales, TV negotiations and marketing. In addition, she is responsible for new business development of non-golf events for KemperLesnik.
Briana has more than 10 years of event management, hospitality and marketing experience. Before joining KemperLesnik in 1999, she previously directed marketing, event and promotions initiatives for the Fairmont Hotel, one of Chicago's leading 5-star hotels, and Safety Service Systems, Inc., a security provider for major nationwide sporting event and entertainment clients. She is a graduate of Tulane University in New Orleans.
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Susan Sommers-Evans
Director of Human Resources
Susan Sommers-Evans pilots human resource activities for the entire organization, including policy implementation, employee orientation and training, recruiting, professional development, benefits and payroll.
Before joining KemperLesnik in 2004, Susan was corporate human resources director for a boutique hotel management company where she provided human resource direction to a staff base of 3,500 and more than 30 properties in multiple states. She has more than 15 years of human resource management experience in the hospitality industry.
Susan graduated from DePaul University with a Bachelor of Arts in Human Resource Management. She is certified through the Society for Human Resource Management as a Professional in Human Resources (PHR).
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