Administrative Staff

 

Ervin Carpenter
Executive Director/Co-Founder
Ervin Carpenter has a B.S. in Special Education and 30 years of teaching experience in Special Education. With K-12 certifications in Learning, Emotional Behavioral Disorders, and Cognitive Disabilities, Erv taught Special Education students at the high school level for sixteen years until he retired from public school teaching in 2004. He served for five years as the Co-Founder and Director of the Academic Achievement Center, Inc., and served for ten years as the Founding Director of the Children’s Dyslexia Center-Madison (then 32° Madison Masonic Learning Center for Children). Carpenter has presented at multiple national and state Orton Dyslexia Conferences, in addition to numerous Wisconsin Special Education conferences on learning disabilities, Assistive Technology, and the social and emotional aspects of the disabilities. He has also conducted workshops and in-services for language deficient students, their teachers, and parents at public school districts throughout Wisconsin. Carpenter is certified by the International Multisensory Structured Language Educational Council (IMSLEC) and has served on the Board of Directors for the Wisconsin branch of the International Dyslexia Association and the Wisconsin Literacy, Inc. He was recently appointed to Congressman Mark Pocan’s Early Childhood and K-12 Education Advisory Committee. He was a 2009 recipient of the Crystal Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching. Erv is the creator of the Carpenter Language Achievement and Strategies System™ (CLASS™), an academic therapy curriculum, which WILDD uses to achieve remarkable results in reading and spelling remediation and create academic independence for dyslexic learners.
 
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Laura Britting
Director of Funds Development

Laura Britting is the Director of Funds Development at WILDD (Wisconsin Institute for Learning Disabilities/Dyslexia), where she plays a pivotal role in securing the resources needed to support the organization’s mission. With over 20 years of experience in nonprofit leadership and funds development, Laura has a passion for helping underserved communities and a talent for building strong partnerships with donors, foundations, and corporate sponsors.

At WILDD, Laura leads fundraising strategies and donor engagement efforts, ensuring that individuals with dyslexia and learning disabilities have access to the educational resources they need to succeed. Her expertise in grant writing, donor relations, and campaign management has been instrumental in expanding WILDD’s reach and impact across Wisconsin. Laura’s dedication to literacy and education is driven by her belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to achieve their full potential, regardless of their challenges.

Before joining WILDD, Laura worked with various nonprofits focused on education, health and human services, and community development. 

Hilary Schwartz
Director of Academic Therapy

Favorite Book: Currently anything by C.S. Lewis

Hobbies: Most recently, I've been alternating between knitting, playing the piano or anything that will keep me from doing housework (ugh).

Favorite Literary Quote: "We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the progressive." - C.S. Lewis

Why I Enjoy Working at WILDD: It's a great privilege to help guide a person's way to understanding written language and math at the precise pace that is perfect for them, and it's a great joy to see them "take off" as their struggles diminish and their confidence grows.

Charles Carpenter
Office Manager/IT Director
Jamie Keough
HR Director

Jamie Keough is the Director of Human Resources at WILDD (Wisconsin Institute for Learning Disabilities/Dyslexia), where she leads all HR efforts to create a cohesive working unit by working with our instructors, students, administrators, and board members. Jamie has a BA in human resources administration and an MBA in business administration with an emphasis on nonprofit management and accounting.

Devoting the last 16 years of her career to working in the Wisconsin nonprofit sector, specifically in HR management, human operations, workers’ rights and compensation, and nonprofit accounting, Jamie has a passion for nonprofit management and truly believes that some of the most incredible things happen through resources and relationships with nonprofit organizations.

Tiffany Clements
Nonprofit Bookkeeper