Board of Directors
Maureen Leisure, Co-Founder, retired from Emerson Climate Technologies as a Materials Analyst. During 23 years of service, she held positions in Customer Service, Shipping, Executive Secretary and then Materials Analyst. Changing Footprints is a dream come true and a wonderfully satisfying way of providing humanitarian aid and community service. She was awarded the 2009 DAR Good Citizenship Award in February and currently sits on the Patient & Family Advisory Council at Rush Memorial Hospital. Maureen resides in Rushville IN where her 3 grown children and families live close by and play an active role in Changing Footprints.
Bob Broughton, Co-Founder, was working in 2004 with Maureen in the materials department at Emerson when she shared the story of foot injuries (due to lack of shoes) causing limb amputations in Afghanistan. Together, they realized that they could collect quality used shoes and make a real difference in the world. That was the birth of Changing Footprints in Rushville (Maureen) and Indianapolis (Bob). Bob has a great family, had a good career, and is enjoying retirement to the fullest through Changing Footprints, Indy Election Volunteers, and family skiing trips. Bob has lived his entire adult life in Indianapolis and has been married for more than 35 years to his (truly) better half Chris, with two wonderful yet completely different sons.
Karen Kuehnert, Board President, together with her husband of 40 years, Dave, temporarily live in Avon. Karen’s volunteer experience stems from being a Girl Scout leader, starting a young authors program in her daughters’ school, being a women’s bible study leader, raising $8,000 for a friend’s autistic child, raising $24,000 to build a greenhouse in Jamaica, and establishing and leading Stephen Ministry, a lay-caring ministry, to her church, which continues 25 years later. In 2017, Karen and Dave Kuehnert started the first Fort Wayne location of Changing Footprints.They were looking for a way to serve locally and globally as they entered retirement, and they loved that this program was keeping tons of shoes out of the landfill and helping those in need. In 2018 they relocated to Avon and opened a site in Hendricks county. In 2020 they returned to live in Fremont, Indiana where they are active in the Northern Indiana Changing Footprints location
Scott Splichal, Board Vice-President, has been a registered pharmacist for 43 years recently retired from Kroger Pharmacy. His wife, Cindy, has a small bookkeeping business. He has two sons, Ryan, recently married to Lindsay and Eric married to Megan with two grandchildren, Layla and Albert. Community service and giving back to those in need has always been a part of his life for the last 40 years. He believes that if you give enough of yourself to others, it will come back to you in big ways. In 1996, Scott was chosen to carry the Olympic Torch for the Atlanta Olympics. In 2009 he received Mayor Ballard’s community service award for the city of Indianapolis. In 2016 he received the humanitarian award from Perry Township Schools. He is also a 14 year hospice volunteer, a very involved member of Perry Township Kiwanis for 20 years, an Indy Sports Corp member volunteering for major sporting events in the city and a 40 year member on the organizing committee for the One America 500 Festival Mini Marathon. He and his family have also helped cook and serve the less fortunate for the past 15 years on both Thanksgiving and Christmas. In his spare time, he loves yard work, gardening, golf and spending time with family. In retirement, he will be working part time at a winery and helping make Changing Footprints grow and service more of those in need.
Karen Springsteen, Board Treasurer, was born and raised in Chicago and its western suburbs. She enjoyed a long career in computer software, with her last position at a firm that served portfolio managers and credit analysts. She met and married her husband (no, not Bruce) who already had two grown sons. Bob and Karen both retired and moved to Fishers, Indiana to be near 3 of their 5 grandchildren (the other 2 are in Texas). Bob and Karen have traveled to 49 of the 50 states together; Hawaii is waiting! Karen also volunteers for Indiana Voices which records Indiana-related books and magazines for patrons of the Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library. In her spare time she makes blankets for Project Linus. After finding CF on volunteermatch.org, Karen connected with Bob Broughton to deliver shoes in the Indianapolis area. It soon became clear that she could be more useful to CF using her administrative skills.
Debby Williams, Board Secretary, was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana. She began her career in education with the Indianapolis Public Schools. She retired after 40 years in education. During this time, she served as an elementary teacher, high school career counselor, student teacher supervisor for Ball State and Purdue Universities and an elementary school principal. Since retiring Debby became active in Changing Footprints in Rushville along with her volunteer work at her church, a brief time with Rush County United Fund and some mentor opportunities with new principals. Most of Debby’s time is devoted to her family. She and her husband John are the parents of four children and six grandchildren. Two of their children reside in Indiana, one in Texas and one in Colorado. Recently, she and John relocated to the Fort Wayne area to live closer to their daughter’s family and three granddaughters. Currently, Debby volunteers her time with the Northern Indiana Changing Footprints warehouse.
Deb Cherry, Board Member, is originally from Rushville, Indiana moving to Greensboro, North Carolina in 1995. While in Greensboro, Deb was a sales representative for Avery Dennison in their Retail Information Services division which focuses on the Tag and Labeling industry for global retail and apparel markets. Her involvement in Changing Footprints is the result of a life-long friendship with the founder and a strong desire to help make a difference in the lives of others. Deb was married in 2006 to Indiana State Representative, Bob Cherry, when she then relocated to live on the 110 year old Cherry homeplace just outside of Greenfield. They are blessed with 10 grandchildren – all under the age of 11 years! Deb enjoys harvesting their garden, tutoring reading to third graders, Pinterest, and helping with grandchildren. Deb also volunteers for Hancock County Medical Reserve Corp and is an Ambassador for the Indiana State Fair.
Ruth Houk Koelmel, Board Member, is a retired elementary teacher with 34 years of teaching experience. She has always been interested in finding ways to be a positive influence in the lives of others, children especially. She is interested in not only providing shoes for the needy but also in getting children involved in philanthropic activities. She hopes to accomplish this by visiting schools to encourage shoe drives and community service of any kind. She is also a board member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Rush County. She resides in Rushville, IN but makes frequent trips to Atlanta, GA where her two children and four grandchildren live.
Stephen Jeffries, Board Member, together with his wife, Joyce, the Jeffries recently celebrated 25 years of floral design/wedding/event industry at The Acorn Tree in Greenfield. Stephen grew up working in his dad’s repair shop in Rushville and graduated from Rushville High School with Maureen Leisure. Stephen is an Air Force VietNam veteran and saw first-hand the plight of children in underserved countries. After a mission trip to Honduras with an IU medical team a few years ago and a lifetime of serving his church, Stephen was eager to become involved in the remarkable and much needed ministry of Changing Footprints. As a coordinator for the Hancock County facility, Steve and fellow coordinator Deb Cherry were recently honored by the Greenfield Area Chamber of Commerce 2018 Community Walk of Fame for the impact that they are making in the Greenfield area. Stephen and his wife, Joyce, are the parents of 3 grown sons and 4 grandchildren who continue to be the center of their life.
Jeremy Keller, Board Member, was born and raised in New Palestine, IN. He completed his Bachelor of Science Degree at Indiana University with a concentration in Business (Computer Information Systems) in 2003. In 2007, Jeremy completed his MBA with a concentration in Operations Management. Jeremy has worked for several large corporations in various roles including Conseco, AT&T, Anthem, and his current role at Humana. His journey into Changing Footprints started with a shoe sort along with his colleagues at Humana. He currently manages a team focused on Technology & Reporting to improve the health and well being of Humana’s Medicare Advantage members. In May of 2020, Jeremy welcomed his first son Vincent into the world.
Kathy Niemcewicz, Board Member, is originally from Pennsylvania and moved to Indiana 2 1/2 years ago from Buffalo, NY to be near friends after her husband passed. She has always had a heart for missions which began during her 17 years as a military wife. She was involved with charity drives though wives groups and squadron activities. She and her husband relocated to South Florida and she worked as a production manager in a silk floral business, designing mostly for Sears and local furniture stores. In Florida, Kathy was active in community fund raisers for golf tournaments and the local downtown business associations. They moved to NY in 2009 and Kathy officially retired, but kept active. She was a volunteer for a nursing home and was the volunteer of the year in 2017. She is active in her church and is on their missions team. The work of Changing Footprints called to her after she helped with a giveaway, and she has become very active in the organization.