Our Team

Leadership and Office Volunteers

Madeline Franklin

Madeline Franklin – Executive Director

Madeline Franklin is the founding Executive Director of STL Village. She first became involved with the organization during its exploratory phase. Serving as Executive Director of STL Village is an encore career for her. Madeline’s passion has always been to serve people and she is fulfilling it by supporting the members of STL Village.

Liz Backus – Communications Volunteer

Richmon (Skip) Coburn – Volunteer Coordinator

Diana Gualdoni – Social Media

Charley Johnson – Office Assistant

Cheryl Sharpe – Membership Outreach Coordinator

Board of Directors

Barbara Gilchrist, Chairman

Barbara J. Gilchrist: JD (Washington University 1976); Phd (Saint Louis University 1999) Professor Emeritus, Saint Louis University School of Law.
Barbara was an elder law advocate for most of her professional career, spending 5 years in the Elder Law Unit at LSEM and then 28 years as the director of the Elder Law Clinic at Saint Louis University School of Law. She also taught an Elder Law course at the law school and a legal course for the MHA program at the School of Public Health.
She has been a board member and officer for several not for profit organizations in the St. Louis area including PROMO, SAGE, The Herbert Eastman Clinic Fund, and Tower Grove Heights Neighborhood Association. She was also on the national board for the National Lawyers Guild.

Jennifer Higginbotham, MSW, Vice-Chair

Jennifer received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, and a Master’s in Social Work from Washington University. While at the Brown School of Social Work, Jennifer was first introduced to Independence Center as a practicum student. She was instantly passionate about the Clubhouse Model approach of psychosocial rehabilitation. Jennifer is on the Faculty for Clubhouse Development as well as the Advisory Council for Clubhouse International. She has also been instrumental in mentoring the other Clubhouses in Missouri and initiated the first Clubhouse Coalition in the state. Jennifer received the Mortimer Goodman Mental Health Professional award from NAMI St. Louis. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and is currently the Associate Director of Operations at Independence Center where she has worked for 35 years.

Daniel Rosenthal, Co-Chair

Dan Rosenthal has an architecture degree from Carnegie Mellon University and has been an architect for over 36 years, most recently as principal and market leader of housing at BatesForum. Previously, Dan was director of housing and director of architecture for Integrated Services at Lawrence Group for 20 years. Projects included student housing at Washington University in St. Louis and Southeast Missouri State University, condominiums and apartments in downtown St. Louis, and senior care facilities including Covenant Place II in Creve Coeur, MO, The Sarah Community in Bridgeton, MO, Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis, Active Senior Housing in Golden, CO, Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC) for the Stratford Companies and master planning for Discovery Communities in Florida. Additional past clients include D.R. Horton (DHI Communities), St. Andrews Resources for Seniors System, and Cardinal Ritter Senior Services. Read More

Robert Babione, JD

Robert Babione, JD, moved to St. Louis to attend college. After graduation he remained in St. Louis and worked as a computer programmer for three years and later enrolled in law school. Most of his legal career was related to criminal defense work. Following retirement, Babione spent two years with AmeriCorps in West Virginia. He also enjoyed taking several courses at Forest Park Community College.

Sheila Bassoppo-Moyo, Ed.D.

Sheila Bassoppo-Moyo, Ed.D., is Healthcare Coordinator at the St. Louis Area Agency on Aging, a role she’s held since 2018. Prior to this, she worked at the St. Louis O’Fallon Park YMCA as coordinator of the Active Older Adults group and as a fitness instructor. Sheila was born in St. Louis, attended Vashon High School and completed her secondary education at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. She worked and studied in New York City from 1974 to 1979 where she completed her bachelor’s degree at Barnard College and later graduate work before moving to Zimbabwe with her new husband. There, she worked in consumer affairs and journalism for ten years and returned to the U.S. in 1990. Read More

Richmond “Skip” Coburn

Skip Coburn retired as a senior vice president in commercial real estate after 32 years with Boatmen’s Bank, Nations Bank, and Bank of America. During his career with those banks, he closed hundreds of loans for multi-family housing, office buildings, and retail centers located across the Midwest and Southeast. Locally, he was responsible for a number of impactful projects including the rehabilitation of the Old Post Office in Downtown St. Louis and the first Office building constructed in the CORTEX Bio-Science District. During the last eighteen years of his banking career, he concentrated on the development of numerous affordable multi-family housing projects, serving low-income families, veterans, and homeless individuals. Read More

Natalie Galucia, LMSW

Natalie Galucia, LMSW is a licensed social worker in the state of Missouri and a passion for working with older adults. She is currently the Assistant Director for the Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging at the Brown School at WashU, where she most enjoys working on the WashU for Life Initiative. WashU for Life is an initiative that seeks to increase age inclusivity across the campuses of WashU. Prior to this she was a Client Care Manager at Home Care Assistance of MO where she directly managed the in home care of her clients. Ms. Galucia started her career in aging as Member Services Coordinator and then Director of Village to Village Network, a nonprofit focused on aging in place. Ms. Galucia received a BSW from Concordia University in Wisconsin, and her Master of Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis. At Washington University, she concentrated in Gerontology with an emphasis on policy.

Katie MacLean MSW, LCSW

Katie has spent her professional career in social work within health-related organizations, spending five years with the National MS Society and 10 with the Alzheimer’s Association. She is currently working at Saint Louis University in the School for Professional Studies as a Graduate Advisor. She also maintains a private psychotherapy practice, working with caregivers of those with chronic diseases as well as specializing in those living with dementia. She also serves on the board of the Association on Aging with Developmental Disabilities. Originally from Wisconsin, she completed her undergraduate work at the University of Wisconsin and earned her Master of Social Work from Saint Louis University. She is also pursuing a Master of Theology from Saint Louis University.

Carroll Rodriguez

Carroll Rodriguez is retired from a career in the field of aging including 25 years with the Alzheimer’s Association where she served as the chief operating office_ r and senior vice president of public policy. With a strong belief in the power of grassroots advocacy, she advanced legislation at the state and federal level with a focus on equitable access to care and support as well as research funding. Currently, she serves in an appointed position with the St. Louis County Older Adults Commission and is an active member of the Spirit of St. Louis Women’s Fund. She has a degree in social work from Florida State University.

Dr. Monique M. Williams, MD

Dr. Monique Williams is a primary care physician at BJC Medical Group and is involved in community, clergy, and health professional education and outreach. She earned undergraduate, graduate and MD degrees at Washington University in St. Louis and completed her residency and fellowship at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University. She joined Washington University School of Medicine faculty in 2004, serving as assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Nutritional Science, clinician at the Knight Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC), and director of the Knight ADRC’s African American Outreach Satellite until 2012. Read More