Senior Staff

Kevin J. Jackson became the Village Manager in March 2022. His career in local government spans 25 years. Prior to assuming his role as Oak Park's Village Manager, he had served for more than four years as Deputy City Manager of Long Beach, California. Kevin also spent more than nine years as Neighborhood Services Director for the City of Champaign, Illinois, after serving in progressive roles in city governments in Arizona.

Education: Master of Public Administration and Bachelor's degrees in Psychology and Sociology from Arizona State University.

Notable Professional Activities and Affiliations: International City Managers Association (ICMA); National Forum for Black Public Administrators.

Lisa Shelley's career in municipal government has spanned two decades, including city management positions with the Village of Lake Bluff, Village of Barrington and Village of Woodridge. She joined the Village of Oak Park as assistant to the Public Works Director in January 1998. She was promoted to Assistant to the Village Manager in September 2000, then promoted to the position of Deputy Village Manager in December 2003. She was named Interim Village Manager in August 2021, a post she held through March 21, 2021.

Education: Masters of Public Administration in City Management from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb; Bachelor of Political Science from Lake Forest College.

Notable Professional Activities and Affiliations: International City Managers Association (ICMA); Illinois City Manager's Association (ILCMA) and served on various ILCMA committees such as State Conference(s) Committee, Professional Development, Chairperson of Diversity and Membership; also member of Illinois Association of Municipal Management Assistants (IAMMA) and served on various IAMMA Committees such as Professional Development and Training Committee.

Ahmad Zayyad joined the Village in February 2021 as the Deputy Village Manager. He has more than eight years of experience in government administration overseeing organizational-wide initiatives, project management, budgeting, contract management, policy development, data analysis, RFP/BID development, grant funding coordination, identifying and implementing performance measures and opportunities for process improvements enhancements to increase Return on Investments (ROI).

Prior to joining the Oak Park team, he worked as the Risk Manager/Assistant to the Village Manager in the Village of Orland Park. After completing his graduate studies, he began his career in city management with the City Manager's Office in the City of Evanston.

Education: Master's Degree in Public Administration with a concentration in Local Government Management from the University of Illinois Chicago, multiple Lean Six Sigma Certifications from Northern Illinois University, and a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Governors State University.

Notable Professional Activities and Affiliations: International City Managers Association (ICMA); Illinois City Manager's Association (ILCMA); Illinois Association of Municipal Management Assistants (IAMMA); and also a Board Member of the GIS Consortium Board which includes over 35 regional communities.

Jonathan Burch is a housing policy and planning expert with extensive knowledge of federal, state and local approaches. He was named Neighborhood Services Director/Assistant Village Manager in June 2024. Prior to coming to the Village, Burch worked for the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP). As a Principal Planner for CMAP, Burch managed a large portfolio of grants, research and technical assistance projects, including all housing technical assistance. He worked on several important projects, including Regional Housing Solutions, Homes for a Changing Region and the Regional Housing Initiative. Between those three developments, Burch and his team were awarded $1.7 million in funding to support work being done. Additionally, he oversaw the launch of CMAP’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) technical assistance program and secured $3 million in funding from the State of Illinois within the first nine months of launch. Prior to his work with CMAP, Burch worked as a Senior Planner with the Lake County Community Development Division, and an Associate Planner and Senior Planner with Heyer, Gruel & Associates.

Education: Masters of City and Regional Planning from Rutgers: The State University of New Jersey; Bachelor of Arts in History and Economics from St. Olaf College.

Notable Professional Activities/Affiliations: American Institute of Certified Planners, American Planning Association.

Craig Failor was named Development Services Director in February 2025. Failor is a longtime Village employee who has served as the Village Planner and Planning and Urban Design Manager since 2002. In those roles he regularly met with a variety of constituents including residents, developers, attorneys, elected and appointed public officials and other agencies all with eye toward moving the Village forward. His responsibilities have included facilitating staff Project Review Team meetings, administering, interpreting and ensuring compliance with the Zoning Ordinance, Comprehensive Plan, business district plans, Historic Preservation Guidelines and Sign Ordinance. Prior to arriving at Village Hall, Failor was Assistant Director of Planning and a Senior Planner for the Village of Barrington for five years. He also spent six years as a Planner in the Community Development Department with the Village of Lombard,. His municipal career began in 1989, when he began a two-year stint as a Planner with a focus on Zoning Enforcement for the City of Belvidere.

Education: Failor is a graduate of Iowa State University, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science in community and regional planning. He also earned an Associate in Applied Science for mechanical drafting from Marshalltown Community College in Iowa.

Notable Professional Activities/Affiliations: Failor is a member of the American Planning Association and the APA’s New Urbanism and Sustainability Divisions. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, U.S. Green Building Council, Congress for New Urbanism, Urban Land Institute and Lambda Alpha International.

Shatonya Johnson was named Chief of Police in October 2022. She joined the Oak Park Police Department in 2000 as a patrol officer and rose steadily through the ranks to serve as a neighborhood resource officer, juvenile specialist, detective, sergeant and commander, deputy chief and interim chief. She was promoted to Deputy Police Chief in October 2020 after serving as detective commander. Prior to arriving in Oak Park, Johnson served in a variety of public service roles including as a case manager with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, a correctional officer at the Will County Jail, and a patrol officer for the Cook County Forest Preserves.

Education: Masters in Organizational Behavior/Organizational Development from Benedictine University. Bachelors in Law Enforcement Administration from Western Illinois University. A graduate of the Public Safety Staff and Command School at Northwestern University and the Senior Management Institute of Police in Boston.

Ronald Kobyleski became Fire Chief in December 2021. A veteran of the Oak Park Fire Department since 1985, Chief Kobyleski had served as an interim Fire Chief since April 2021 following the retirement of his predecessor. He had been Deputy Fire Chief since July 2020. Ron has held every rank available in the Oak Park Fire Department, including 10 years as a Battalion Chief and five years as the department's Training Officer. He has been a certified Fire Investigator, Hazardous-Materials Technician, Technical Rescue in building collapse, high rise rescue, trench rescue and confined space rescue. He also was the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) Division 11 Hazardous Materials and Technical Rescue Team leader for nine years.

Education: State of Illinois Fire Marshal certified Advance Fire Officer, State Fire Marshal Certified Training Program Manager, Study done in architectural design and building construction.

Notable Professional Activities and Affiliations: International Fire Chief's Association; Illinois Fire Chiefs Association; National Fire Protection Association.

Carrie Marckess joined the Village as Finance Director in March 2025. She is a Certified Public Finance Officer (CPFO) by the GFOA. Marckess arrived in Oak Park after a successful stint as Assistant Finance Director for the Village of Bloomingdale where she assisted in planning, administering and directing day-to-day operations of the department. She also oversaw preparation of the annual budget and capital improvement plan and assisted with the treasury and cash management function of the Village’s investment portfolio. Prior to her role in Bloomingdale, Marckess was an Accountant with the City of Rolling Meadows. 

Education: Marckess obtained a Bachelor of Science in accounting from University of Minnesota in 2022. Prior to that, she also earned an Associate in Arts with honors from College of DuPage.

Notable Professional Activities/Affiliations: Marckess serves on the Board of Trustees and as Secretary for the Illinois Metropolitan Investment Fund (IMET).

Alvin Nepomuceno has served in local government since April 1990. His past positions have included Systems Analyst with the City of Highland Park from April 1990 to April 1998. He joined the Village of Oak Park as its first Director of Information Technology to modernize, centralize and integrate the Village's technological systems.

Education: Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from DePaul University.

Notable Professional Activities and Affiliations: Member of Government Management Information Sciences International.

Greg Olsen is an experienced professional with a wealth of knowledge across the public health spectrum. Prior to his arrival at the Village , Olsen worked in the City of Evanston’s Health and Human Services Department as Public Health Manager. In that role, he maintained oversight of environmental health programs, emergency preparedness and response, community health programs and more. His responsibilities included organization of the department’s $1.6 million budget, grant management and the creation of Evanston’s community health assessment. Previous to that role, Olsen also worked for the City of Evanston as a Senior Management Analyst and a Senior Environmental Health Practitioner. He served as a member of the of the Evanston Health Advisory Committee and as the Secretary of the Illinois Environmental Health Association from 2015-17. Olsen also has additional government experience working as an Environmental Health Practitioner at the county level for both the Lake County (2010-14) and Kane County (2008-10) Health Departments. In those roles he conducted a variety of food safety inspections, collected and analyzed water samples of non-community wells and investigated and resolved nuisance complaints. Olsen also served as an intern for the Cook County Department of Public Health in 2008.

Education: Olsen earned a Bachelor of Science in public health from Northern Illinois University in 2008. In 2017, he added a graduate certificate in epidemiology from the University of Illinois - Springfield before obtaining a Master of Public Health from the same institution a year later. He graduated from the NEHA Environmental Health Leadership Academy in 2023.

Notable Professional Activities/Affiliations: Member of the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) and the Illinois Environmental Health Association (IEHA)

Lindsey Roland Nieratka is a leader in developing and implementing climate-focused sustainability programs. She spent much of her professional career in Florida prior to arrival in Oak Park, including her most recent position as Sustainability Manager for the City of Boca Raton, Fla. There, she meticulously developed sustainability plans and strategies for the community that covers five miles of Atlantic coastline from the ground up. Similarly, Roland Nieratka was the first person to work as the Environmental Sustainability Coordinator in the City of Hollywood, a suburb of Miami. She held that role for more than two and a half years, beginning in 2015. In addition to her extensive municipal background, Roland Nieratka is a founding member of the Coastal Resilience Partnership of Palm Beach County. This multi-jurisdictional team collaborated on a regional Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment, policy development drafts, grant applications and programming. Roland Nieratka is an experienced educator, too, having spent more than 15 years in higher education. Since 2012, she has been an Adjunct Environmental Science Instructor at American Intercontinental University. Previously, she served as a teaching assistant, and later as an adjunct instructor, in the Environmental Studies program at Florida International University from 2009-2012.

Education:  Roland Nieratka earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in biology and anthropology from Knox College in Galesburg, Ill. in 2003. She later studied abroad in Australia, obtaining a graduate diploma of science in tropical ecology from James Cook University with the aid of a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship. She received a Master of Science in environmental studies from Florida International University, where she earned an Academic Excellence Award. She recently completed coursework through Harvard University in Executive Education for Sustainability Leadership.

Notable Professional Activities/Affiliations: Member of International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) and the Southeast Sustainability Directors Network.

Greg Smith and the law firm Elrod Friedman LLP have been appointed Village Attorney for the Village of Oak Park following an action taken by the Board during its Regular Meeting on March 11, 2025.

 Elrod Friedman LLP, a Chicago-based firm with a long roster of Illinois local government clients, has been providing the Village of Oak Park with legal support for a number of years, primarily to the Plan Commission and Historic Preservation Commission and on select litigation matters.

Smith is an economic development, land use, and local government focused attorney. In addition to serving as Interim Village Attorney for Oak Park since July 2024, he serves as Village Attorney for the Village of Berkeley, economic development counsel for the City of Aurora, and he supports many of the Firm’s public and private sector clients. For public sector clients such as Oak Park, Smith provides counsel on economic incentives, sunshine laws, contracts, ethics, intergovernmental relationships, and taxation. His work includes advising on redevelopment projects, municipal policies, and litigation.

Education: Bachelor’s degree from DePaul University and a juris doctor from Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Notable Professional Activities/Affiliations: Member of the Illinois Municipal League Home Rule Attorneys Committee; Illinois State Bar Association Local Government Law Section and Real Estate Law Section Councils; Illinois Local Government Lawyers Association, and the Chicago Bar Association’s Local Government Committee.

Rob Sproule is a longtime public servant who became Pubic Works Director in July 2022. He served as the Village's Assistant Public Works Director from 2020-2022, sharing in management responsibility for all Public Works services and activities. He was first hired at the Village in 2014 as Forestry Superintendent overseeing Oak Park's urban forestry management program. Prior to his work at the Village he was a Conservatory Arborist at the Chicago Park District from 2012-2014 and Senior Horticulturist for the City of Chicago from 2009-2012.

Education: Bachelor of Arts Degree from Fordham University; Master of Forestry Degree from the University of Maine. Certified Public Works Professional in Management through the American Public Works Association. Board Certified Master Arborist through the International Society of Arboriculture.

Notable Professional Activities and Affiliations: Chairperson of the Illinois Urban and Community Forestry Committee and member of the Illinois Forestry Development Council and Chicago Region Trees Initiative Executive Advisory Council.

Kira Tchang has been supporting and leading human resources teams since 2007. She most recently served as the Chief People Officer for Civitas Education Partners, where she managed human resources and talent strategy for over 300 employees and contractors, with a particular focus on labor relations. Prior to that she held a number of HR roles with the United Neighborhood Organization of Chicago, including serving as the Director of Human Resources where she oversaw the HR needs for over 750 employees throughout the city of Chicago. She began her HR career in Community Unit School District 300, located in the northwest suburbs. Kira lives in Oak Park with her husband and three children.

Education: Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Northern Illinois University

Notable Professional Activities and Affiliations: Certified Crucial Conversations and Crucial Accountability Trainer, Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) Certified Professionals.

Dan Yopchick was named Chief Communications Officer in October 2022. Prior to arriving at the Village, Yopchick served as Senior Associate Athletic Director of Strategic Communications with the University of Illinois Chicago. His 15-year communications career prior to coming to Oak Park also included communications roles with Northwestern University, the Chicago White Sox and the Bakersfield Blitz.

Education: Master's degree from Northwestern University; Bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa.