Meet the Team

Stephanie has three sons - an 8th grader, a 6th grader, and a 2nd grader - who have been at Canty since each was in PreK.  She and her husband of 15 years have lived in the Dunning neighborhood since 2009. 

Stephanie is a 2003 grad of UIUC and has worked as a librarian, barista, and archaeologist.  She believes every person's perspective is invaluable, and her hope going forward is to invite and acknowledge the unique opinions of all in order to benefit the well-being of each and every student at Canty.

Jan's family has lived in the Canty community since 2017. Her youngest son is in 5th grade and her twins are in 6th grade.

Jan is a former music teacher turned stay at home mom turned mompreneur & digital assistant, and her husband of 19 years is an engineer with the Chicago Fire Department. 

Jan is thrilled about serving the Canty family & is enthusiastic about the future of the organization & school.

Coming soon!

Elohimnette, better known as Lenis, has 4 kids that attend Canty: An 8th grader, 6th grader, 4th grader, and a kindergartner. 

She has been married for 17 years and has lived in the Dunning community for 18 years. 

Lenis graduated from Loyola University in 2008 with a BA in social psychology with a minor is sociology. 

She's worked as an HR Clerk, preschool teacher assistant (daycare), and a job recruiter before becoming a stay at home mom. 

She is very excited to join the FoC Board to better assist the Spanish speaking community.

Coming Soon!

Julia has 1 future cougar at home and 3 daughters at Canty in prek, kindergarten, and 3rd grade. Having grown up in Dunning, she and her family moved into the Canty Community in 2021.

Julia worked as a paralegal in downtown Chicago for 14 years and enjoyed fundraising and volunteer work for various children's, women's, immigration and animal rights non-profits before becoming a stay at home mom. As a former athlete and marathoner, she remains active by running family-friendly 5ks and coaching indoor and outdoor soccer at Hiawatha Park. Julia and her husband are members of the Hiawatha Soccer Club board and enjoy volunteering for Hiawatha Park Basketball as well.

Julia is thrilled to join Friends of Canty and is grateful for the opportunity to do her part in helping further strengthen and grow in the best interest of Canty Students.

Martha has two Canty students and a future Cougar at home. A member of the Canty neighborhood since 2001, she’s now raising her own family in her childhood home with her husband of 9 years. Working from home in PropTech gives her the flexibility to support her kids, participate in school events, and contribute to the community.

Martha is excited to join the FOC team as a Polish liaison, helping to connect families and foster a closer connection to Canty events.

Nicole Van Dyken, also known as Nikki, has four Canty Cougars including twin first graders, a third grader and a sixth grader. Married for 13 years to a Chicago Public Schools teacher and coach, Nicole has been in the Dunning neighborhood since 2019.

Nicole spent many years as a Human Resources Director in the healthcare industry before ending her career to become a stay at home mom in 2013. This allowed her to rekindle her passion for visual arts. Nicole is now an exhibiting artist, having the honor of showing artwork all over the Midwest including The Griffin Museum of Science & Industry, Woman Made Gallery Chicago, Artprize Grand Rapids and many more.

Nicole also volunteers on the communications committee at Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club where her and her husband are members.

Nicole is excited to be a member of the Friends of Canty team and to lend her creativity to the Canty community in any way she can.

Coming Soon!

Ashley has been a teacher for 19 years and a member of Canty’s staff for 6 years. She and her husband are new parents to Jack, who was born in May, and have a 5 year old lab mix named Dexter.

Ashley graduated from Marquette in 2005 and holds an MA in Special Education from Loyola.  She has additional experience in the areas of English language learning, behavior analysis, and social emotional learning.

In addition to teaching, Ashley enjoys spending time with her extended family and adjusting to her new role as mom.

She is thrilled to be the teacher representative for Friends of Canty.

Coming Soon!