Return With Purpose, President and Board Chair
Gregg Ganschaw
Owner, Path.Finding Group
During the past 35 years, Mr. Ganschaw has served in a series of capacities demanding a balance of, leadership, business, research, and facilitation skills. Mr. Ganschaw served in the U.S. Air Force Security Service from 1967 to 1971 and he was also assigned to several NSA missions during his service. Mr. Ganschaw has been responsible for national management assignments for several companies including International Research Corp., Unlimited Child Development Inc., 3M Company, and Color-Art Inc., National Map and Publishing Div. He has served as a consultant to over 20 State Governor's Councils on Economic Development and the U.S. Department of Labor. Mr. Ganschaw is the founder and sole proprietor of The Path.Finding Group dedicated to helping individuals and corporations find their vision and value. He specializes in management/leadership, teamwork development systems, and change process development systems. His newest endeavor is Return With Purpose.
Return With Purpose, Secretary
Charmaine Smith
Founder and Executive Director, Discovering Options
Ms. Smith is a native of Wichita Kansas and relocated to St. Louis in 1987, when she accepted the role of Area Project Director for the International Machinist Union’s outreach organization, IAM CARES. While at IAM CARES, Ms. Smith managed a program devoted to the post-vocational rehabilitation phases of the job search which included: job readiness assessment, resume planning and writing, transferrable skill analysis, job market evaluation advocacy as well as job development. In 2003, Ms. Smith founded Discovering Options, an innovative non-profit organization that delivers after-school programs that engage, teach and demonstrate the variety of choices available to children with one or more risk factors. Ms. Smith is a seasoned professional in the areas of fundraising, strategic planning, model program development, public relations, grant writing, media communications, supervision and network building.
Return With Purpose
Andrea Nelson
Northwest native Andrea Nelson has been involved with serving the Military community for several years, including the production of programs and initiatives aimed to promote services for our Wounded Warrior community, gaining endorsement from many government and community organizations. She currently works as the program manager for Hire America’s Heroes, a non-profit organization that seeks to connect our transitioning Military Family with Corporate America.
Return With Purpose, Executive Director
Elaine Queathem
Ms. Queathem is a native of St. Louis and spent her early working years in various telecommunications companies where she developed significant operations management expertise in connection with data integrity initiatives. Trained in Six Sigma, Queathem worked to improve business processes enterprise wide, which translated into savings of millions of dollars. She also she spent several years growing her own real estate development company and was also a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch. Prior to launching Return With Purpose, Ms. Queathem’s most recent role was with NC4, where she successfully led the effort to partner with reseller organizations worldwide to sell NC4’s software solutions, resulting in millions of dollars in increased revenue. She will be utilizing her wide variety of skills in her role as Executive Director, with Return With Purpose.
Ms. Queathem is involved in several philanthropic organizations. She is a mentor with Innovate VMS, an organization that provides mentoring services to small business owners; she is board chair of Discovering Options and a board member of The Spirit of St. Louis Women’s fund. Ms. Queathem received her undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri St. Louis and her MBA from Webster University.
Ms. Queathem is involved in several philanthropic organizations. She is a mentor with Innovate VMS, an organization that provides mentoring services to small business owners; she is board chair of Discovering Options and a board member of The Spirit of St. Louis Women’s fund. Ms. Queathem received her undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri St. Louis and her MBA from Webster University.
Ms. Stark earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. After spending time working with children and adolescents in a psychiatric medical institute she set her sights on graduate school, with the sole purpose to work with and serve Veterans. She graduated from the University of Kansas with a master’s degree in social work, specializing in clinical practice with adults. Ms. Stark spent two years working at the Wichita, Kansas VA Medical Center as the primary social worker serving OEF/OIF Veterans (those who served in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn). This experience provided Ms. Stark with insights into the various challenges Veterans face when returning from combat settings.
Ms. Stark is currently involved in serving Veterans experiencing homelessness in the Northern Colorado region, as a social worker with the Cheyenne, Wyoming VA Medical Center’s homeless team. The experiences over the last two years in this position have afforded Ms. Stark the opportunity to see the multiple barriers Veterans who are / have been homeless face.
Ms. Stark is currently involved in serving Veterans experiencing homelessness in the Northern Colorado region, as a social worker with the Cheyenne, Wyoming VA Medical Center’s homeless team. The experiences over the last two years in this position have afforded Ms. Stark the opportunity to see the multiple barriers Veterans who are / have been homeless face.
Return With Purpose
905 Dougherty Ferry Road
Kirkwood, MO 63122