Kelli Richards

Kelli has over 20 years experience working with high school and college students.  She has worked as an Academic Advisor in the Athletics Department at both Northwestern and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  In these roles, she worked one-on-one with student-athletes as well as designed programming in career development and leadership earning UW-Madison a NCAA Program of Excellence.

Kelli is still currently a part-time Academic Advisor at UW-Madison in the School of Nursing as well as a part-time instructor teaching courses in Career Counseling and Leadership.  She has been teaching at UW-Madison since 2007 and has been an instructor with UCLA since 2014. At UCLA, Kelli teaches courses about ACT & SAT testing as well as career counseling for professionals working as college admissions counselors.

Kelli is a member of IECA and NACAC.  She holds a B.A. from Northwestern in Human Development & Psychological Services and a M.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Counseling Psychology.  She also holds a certificate from the National Career Development Association as a Global Career Development Facilitator.  Kelli has three school age kids and enjoys coaching their sports, being involved in their education as well as training for triathlons and enjoying the lakes in Madison!

Annie Ballweg

Annie has worked as a high school guidance counselor in both Boston, MA and Malibu, CA. While managing a caseload of over 400 students, she was the primary point person for all academic, college, and student services needs. In addition, she was the high school’s testing coordinator for PSAT, ACT, Advanced Placement, and College Board testing. After moving to Wisconsin, she worked as an Academic Advisor in the UW-Madison Athletics Department where she worked one-on-one with student-athletes. 

Annie took her counseling background and started her own training business for athletes for the last 14 years. She has been highly involved in the Madison area community and as a board member for several non-profits whose goals and target audiences are specifically geared towards community youth. Annie is involved with the American Family Children’s Hospital, Girls on the Run of South Central Wisconsin, Tri4Schools, the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Football Foundation and the Waunakee Public Library.

Annie is a member of the Wisconsin Association for Talented and Gifted (WATG). She holds a B.A. from University of Wisconsin-Madison in Communication Arts and a M.Ed. from Boston University in School Counseling. Annie has a husband and three children, enjoys all things outdoors, sports, and family activities.

Liz Jordan

Liz has worked as an Academic Advisor in the Athletics Department at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. During her time at SIUC, she worked one-on-one with hundreds of student-athletes as they pursued their academic and athletic careers. She also developed and maintained the student-athlete tutoring program, overseeing the hiring and placement of hundreds of tutors across multiple academic disciplines.

Liz used her experience SIUC to move into a project manager position at an interior design business based in Southern Illinois. She has utilized her administrative skills to actively manage projects while maintaining collaborative relationships with her clients. 

Liz has a B.A. from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in Human Nutrition and Dietetics and a M.Ed. from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in Sport Administration. Liz and her husband Mitch have two children that always keep them laughing. Liz enjoys coffee, sunshine, a good book, and spending time with her family and friends. 

Christine Benedict

Christine has counseled thousands of students through the college search process during her 20+ year career in Enrollment Management at both Indiana University (Bloomington, IN) and Edgewood College (Madison, WI). While at Indiana University she created the Pocket Guide to Choosing a College that includes dozens of questions students and families should ask throughout the search process. Christine worked at Edgewood College for nearly 17 years helping families as an Admissions Counselor, the Director of Admissions, and the Vice President for Enrollment Management.

Christine loves learning about students’ interests and passions and helping them find a college that allows them to pursue it all. She has visited hundreds of college campuses from coast to coast and loves the unique and diverse experiences that each one offers their students.

Christine was a long-time member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling. She attended Lawrence University in Appleton, WI where she majored in Biology and French, studied abroad twice (London, England and Dakar, Senegal), and ran on their NCAA Division III cross country and track teams. She has a Masters Degree in Higher Education Administration from Indiana University. Christine enjoys spending time with her husband Eric and running, hiking, reading and traveling in her free time.