Board of Trustees

Currently, he teaches English learners at Prairie Crossing Charter School in Grayslake, where he has worked for the past seven or so years. He has been recognized as WIDA’s monthly featured educator and part of a Those Who Excel award-winning team in 2021. The best part of his job is getting to see how the students grow and learn about their home languages and cultures. During the evenings, he volunteers with Mano a Mano Family Resource Center as the traveling US Citizenship Test Preparation teacher (even teaching some night classes at the Waukegan Public Library) and works at a dumpling shop as well.

To him, the library is a place to foster life-long learning.

Steven graduated from the University of Evansville with a BA in Business Administration / Marketing.  He is also a graduate of The ProCon Leadership Institute for Cooperatives focusing on the development of CEOs and holds a real estate license in the State of Indiana.

Mr. Bugg has been and continues to be, actively involved in serving as a volunteer for many local non-profit boards in leadership capacities, including currently serving on the Lake County Community Foundation’s Board of Directors as their Board Chairman.  He and his wife also volunteer for several local non-profit organizations in Northern Illinois.  In addition, Steven and Kathie are the co-chairs of the United Way of Lake County’s 9^th Annual Premier Leaders Event.  He was recently appointed to the Waukegan Public Library Board by the Mayor of Waukegan.

Steven also volunteers his time in the credit union industry and currently serves on the NAFCU Legislative Committee and is a board member for Credit Union Centers (CUC).  He also serves on the State of Illinois Bank on Illinois Financial Product Sub-Committee.

Mr. Bugg is a strong advocate and supporter of providing low-and-moderate-income households the ability to improve their financial well-being through financial literacy initiatives and partnerships with non-profits and government agencies.  This passion fits well into his willingness to serve as a library Trustee, as Steven sees the Waukegan Library as a “central hub” for the community in which children and adults can congregate for the mutual purpose of utilizing the tools and resources available to improve their well-being. He’s excited to be part of the future of the Waukegan Library by looking forward and increasing programming and partnerships to enhance what the library can provide to the residents in Waukegan through programming and outreach.  Steven views the Waukegan Library as a “community gem” that just needs to shine!

Currently, she is the Learning and Development leader for a brand new start up company, which consults with a variety of companies to ensure their employees have strong employee benefits options.

Currently, he is a Program Manager for the American Library Association headquartered in downtown Chicago. He enjoys meeting librarians from across the country and hearing about their love of the profession and the values of intellectual freedom. Locally, he has a strong friend group of Waukeganites who get together multiple times a week. To him, a library should be a place for lifelong learning that illuminates minds to ideas and ways of life outside of their own experience.

Initially, Rebecca and her husband, Mauricio, started “flipping houses” and have purchased, renovated, and resold many homes in Waukegan since 2009. Slowly they began to acquire a portfolio of rental properties and eventually decided it was time to pursue real estate full-time. Rebecca became a licensed agent with Fathom Realty in 2019 and represents buyers and sellers on a day-to-day basis, and considers education – both clients and other real estate investors – the most important part of her role as a REALTOR®.  Rebecca also consults with investors to educate and empower other community members.

Rebecca is a graduate of Bradley University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Spanish and Sociology. She earned a Master’s of Science in Education from Northern Illinois University. Rebecca and her husband live in Waukegan, Illinois with their two children, Samuel and Benjamin. She enjoys all four seasons of exploring the outdoors, hiking, and traveling.

The library is important to Rebecca and has always been a wonderful place to visit. When she was a child, she loved going to the Bookmobile when it came to her neighborhood, and now she loves bringing her children to the Early Learning Center. She is an avid reader and is always searching for a new book to immerse herself in, whether for a book club with friends, a business book to help her learn a new strategy or skill, or just a new book someone recommended. She is excited to work as a Trustee on the Waukegan Library Board.

In 2011, Ms. Sanchez obtained her Bachelors of Science Degree from the University Center of Lake County Southern Illinois University’s Workforce Education and Development Program. In May 2016, she joined the Coalitión Latinos Unidos de Lake County where she was later elected as Vice-President. In the 2018-2019 school year, she began teaching at John Lewis Middle School, formally Jefferson Middle School, in the Dual Language Program. In August of 2019, she earned her Master’s Degree from Northeastern Illinois University in Higher Educational Leadership. Ms. Sanchez is currently working toward her 2nd Master’s in Secondary Education through Grand Canyon University with an expected completion date of December 13, 2023.