News

New Members of the Finance Oversight and Review Committee

October 18, 2012

The District 97 Board of Education has selected Rowen Bell, Kathy Chang Hymson and Katina Smith as the new members of the Finance Oversight and Review Committee (FORC), which is a standing committee of the board that provides ongoing expertise, oversight and guidance on the district’s fiscal operations. It also reviews the district’s financial performance, which includes activities such as monitoring budget projections in comparison to actual experience, examining rolling five-year projections, and reviewing and commenting on investments, budget development and the district’s annual audit. Below is information about the three new members.

Rowen Bell
Rowen Bell currently serves as a senior actuary in the Corporate Acutarial Department for Aetna. Prior to joining Aetna, Rowen held high-level finance positions with several prominent organizations, including Health Care Service Corporation, Ernst & Young and Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. He has also served in a voluntary capacity on the finance and audit committees for the American Academy of Actuaries (AAA), which is a 501(c)(6) membership association for the actuarial profession. Rowen received his MBA in finance and accounting from University of Chicago, and is a registered CPA in Illinois. He has been a resident of Oak Park since 2009 and is the father of three children—a son who is currently a second grader at Holmes Elementary School and two other children who are scheduled to begin kindergarten at the start of the 2014-2015 school year.

Kathy Chang Hymson
Kathy Chang Hymson is bringing her extensive experience in corporate finance to FORC. Kathy has served as a vice president, an associate and an analyst at Paribas Merchant Banking, ING Groep and Continental Bank. Her responsibilities included structuring and raising various forms of capital for companies with annual revenues of $20 million to $1.5 billion, analyzing corporate financial statements and creating financial models. She also conducted research and formulated improvement recommendations for public and private sector clients in her role as a business process re-engineering consultant for CherryRoad Technologies.

Kathy has been and continues to be very active in the community. She served on the board and took on the role of treasurer for the Literacy Volunteers of Western Cook County; was the treasurer for the PTO of the Academy of Music and Movement ARTS program; and recently joined the Finance Subcommittee for Policies and Procedures at Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church. She has also served on the World Language Advisory Committee for several years, established the Mandarin Chinese extracurricular program at Mann Elementary School in 2008, assists with the Chess Club; and currently oversees the extracurricular language programs and teaches three elective Chinese classes to Mann students.

Kathy has been an Oak Park resident since 2000 and currently has two sons at Mann.

Katina Smith
Katina Smith currently serves as a financial management specialist for the United States Department of Labor. Prior to joining the agency, Katina was an accountant for the Follet Higher Education Group. She received her undergraduate degree from National Louis University, is new to Oak Park and has a son who attends Holmes Elementary School. Katina decided to volunteer for the committee because she believes it is important to contribute to the growth of the school and the community in which she lives.