We’re a highly experienced, multidisciplinary team.

LK co-founder Elizabeth Kieff is a psychiatrist with over fifteen years of experience as a clinician, educator, coach, and mentor. In her clinical practice, Elizabeth is a generalist who works with individuals, groups and families, with expertise in the care of emerging adults. Before moving into private practice, Elizabeth spent a decade as a psychiatrist and the Dean of Students at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, where she created a multi-disciplinary Wellness Curriculum designed to help medical students grow personally and professionally.
A Chicago native and Hyde Park enthusiast, Elizabeth hails from a family of therapists, educators, school guidance counselors, and U.S. military veterans. She was a University Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania and received her M.D. from the University of Chicago.

LK co-founder Tom Levinson has spent much of his professional life working with families and family-owned businesses. Tom guides families toward an understanding of how their values shape their approach to wealth, philanthropy, stewardship, and communication. Tom is an owner of a family-owned registered investment advisory firm, as well as a writer whose work on religion, values, and American life has been featured in national magazines, major newspapers, and on TV and radio.
A Manhattan native who, since 2000, has been proud to call Chicago home, Tom is civically active as a non-profit board member, volunteer mentor, and community-based religious educator. Tom is a cum laude graduate of Princeton University, and received a Master’s of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School and J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.

Leonora Zilkha Williamson is a coach who empowers teams and individuals to access their best selves and navigate profound transformations. In her work at LK, Leonora serves as a family advisor, facilitator, and executive coach. Also a Founder of Platinum Rule Advisors and Lecturer in Negotiation at Vanderbilt University, Leonora’s career includes leadership roles at J.P. Morgan, Boston Consulting Group, and Estée Lauder. Leonora was a founding partner of women’s angel investment group The JumpFund, and also sits on the board of family company Sabre Yachts. Leonora speaks five languages, and is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School. An active community member engaged in education and conservation, she lives in Nashville with her two daughters and a golden retriever named Scout.

In her work with LK, Heidi Coleman serves as a family advisor, executive coach, group facilitator, and course designer. Heidi is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with more than twenty-five years of therapy experience, focusing on the life-stage transitions of emerging adults. Heidi also has a long, distinguished background working at the intersection of experiential learning and the creative arts. She has served for years as Director of Undergraduate Theater and Performance Studies at the University of Chicago, and recently has been developing trailblazing work there in New Media and Design, with an ongoing interest in Alternate Reality Games. She received her AB from Duke University, her MA from Columbia University, and her AM from the University of Chicago.

Kennise Herring, Ph. D., is a family advisor and coach, leveraging her deep skillset as a licensed clinical psychologist over the past three decades. Kennise combines a deep clinical expertise with a warm, engaging presence. In her private practice, she works with adolescents and adults, facilitates group processes, and makes clinical and academic presentations. She devotes part of her practice to working with young athletes as they transition from college to professional sports, as one of a select group of Program Case Managers with the NFL/NFLPA Substance Abuse Program. Kennise has also worked in the financial education space, helping financial planners assist their clients with the behavioral components of managing wealth. Kennise earned her Ph. D. from Northwestern University, a Master’s from the University of Chicago, and her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Hampton University.

Renée Montoya Lado, M.S., N.C.C., is a gifted and trusted family advisor, executive coach, and leadership consultant to some of the world’s leading family-owned businesses. Renée is the founder of Strategic Designs for Learning, where she worked closely with family-owned businesses, their families and their governance boards. Renée is also an organizational development practitioner with thirty years of strategic leadership experience and consulting with small, mid-range and large companies in a broad range of fields, and a sought-after executive coach and facilitator. Renée holds advanced degrees in Behavioral Psychology, Policy Analysis and Pastoral Psychotherapy, is certified in the use of numerous assessments and instruments, and has developed a number of proprietary tools that can be used with family owned businesses. She is a Certified Wealth Advisor through the Institute for Preparing Heirs and is a member of the American Psychological Association, Association of Managers of Organizational Design, American Counseling Association and Organizational Development Network.

Catherine Braendel's nearly 30-year career has included leading strategy and communication for the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, one of the nation’s largest and most prominent independent N-12 schools, the Illinois Institute of Technology, and Chicago’s public television station. She began her career in advertising, quickly rising to senior partner at a global agency, where she led marketing and advertising activities for international consumer goods and service clients. She has advised numerous businesses, nonprofits, and associations as a consultant, board member, and volunteer. She earned her Master of Liberal Arts at the University of Chicago and her BA, cum laude, from Brown University. She is an avid world traveler and reader who never met a museum she didn’t like.

NIcole Herweck is a teacher who spent over two decades as a beloved primary school educator at The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. Nicole helps drive LK’s experiential learning work with elementary school-age kids. A Chicago native and part of a large, formerly enterprise-owning family, Nicole attended Amherst College and obtained a Master’s in Education from ______. She might be the biggest Chicago Blackhawks fan in the world.

Samantha Ngooi is a financial educator with LK. She helps design and implement learning modules -- both in-person and virtual -- as part of LK’s experiential learning curriculum. She also serves as the Director of Operations for Park Piedmont Advisors, LLC. Sam has extensive experience managing educational outreach programs and financial education programs for school-aged children and emerging adults. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Chicago, as well as a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. Sam is an avid Crossfitter and food enthusiast who serves on the advisory board of several UChicago student organizations.

Corenna Roozeboom is an educator and operations specialist for LK. She also serves as Operations Specialist for Park Piedmont Advisors, LLC, where she provides systems, client, marketing, and education support. Before joining LK, Corenna worked as a nonprofit program educator for nearly a decade and, before that, as a project manager for a marketing firm. Corenna earned her master’s degree from Miami University in Ohio and has a deep appreciation for gardening, music, good food, friends, and family.

Michelle Webb is an experienced elementary school educator, having taught students from Kindergarden-6th grade in both Independent and Public School classrooms. Michelle is also an educational entrepreneur, teaching Ideas for Those Who Love Teaching, an online marketplace for teachers to buy, sell, and share their course materials and curricula with one another. A National Board Certified Teacher, Michelle received her bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and her master’s degree from the University of Illinois at Springfield.

Christian Montoya brings over a decade of expertise in the family advising space to his work with LK. A Principal of Strategic Designs for Learning, Christian is a leading contributor in the firm’s technology capabilities, and use and analysis of assessments for clients. He is certified in the use of the Caliper Profile™, HR Chally Instrument™, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator™, EQ in Action Profile, and Hogan Judgement Assessment.