Eric Maxwell became involved with Reaching Higher shortly after it’s inception 14 years ago. He began as a coach in the classroom, moved on to become a teacher and joined the Board of Directors approximately 10 yrs ago.  He has been President of the Board for the past 5 years.  Eric is a Financial Advisor for a Wealth Management firm and resides in Birmingham Michigan.  In his spare time he enjoys traveling, working out, and spending time with his family at their cottage in Northern Michigan.

Gary Guetschow has been Reaching Higher’s Treasurer for over six years and strongly believes in its mission.  The father of two daughters, he understands the many challenges that young people face these days. Gary is the CFO of The Guidance Center, a nonprofit social services organization in Southgate, Michigan.  Gary and his wife Marcia, a Howell Elementary school teacher, have lived in the Brighton area for over 25 years.

Sue (Susie) Dahlmann, founder and Executive Director for Reaching Higher, leads the organization’s non-profit mission to help teens overcome limiting beliefs, build their self esteem and empower them to make positive choices for their lives.  The Reaching Higher program has impacted thousands of teens based on an eight-week curriculum that Susie founded and facilitates across Southeast Michigan’s schools, churches and youth based organizations.

Susie’s experience and unwavering faith helped her to discover and found the Reaching Higher program after a near fatal car accident changed the course for her career as a public school teacher.  During this challenging time, Susie needed to relearn even the most fundamental activities such as tying her shoes and walking.  And it was during this time that Susie could reflect on her experience in the classroom, the needs of students to gain the most from their education, and build the foundation for the Reaching Higher program.

With an education degree from Michigan State University, the classroom has always been Susie’s first love.  Prior to founding Reaching Higher, Susie spent 23 years teaching in Michigan’s public schools, where she was recognized as “Outstanding Teacher of the Year”.  Additionally, Susie also held positions as a motivational speaker and instructor with the Dale Carnegie institute.  Susie also serves as a speaker to motivate community leaders, parents and teens and has authored a book, “A Higher Way” that integrates the Reaching Higher principals and stories of teens that have overcome life’s obstacles to find their hidden potential.

Steve Smith became involved with Reaching Higher through his wife, Kim. Together, they attended the Annual Gala, where Steve was introduced to Founder Sue Dahlmann. Steve then witnessed a graduation at Royal Oak High School in support of his wife who had become a mentor for the program and saw the profound impact of the Reaching Higher program on these kids. He knew then he wanted to be involved and give back to our youth and the community. Both a Board of Directors and Development Committee Member, Steve also enjoys golf and travel in his spare time.

Bill Mitchell is a retired business owner, founder of MB Associates, Inc, an engineering and manufacturers representative firm to the automotive industry which he led for over 30 years. He was also one of the principal founders of Plastic Trim, Inc, an automotive trim manufacturer. He holds a BS in Chemical Engineering and a MBA, both from the University of Michigan. During his active business years, Bill served on the Farmington, Michigan City Council and Farmington Planning Commission for many years where he also chaired the Master Plan Committee. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of Henry Ford Community College Foundation and the Board of Directors of Ravendale Community.

Bill has served on the Reaching Higher Board since its inception. He also serves on the Boards of Starfish Family Services  and Spring Hill Camps, among numerous other volunteer commitments. He received the George W. Romney Lifetime Achievement Award for volunteerism in 2008.

Bill and his wife, Marilyn have a blended family of four adult kids and six grandchildren and live in Brighton, Michigan. 

Tammy Fleur-Alxey has served as a Board Member for Reaching Higher since 2003. As an active member of the Strategic team, Tammy collaborates with the other board members to guide the organization’s plans for growth. Passionate about growing organizations that focus on a social mission, Tammy has found working with the Reaching Higher team abundantly rewarding, seeing first-hand how the program impacts positive turnarounds in the lives of teens. Tammy has more than 25 years of executive leadership and consulting helping to grow and evolve companies as diverse as start-ups through F100 companies.

In the past ten years, Tammy has co-founded and led the company efforts of Vale Solutions (Kinderstreet), a web based technology firm that is being used in school districts across the U.S.  Tammy also recently served as Managing Director and Marketing Executive for National Strategies, a Washington DC based Business-to-Government consulting company.

Married to her kindergarten sweetheart, Tammy lives in Washington, Michigan.

Mary Letters has been passionate about Marketing, Promotion and Communications for over 25 years, most of  which have been in health care industry.  She is currently the Director of Marketing, Communications, & Network Development for Saint Joseph Mercy Health System where she directs a staff of marketers, in-house brand designers, web specialist and a photography/videography team.

As with many of the milestones in her life, Mary was drawn to Reaching Higher in 2010, after experiencing a graduation ceremony.  Knowing she couldn’t teach during the day, Mary secured the support of a web and print designer to help her make the outside “Reaching Higher” look as compelling as she knew the inside was.

Mary and her family live in Brighton, Michigan.