Team - Building Essential Skills Together

Team Members

Shane Wilson

Business and Partnership Development Consultant

Shane is in his 12th year of education including eight years in Chicago and the last four years here in Central Indiana. His undergraduate degree is from Indiana University in Sports Communications, and he has a Master’s degree in Special Education and an Ed.S in Educational Leadership from Quincy University and National Louis University respectively. During his time in Chicago, he was the Founding Dean of Student Services and Athletic Director at Speer Academy, a campus of the Noble Network, which is one of the highest performing public charter networks in the country. Prior to that, he spent five years as an Athletic Director, Case Manager, Special Education Teacher, and Coach at Henry Ford Academy: Power House High in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood while working part-time with the Chicago Park District as a Special Recreation Coordinator. As a founding staff member at two different junctures, he was able to develop and advance Special Education and Athletic Departments that continue to set the standard in Chicago after his tenure. He also had the opportunity to redesign and develop summer recreation programming in partnership with Special Olympics during his time with the Chicago Park District. Each experience shaped his ability to create sustainable urban education and extracurricular programming throughout the Chicagoland area. Upon moving to the Indianapolis area, he was part of the founding staff for a local charter operator as the Director of Special Education. He helped prepare their Special Education systems and procedures in preparation for the Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation authorization and continued to support their Special Education department during the first year of operations. More recently he worked with Indianapolis Public Schools supporting various initiatives including facilitating quarterly special education professional development, coordination of the Nonpublic and Itinerant teams, and director of the Innovation Learning Community. Shane was actively involved with the IDOE’s Indiana Inclusive Communication Matters Board, the Deaf-Blind Advisory Committee, and Unified Special Olympics. He also serves as Adjunct Faculty for Marian University in partnership with The New Teacher Project (TNTP) and Indianapolis Teaching Fellows (ITF) facilitating their School of Special Education coursework. Shane stayed connected with the K1ds Count Therapy leadership throughout the last four years and was thrilled to have the opportunity to Serve Together with the team. Additionally, he will support the B.E.S.T team by driving the mission and vision forward in supporting adults of all abilities with meaningful employment opportunities within the community.

Rebekah Lawson

OTD, OTR/Building Essential Skills Coach

Keeley Hendricks

MOT, OTR/Building Essential Skills Coach

Josh Nikirk

Team Member

Josh grew up in Brownsburg and he is proud to be a part of Building Essential Skills Together. Josh works full time in the More than Mops program and as a Tech Trainee with our partner FedEx, but gets most excited for the B.E.S.T Food Truck program.

Rowan Carter

Team Member

Founders, Lindsay and Frank Knez, have seen Rowan grow up and are proud to now see him serve as a team member of B.E.S.T. Rowan works part-time in all our programs, he loves theatre, and really loves reading books to children.

Ben Gregory

Team Member

Ben started with B.E.S.T in August 2021 and supports the Crawfordsville K1ds Count Therapy location and B.E.S.T Food Truck program.

Board of Directors

Lindsay Knez

President

Lindsay is the Owner and Co-Founder of Building Essential Skills Together and K1ds Count Therapy, LLC. Lindsay realized her purpose and career path while working at a group home for children with autism.

She spent 4 years working at the group home while studying speech pathology at Indiana University. The children’s struggles with speech and language often led to severe behavioral problems and prompted Lindsay to attend graduate school at IU to learn more about speech and language disorders and treatment. She graduated from Indiana University with a B.A. in speech and hearing sciences and psychology in 2005, and she received a master’s degree from IU in speech language pathology in 2007. Lindsay then spent 2 years studying autism and applied behavior analysis at Ball State and has been a board certified behavior analyst (BCBA) since May 2012. She has experience working with many children with autism and a variety of other diagnoses as a speech therapist and BCBA in a variety of settings, including a residential school, public and charter schools, outpatient clinics, First Steps, and ABA centers. Through Building Essential Skills Together, it is Lindsay’s goal to give back to a community she is passionate to serve.

Frank Knez

Vice-President

Frank is the Owner and Co-founder of Building Essential Skills Together and K1ds Count Therapy, LLC. He attended Wabash College and earned his bachelor’s degree and later achieved his MBA through Indiana Wesleyan.

Frank spent approximately 3 years in supply chain management at PepsiCo, and for the last 10 years, he has been able to apply this experience to the development and management of therapy services. Frank supports Building Essential Skills Together's operations, business development, billing, professional development, and HR needs. Frank looks forward to helping Building Essential Skills Together and positively impact the communities we serve.

Tim Gates

Treasurer

By day, Tim is the controller of Building Essential Skills Together. He attended Manchester College and received his Bachelor’s degree in Financial Accounting and a Master of Accountancy. Tim has spent the last 15 years working in both the private sector as well as public accounting.

He holds a CPA license in the state of Indiana. He has enjoyed getting to know Frank and Lindsay over the years and understands their passion for helping children, which has helped K1ds Count continue to grow. Tim is excited to be part of a great team and bring his diverse accounting background to Building Essential Skills Together to develop financial, budgeting, and long-term growth strategies for the organization.

Kim Chapman

Secretary

Kim is the Executive Director of K1ds Count Therapy, LLC. Kim attended Indiana State University and achieved her degree in early childhood education.

She has many years of experience serving children as a teacher, First Steps therapist, ABA therapist, billing specialist, and director of a preschool. As a Board Member, Kim is excited to continue to serve Building Essential Skills Together.

Allie Krumb

Member

Allie graduated from IUPUI in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in Special Education and a minor in Psychology. Allie has worked with people with disabilities for 10 years and truly enjoys impacting people’s lives.

Allie first started in the field by being a Transitional Living Consultant, helping adults with disabilities transition to independent living. Through this experience, Allie learned about ABA and soon transitioned to a local ABA center. Prior to joining the Board of Building Essential Skills Together, Allie had four years of experience as an ABA therapist and team leader, and also serves as a valuable member of the K1ds Count Therapy team. Allie has worked in a variety of settings including schools, center, and homes. Her clinical interests include assessment and treatments of challenging behaviors, functional communication, and sibling interactions.