Our Team
Terry Geary, Founder & Executive Director
Terry is the Founder and Executive Director of Just One Dash. He began Just One Dash after volunteering at Breakthrough in East Garfield Park. Inspired by the people he met volunteering at Breakthrough’s Fresh Food Market and coaching their youth basketball teams, he took his experiences and observations and identified an opportunity to fill a need and make more of a difference. The earlier a relationship is formed, the more impact one can make in helping a family along their path in life and help change their narrative. Just One Dash seeks to develop relationships and identify ways to offer support and assistance.
The second oldest of seven children, Terry grew up in Arlington Heights where he graduated from Saint Viator High School. After graduating from the University of Iowa with a degree in Finance, he has spent the last 25 years in the Investment Industry. He resides in Palatine with his wife Becky and son Lukas.
Board of Directors
Betsy Flores
It is wonderful to see a child be happy and have all the opportunities to succeed in their goals, dreams and future. Unfortunately, some children get put through some trails that do not have the means to complete their education or let alone their dreams. When Terry approached Betsy, she thought this was a great opportunity to help and insure no child gets left behind. She comes from a family of five, both parents are migrants from Mexico and El Salvador. She loves being an aunt, her nieces and nephews are absolutely her world and she could not imagine them not having all of the opportunities the world has to offer. She's excited to walk down this path to help and watch the organization grow.
Manisha Mishra
Manisha has always been passionate about giving back and helping people. This is what led her to pursue a career in healthcare. Living in the city, she got involved with Forward Humanity where she would help make 100 sandwiches to feed the homeless every week. From this, she became a lead for Forward Humanity. This experience led her to find Chicago Cares and start volunteering at Breakthrough Ministries at Garfield Park every month. Along with Breakthrough, she has volunteered with Inspiration Cafe, La Casa Norte, and various other organizations. In her spare time, Manisha enjoys cooking/baking, traveling, working out, exploring Chicago, and volunteering with Chicago Cares. Manisha currently works for Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago as a Senior Application Analyst.
Andy Nwaelele
Born in Washington State to immigrant parents, Andy has always had a knack for bringing excellence to his endeavors, but is most passionate about opportunities to build and develop relationships and strengthen bonds within communities. He spent his free time during undergrad at Northwestern University supporting communities of color with professional, personal, and spiritual development.. Andy is involved with City Church Chicago and their Finance Team, and served as a volunteer leader for Chicago Cares and Inspiration Cafe. Andy formerly worked in business & technology consulting, corporate finance, and now currently in operations management and is pursuing an MBA at the University of Chicago. In his free time, Andy loves a good game night or staying active by running, playing tennis, or getting reacquainted with his first love, basketball.
Anuj Saxena
Born in New Delhi, Anuj has been part of various non-profits from his college days. Inspired by his faith and passion to give back to the community, Anuj quickly got involved in various community organization such as Feed My Starving Children, Chicago Cares, etc. His activities include packing lunch for homeless in Chicago, working with various community food pantries, helping with winter clothing drives in Chicago and in New Delhi, and helping with clean water projects in India. In his spare time, Anuj loves to travel, cook, watching movies and volunteer with his wife and two girls. Anuj currently works as a Managing Director for KPMG.
Stephen Thorpe
Stephen is a Chicago Native, born and raised on the Westside. He found an affinity for basketball by spending time with his father, Hall of Fame Coach Lewis Thorpe. Stephen attended Colby-Sawyer College on a scholarship where he continued his basketball career and received his B.A. After two years of collegiate coaching, he pursued his master’s at Concordia University while serving as assistant coach to his father at North Lawndale. Stephen was then the Athletic Coordinator at Breakthrough Urban Ministries. After the passing of his father, he fulfilled his position at North Lawndale as an educator and served as assistant coach. He currently serves as a Physical Education instructor and Varsity Basketball Coach at Muchin College Prep and is the founder of Real Deal Athlete.
Paul Toofan, M.D.
Paul has been giving back to the community since his days in medical school. He began as a resident physician in Chicago volunteering on weekends at a free clinic set up by students and residents at the University of Illinois at Chicago. As a practicing physician, Paul has worked primarily in rural communities in Illinois where access to healthcare can be limited and families struggle with poverty. While practicing in Ottawa, Illinois, he volunteered at a free medical clinic providing services to the uninsured. Paul is a graduate of the University of Iowa and received his medical degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is board certified in Emergency Medicine. Paul is a husband and proud father of three children. In his free time, he enjoys photography and riding his bike.
Junior Board
Avya Saxena
Avya Saxena is a sophomore at Fremd High school and is passionate about giving back to the community. She has been volunteering with her family from a young age across many organizations. This includes cooking for the women's shelter at Breakthrough Ministry in Garfield Park, helping to make and pack meals at her local temple for Port Ministry's Food Truck and organizing food drives for the Palatine Township food pantry. As part of JOD, she is a founding member of the junior board and is looking to connect with the youth in her community to help serve the mission of JOD. In her spare time, she is a Bollywood dancer and a big One Direction fan.