Hi! My name is Rebecca (Becki) Ries. I am a member of 4-H House’s 2017 pledge class, but I graduated from U of I in 2016 with a degree in Animal Sciences. I grew up in Waterloo, IL on a small hobby farm. While in 4-H House, I served as the Philanthropy Chair, Brother’s Weekend Chair, and Risk Chair. On campus, I was very active with ACES Council, serving as President my junior/senior year. I was also the President of a club for international students called English Corner for two years. 

After graduation, I received a poultry certification from the Midwest Poultry Consortium’s Center of Excellence Program hosted at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. With the poultry certification, I moved to Kentucky to work in a management training position with Pilgrim’s. From there I became the Human Resources Supervisor. This past summer, I moved back to the Champaign-Urbana area and took a job at the Champaign County Humane Society as their Events & Marketing Coordinator. I’ve now been there for almost 8 months, and I love being able to help the animals at CCHS find new homes! 

Since coming back to the area, I have been wanting to get involved with 4-H House again, so I’m very excited to officially be on the board and start this journey! I am currently working on the 85th Anniversary Celebration Committee, and I hope you can all attend the fun events that we are planning. I am also a member of the Champaign Rotary Club, and I am a sponsor of Centennial High School’s Interact Club. I enjoy spending time in the outdoors with my boyfriend, hanging out with my friends and family, and cuddling with my cats. 

Some of my favorite memories are from my time in the house – like doing handstands in the hallways! 4-H House introduced me to some of my best friends and for that I am forever grateful! My advice to current members of the house is to soak it all in and enjoy. Your time there will be over before you know it, but the memories and friends that you make will last a lifetime!

I, Kelli Lively, am a Class of 1996 alumna of 4-H House and graduated UofI with a major in Finance from the College of Business. I grew up in West Salem, IL as part of a proud farming family and was a 10-year member of our local 4-H Club. As an undergraduate, I was an active member of the house mostly serving in offices related to Treasurer, Social, and Pledge guidance. I was proud to represent 4-H House on the University’s Panhellenic Council for two years, and held an elected position in Student Alumni Ambassadors (SAA) serving as Homecoming Committee Chairperson in my senior year.

After college, I worked in various finance, treasury, and trust administration roles at Citicorp and Northern Trust in Chicago, IL. At Northern Trust, Washington University in St. Louis was one of my not-for-profit trust administration accounts, which led me to pursue a career at WashU when I married and had the desire to move back “downstate”. For the last 18 years, I have worked in higher education, in Admissions and Aid at Washington University in St. Louis. Recently, I took at position as the Manager of Loan Programs, reporting directly to the university Treasurer.  

Today, my husband Troy and I live in rural Bethalto, Illinois, with our four children — aged 8-16 — where we enjoy the outdoors, being active in our children’s activities (including our local 4-H club, Fosterburg Ag), and teaching our children the skills we learned in our youth, many through 4-H. I am an active volunteer at our children’s school and parish serving as Vice President of the School Board. I am the owner of ‘a little lively’, a small business hobby that allows me to enjoy occasional contract sewing and patternwork. Over the last 14 years, I’ve contributed my pattern and design skills to the success of Sweet Petunia Clothing, a children’s clothing brand based in St. Louis  — a company proudly committed to textile manufacturing in the U.S.A.

It is so rewarding to see my family and life-long 4-H House friends — some of the most amazing women I know — as Moms to daughters enjoying their time at UofI as members of 4-H House! For this reason, I have a personal interest in ensuring the next generation experiences the best that 4-H House has to offer young active members — and I’m proud to serve as your Association Treasurer!