Contact Us
If you have questions about anything in particular about our board game non-profit feel free to ask the following people!
| Volunteering | Lily Wang | lily [at] spielbound.org |
| Donating Games / Library | Marcus Ross | marcus [at] spielbound.org |
| Charity events & special programs | Dan Johnson | dan [at] spielbound.org |
| Games for seniors | Kaitlyn O'Leary | kaitlyn [at] spielbound.org |
| Spielmasons | Ann Journey | ann [at] spielbound.org |
| Anything else | Kaleb Michaud | kaleb [at] spielbound.org |
Volunteer Staff
Kaleb Michaud, Director
Favorite games: Terraforming Mars, Agricola, Alchemists, Betrayal at House on the Hill, and Catan: Cities & Knights
Kaleb is passionate about his board game hobby. With a collection of over 6,000 games, he enjoys sharing his hobby with others – hence Spielbound. Kaleb wanted a convenient location where people could find and play these hard-to-find games, and similar to a library, create a community center, bringing all peoples together for the enjoyment of play. By day, Kaleb is a professor of medicine, epidemiologist of rheumatology, leads a non-profit arthritis research organization, and holds degrees in physics and astronomy.
Volunteering for Education
If you are interested in using our games as part of an in-school or after-school program, please contact Kaleb!
Michelle Seiter, Secretary
Pete Evans, Treasurer
Favorite Games: Scythe, Viticulture, Caverna, Nusfjord, Terra Mystica, Francis Drake, Nauticus
Pete is an IT Manager for the local city/county government. He is a husband and father of two little girls. Through the infinite patience of his wife he is usually able to make it to Spielbound at least once a week for games & trivia and also to continue adding games to his expanding collection. Pete enjoys teaching games especially to those that are unfamiliar with modern board gaming. He's always looking to bring new people into the hobby and finding a style of game that they will enjoy. When not placing workers or selecting actions he can often be found making post passes, drop stops, and the occasional death save while engaging in his other favorite hobby, pinball.
Lily Wang, Volunteer Coordinator
Favorite games: Blood on the Clocktower, The Crew, Nemesis, Telestrations
Lily is excited to introduce and support people to play more board games; she loves and strongly believes in the power of playing games together towards strengthening social connections and building community. She moved to Omaha in the year 2000 to join the UNL College of Engineering as a faculty member on UNO’s Scott Campus, with a focus in architectural acoustics. She never thought she would stay in Omaha as long as she has, but is deeply grateful to have landed in such a wonderful city and academic environment. Besides board games and engineering, she also enjoys singing (a cappella and group karaoke) and learning improv comedy.
Volunteering for Everyone Plays
- thumbs_up_down Board game reviews: You can help now by posting short reviews here online, but we'd like some larger ones for our blog.
- event Board game demos: With a library of over a thousand games, there is no way people will know how to play them all. Volunteers will be teaching how to play the games, with a different game being taught each day. Additionally, as a thank you to our demoers, you are welcome to a free drink of your choice from the cafe (i.e., non-alcoholic)!
- grid_on Board game cataloging: Every game donated to our library gets cataloged to help it last longer for more future plays.
- assignment Let Lily know you're interested!
Marcus Ross, Librarian
Favorite games: Pandemic, Power Grid, Alien Frontiers, Qwirkle, Euphoria, and Tournament Rules Monopoly
Marcus loves nothing more than playing a new game with old friends (he only agreed to take the librarian job because he gets to touch ALL THE GAMES). After getting hooked on Catan in 2003, he's been up to play any Eurostyle tabletop within reach. Marcus has a real soft spot for games by Matt Leacock or Friedemann Friese and pretty much all cooperative games. You're most likely to find him nose deep in a rules manual or designing his own for Water Bear Games. Marcus currently holds both the family's annual Monopoly trophies and won't be giving them up any time soon.
Adam Cornish, Webmaster
Favorite games: Alchemists, Power Grid, Werewolfe, and Battlestar Galactica
Adam is a simple man: happiness in his life comes from sleeping, eating, dancing, learning, and friends. He really enjoys board games because they can satisfy two to three of those desires, while adding psychological intrigue, the development of a cooperative spirit, and intellectual challenges.
Kaitlyn O’Leary, Stay Sharp Committee Chair
Favorite Games: Egyptian Rat Screw, Phase 10, Kings Corner, Anomia
Kaitlyn’s earliest memories include playing checkers and card games with her grandpa. She continued her love of playing games after he passed. She frequently has game nights, and loves to share new games with friends, family, and even her patients. Kaitlyn is an Occupational Therapist pursuing a Board Certification in Gerontology. She understands the therapeutic benefits of gaming at any age. Additionally, she is excited to assist older adults with any cognitive or physical disability participate in any type of game. When she’s not working or playing games, Kaitlyn spends her time doing yoga from the comfort of her home, and she loves to explore new places.
Volunteering for Stay Sharp Seniors
If you are interested in using our games as part of retirement community center activities, please contact Kaitlyn!
Ann Journey, Chair of Spielmasons
Favorite games: Alhambra, Bruges, Castles of Burgundy, Dinosaurs of the Lost World, Dominion, Emira, Empire Builder, Glass Road, Iron Dragon, Takenoko
Ann is a founding member of the Spielmasons, an organization of local board game designers dedicated to fostering an environment of creativity, constructive feedback, and promotion of local board game design efforts. As its Chairwoman, Ann directs the Spielmasons' endeavors in exciting opportunities, including organizing weekly meetings, presence at local and national conventions, and other events. Ann got into serious board gaming back in junior high when her school was condemned after the floor fell in and classes were moved to the local high school where she met a Senior who was only too happy to teach her and her friends how to play BattleTech. After wasting way too much money in high school and college playing CCGs, Ann got into modern board gaming when a friend taught her Settlers of Catan with an original first edition set in 1998. Since then, Ann has become fanatically passionate about the board gaming hobby. She enjoys teaching others a plethora of games, particularly obscure overlooked gems that most people have never heard of. When she's not playing or designing board games, she teaches writing at Iowa Western Community College and Board Game Design at UNO, watches bad movies with her wife, entertains her two sons, Luke Ender and Joseph Wooster, and reads and writes for pleasure. Her new game, Cretaceous Rails, is being published by Spielcraft Games.
Volunteering for Spielmasons
If you are interested in creating new games that you'd like to have play-tested or would like to play-test others, please contact Ann!
Dan Johnson, Programs Director
Favorite Games: Sorry, King of Tokyo, Ticket to Ride, Imperial Assault
Dan is an architect, a husband, and a father of two. Influenced from an early age by Yahtzee, in his middle years by Axis and Allies, and more recently by almost anything with a Star Wars endorsement, he loves any game that combines a bit of chance with a bunch of strategy. Dan had tried for years to get friends together by watching movies and playing video games, but found, after much trial and error, that board games provide that satisfying level of brain-engagement and social interaction…and, sometimes even, a chance to enjoy a beverage of your choice. When not gaming on the table-top, Dan spends his free time working on his 101 year old house, exploring digital universes on Xbox, watching any Christopher Nolan film, and indoctrinating his children into the expansive Star Wars galaxy.
Leigha Atkisson, Communications Intern
Favorite games: Dixit, Mysterium, Ticket to Ride, Bananagrams, and Glyphics
Leigha is a Speech Language Pathologist and freelance artist. She loves all things involving creativity and communication especially games that combine the two! Born and raised in Omaha, Leigha grew up losing all the classic board games to her two older brothers. She now enjoys playing all different kinds of games with her family and extended family. When she's not working, Leigha can be found drinking lots of black coffee, drawing, playing video games, or watching movies. On occasion, she will go outside and play disc golf or badminton with her family.
Natalie Pearson, Communications Intern
Favorite games: Dungeons and Dragons, Flamecraft, Stardew Valley: The Board Game, UNO, and Catan
Natalie is a student at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a freelance writer with a love for adventure. She has grown up playing board games and video games with family and friends and she especially enjoys strategy games. She seriously got into tabletop gaming, however, when she joined her university's Dungeons and Dragons Club, where she met many of her friends and became all the more passionate about the social benefits of gaming. When not developing communications materials for Spielbound, she can be found looking forward to her next session of D&D. She also enjoys cozy fantasy novels, iced chai lattes, walking her mini American Shepherd, Juno; watching television, and dreaming about her next trip abroad.
Former Staff Members
Cecily Zdan, Volunteer Coordinator - 8 years of service!
Favorite games: Pandemic, Ticket to Ride, Catchphrase, Gift Trap, and Sleuth
Cecily is an energetic marshaller of troops, who is thrilled to share her passion for board games with other enthusiastic players. She loves meeting new people, especially new Spielbound volunteers. Cecily believes board games are a fantastic way for would-be strangers to become fast friends, whether challenging strategy games or fast-paced party games, and Spielbound is the perfect place to find those friends. You can also find Cecily swing dancing with the Omaha Jitterbugs, volunteering at the Omaha Community Playhouse, and watching Princess Bride on repeat.
Gina Dvorak, Secretary - 6 years of service!
Favorite Games: 7 Wonders, Libertalia, Sheephead, and Cribbage
Gina Dvorak is a digital journalist with a great deal of experience in social media and content development, plus a dash of nonprofit marketing. While most of that happened in Southern California, Gina grew up near Columbus, Neb. and moved back to Omaha in 2014. She was introduced to Spielbound shortly thereafter, and enjoys hanging out there whenever possible. Gina has been playing cards and board games since she could read, never letting any of her younger cousins win, but pretty much always losing every game she plays with friends. Feel free to find Gina on the Twitters @GNAdv, where she enjoys live-tweeting about old Spielcasts, current events and/or local news, and other such Twittery nonsense.
Rollie Tesh, Game Maestro
Favorite Games: Splendor, Jai-Pur, Ingenious, Acquire, Pente, Chess
My entire life has been centered around board games. From playing, to designing, to being a publishing agent. Getting my start as a Chess Master, and Pente World Champion, before moving on to designing and having a couple dozen tabletop games published. Most notably the Star Trek: CCG and Star Wars: CCG. Although my background was originally with abstract strategy games, I prefer designing social (party) games, as I believe that a good game is one that facilitates social interaction (rather than being about winning or losing).
Spielbound is now the third board game cafe I've worked with, and frankly the best I've seen. Kaleb and the rest of the bunch at Spielbound, especially the Spielmasons, already know what they are doing, and so it is a great privilege for me to be invited aboard. The future holds many exciting possibilities for all of us.
Neil J. Opitz, Spielmasons
Favorite games: 7 Wonders, RoboRally, Duel of Ages, and Battle Line
Neil is a husband, father of 4, alpha analog gamer, mathematician, musician, game designer, and illustrator. He grew up in a house with 7 other siblings, as well as lots of classic board games. What he enjoys most is sitting on the beach, watching baseball, and playing board games with his family and friends (and is looking forward to doing all of these simultaneously someday). When he’s not playing the role of data scientist, you will probably find him playing games with his family or testing new game designs.
Michelle Nodskov, Program Coordinator
Favorite games: Rack-O, Catch Phrase, Phase 10, and Ticket to Ride
Michelle is always up for a good challenge and loves games that involve strategy and competition. As a kid, she was known to be a fierce opponent in her family's UNO tournaments, which sparked her love for card and board games. Some of her most fond memories have taken place around a kitchen table with family and friends—playing crowd-pleasing favorites such as Apples to Apples, Catch Phrase, and Skip-Bo. She believes in the power games have to overcome differences and bring people together. As a college advisor, Michelle has developed a passion for meeting new people and serving as a role model within the community. You may also catch her cheering on Husker football and hanging out with her fluffy, white dog, Napoleon.
Jessica Steffen, Senior Center Outreach Coordinator
Favorite Games: Ghost Stories, Pandemic, Dominion, and Small World
Jess is a self-proclaimed board game fanatic who loves finding new games to share with her friends. Her obsession has extended to holding regular board game lunches with her coworkers and she hopes to include even more of her colleagues in the fun. During the week Jess is buried behind a computer working on SQL queries as the manager for a systems support team. On the weekends she’s lucky enough to get paid to share her love of games with a great group of senior residents at a local assisted living facility. She loves getting to know them and finding new games for them that appeal to their various interests. She’s seen firsthand the positive impact gaming has had on the residents and believes Spielbound is an ideal organization to offer that same positive experience to others. When she’s not working or playing games, Jess spends her time playing with her oversized German Shepherd and attempting to achieve her goal of reading over 100 books this year.
Michael Fryda, Teacher Outreach Coordinator
Favorite Games: Dominion, Betrayal at House on the Hill, Dungeons and Dragons, Battletech, and the X-wing Miniatures Game
Michael has seen how games can unlock a desire to learn in anyone. He is a public high school science teacher, sponsoring a Game Club at his school and designing games to support learning in his classroom. His goals include teaching students critical thinking skills, self advocacy, teamwork, and positive social interactions. Michael is an adjunct professor of education and was honored as the 2010 Nebraska Teacher of the Year. He lives in Omaha with his wife and five non-human children.
Previous Interns
- Pete Rafferty (2014-2015)
- Maggie McReynolds (2015-2017)
- Gina Dvorak (2017-2018)
- Braylie Barrier (2018)
- Anna Morton (2019)
- Payton Fry (2020)
- Leila Tatby(2022)