About Yerkes Consulting:
Rita Yerkes, Ed.D., Principal, Yerkes Consulting
Rita is the former dean of the School of Experiential Leadership at George Williams College of Aurora University where she taught Administration and Research Methods. During her years of school and university experience, she created innovative professional training and experiential education programs at Towson University, Miami of Ohio University, State University of New York – Cortland and George Williams College of Aurora University. As a professor and dean, she created numerous student and faculty teams to conduct consulting projects for business, education, human services agencies, communities and non-profit organizations.
She is the past president and accreditation chair of the Association for Experiential Education and has served on national, state and local non-profit organization boards as a volunteer. She has also served as Accreditation Standards Instructor for several national associations.
Rita has enjoyed a distinguished career in education and business. She has been a camp counselor, middle school teacher, university professor, wilderness expedition leader, senior staff to a university president, dean and business entrepreneur.
During her many and varied professional positions she has always built successful teams, continued life-long learning, mentored others and held the belief that service to others was paramount in doing meaningful work. She has continued this philosophy at Yerkes Consulting, where “customer satisfaction is the guiding principle in everything we do”.
Yerkes Consulting clients have included the American Camp Association, Adventure Works-DeKalb County, DeKalb County Non-Profit Partnership, Farm & Wilderness Camps, National Recreation and Parks Association, Pay-It-Forward House, NFP, Sycamore, Illinois, Porter County Indiana Parks Foundation, Porter County Parks & Recreation Department and the Rockford Illinois Park District.
Invited Keynote Presentations
Granting Writing for Non-Profit Organizations. DeKalb County Non-Profit Day 2017 Conference. DeKalb County Non-Profit Partnership.
Outcomes Based Assessment. Illinois Association of Environmental Education – Northwest Section Conference.
“Creating a Culture of Inclusivity at Camp”, American Camp Association, Mid-States Camping Conference.
“Staff Recruitment & Retention: Developing Internships with Colleges and Universities”, American Camp Association, Mid-States Camping Conference.
“Social Media Marketing for Experiential Education Programs”, International Association of Experiential Education Conference.
“Quality Assurance, Outcomes Based Assessment and Accreditation”, Organizational Breakfast Speaker. International Experiential Education Conference.
“Images: “Women and Adventure: Kindred Spirits”, National Women’s Outdoor Leadership Conference. AEE & Outward Bound, Inc.
“Dancing on the Shores of the Future”, The Kurt Hahn Address. Association for Experiential Education.
“Revisiting Our Roots Enables Us to Branch Out and Be Inclusive”, Heartland Region, the Association for Experiential Education.
Awards
Hedley Dimock Award, for outstanding contributions to organized camping American Camp Association.
Dean Emeritus, Board of Trustees Aurora University.
Outstanding Service Award, Wisconsin Parks and Recreation Association
Kurt Hahn Award, International Association for Experiential Education. For outstanding contributions to the development of Experiential Education.