Each month, we’ll be introducing you to one of our stellar team members so you can get to know the humans behind Action for Healthy Kids.

Meet Sean Wade, Senior Manager of Volunteer Initiatives.

1. Favorite place to visit in your city/town: Just moved to Flossmoor, IL (south suburbs of Chicago) so still exploring, but I love Goodenow Nature Preserve for short hikes, a sled hill and fun stuff to do inside for Leo, my almost-2-year-old, including a friendly snake you can pet and a blue-tongued skink!
2. Go-to healthy dinner to make: Just discovered this one and it’s an instant favorite: sweet potato tacos with slaw and avocado hot sauce. Yum!
3. What staple is always in your fridge? Sriracha (and a couple other hot sauces that rotate, but Sriracha is a constant).
4. Favorite activities to do with your family or partner: Evening walks to explore the new neighborhood, date night dinners, and we just found an indoor trampoline park with daily toddler time that was amazing.
5. What do you do to wind down? If I have some time, a bike ride or hike; daily reading and/or relaxing on the couch with my wife.
6. As a kid, what did you want to be when you grow up? Baseball player (then baseball announcer when it became clear I was not going to cut it with the playing thing).
7. Favorite way(s) to get physical activity: Biking, hiking, team sports (softball, volleyball, basketball).
8. If you could learn any new skill overnight, what would you choose? Realistic skill? So not, like, teleportation? Then piano or guitar.
9. What motivates you in your decisions? My family – creating the best life possible for us and making sure Leo has everything he needs to grow up healthy, happy and safe.
   
10. Describe one of the most rewarding moments you’ve experienced: Aside from almost every moment with Leo, some of my most rewarding professional moments were when I was in AmeriCorps after college and running an after-school program in a couple low-income housing complexes. One in particular was when I worked with the older kids to write and produce their own play for the complex residents (I remember having to watch A LOT of Spongebob to understand most of what they wrote). Seeing the pride on their faces as they performed a play they wrote in front of sets they created for their families and neighbors is still one of my most vivid memories from a year that I learned a whole lot from those kids.