GETTING AHEAD - Key Persons
Adrienne Ballew Elder holds a Master's Degree in Public Health with specific training as a Certified Health Education Specialist, Certified Standards of Quality for Family Strengthening & Support, a national Bridges Out of Poverty trainer, a certified Getting Ahead program facilitator, and coauthor of Getting Ahead ACEs and PACEs Supplement: Addressing Trauma Through Building Trust and Resilience.
In her consulting role, Mrs. Elder has raised over $40 million in funding for community outreach, support groups, quality education, positive coping skills, mental health, parent training, affordable housing, family planning, maternal and child health, early childhood education, mentoring, addiction recovery, anti-poverty, homeless prevention, criminal justice, quality education, workforce development, and livable wages.
She is a core team member of the National Trauma Campaign and on the Speakers & Trainers Bureau of the PACEs Connections Network. Adrienne is passionate about cross-sector partnerships and aligning resources, like "Handle With Care" that increases coordination among law enforcement, schools, mental health agencies, and social services in the community after a child experiences or witnesses a traumatic event. She is an aha! Process consultant and co-trainer for the Getting Ahead ACEs and PACEs Supplement: Addressing Trauma Through Building Trust and Resilience.
Angel A. D. Tucker was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio. He grew up in an impoverished neighborhood flooded with drugs, gangs, and violence. Within this community, Angel experienced an incredible amount of harassment and endured daily pressure to join one of the local gangs. Rather than falling victim to this pressure, Angel persevered, becoming a notable servant of his community for more than 30 years. As a young and ambitious leader in his neighborhood block watch, Angel helped organize neighborhood revitalization initiatives. He has since been dedicated to mentoring youth from similar communities. In 2011, Angel made local history by becoming the first African-American police officer to join the Oregon Police Department (OPD) in Oregon, Ohio, where he currently serves as patrolman. During his career with OPD, Angel has led the initiative for external carrier vests and is currently working on an initiative with the OPD, city officials, and Bowling Green State University to recruit a more diverse slate of candidates for first responders across the county. Angel has served on the SWAT team, Crisis Intervention Team (CIT), Crisis Negotiator Unit (CNU), Drug Abuse Response Team (DART) Honor Guard, Bike Patrol Unit, and is currently a presenter for the Citizens Police Academy. In addition, Angel is highly regarded as a leader and advocate in the field of mental health. His mission to bring awareness to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and continued traumatic stress disorder (CTSD) has been acknowledged and integrated into his Tactical Communication work. These efforts have been recognized locally by the mental health board and other organizations, earning him the 2020 Officer of the Year award for Lucas County.
Bethanie Hamlett Tucker, Ed.D. of Danville, Virginia, has been a professional educator since 1972. She has served in a number of critical teaching and program leadership roles at the elementary school level and is currently a professor of education at Averett University in Danville. Through aha! Process, Bethanie provides training and consulting services for Tucker Signing Strategies for Reading, Understanding and Engaging Under-Resourced College Students, Emotional Poverty, A Framework for Understanding Poverty, Research-Based Strategies, Motivation, and Ready for College, Ready for Careers. An experienced consultant and author, Bethanie has been with aha! Process since 2000.
Carla Hubbard, of Indianapolis, Indiana, has been a professional educator since 1983. She spent one year as a high school guidance counselor, but all the rest have been at the elementary level in various capacities. She has served as a classroom teacher at various levels, an elementary school counselor, a teaching and learning coach, an assistant principal, and a principal on several campuses in every socioeconomic class, from inner city urban to rural communities. Carla provides training through aha! Process in A Framework for Understanding Poverty and Emotional Poverty.
My favorite training moment was during a Bridges Out of Poverty workshop for the executive leadership team of the Charlotte Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services. The research impacted them so much that they have had their entire organization trained in Bridges Out of Poverty and are now using Getting Ahead with their Work First clients. This organization is the largest human service provider in the state of North Carolina.
Daisy Mastroianni is a mother of four amazing kids, has been a teacher for more than 20 years, and is the owner of MindfullyU, an organization dedicated to cultivating peace in individuals and organizations through the application of mindfulness techniques based on an understanding of how our brains work and the impact our physiology has on our emotional regulation.
As a secondary teacher, Daisy's experiences include high-performing schools in which academic pressures led to high levels of stress and anxiety, as well as schools with large numbers of students living in poverty and the impact poverty plays on students and staff. Daisy has also lived and taught in international schools overseas. These experiences have allowed her to incorporate a multicultural perspective and understanding into her work.
Whether learning to pivot and shift from negative thought patterns, or understanding the value of a simple breathing technique, or practicing living life "in the now," Daisy is proud to have shared mindfulness and the brain science behind mindset and resiliency with thousands of individuals for more than 20 years. Daisy is excited about Emotional Poverty workshops and joining the aha! Process team in continuing this important work.
Donna Hurt Donna received her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Missouri. She began her career as a K-12 school social worker for the Albany School District in Missouri for three years. Donna was the first social worker ever employed by the district and laid the
foundation for future school social service positions before moving to a career in higher education. After spending a summer as the assistant director for the Graceland University TRIO Upward Bound Summer Program, Donna took a position with TRIO Student Support Services, counseling and advising under-resourced, first-generation college students.
Donna has been an advocate and a voice for under-resourced college students on her campus. She has had numerous speaking opportunities to educate staff, faculty, and student leaders about the needs of the university's under-resourced students and the strategies necessary to retain and graduate them. She is considered an expert on under-resourced college students on her campus and consults with departments and divisions across campus to create a better experience for students.
Donna also works directly with Graceland's under-resourced student population to build resources and
Elizabeth (Betti) Souther has worked in the field of education for more than 30 years at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. She began her career in education at Farmington Schools as a technology specialist and member of a district team created to integrate technology into education. Betti is certified in multiple business and education models and worked in many capacities at Farmington Schools from classroom to central office. In 2012 Betti left Farmington Schools to direct a grant at San Juan College that established a Center for Working Families.
Eugene K. "Gene" Krebs spent eight years in the Ohio House of Representatives, three years on a local school board, and four years as a county commissioner. With Phil DeVol he is coauthor of Bridges Across Every Divide and contributed the sections on policy and advocacy to Bridges Out of Poverty, fifth edition.
Krebs has been a research executive in an organization that studies economic development, urban revitalization, and farmland preservation. Later he was an executive in a research group that studies healthcare and human-service issues. He served on Ohio's Joint Committee on High Technology Start-up Business, Sales Tax Holiday Study Committee (chair), and the Eminent Domain Task Force.
He was appointed by Democrat Governor Ted Strickland to Ohio's 21st Century Transportation Task Force and by Republican Governor John Kasich to the Local Government Innovation Council. Krebs is a three-time winner of the Watchdog of the Treasury award for supporting fiscally frugal policies.
He also has appeared on a regular basis on the PBS television show Columbus on the Record and has been featured on CNN, BBC, The State of Ohio, The Spectrum, and All Sides with Ann Fisher as an informed voice on many political and policy issues.
Further, Krebs has been published in The Wall Street Journal on economic policy and several times in The Columbus Dispatch and The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) on state policy issues and is frequently sought by the media for insights on various issues. His scientific research in quantum biology and ethology appeared in the Journal of Biological Psychology, and his ag research was featured in The Ohio Farmer magazine for his innovations involving the use of zinc as an enzyme inhibitor to reduce nitrogen loss in no-till settings.
Krebs was awarded the Preservation Hero Award from Heritage Ohio for his efforts in drafting, passing, and defending the state tax credit for historical rehabilitation, which is now a national model due in large part to its requirement of cost-benefit analysis of all prospective projects.
He recently resigned as the chair of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel Governing Board. While he was chair of the board, the Consumers' Counsel saved consumers $800 million in utility costs, with another $5 billion projected over the next nine years. Originally appointed by then Attorney General Jim Petro, Krebs has been consistently reappointed to the board by both Republican and Democrat attorneys general due to his expertise in utility law and economics.
A former inter-collegiate fencing coach, Krebs is a seventh-generation farmer of 400 acres where he was a pioneer in no-till methodology, has planted 10,000 trees and still lives on the family farm near Morning Sun, Ohio.
He is married to Jan, an award-winning professional artist who works in many different styles and materials. They have two grown daughters who have blessed them with five grandchildren. His principal hobby is a small flock of mostly Dominique chickens, the breed brought to America by the Pilgrims.
Evan Whitehead has been in the field of education for more than 20 years spanning three decades and is currently the director of special services for a PK-8 school district in Illinois. In his current role, Evan oversees all federal programs (special education, McKinney-Vento, English learners, and Title I); early childhood education; multi-tiered system of support (MTSS); social emotional learning, family and community engagement; health services; continuous improvement; and equity, diversity, and cultural competency.
Evan started his career in education as a crisis and behavior interventionist at a therapeutic day school in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. Over the course of his career, he has held the following positions: special education paraprofessional, special education high school teacher, Latino parent outreach coordinator, dean of student discipline, community outreach coordinator, director of special services, director of bilingual education and English learners, Title I director, and assistant superintendent of special services.
Evan also worked as a district liaison with the Illinois State Board of Education's Illinois Statewide System of Support. In this role Evan was charged with leading district assistance teams in implementing supports for districts in order to build district capacity in schools and help reduce the largest within-school gaps in achievement and largest within-school gaps in graduation rates at the high school level.
Chief Gary Rudick (ret.) is a 35-year veteran of law enforcement in Oklahoma, serving the citizens of the state as a patrol officer, supervisor, and chief of police. He has a master's in criminal justice and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, Session 242. He led one police agency to receive the 2006 International Association of Chiefs of Police Civil Rights Award, and the same agency was recognized for achieving state accreditation.
Gary Rudick served as a field representative for the State of Oklahoma Office of Homeland Security to improve the safety of the learning environment for all students, faculty, and staff, as well as instructing law enforcement in areas of education policing until 2019. He remains active in advocating for innovative safety measures within the education environment and championing improved policing approaches based on Tactical Communication recommendations.
Jennifer A. Nehl has been in education since 1994.
She has worked all levels of education-elementary, middle school, and high school-and has seven years' administrative experience. She has taught high school English language arts (ELA), K-12 music (band, choir, and general), secondary social studies, and secondary science. She also held the title of statewide literacy coordinator for the South Dakota Department of Education.
Job Titles:
- School Psychologist With the Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency Out of Bettendorf
Jim Ott has been a school psychologist with the Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency out of Bettendorf, Iowa, since 1984. He has served a variety of schools in rural Jackson County for his entire career. Jim is the co-founder of the City of Dubuque's Circles Initiative, which is applying Bridges Out of Poverty Concepts at the community level through workshops, trainings, and Getting Ahead in a Just-Gettin'-By World groups. Jim also presents Emotional Poverty workshops. He has been a national consultant with aha! Process since 2010.
JoWanda Rollins-Fells, Ph.D., is a Virginia resident who is passionate about empowering the lives of others. She taught elementary school and served in several leadership capacities in the public school system for 15 years before transitioning into business and politics.
JoWanda has been instrumental in converting failing systems into thriving ecosystems by integrating her training, natural instincts, love for people and passion for learning. She has been an aha! Process certified trainer since 2003 and has worked with K-12 education, Head Start, community organizations, business workforce development initiatives, and the local and state departments of social services and juvenile justice.
Whether it is working to support education as a school board member or advocating for small businesses as a senior consultant, JoWanda can be found serving and leading.
Karla Krodel has worked with people in under-resourced environments since 1980. Beginning her professional practice as a registered nurse in South Carolina, she worked with women in poverty in public prenatal clinics and lead-poisoning prevention programs. Later, in Ohio, she worked at public health clinics and eventually transitioned to the Center for Urban Studies at Youngstown State University (YSU). As a senior research associate at YSU, her work focused on building strategic partnerships between the institution and community partners, usually focused on some aspect of poverty. She founded the first healthcare industry cluster in the country and began focusing on issues experienced by low-wage, low-skill healthcare workers. She now runs the Metro Credit Education and Outreach Office at YSU and administers several programs targeting under-resourced populations, including first-generation, low-income students and students who are incarcerated. Through aha! Process Karla provides training and consulting services for Understanding and Engaging Under-Resourced College Students and Investigations into Economic Class in America.An experienced consultant and author, Karla has been with aha! Process since 2008.
Kate Daneker is director of social initiatives at Square Roots Collective and the coordinator of the Southern Chester County Opportunity Network, a regional Bridges initiative focused on engaging the community to address poverty together in comprehensive, collaborative ways. Kate spent the first part of her career working in direct social service roles with the multilingual, multicultural population of Southeastern Pennsylvania and has extensive experience navigating community systems to bring about collective change. Kate lives in the coolest small town on Earth, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, with her husband Rob and their rescue dog Sadie.
Kathy June McPherson of Columbus, Ohio, grew up in the little village of Urbancrest, Ohio, where everyone knew and supported each other. Although it was a poverty-stricken community, all needs were met because of the community structure. Moving to Columbus, Ohio, as a teen provided a new and different experience. In 1993 Kathy began working in the field of social work, where she was later introduced to Bridges Out of Poverty. Working with indigent populations of men, women, and children provided a perfect platform for understanding concepts that could be integrated into her work to create better outcomes for her clients. The Bridges Out of Poverty workshop was also an aha! moment for her because it described her life growing up in many ways. Kathy has worked as a chemical dependency counselor, case manager, court liaison, and with specialty dockets. She has been very active in the community as a mentor, scout mother, dance troop mother, and in other activities. She is currently a program coordinator at Crossroads Recovery and has started a consulting business, K. Consultants. Through aha! Process Kathy is an experienced presenter for Bridges Out of Poverty and Getting Ahead in a Just-Gettin'-By World workgroups. Kathy has facilitated Getting Ahead workgroups since 2004 and joined aha! Process as a consultant in 2008.
Kirven Tillis has more than 20 years of experience in education working with K-12 students. As a teacher and administrator he has helped at-risk children achieve success in the classroom by using his unique life experiences to highlight how resilience can be used to overcome adverse situations and lead to success. Kirven has been instrumental in creating discipline and alternative education scenarios and programs that focus on learning and character rather than punitive consequences.
Mary is an experienced leader with the ability to create community partnerships across multiple sectors to achieve impactful results. She also has an extensive background in strategic planning, project management, and executing plans of work.
Mike Dames of Harrisburg, North Carolina, has been a professional educator for 18 years. Mike is presently the director of HOPE worldwide Charlotte. As director of this faith-based organization, he is using the aha! Process research (Framework and Bridges Out of Poverty) to help this organization achieve its mission of improving the lives of individuals who are living in poverty. He started his career in corporate America and worked in marketing for 13 years. He began his career in education in 1995, serving as a behavior specialist. Mike has served as a special education teacher at the elementary and middle school levels. For several years he served as a high school administrator. Mike also served as a case manager in the area of mental health. He is a living example of an individual who grew up in situational poverty in a single-parent household who successfully transitioned out of poverty. Mike is a national consultant who has worked with various schools and human service providers in his community and across the nation to embed the Bridges and Framework constructs into their organizations. Through aha! Process, Mike provides training and consulting services for Bridges Out of Poverty, Boys in Crisis, and A Framework for Understanding Poverty.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of City Mission of Schenectady
Michael Saccocio is the Executive Director of City Mission of Schenectady (NY). Over the course of his leadership, the Mission has added several new programs and engaged in an $8 million capital expansion and neighborhood revitalization effort.
Nicole J. Baptiste, LMSW was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. As a dedicated licensed social worker, Nicole has more than 10 years of experience working in health and human services. Nicole's expertise is in program development, community building, and community engagement. She adopts a creative and strategic approach to linking and leveraging community resources. Nicole is the founder of Uproot and Build and consults with nonprofit and healthcare organizations in developing innovative community engagement strategies.
Nyima Porter, MSW, grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania, and now lives in Columbus, Ohio. Nyima comes from generational poverty and has more than 20 years of experience working with underserved youth and underrepresented populations. Her philosophy is grounded in empowering the poor and educating the privileged around culturally sensitive issues. Nyima is the founder of Concrete Dreamers and consults with youth service providers in the areas of curriculum development, program development, capacity building, and special projects. She also has experience designing and managing various mentoring programs: college peer-to-peer, adult-to-adult, and adult-to-youth. Nyima is a trained mentor: The National Mentoring Partnership technical assistance provider, Elements of Effective Practice trainer, National Quality Mentoring System (NQMS) provider, Bridges Out of Poverty trainer, Getting Ahead in a Just-Gettin'-By World facilitator, and poverty simulation facilitator.
Pedro Perez is committed to social justice and equity. He helps people in poverty gain access to education, sustainable employment, and entrepreneurial opportunities, exemplifying his commitment to equity and social justice. Dedicated to helping those living in poverty, Pedro strives to ensure diversity and inclusion are priorities for every organization with which he works. He rose to the rank of brigadier general in the New York State Police and served as acting superintendent during Governor Spitzer's and Governor Paterson's administrations. Pedro made New York State Police history by becoming the highest-ranking Afro-Caribbean Taíno Indian. Throughout his nearly 30-year tenure with this statewide policing agency, he advocated assertively and helped actualize for greater inclusion of minority men and women within its ranks.
Pedro is a Kyoshi seventh-degree black belt in Myo Suki Ryu Jujitsu and Renshi sixth-degree black belt instructor of karate. He is an Afro-Caribbean master conguero (conga drummer) who performs in the capital region of New York, nationally, and internationally with his own Mambo Dragons band, as well as several other musical groups. Also, he enjoys playing chess ineptly with some of his colleagues.
Job Titles:
- Bestselling Author
- Bestselling Author Ruby K. Payne Founded Training and Publishing Company Aha! Process in 1996
Bestselling author Ruby K. Payne founded training and publishing company aha! Process in 1996.