SCHOOLPULSE - Key Persons
Aimee Hurst (PIT) currently works as an elementary school counselor in southern Idaho.
Courtney Cramer (PIT) is studying at West Texas A&M to get her Master's degree in counseling. She and her husband, Kyle, have 2 beautiful daughters and a son. Courtney's passion in life is to help others live their lives more fully and in the process find joy and purpose.
Dallas Keate (PIT) joined the SchoolPulse team to provide support for high school students during the most exciting and challenging time of their lives! Dallas is the oldest of six children, and has always strived to be a good example, providing my younger siblings with advice as they go through what he went through!
In his words, "With SchoolPulse I'm able to be there for those that are going through the same challenges I've experienced. During high school, I attended group therapy and was amazed at how much the counselors and therapists changed my life for the better!"
Iuri Melo (Co-Founder) has been a Licensed Therapist for over 20 years. He's seen thousands of people like you. He's published two books (Mind Over Grey Matter -&- Know Thy Selfie), one of which was a best-seller. He's won awards for his therapeutic work with individuals, and is just a hell of a guy! SchoolPulse is his latest invention (co-founder), and his vision is to inspire youth and young adults everywhere to live deeply and to suck out all of the marrow of life.
Iuri is married to an amazing woman, and has five extraordinary children.
Justin Lund (Doer) is an accomplished doer and entrepreneur, having instigated and helmed several successful ventures in business services, finance, marketing, and social impact. With innate creativity and a battle-tested ability to scrutinize the challenge at hand, Justin is a sought-after strategist and problem-solver - often the moving force behind lightning-strike moments of profound operational shifts. He has bootstrapped ideas into hundred-person enterprises with acute attention to three details: relationships, reason, and results. Above all, Justin is a devoted husband and father to four energetic teens, with whom he enjoys traveling and discovering the far corners of the globe every chance he can get.
Kaela Unruh (PIT) was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. She is currently finishing her undergraduate degree in the music therapy program at Utah State University. She has always had a passion for music and for people, so she was ecstatic to find a field that combines both. She loves to travel and loves working with youth, and has spent three years leading humanitarian youth groups with HumanitarianXP to countries in Central America and Europe. These experiences have helped prepare her to work in the PIT and have deepened her love and respect for teens and adolescents. She understands the importance of emotional competence and resilience, and is passionate about validating the full spectrum of emotions involved in the human experience.
Katy Lee (PIT) is a long-time resident of southern Utah. She relishes in the heat, beauty, and adventure that comes from living in the desert. Art, family, and helping others are what bring the most passion and richness to her life. Katy is a childhood sexual abuse survivor.
In her own words, "Growing up came with a lot of challenges because of this, especially in my scholastic endeavors and activities. From my own firsthand experiences, I have gained a desire and gift to help struggling teens see their self-worth. Working in residential homes and years spent being a proctor parent gave me opportunities to learn, teach and help children, even from the most difficult walks of life, to succeed.
For the past couple of years, I have been in training with SchoolPulse and have been blessed to be able to continue my learning. There is a tremendous amount of fulfillment that comes from texting with these amazing teens (sometimes even their parents and teachers) and assisting them during their times of need. Then witnessing, through text, their personal growth."
Kristen is currently pursuing a degree in Marriage and Family Studies at BYU-Idaho. She loves the fulfillment that comes in helping others and the positivity that it brings along the way.
Linda Canales (Operations) enjoys taking challenges head-on and helping others to create and build great projects and tell their stories. She has worked in a variety of industries-from radio production to higher education to academic advisor to film production to marketing-always striving to help her teammates thrive and reaching company goals. She enjoys learning and acquiring new skills. She studied Information and Communication Sciences, specializing in organizational communication and video production, and graduating with honors. In her own words, "I am very happy and excited to be part of this noble project. I believe SchoolPulse tackles the accessibility issue that many communities face when it comes to mental health services. It is my goal to help SchoolPulse be reachable for everyone because it is the best mental health service out there and everyone should be able to access it."
has had a passion for art and design since she was young. She was drawing and doodling from the time she could hold a crayon! Originally, Maddy's career plan was to be a high school art teacher, but as she progressed in her college program it became clear that being an educator wasn't the path she wanted to take.
Before SchoolPulse, Maddy worked as a graphic designer in the real estate industry, working on the marketing team at SunRiver Communities. She is excited to work in the mental health field because it's something she cares a lot about. She has a personal history with mental health, and has found a lot of peace through therapy and counseling. When Maddy isn't creating for SchoolPulse, she is probably at the local rock climbing gym!
Mark Dimor (PIT) worked in the pharmaceutical marketing and advertising world for over 20 years before starting his own company The BioContinuum Group. Which he opened from his home in 1993. The primary focus of BCG was medical education for physicians and nurses though programs developed to improve the delivery of better patient care.
In 2009 Donna, his wife, was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer. He closed BCG and became the primary caregiver while doing consulting. In 2011 when Donna died he began his grief journey and work. Reading and writing extensively about love and loss. Mark self published "Donna, A Memoir of Love and Loss" Documenting his 30+ years married to his wife Donna and her passing.
Mark became an an active volunteer as a way to return to the community the support he received and benefited from following Donna's death. Among those organization were the hospice where Donna was admitted and passed in. He also volunteered with the 9/11 National Museum and the 9/11 Tribute Museum.
In early 2020 looking for other volunteer opportunities he joined, trained, and became a crisis counselor with Crisis Text Line. Since March 5, 2020 Mark has completed over 1,700 conversations with adults, teens, and children. He learned first hand the mental health crisis America faces and has become a vocal advocated for suicide prevention, deaths of despair, grief, and loss.
Ryan Villanueva (PIT) chose to be a part of SP because he shares the vision of assisting students through the use of technology. This enables them to have someone listen to them whenever they need to express their emotions or thoughts.
Ryan is a university lecturer handling Psychology courses and a Ph.D. Counseling candidate specializing in School and Community Counseling. He is also the resident counselor and mental health associate at Kajae Augmentation Services. Ryan also loves art and crafts, karaoke, nature, and dogs!
Having grown frustrated with the lack of resources available to students, Stacy has returned to higher education to gain a graduate degree in social work. SchoolPulse is a dream come true for school counselors and joining the SP team is a natural step for Stacy.
Her experience in school counseling has been invaluable as she works with SchoolPulse to serve the most vulnerable and promising humans: students.
Trent Staheli (Co-Founder) loves to code and solve problems with software. He can be found coding with his kids at weekend events and 24-hour code competitions. His post-graduate studies consist of e-Commerce, TEL and Entrepreneurship from Universities throughout the UK.
Trent is married to Mary Poppins, and has three practically perfect children.
Wil Bangerter (Legal) is a licensed Attorney and is proud to reside in St. George, Utah. He is one of the founding members of SchoolPulse and has a strong passion for entrepreneurship and for solving complex problems. Wil is grateful to have served as a Volunteer Service Missionary in São Paulo, Brazil. Upon returning home from Brazil, he became certified as an Emergency Medical Dispatcher where he worked as an EMD for nearly two years responding to critical emergencies over the phone.
Wil attended Dixie State University where he obtained a Bachelor Degree in Accounting and was awarded the IMA Top 5 Accounting Student Scholarship and Award.
He is licensed to practice law in the State of Utah after earning his J.D. from Brigham Young University - J. Reuben Clark Law School. He was recently honored by Dixie State University faculty to appear on the Honor Wall at the Udvar Hazy College of Business. As SchoolPulse has grown, Wil has enjoyed the priceless fulfillment that comes as lives are touched and strengthened by SchoolPulse.