Advisory Council Members

Our four Advisory Councils support the work of because I said I would and provide mission-based leadership and strategic governance

If you are interested in becoming a member of one of our advisory councils, please check out the page HERE.

Career Placement Advisory Members

Tom Cowlish, VP Operation, Lone Star Staffing Solutions

Tom has been connecting people and changing lives his entire career. Tom is a fifteen (15) year mentor for the McKinney Independent School District Partners in Education Program where he mentors in math and science. He and his wife (Nancy) have three grown children and operate Lone Star Staffing Solutions (LS3Staffing) from their office in McKinney, TX.

Tom’s extensive experience in career planning and implementing enterprise wide technology initiatives emphasizes a HIGH-TECH, HIGH-TOUCH approach to engaging with the clients he serves. His use of the Total Quality Management (TQM) approach and Quarterly Business Review (QBR) improves the customer experience across all touch points.

 Tom is an active member of DallasHR, a regional operating group of the National Society of Human Resources Management. In addition, Tom is an active member of the McKinney, TX Chamber of Commerce. Tom has been a member of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), Women’s Business Enterprise Alliance (WBEA) and Women’s Business Council Southwest (WBCSW) where he was awarded the 2013 Volunteer of the Year.


Flore Dorcely-Mohr, Senior Director, Online and Paramus Campus Career Center, Berkeley College

Prior to working at Berkeley, Flore was the Assistant Director of Internships and Federal Community Service Programs at Drew University where she also earned her BA in Sociology. Flore earned her Masters in Counseling from Montclair State University and has over 15 years of higher education experience at small to mid-sized, private institutions (10 online). She is an avid remote work champion and since starting her home-based business approximately 20 years ago, she has been remote in various capacities: for a boutique Wall Street executive search firm, teaching for a large online college, being a college career counselor and writing/creating marketing content. She has been quoted in a number of online publications including The Huffington Post, NerdWallet, Yahoo Finance and WalletHub about her views on career management.

Flore calls herself “compulsively career oriented” and genuinely enjoys connecting people with opportunity. A big topic area of focus for her is creating, developing and supporting programs that address equity in access disparities and create successful career outcomes for marginalized or under-served populations. She is particularly passionate about curating remote work career management resources for students, interns and early (not necessarily young) professionals.

Flore sees one of the biggest barriers to remote work for all is unconscious (or sometimes blatantly conscious) bias in hiring, training, managing and promoting remote workers. She believes the expansion of remote work options, with sufficient supports and infrastructure, holds the promise of more diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging for everyone, but we have a long road ahead. Ensuring that people of all ages, genders, races and cultural backgrounds can enjoy the benefits of this worldwide remote revolution is something she cares about deeply.

She has served and is active in various leadership capacities within several US regional and national professional associations.
Member/Conference Presenter, Middle Atlantic Career Counselor Association (MACCA)
Member/Conference Presenter, Eastern Association of Colleges and Employers (EACE)
Member/Conference Presenter, National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)
*Co-Leader of Online CS Professionals Affinity Impact Team-Best Practices SubGroup, NACE
*Co-Leader of People of Color Affinity Impact Team-Professional Development SubGroup, NACE


Jennifer Opphile, PHR, SHRM –CP,Flynn Restaurant Group

Jennifer Opphile is currently the HR Manager at Flynn Restaurant Group in Independence, Ohio. Throughout her career, she has been dedicated to the growth and development of individual strengths in the promotion of both personal and company goals.
She has spent over 15 years in Human Resources and came upon her first HR role by accident. She wanted people to feel good about the choice they made starting with the very first interaction. It has always been her passion to find people a place where their puzzle piece fits. She excels in talent development and fostering a diverse and inclusive environment.
She has both a Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification and SHRM-CP, as well as a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach certification. She is a lifelong learner, and slowly (1 class a semester) put herself through college at Arizona State University, while working full time and raising a family. It was a source of pride for her to have her children see her continuing to learn and to work hard at something.
She lives in North Ridgeville with her husband of 25 years, daughter, and two dogs and two cats.


Kelly Pierce, Career Development and Career Advisor Supervisor, State of North Dakota

Kelly Pierce has a background in education which includes a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in guidance and counseling. At the beginning of her educational career, she worked as a classroom teacher for a few years and then moved on to be a school counselor for grades k – 12. When her husband took a job in another town, she became a career development counselor for grades 7 – 12 which meant that she had to document the career domain elements of her counseling program for the North Dakota Department of Career and Technical Education (CTE).

In 2009, she went to work for CTE as the state supervisor for career advisors. In this role, she completed training and received her Global Career Development Facilitator credential. She is also trained to provide facilitating career development curriculum developed by the National Career Development Association. These two skills enabled her to train and credential career advisors in the state of North Dakota.

Shortly after she was hired by CTE, she was given the added responsibility of being the supervisor for career development which meant that she would also be working with school counselors from across the state whose programs are funded in part by our state. Her role is to make sure their programs have a focus on career development and a relationship with business and industry.

She is currently still working for the North Dakota Department of Career and Technical Education as supervisor for career development and career advisors.


Sara Benjamin, HR Manager, Trimble Transportation

Corrections Advisory Council Members

Douglas Collier

Douglas was born years ago during the height of the British music invasion. Because of his full head of hair, he was nick-named “Beetle” as an infant. Despite a loving family and a great name, Douglas decided to live a life outside what was socially and legally acceptable. Aided by drugs and alcohol, he ruined a music and theatre career in NYC and Cleveland, Ohio. He spent 8 years living in an exclusive gated community with private security and socialised medicine (prison) and now embraces the lessons of his past in an effort to constantly improve his future. His greatest hope is that others may learn from his mistakes, and welcomes the opportunity to be of service to any and all, incarcerated or not. He is grateful that this organization is assisting so many on the road to becoming more humane humans who understand the life changing value of a promise.


Judge Kevin Dunn, Medina County Common Pleas Probate and Juvenile Court

Ron Stollar, Detention Superintendent, Medina Juvenile Detention Center

Mental Health Advisory Council Members

Michael Devoll, M.Ed., LPC-S, Owner, Michael Devoll Counselling Services

Michael DeVoll is a Texas Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor (LPC-S) and has been licensed for 18 years. He specializes in working with men in their 20s and 30s and with the LGBTQ community. He is currently a co-owner of The Wellness Collective, a diverse group of mental healthcare professionals with an eclectic range of approaches, providing holistic care for the greater-Houston community. Michael has been teaching professional development workshops at a range of institutions and professional conferences since 2002. He currently serves as President of the Texas Counseling Association.


Lizabeth Wesley –Casella, Founder and CEO of L-12Services LLC

Lizabeth Wesely-Casella is the Founder and CEO of L-12 Services LLC, a firm specializing in internal communications training, online business management, and executive virtual assistance. She is a strategic advisor who helps leaders identify where they can increase efficiency and effectiveness, and overcome challenges related to scaling, process systems breakdown, and workflow management.

 In 2014 Lizabeth organized, and led the process and communication change for First Lady Michelle Obama’s signature program Let’s Move! through her eating disorders advocacy, combatting weight bias implicit in the national health program.  Her many years of work within the mental health and eating disorders community have provided her with platforms to contribute to policy change at the systemic level, giving guidance to the EEOC, speaking at Congressional events, and educating policymakers at the federal and state levels. 

 Lizabeth mixes her passion for mental health policy and internal communications skills to help groups move their message forward effectively and efficiently.  She calls on her 20+ years of insight in areas such as administrative systems analysis, program implementation, remote team communications policy, and LEAN process improvement.  The bottom line is, she helps clients regain the headspace they need to think creatively and become the leaders that their organizations deserve.

 Lizabeth holds a BS in business administration and a master certificate in LEAN Six Sigma. She is on the Advisory Board of the Association of Virtual Assistants (AVA), and member of the Mental Health Advisory Council of because I said I would, a member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ), as well as a member of Alpha Sigma Lambda (ASL).


Reshelle C. Marino, Ph.D., LPC-S ,Clinical Coordinator of Graduate Program in Counseling

 Dr. Marino earned her M.Ed. and Ph.D. from the University of New Orleans. She is a licensed professional counselor and board-approved supervisor. She was most recently nominated as President-Elect for the Louisiana Counseling Association. She has previously served on the executive board for the Louisiana School Counselor Association in several roles, including Past-President, President, and Vice President for Post-Secondary Education. She also served two years on the executive board for the Louisiana Association of Counselor Educators and Supervisors in the position of Treasurer. She is a professional member of national and state counseling associations and serves as an advisory board member of the Governor-appointed Advisory Board for the Prevention of Human Trafficking. She actively presents research at international, national, and state conferences, as well as to local mental health agencies. She also maintains her clinical passion by providing counseling services in a private practice setting to children, adolescents, adults and families. Dr. Marino received a fully funded Louisiana Board of Regent Enhancement grant for her research on the use of advanced digital video technology for the supervision and instructional purposes of master’s level counseling students and received a leadership award from the Dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences for her efforts. Her research interests include counseling children and adolescents, trauma-related disorders, test anxiety, infusing advocacy for specific populations into counselor education programs, and legal and ethical issues for counselors. She recently received the 2018 Louisiana Counseling Association Advocacy Award, and has previously been awarded the 2016 Louisiana Association of Counselor Educators and Supervisors Junior Counselor Educator Award, the 2016 American Counseling Association’s Ralph F. Berdie Research Award, and the 2015 LCA’s Distinguished Professional Service Award. 


Adam Metts, MS,LPC-S, Assistant Dir. Of Training and Supervision, Texas A&M – Commerce

 Adam Metts is a Licensed Professional Counselor- Supervisor at Texas A&M University – Commerce, where he provides Training and Supervision to Community Mental Health Counseling Trainees and Interns. Adam also serves as an advocate, mental health educator and mental health counselor to the students and campus partners at Texas A&M University – Commerce.”

Adam has worked in the community and rural mental health field for over 27 years; by providing counseling services, mental health training and technical assistance, assessment and mental health oversight for special populations. Adam has served as an advocate for persons who suffer from mental illness and has worked tirelessly towards helping grow the number of mental health counselors in rural areas of Northeast Texas. 

Adam is a proud alumni of Texas A&M University – Commerce and is active in his pursuit of progressive and innovative ideas that can help create lasting change for college students. Adam is committed to helping others realize and achieve their goals through learning best practices to maintain balanced mental wellness in their lives.