Staff Profiles
Every program claims to have professional staff, with good educational backgrounds and experience. When we refer to professional staff we are speaking about not only those qualities, but also staff who are secure and available to the students.
National Office Staff
Michael McManmon, Ed.D
CIP Founder & International Speaker
Heather Greene, M.B.A.
Executive Director
Lucy Allaire-Gosselin, MSM/HR, BS, AS.
Assistant Executive Director / Curriculum Development
Caroline Wheeler, B.A.
National Admissions Director
Maggi Sanderson, B.A.
National Admissions Coordinator
Abby Tierney, B.A.
National Admissions Assistant
Karri Ann Woodard, A.A.
National AR Specialist
Melanie Moran
National Human Resources Specialist
Dan McManmon, B.A.
National Marketing Coordinator
Andrea Wadsworth
National Business Manager
Marc Larrivee, MST
National Network Administrator
Brevard Center Staff
Joan Williamson
Program Director
Joan Williamson comes to the College Internship Program with more than twenty years experience in fiscal and human resource management. Her experience includes ten years in the finance department with a large non-profit agency, servicing individuals with disabilities. She has also been the financial manager for the last fifteen years for Berkshire Omega, a corporation that provides residential and rehabilitative services to the disabled.
She attended Berkshire Community and North Adams State Colleges. Joan was born and raised in Berkshire County, MA. Joan has two children, an adult son, Matthew and a high school daughter, Lauren. Joan resides in Melbourne, FL with her daughter. She devotes most of her spare time volunteering in school activities and in the YMCA Youth Soccer Program. She also is an active member of her church.
Rose Dougherty
Admissions Coordinator
Rose was born and raised in Brevard County, Florida. She received a Bachelors of Science Business Administration Degree in Economics from Rollins College, Melbourne Campus. She attended graduate school at Webster University, Space Coast Campus in pursuit of an MBA degree.
Rose’s professional resume includes over 20 years experience in various levels of Human Resources and Administration in both the government and private sectors. Most notably experience in training and education development.
Rose’s position at The College Internship Program is her return to the workplace after staying at home for the past six years raising her son Kenny to school age. She resides in Rockledge, Florida. She spends her spare time with her family: husband Michael, son Kenny and stepdaughter Hope. Weekends are spent at the ballpark for Kenny’s ‘sport du jour’ and the high school auditorium watching Hope in one spectacular production after another.
Lee S. Kananack, M.A., Ed.S.,
Clinician
Lee joined the Brevard CIP staff in October 2009 with past positions in research, early intervention, developmental psychology, and school psychology. She has worked with medically-complex and developmentally delayed populations, as well as with students with diagnoses that have included specific learning disability, Autism, Asperger’s syndrome, hearing impairment, and social/emotional/behavioral difficulties. In addition to her position at CIP, Lee is also the consulting psychologist for a private day school in Melbourne and works with publishing companies in their norming and standardization of ability, achievement, speech-language, and developmental assessments.
Among Lee’s most valued experiences have come from her participation in multidisciplinary assessment and problem-solving teams, which have given her the opportunity to reach outside her specific background and discipline. They have also led to her appreciation of the “It Takes a Village” philosophy. As a result, she is very grateful to now be among the dedicated and talented team at the Brevard CIP.
Lee’s other special interests lie in the prevention of academic, social, and behavioral issues through the use of on-going screening to identify a student’s individual needs and strengths, as well as providing individualized interventions and careful progress monitoring. Her training and experience in the psychology of learning, development, social and emotional adjustment, positive behavioral support, and cognitive therapy has been extremely helpful in her work with her CIP students.
A native New Yorker, Lee moved to Florida with her family in 1989. She received her undergraduate degree from Syracuse University in English and Journalism, her masters’ degree in Developmental Psychology and Special Education from NYU, and her Specialist degree in School Psychology from the University of Central Florida.
Jennifer Kolarik, B.S.
Career Coordinator
Jennifer graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Central Florida in 1993 with her B.S. in Psychology and a minor in mathematics. She pursued graduate work in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at Michigan State University with a focus on "disabilities in the workplace." She strongly believes in the importance of providing reasonable accommodations within the workplace and educational systems so that all individuals can realize their greatest potential. She has several conference presentations and journal publications including a research article in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
Her passion is working with high school and college students and has over 10 years experience working in such capacities as an undergraduate psychology instructor, researcher, tutor, mentor, resident assistant, and hospice teen volunteer coordinator. Jennifer was raised in Indian Harbor Beach, FL and has found it especially rewarding to return to the Melbourne area with her husband Paul to raise their two young children, Tony and Haley. She enjoys dancing, participating in local Mom’s groups, being an active member of the Holy Name of Jesus Catholic community, and volunteering for the Arthritis Foundation.
Karen Rathgeber, M.S., OTR
Ocupational Therapist
Karen received her B.S. in occupational therapy at Florida International University in 1985, and her M.S. in Health Sciences with a focus in Education in 1992. Her experience includes working in the public school system with disabled children, teaching at Barry University's occupational therapy program, and working at Sea Pines Rehabilitation Hospital as a clinician, the Director of Occupational Therapy and later promoted to the Director of Clinical Services.
Karen was born in Southbridge, Massachusetts and moved to St. Augustine with her parents at the age of 12. She settled in Melbourne in 1987 and lives with her four daughters. She enjoys volunteering in her children's classes, gardening, reading, and is an active member of the St. John the Evangelist Catholic community.
Jodi Pierce, B.A.
Student Advisor
Jodi is originally from Hollywood, Florida and now lives on Merritt Island in Central Brevard County. She received a Bachelor's degree in Psychology at Florida State University in 1992. She attended graduate school at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and Utah State University, where she studied behavior analysis and exceptional education.
Jodi worked as a certified behavior analyst for twelve years, primarily with families of children with autism. She joined the team at the Brevard Center in 2007, after spending three years as a full-time homemaker and community volunteer.
Outside of the College Internship Program, Jodi enjoys spending time with her family. She and her husband, Don, have a daughter, Hannah, and two adult sons, Donny and Jason. She is the President of the Gardendale Elementary Magnet School PTO and has served on the School Advisory Committee for three years. Jodi has been a Girl Scout Troop Leader for an amazing group of young ladies since 2003. Jodi also enjoys traveling, cooking, reading, and enjoying the many recreational opportunities on the beautiful Space Coast.
Sharona Sommer
Student Advisor
Sharona was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. She graduated with a college certification in Special Care Counseling. She has over 10 years experience working with children and young adults with special needs.
Her experience includes teaching functional living skills, vocational training and implementing various academic programs. Sharona relocated to Melbourne in 2001 with her husband and 2 children. She decided to make a career change and followed her passion for cooking.
Sharona started her own personal chef business " Savor the Moment" in 2004 and has successfully catered to the culinary needs of the community. Sharona's interests include cooking, travel, kayaking and going to the movies. Sharona is very excited to be part of the College Internship Program.
Ryan Therriault
Academic Coordinator
Ryan is a third generation Floridian who currently resides in Brevard county with her husband, D.J. and son, Darren. She has lived in central Florida most of her life, with the exception of two years in Indiana, PA and two years in Coldwater, MI. She received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Cultural Anthropology and a Master of Arts in Social Science Education from the University of Central Florida.
Her hobbies include watching movies, volunteering in the community, spending time with her family, traveling, singing, exercising, and doing various outdoor activities.
Ryan is delighted to work at CIP because she can apply the skills and knowledge she has acquired in a novel fashion while constantly learning something new. In addition, she is proud to play a roll in the growth of young adults who aspire to advance in this socially complex world.
Travis McArthur
Residential Coordinator
Travis is originally from the Syracuse, New York area and has been living in Melbourne, Florida for the last two years. He graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology from the State University of New York at Geneseo with a focus in developmental psychology.
Travis started at the Brevard Center as a Social Mentor and Job coach and soon found his skills were most valuable as Residential Coordinator. He enjoys spending time with the students in the various activities, and not only teaching them life skills but learning a great deal from them as well.
During his free time Travis enjoys swimming, reading, fishing, playing golf and tennis, watching movies and spending time with his fiancé. He hopes to share his enthusiasm for life with the students here at CIP and encourages them to try new things.
Jamie Kennedy
Health and Wellness Coordinator
Taking two years off from college after graduating high school, Jamie went to work at National Geographic Society. Despite a late start, she received her B.A. in psychology with a concentration in Applied Behavior Analysis and a minor in Business Management from the Florida Institute of Technology. She is currently working towards her yoga certification (RYT) and plans to begin graduate work in clinical exercise science at the University of Central Florida in the spring of 2010.
Jamie has worked with individuals with learning differences for several years, most of her research and experience taking place at the Scott Center for Autism Treatment at Florida Tech. Her passion for health and exercise comes from a long history of competitive figure skating in Ann Arbor, MI.
After Jamie and her family returned to their southern roots a decade ago, she left the ice and began competitively training for running 5k’s, triathlons, and CrossFit. With the extensive training from two years of CrossFit and winning several state triathlons, Jamie is now focusing her attention towards teaching the students at CIP how to live healthier, more active lifestyles.
She enjoys volunteering at her father’s pediatric practice, keeping up with her mom’s globe-trotting & travel writing, Olympic weight lifting, reading, running, boating, and, of course, training for triathlons during the south’s cooler months and competing in the spring.