With over 25 years of experience in organizational development and business management, the capable Align team has probably grappled with the very issues you're facing today. Using our foundation in organizational development and management, we practice the skills we teach in our own professional lives. We've successfully served on boards and as leaders of our own small businesses. Align, a division of nonprofit Western States Learning Corporation, can help you line up all aspects of your organization to pursue one goal as one team.
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principals
Phil Van Horn
President and CEO of Western States Learning Corporation; Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Wyoming Student Loan Corporation
Van Horn brings to the team a depth of knowledge in management, leadership, education, and community development. He has worked with many prominent organizations on board development, team building, strategic planning, and leadership. Van Horn is a published consultant on the topic of boards in the 2008 Pfeiffer Annual Consulting.
Van Horn joined Wyoming Student Loan Corporation in 1983. Prior to being named CEO in 1995, he served as assistant director for administration, assistant director for operations, and deputy executive director. When Western States Learning Corporation opened its doors on April 1, 2004, Van Horn assumed responsibility as its president and CEO. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Westminster College and a Master in Education degree from the University of Missouri.
Van Horn is a past chairman of the board of directors for the National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs (NCHELP). He has spent a significant amount of time serving on and leading community boards which include organizations such as the Governor's Workforce Development Council, the Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce, the Cheyenne Frontier Days General Committee, the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities, and the Cheyenne Kiwanis Club.
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Mona Lee Pearl
Executive Vice President and COO of Western States Learning Corporation
In her role as facilitator and trainer, Pearl has taught numerous seminars and has worked with local and statewide employee groups, chambers of commerce boards, community nonprofit organizations, and volunteer organizations in setting goals and creating programs. She has also developed and presented seminars on numerous topics including gender communication and leadership. She is certified in organizational development.
Pearl joined the corporation in 1991, became chief operating officer in 1996 and was named executive vice president in 2004. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree with distinction in communication studies at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and a Master of Science degree in management from Lesley College.
Devoted to her adopted home of Cheyenne, Pearl has served in leadership roles on the boards of numerous community organizations, including the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce, LEADS, Inc. (a private economic development corporation), the Cheyenne Animal Shelter, the Laramie County Library Foundation, the Wyoming National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Foundation, United Way of Laramie County and Cheyenne/Laramie County Economic Development Joint Powers Board. Pearl was also recognized by the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce as the 2007 recipient of the ATHENA award, which recognizes individuals that provide business and community leadership and help women realize their full potential.
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Brittany Ashby
Organization Development Manager and Learning and Performance Specialist for Align
Brittany is a life-long learner with a passion for helping other people and other organizations acquire the skills, knowledge and abilities to be successful. Volunteering has never been an option in Brittany’s life and thus she has worked with a variety of nonprofits boards and organizations as a board member, volunteer, staff member and consultant.
She holds a certificate in Human Performance Improvement from the American Society of Training and Development, and a Master's Degree in Adult Education and Learning Technologies from the University of Wyoming. Brittany also loves to use her extensive training and background in nonprofit management to partner with clients and assist in identifying their needs and finding solutions.
Prior to joining Align, Brittany was a development officer for the University of Northern Colorado and spent two years with Colorado's El Pomar Foundation. At El Pomar, she helped manage and run operational outreach programs that focused on nonprofit management, philanthropy and leadership development. She acquired extensive organization development skills through training and work in non-profit management and facilitation.
In her free time, Brittany serves a variety of community organizations including the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce, the Laramie County Library Board, and the United Way of Laramie County. Brittany believes that healthy and educated organizations are the building blocks of a strong community.
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organizational development consultants
L. T. “Larry” Atwell
Prior to joining Align on a part-time basis, Larry spent 19 years as the president of the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce. For 14 years he owned his own business with approximately 50 employees and also has previous employment with two large national firms.
Larry adds to the Align team experience through his years of service as the chief executive to the Chamber’s volunteer board, along with an extensive amount of work serving on boards as diverse as school (Laramie County Community College), hospital (what is now Cheyenne Regional Medical Center), and various community service and trade associations (he was chairman of the Wyoming Association of Chamber Executives). He understands the value of organizations’ board members bringing strong differences of perspective and opinion and yet coming together to work on one goal as one team.
Larry has a Masters in Business Administration from Xavier University, a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Gonzaga University, is a graduate of the Certified Trainer Continuing Education Program at Colorado State University, and is a certified Chamber Executive through the American Chamber of Commerce Executives..
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Jessica Binning
Prior to joining the Align team, Jessica was an Executive Associate/Assistant to the Standards, Assessment and Accountability Unit Director of the Wyoming Department of Education. She brings experience in project management, contract management, communications, and process development in the field of public administration.
While at the Department of Education, Jessica focused on procedure efficiency. She streamlined the contract request, assembly, and approval processes for the Laramie office by implementing new processes that alleviated some of the previous issues which caused large delays. The communication process was enhanced by this new process and eventually the Cheyenne and Riverton offices adopted the new procedures.
Working hand-in-hand with the Director of her unit, she organized and helped run the “all staff” meetings. She was responsible for organizing and running the more focused “support staff” meetings. In the focused meetings, procedures were often the hot topic and this is where ideas for creative and positive changes were planted. From there new procedure ideas were developed, tested, and then later presented in the “all staff” meetings.
During her three plus years at the Department, she also experienced several reorganizations. The first one happened within two months of her employment and moved her from Cheyenne to Laramie. She has experience starting a new office, establishing communication methods for an outreach office, and helping to establish chain-of-command with a small group. With other reorganizations, the employees doubled in number and the workload increased immensely. Job titles, skill requirements, and duties were often shifted as needed to keep the office running smoothly.
Jessica holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications from the University of Wyoming. She currently serves as a member in the Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce’s BizLink. She has previous volunteer experience with community groups including One-to-One Tutoring, AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps of California, and Camp Easter Seal of Washington.
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Rose Kor
Rose comes to Align following ten years as Executive Director at Prevent Child Abuse Wyoming. She has experience with nonprofit, professional, and appointed advisory groups. She also has ten years of experience in Wyoming State government working as a public information specialist, systems planner, and program director.
Rose previously chaired the Governor’s Council on Domestic Violence Elimination (DoVE) and currently sits as a member of the executive committee for the Wyoming Citizen Review Panel, a nonprofit citizen group reviewing the child protection system. She served on and chaired the Chapter Network Executive Council for the Prevent Child Abuse America nationwide network of chapters. She has previously served on the board of Wyoming Special Olympics, Wyoming Media Professionals and the Worland Soroptomist Club. She currently volunteers for the Community Pride Council of the Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce.
Rose holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the University of Wyoming and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from South Dakota State University. In 2007 Rose earned a certificate in Organizational Development through Linkage, Inc. and is a member of IAF, the International Association of Facilitators.
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Jody Shields
Jody brings 16 years of experience in strategic planning, project management, marketing, public relations, and communications in the nonprofit and healthcare fields.
Jody’s experience includes 3 ½ years with Wyoming Community Foundation as the Communications Officer. Prior to the Foundation, she was the Director of Marketing and Community Relations for the Banner Healthcare facilities in Torrington where she facilitated the strategic planning process. She also led the physician recruitment efforts and secured grant funding for major medical equipment. Prior to Banner, she was the Executive Director for the Goshen County Chamber of Commerce.
Jody hold a Bachelor of Science Degree in Tourism and Recreation Management from Arizona State University. She is a member of the International Association of Facilitators and the Organizational Development Network. Jody holds a certificate for Leadership Development Professionals through Linkage Inc. She currently serves as a commissioner for Serve Wyoming and is a member of the Women’s Leadership Council for United Way of Laramie County.
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training consultants
Nancy Andersen
Nancy currently focuses on designing and implementing internal training programs for Western States Learning Corporation with an emphasis on new employee training. She has two and half years of experience as a customer service associate in the Loan Servicing division of Western States Learning Corporation and over ten years experience as a U.S. Army Career Counselor and retention program manager.
As a customer service associate she educated customers on eligibility for repayment options and loan forgiveness programs as well as guided them to successful repayment of their student loans. Her experience as a career counselor includes educating clients on the qualifications for job placement and career advancement. She also did extensive work in needs analysis, curriculum development, classroom materials design and training.
Nancy graduated from Upper Iowa University in March 2005 with a Bachelor of Science in Social Science. She completed the Training Certificate program with Mountain States Employers Council in January 2008. This program focuses on the principles of adult and interactive learning, and is highly experiential in nature.
Nancy brings to Align over 15 years of customer service experience as well as training knowledge derived from formal education and work experience. She believes in the power of continuous learning and is excited about the opportunity to put her adult education knowledge to work assisting organizations throughout Wyoming.
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Jim Boyd
Jim provides performance improvement materials, and creates employee development programs using current Instructional Design methods. He has experience in education working as a 7th and 8th grade Language Arts Teacher as well as serving as a Communication Specialist for the corporation Intuit.
As a Communication Specialist, he developed user guides and other documentation for Intuit’s clients. Additionally, he has experience designing and delivering lessons and curriculum to students at a California Middle School. Jim has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Colorado State University and is currently studying for his Master’s Degree in Education specializing in Adult Education and Training.
Jim brings several years of experience along with the educational background in Education to the company. He understands the importance of workplace learning and looks forward to designing programs that improve performance in the workplace by incorporating the most current educational theory as well as active and engaging learning methods.
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human resources consultants
Chava Case
Chava Case is a human resources assistant and a consultant with Align. In her position, Chava works in all realms of human resources from advising employees and management with employment concerns and questions, to the functional requirements of human resources such as job descriptions, salary ranges, payroll and benefits.
In addition to her work in human resources Chava has provided board governance training to area non-profits as well as employment law training for area workforce development agencies and non-profit organizations.
Chava earned a Bachelor of Science degree with a double major in Political Science and Sociology from the University of Wyoming. She has attained certification in Human Resources from Mountain States Employers Council and certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources from the Human Resource Certification Institute.
Chava currently serves as Legislative Chair for the Frontier Human Resources Association and Diversity Director for the Wyoming State Society of Human Resource Management Council. Chava lives her life by these three words: live, love, laugh.
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Janet Tilton
As Human Resources Manager for Align, Janet Tilton has over 20 years of management experience 10 of which is in the human resource field. Throughout her career, Janet has not let any grass grow under her feet. Her diverse background in the financial industry and operations management has included financial advising, loan processing, compliance and training has led her to her current position as Human Resources manager where she has truly found her passion. In addition, Janet has provided employment law training for area workforce development agencies.
Janet has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and Human Resources from Park University in addition to certifications in Employment Law and Training through Mountain States Employers Council.
Currently Janet serves as a board member for the United Way as the Community Investment Chair. Previous Janet was a board member with the Historical Southside Improvement Association and Early Education Partnership.
A lifelong learner herself, Janet chooses to live her life by the phrase, “There is no perfect being thus that is the challenge and opportunity.
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