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| Laura Rossmann, Executive Director
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Laura Rossmann has been in the nonprofit world for 14 years. She has been the Executive Director at Cancer Support Community of Greater St. Louis since 2008, where she runs the $1 million organization that ensures that all people impacted by cancer are empowered by knowledge, strengthened by action, and sustained by community. She became a Certified Fundraising Executive in 2009. She previously spent eight years at The Walker Scottish Rite Clinic for Childhood Language Disorders, first in fundraising and then as the Executive Director. Before she started her work in fundraising, she spent 10 years in marketing research, the last 7 of which were running her own business. She has been an active member in the Association of Fundraising Professionals and currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Memory Care Home Solutions. Laura earned her BSBA in Marketing from the University of Missouri – Columbia in 1988 and her MBA from St. Louis University in 1992.
lrossmann@cancersupportstl.org
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| Janet Popelka, MSW, Development Director
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Welcome Janet Popelka, MSW
Development Director
We are excited to welcome Janet Popelka, who joined Cancer Support Community as the Development Director on December 1, 2010. Janet comes to us from the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (NCADA), where she has been the Director of Development for four years. Prior to that, she held the positions of Community Education Coordinator and Prevention Specialist at the NCADA. She has also held such interesting positions as Village Clerk and EMT. She holds a Bachelor of the Arts and a Masters of Social Work from the University of Illinois. Please stop by and say hello to Janet when you get a chance.
jpopelka@cancersupportstl.org
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| Kevin Ferris, MSW, LCSW, CMC, Associate Program Director
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Associate Program Director, Cancer Support Community of Greater Saint Louis
Kevin spent 10 years working with hospice patients, their caregivers and extended families before opening Ferris Counseling Services: Integrating Mind, Body, Spirit in 2002 - a private practice focused on clients with life-threatening illness, grief, and other issues involving loss and transition. She also speaks publicly on many topics and teaches and advocates for Financial Wellness as a necessary component to any stress reduction program. The keystone to Kevin’s clinical approach is Mindfulness – utilizing the tools of meditation, guided imagery, and body awareness exercises, among others. Her favorite quote (by Alan Cohen) is: “History is NOT Destiny...”
Kevin currently serves as Cancer Support Community's Associate Program Director, and facilitates the weekly Family and Friends Support Group, the monthly Networking Groups for both Gynecological and Pancreatic Cancers, and Practical Meditation.
kferris@cancersupportstl.org
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| Karen Tripp, Staff Program Facilitator
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Karen Tripp earned a BA in Psychology from Florida State University and went on to graduate school at the University of Miami where Marriage and Family Therapy developed from a major into a passion. By graduation, she had just begun to sense the power that words can have to heal those in need. While establishing clinical practices in South Florida, greater Chicago and Southern California, Tripp developed public speaking as an essential component of her career.
Today, Karen thrives on sharing her unique perspective through counseling, speaking, and writing.
Karen is the Program Facilitator at Cancer Support Community. She also facilitates the Cope by Faith Support Groups.
ktripp@cancersupportstl.org
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| Charli Prather, MSW, LCSW, OSW-C, Clinical Program Director
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Charli is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who holds memberships in the Association of Oncology Social Workers and the American Association of Sexuality Education Counselors.
She has over 18 years of experience working with patients with chronic illness as well as hospice, teaching at the university level and workshop development for nurses and social workers in hospice and long term care. Charli has a personal commitment to survivorship issues that include the Mind/body connection. Charli has additional training in the field of Gestalt therapy. She is an Adjunct Faculty Clinical Supervisor for Saint Louis University School of Social Work and volunteers for various veterans organizations, including Give an Hour.
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| Linda Novak Bernardy, Marketing Director
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Linda Novak Bernardy is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University with a BA in Honors English and an MFA in Writing from Naropa University. Her background includes nine years of event marketing and marketing communications experience at CMP Technology, formerly CMP Media and Miller Freeman, in San Francisco. She is delighted to bring her corporate marketing experience to Cancer Support Community and enjoys getting to know volunteers, partners, members, and supporters of Cancer Support Community.
Please contact Linda Novak about marketing, health fair and PR opportunities for Cancer Support Community or if you or someone you know would like to volunteer in our Ambassador program which helps get our information out to local cancer centers.
lnovak@cancersupportstl.org
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| Peggy Plont, Special Events Manager
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Peggy Plont is a graduate of the University of Missouri-St. Louis with a B.A. in Communications and Public Relations. Her background includes more than 15 years in marketing and fundraising for several non-profit organizations including a local Economic Development Agency, The Missouri Botanical Garden and a Residential/Therapeutic Treatment Center for Children.
Please contact Peggy about the Cancer Survivorship Wallk, Celebration of Hope, and for information on volunteering with Cancer Support Community.
pplont@cancersupportstl.org
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