Our Board

Wayne Matulich has over 30 years of experience in all areas of corporate management. He has held positions in operations, business development, information systems management, systems and application development and as an internal consultant in the area of business performance improvement. Currently the College Director for ITT Technical Institute's Portland campus, Wayne is responsible for all functional departments of the college including Academics, Curriculum, Financial Aid, Recruiting and Career Services. Portland takes a cross-functional approach to deliver the Student Experience.

While at E*Trade Financial, Wayne had responsibility for the development and delivery of advanced function products and services delivered across the E*Trade Financial ATM Network. Involved in high-technology and change management throughout his career, Wayne has a toolbox of experience dealing with the emotions of change, the barriers to success and the enablers of successful change management. He has been instrumental in the development of processes connected to business strategy, organizational culture, and the alignment of technology and resources to business needs. He is recognized for an ability to break down organizational barriers through effective interpersonal and facilitation skills. Through the engagement of cross-functional assessment, he has been successful in introducing organizations to a "big picture" mentality and enabling a shift in focus from one of functional needs to servicing customer needs all with the expectation and goal of delivering "Shareholder Value".

Mr. Matulich has conducted numerous reengineering and process design projects resulting in dramatic improvement to business and technology performance in areas including consumer relations, hotel operations, consumer and mortgage loan origination, ATM and EFT processing operations, direct marketing, technology fulfillment, strategic planning, cash management and Education.

Christine Cote was serving as Vice President of Operations for Perry Technical Institute prior to being appointed President January 1, 2008. Prior to that time she had served as Director of the Perry Technical Institute Foundation from November 1997 to May 2007. In that role Christine managed and grew the Foundation to phenomenal success allowing hundreds of students to benefit from scholarships and equipment funded through the Foundation.

Christine has a Bachelor of Arts in Community Health from Central Washington University. She is involved in the Yakima business community and is a member of the Kiwanis Club. She is married with two children.

Kimberly Lothyan is the Regional Vice President of Operations for Corinthian Colleges, Inc. She oversees the 10 Everest campuses in Washington and Oregon. Previously, she served as the President of Everest College in Everett from September 2003 until July 2009. She also was the Vice President of Education for Ashmead College and Eton Technical Institute from January 2000 to August 2003. Her passion for education inspired her to develop new curriculum that served the best interests of the students. Her experience with curriculum development and education began with her days at ITT Technical Institute and Western Washington University where she developed curriculum and taught business courses.

Prior to her work in education she was in the banking environment as an Operations Manager, supervising customer relations, marketing new accounts and overseeing several branch operational functions. Kim holds a Bachelor of Science from Brigham Young University and a Masters of Business Administration from Western Washington University. Before joining the NWCCF Board, Kim had been a board member for years with the Washington Federation of Private Career Schools and Colleges.

Jon Alberts has been President of Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Oregon, a Career Education Corporation school, since 2007. Mr. Alberts entered the post-secondary education industry in 2002 as President of Scottsdale Culinary Institute, an affiliated school, in Scottsdale, Arizona. Like Western Culinary Institute, Scottsdale Culinary Institute is also affiliated with Le Cordon Bleu International and teaches the same excellent programs. During his 5½ years as President, the Institute grew from offering one academic program in Culinary Arts to seven Le Cordon Bleu programs in Culinary Arts, Patisserie and Baking and Hospitality and Restaurant Management. Included in Scottsdale Culinary Institute's program offerings are two Bachelor of Arts degrees, the only two available in the Le Cordon Bleu network in the United States.

Prior to entering the education field, Mr. Alberts worked in the hotel and resort business, beginning in 1985 with Red Lion Hotels and Inns. He was with Red Lion for the next 13 years in various management positions including Food and Beverage Director and General Manager in a variety of locations in the Pacific Northwest, Utah and Arizona. His last position in the Portland/Vancouver area was as General Manager of the Red Lion Inn at the Quay in the mid 1990's. He continued to manage hotels and resorts with brands such as Doubletree, Embassy Suites and Sheraton until 2002 when joined Career Education Corporation. Mr. Alberts has served on boards of various civic and industry organizations throughout his hospitality and post-secondary education career.

Mr. Alberts received his Associate of Occupational Studies with honors at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. He is married and has three school age children.

During his distinguished 30-year career, Mr. Johnston was a member of the Navy's deepest diving team, reaching a depth of 1800 feet at the Navy Experimental Diving Unit in Panama City, Florida and participated in several major diving and salvage projects. Mr. Johnston commanded one of the Navy's largest diving and salvage ships, the USS Edenton (ATS -1). While in command, the USS Edenton conducted the first efforts towards salvaging pieces of the Civil War Ironclad USS Monitor.

Additionally, he completed several assignments involving research, development, testing and evaluation of new diving equipment and systems. Mr. Johnston's educational experience includes teaching navigation, ship handling and composite warfare concepts at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He has served as director of Divers Institute of Technology since 2000.

Mickey Sieracki joined Corinthian Colleges as the President of Everest College in Portland in October 2004. Prior to that time she was Executive Director of Apollo College in Portland for two years. She also served as Dean of Instruction and then Dean of Technology & Business Programs at Heald College in Portland.

Mickey and her husband moved to Oregon in 1998 from Virginia. In Virginia, Mickey worked in the public education sector as Director of the Medical Technology program at Old Dominion University in Norfolk as well as an instructor in clinical biochemistry. She served as Administrative Director of Laboratories at De Paul Medical Center in Norfolk, Virginia. Mickey worked in real estate marketing and sales when her children were young, something she feels has helped her enormously in understanding the admissions side of education. Mickey has a BA in Biology with minors in Chemistry and Physics, and an MA in Higher Education from George Washington University. Mickey and her husband Charlie live in Portland. They have two grown sons and a new grandson, all of whom live on the East Coast.

Shane Reeder is currently the Executive Director running the Boise Campus of Stevens-Henager College. Formerly, he was the Associate Dean of Business at the Logan Campus. Mr. Reeder has been with the College since 2004. Prior to 2004, he was a practicing attorney, prosecutor, and pro-tem judge in the Portland Oregon area. Mr. Reeder graduated from Utah State University, Logan Utah – BA Political Science (Minors – English, Japanese, Business Administration); Willamette University, Salem Oregon – JD and Certificate of Dispute Resolution; and Portland State University, Portland Oregon – MIM (Masters of International Management). In his spare time, Mr. Reeder likes to garden, do woodworking, camp, hike, and travel. His favorite place to travel is the Orient. Mr. Reeder has been married for 23 years and has four children ranging in age from 18 years-old to 4 years-old.

Chuck has more than 10 years of experience in postsecondary education. He began his course of vocation in the career college sector as a high school presenter with Heald Colleges in San Francisco. During his tenure with Heald he served students in various roles including admissions, career services, and in the classroom as a general education instructor. He then worked as Director of Admissions and then as School President for Corinthian Colleges. Immediately prior to joining Apollo College in Boise he served as Executive Director at Silicon Valley College in Fremont, California. Silicon Valley College is owned and operated by U.S. Education Corporation, Apollo's parent company.

Prior to beginning his career in postsecondary education Chuck worked as an individual and group therapist for adults and adolescents with severe emotional disturbances and chronic mental illness. He holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Most importantly, he is the dad to three wonderful young children (Ben, Emily, and Katie) and husband to an amazing wife.

Peter Tenney has spent his entire professional career in education. After graduating from Eastern Washington University with a B.A. in History and Education in 1978, Peter taught and coached at Medical Lake Middle School for the next nine years. He completed his Master's Degree in 1983. In 1987 he left the public sector and assumed the directorship of the start-up, Huntington Learning Center, in Walnut Creek, California. Expanding on his interest in private education, he next went to work as an admissions representative at Heald Business College in Hayward, California.

Peter was promoted Director of the Oakland campus of Heald. Over the next six years he was appointed to the directorship of the Heald campuses in Stockton and San Jose and concluded his tour with Heald working at their administrative headquarters in San Francisco. In 1997, Peter accepted the position of President of Bryman College in San Jose working for Corinthian Colleges, Inc. Always having a strong desire to return to the Pacific Northwest he accepted a transfer to Bryman College in SeaTac, WA in 1998. After receiving "School of the Year" and "Employee of the Year" honors for his work at SeaTac in 2000, Peter was promoted to the position of Regional Operations Director for CCi .

After a two year stint as a regional Peter was more than ready to get off the road and assumed the president's position at the newly opened Bryman College in Lynnwood, WA. In 2005 he moved to the Bryman campus in Renton and concluded his time in the Seattle area in 2007 after serving one year as Executive Director of Kaplan College also in Renton, WA.

In 2007 the Tenney family moved to back to eastern Washington after a 20 year absence. After enjoying some much appreciated time off Peter was hired as the Executive Director of Apollo College in the Spokane Valley where he is currently employed. Peter lives with his wife Tracy, son Andrew, step daughter Ashley and dog Max in Cheney, WA suspiciously close to where it all started .

Sharice M. Lance is President of the International Academy of Design and Technology (IADT-Seattle), where she oversees a complex array of business processes, practices and academic programs. She has been highly successful in strategic planning, financing and accounting operations, forecasting and budget administration, employee recruitment and key personnel retention, as well as developing strong alliances and team building through a complex network of internal and external corporate communications.

From 2004 until 2007, Sharice was Vice President of Finance for IADT- Seattle and was responsible for the financial and operational performance. Under her direction, the start-up design college reached nearly $8M in revenue during its 3rd year of operation. She has held numerous posts with Career Education Corporation (CEC), the parent company of The International Academy of Design and Technology (IADT). Those include Director of Professional Development, Student Finance, where she managed the professional development of Student Finance staff in all 80 CEC schools, including the interviewing and profiling process for Directors of Student Finance. She has also been the Divisional Director of Student Finance for the Culinary Division as well as a Financial Analyst for the Culinary Division where she was responsible for evaluating the financial trends and operational performance of 10 culinary schools.

Prior to her tenure with CEC, Sharice held other positions including Project Manager of Support Services, Assistant Controller of Support Services, Senior Staff Accountant, and Staff Accountant, all with the Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, Inc., a global real estate money management and services firm.

Sharice's educational background includes an Executive M.B.A. from Colorado Technical University; Change Management Certification from Colorado Technical University; and a B.S. in Accountancy from Northern Illinois University. Sharice has received additional professional training and certification from the Jefferson Wells Business Process Improvement; Achieve Global High Achievement Leadership: Principles and Communication; CEC's Internal Performance Leadership Training; Department of Education Fundamentals of Title IV training; and the Department of Education NASFAA and Electronic Access Conferences.

Rick Murphree is President of Brown Mackie College in Boise, a position he accepted in September 2008. In his role Mr. Murphree provides leadership and support to the school's staff, faculty and students, and oversees the complex business practices and academic delivery. Rick has over five years of executive management experience in proprietary education.

Most recently, he served as Director of Operations for Santa Barbara Business College in Santa Barbara, CA. At the college he managed campus directors who supervised faculty and staff. He also spent ten years in the U.S. Army, serving as a Chief Operations Officer.

Mr. Murphree earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and M.B.A. in Business Administration, from the University of LaVerne in Ventura, CA .

Walt Leathers is currently the Vice President of Interface College in Spokane, WA. Prior to that he served as Executive Director of the Portland and Spokane campuses of Apollo College from May 2005 through 2008.

Walt came to Spokane Apollo campus in October 2005 from Apollo's Albuquerque, New Mexico campus where he was the Director of Admissions. While in Spokane, the campus had earned US Education's Campus of the Quarter award. Under his leadership in Albuquerque and during an interim Executive Director position at the Apollo Tuscon campus, staff and faculty also received numerous recognitions.

Theresa Taggart is a Senior Account Manager with McGraw-Hill Higher Education's Career College Group working with the career colleges in Northern California, Oregon and Washington.

She has been with McGraw-Hill for 14 years and has over twenty years experience in education, publishing and technology.

Theresa lives in Santa Clara, California with her husband Jim, son Chris, 16, and daughter Katie, 13.

Tony Garife is the Director of Corporate Clients for EdFund. EdFund is the nation's second largest provider of student loan guaranty services under the FFEL Program. Tony has over 18 years of industry experience, including 10 years working as a Financial Aid Director. Tony has been active serving on committees and presenting at state and regional conferences within WASFAA and RMASFAA. Tony holds a Master's of Business Administration from the University of Washington and a Bachelor's degree in Speech Communication from San Diego State University. He resides in Castle Rock, Colorado with his wife Lisa and their three sons, Branson 12, Mitchell 8, and Carter 5.

Ms. Mary Lyn Hammer's belief that education is the vehicle for making dreams come true has led her in a passionate fight, that began in 1987, for identifying problems in the higher education industry and finding solutions to insure future participation for all students. Her innovative "Hands On" Default Management Program is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for its remarkable results. Ms. Hammer is the Owner, Founder, President and CEO of Champion College Solutions, an international company offering default prevention, job placement verification, skip tracing, education debt recovery, and consulting services.

Ms. Hammer has actively worked with the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Department of Education since 1988. Her many recognized accomplishments include, most recently, the 2005 CCA National Achievement Award for the Allied Member of the Year. She has numerous elections to the Board of Directors and currently serves with Career College Association (CCA), the Northwest Career Colleges Federation (NWCCF) and is the Chairwoman of the Board for the HEAL Coalition (Higher Education Allied Health Leaders Coalition).