For training questions and information about the Iowa Peer Workforce Collaborative, please call or email us at:

Phone: 319-467-4296

Email: IowaPeerSupportTraining@uiowa.edu

University of Iowa Staff

Kellee Thorburn McCrory
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Kellee Thorburn McCrory, MPH, LMSW

Title/Position
Program Manager
Kellee Thorburn McCrory, MPH, LMSW is the training and technical manager at The University of Iowa School of Social Work, National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice (NRC). She is currently responsible for the Iowa Peer Workforce Collaborative project. Ms. McCrory has managed projects employing multiple methods for a broad range of public health, child welfare, substance abuse and prevention research and evaluation grants. Ms. McCrory also provides training and technical assistance on focus groups, program evaluation, and evaluation.
Picture of Katelyn Akright in her office

Katelyn Akright

Title/Position
Training and Curriculum Development Specialist
Katelyn currently serves as a Training and Curriculum Development Specialist for the Iowa Peer Workforce Collaborative. With a strong commitment to community reintegration, peer training, and outreach, she plays a key role in supporting individuals with lived experience. Katelyn is dedicated to advancing the careers and enhancing the lives of those with lived experience, finding both personal and professional fulfillment in contributing to the workforce development of peer professionals. As a WRAP facilitator and certified Peer Recovery Specialist (PRS), Katelyn is actively pursuing a bachelor's degree to further her education and professional growth. She has extensive experience facilitating groups in Eastern Iowa County Jails and working directly with individuals to promote community integration.
Carol Coohey

Carol Coohey, MSW, PhD

Title/Position
Senior Training and Curriculum Development Specialist
Carol Coohey, MSW, PhD, is a senior curriculum development and training specialist for the Iowa Peer Workforce Collaborative. As a former professor at the University of Iowa, she has substantial experience in teaching and a broad background in research methods, with expertise in community-engaged program development and evaluation. Dr. Coohey also has substantial direct social work practice experience with children, adolescents, and adults who have experienced trauma and are in crisis or experiencing persistent mental health challenges.
Trish Peyton

Trish Peyton

Title/Position
Program Coordinator
Trish Peyton is the Program Coordinator at the National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice, coordinating daily operations for the NRC, and providing administrative support to the Iowa Peer Workforce Collaborative and the training programs of the NRC. Trish received her bachelor’s degree at Mount Mercy University and prior to joining the NRC, worked with the Mount Mercy Social Work program, Office of the Provost, and the Office for the Vice President of Mission and Ministry.
Picture of Lauren Vorwald

Lauren Vorwald

Title/Position
Training and Development Associate
Lauren Vorwald is a Certified Mental Health Peer Support Specialist (MHPSS) and works with the Iowa Peer Workforce Collaborative (IPWC) as Training and Workforce Development Associate. Prior to joining the IPWC, Lauren worked for the Iowa Peer & Family Peer Support Training Program within the University of Iowa Division of Child and Community Health (UI-DCCH) in collaboration with Child Health Specialty Clinics (CHSC). Lauren completed Peer Support Specialist training in 2018 and is qualified to train the IPWC Peer Support Specialist Training curriculum. She is also a graduate of the Connecticut Community For Addiction Recovery (CCAR) Recovery Coach Academy (RCA). Lauren is a Certified Personal Medicine Coach (CPMC) and Certified Personal Medicine Coach Trainer (CPMC-T) through Pat Deegan PhD & Associates, LLC. Lauren appreciates the strength-based, person-centered approach of peer support.

Trainers

Stephanie Bauersachs

Stephanie Bauersachs

Title/Position
Volunteer Coordinator and Peer Recovery Coach at Full Circle Recovery Community Center
Stephanie is a person in recovery from substance use disorder, as well as a family member to others in recovery. Stephanie is a Peer Recovery Coach through CCAR Center for Addiction Recovery Training. In her role at Full Circle Recovery, she trains and oversees the volunteers in everyday operations of the center. She maintains the group curriculum daily. Stephanie loves being in the recovery coach role with recoverees guiding and helping them see the growth in their recovery. Today she is attending classes at a community college to obtain her Alcohol and Substance Use Disorder Certificate. Stephanie enjoys spending time with her two children and two grandsons in her spare time.
Picture of Diane Brenneman

Diane Zaerr Brenneman, DMin

Title/Position
FPSS Training Administrator
Certified Family Peer Support Specialist
Diane Zaerr Brenneman, DMin, Certified Family Peer Support Specialist and Family Navigator for the Division of Child and Community Health and Child Health Specialty Clinics (CHSC), is the parent of kids with special needs. She is happy to find a way to use her lived experience by coaching other families of kids with disabilities. She has been a teacher, pastor, administrator and farmer (thankfully, not all at the same time). A thread that weaves through all is the amazing resilience of the human spirit. Children and their families truly can thrive despite what life has thrown at them. She feels privileged to walk alongside families in their journeys.
Angie Chaplin

Angie Chaplin, PRC

Title/Position
Owner, Mindful Leadership LLC
Founder, Brave Leadership
Angie Chaplin is an internationally respected speaker, consultant, coach, and educator with more than 30 years of expertise in human resources, strategic communications, and organizational leadership. With an entrepreneurial spirit and a heart for the nonprofit sector, Angie is owner of Mindful Leadership LLC and founder of Brave Leadership, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to unlocking leadership potential within behavioral health and human services. Speaking openly about her own behavioral health journey, Angie is also a credentialed mindfulness teacher and peer recovery coach. Her courageous leadership-meets-real-life story epitomizes her values of credibility, curiosity, clarity, connection, and love, and she serves as a beacon of authenticity for many, emphasizing the integration of professed values and practiced behaviors. Academically grounded in evidence-based programs, Angie's educational foundation is rooted in a master's degree from Seton Hall University and a bachelor's degree from Buena Vista University. 
Picture of Rachel Charlot

Rachel Charlot, FPSS

Title/Position
Family Navigator, Division of Child and Community Health and Child Health Specialty Clinics (CHSC)
Certified Family Peer Support Specialist
Rachel Charlot is a Certified Family Peer Support Specialist and Family Navigator for the Division of Child and Community Health and Child Health Specialty Clinics (CHSC). Rachel has been serving families through CHSC for 12 years as both a Family Navigator and in the Early ACCESS program as a Service Coordinator. Rachel is passionate about helping empower families with the knowledge and resources to help support their child throughout the life course.
Josh Gitch

Josh Gitch, MPHSS

Title/Position
Certified Mental Health Peer Support Specialist
Josh Gitch, Certified Mental Health Peer Support Specialist (MHPSS), has worked in the field the past five years with Black Hawk-Grundy Mental Health and served the Iowa Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA) in various capacities. Josh graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Theatre from the University of Northern Iowa and is certified as a Whole Health Action Management (WHAM), NAMI Connections, and NAMI Peer-to-Peer facilitator. Josh is the father of two young daughters, and they help keep him on the difficult yet wonderful journey of recovery. Giving back what's been given is a passion for Josh and he's excited to be a part of this evidence-based, growing profession.
Faraji Hubbard cropped pic

Faraji Hubbard, PRS, RCP, RCPF

Title/Position
Comprehensive Recovery Coordinator of the GuideLink Center
Certified Peer Recovery Specialist
Recovery Coach Professional
Recovery Coach Professional Facilitator
GuideLink Center is one of the designated access centers in Iowa and provides immediate access to substance use and mental health services. Faraji has a unique position at GuideLink, providing leadership to enhance peer services and care coordination internally but also promoting connections beyond GuideLink Center to improve peer outcomes. He was the first in the state of Iowa to achieve the Recovery Coach Professional designation from CCAR’s Center for Addiction Recovery Training. Along with these achievements, he is a CCAR-trained Recovery Coach Authorized Facilitator and Certified Whole Health Action Management facilitator. Faraji serves on the Board of Directors for the Iowa Board of Certification. He is also an appointed Steering Committee member of the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services’ Hope and Opportunity in Many Environments Project. Faraji is a member of the IPWC’s Peer Advisory Committee and Peer Supervisor Advisory Committee.
Jodie Huji

Jodie Huju, RCP, RCPF

Title/Position
Director of Learning & Program Development at Full Circle Recovery
Jodie Huju (they/them) is a person in recovery from substance use disorder and mental illness, as well as a family member, friend, and ally to others in recovery. Jodie is a Recovery Coach Professional and Recovery Coach Professional Facilitator through CCAR’s Center for Addiction Recovery Training. They are a member of the IPWC’s Peer Supervisor Advisory Committee and work diligently to expand the peer workforce in Iowa. In their role at Full Circle Recovery, Jodie oversees the growth of two recovery community centers and coordinates the recovery coach training program using the CCAR curriculum and best practices for culturally responsive and trauma-sensitive peer recovery support services.
Ed Murphy

Edward Murphy

Title/Position
Vera French Community Mental Health Center
Murphy has worked in the mental health field for over 12 years in various settings such as residential, managing a respite house, and now as a peer with an IHH department. He has facilitated several groups with NAMI, and is an Advanced Level WRAP facilitator. He loves to facilitate trainings, learning much from his peers. He continues to take as many trainings as possible to learn and grow in recovery. Murphy genuinely believes in the values and ethics of Peer Support and advocates for proper training to prevent harm to those we support and mostly for us as the supporters. He is the father of three wonderful kids.
Jen Riley

Jennifer (Jen) Riley, MHPSS

Title/Position
Peer Support Supervisor, Pathways Behavioral Services
Jen Riley has worked in the field since 2015 for Pathways Behavioral Services. In that time, she has provided services as a Family Peer Specialist, an IHH Intake Specialist, a Billing Specialist, and an MHPSS. In 2021, Jen was selected to manage the Peer Support Program, where she has greatly expanded the peer services across five counties. Jen is a member of the Iowa Integrated Health Planning and Advisory Council and is committed to advocating for peer services in Iowa. Having two grown biological children as well as many bonus children that she has had the pleasure of raising, she is now navigating being an empty nester with her two dogs, Karma and Rip.
Ellen Schardt

Ellen Schardt, BA, CPRS

Title/Position
Director of Recovery Services, NAMI Dubuque
Ellen is a certified Peer Recovery Specialist at NAMI Dubuque using her lived experience with brain health conditions and substance use disorder to advocate for, and support struggling individuals. Ellen has been working in the nonprofit sector since 2013 in positions for community health education, youth education, mental health advocacy, substance use/problem gambling/suicide prevention, and peer support. Ellen is a trained facilitator in multiple NAMI signature programs, WRAP, Smart Recovery and WHAM. She and her team coordinate programming and provide peer recovery support at 3 NAMI peer-run wellness centers in Eastern Iowa. Ellen provides peer recovery support for justice-involved individuals and facilitates a weekly support group with the women in the Dubuque County jail. Ellen also works part-time as a Mobile Crisis Counselor with Foundation 2.  Ellen serves on the board of directors for Mental Health America of Dubuque County, the Iowa Office of Recovery Services, and the Iowa Affiliation of Addiction Professionals through NAADAC. In her personal life, Ellen has two amazing daughters; she enjoys animals, the outdoors, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Hawkeyes. Ellen loves to spend time with friends and family, and is involved in her local recovery community.