Click here for a list of FY08 Training Consultants

Prevention First Training Team

Sara Christensen, B.S., Manager of Training
Sara works with a team of Professional Development Resource Specialists to provide training and professional development resources and support for preventionists in Illinois. Prior to joining Prevention First, Sara was the Community Program Development Coordinator at PEER Services, a non-profit substance abuse prevention and outpatient treatment organization. During her tenure with PEER Services, she developed and implemented a comprehensive social norms marketing campaign, directed a Drug-Free Communities Support Program grant, and worked closely with schools, law enforcement and social service organizations to implement evidence-based programs and environmental prevention strategies. Her areas of expertise include social norms marketing, coalition building and facilitation and youth leadership. Sara is a consultant for the Montana Institute, through which she provides technical assistance to organizations and communities implementing social norms marketing projects. Sara received a bachelor’s degree in Family and Social Services from Northern Illinois University and has over 10 years of experience in the prevention field.

Kelly Kindred, Professional Development Resource Coordinator
During her past five years in prevention, Kelly has coordinated logistical and promotional details for trainings and meetings. Currently, she also manages the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws grant and is a trainer for Technology in Prevention. Kindred received a bachelor’s degree in Management with a specialization in Information Systems from Southern Illinois University. She previously trained computer software to corporate and private clients specializing in the Microsoft Suite and is a certified Microsoft Office User Specialist.

James K. Paoni, B.A., C.S.A.D.P., Professional Development Resource Specialist
An expert in many areas of nonprofit-organization management and governance, Jim has over 15 years of experience in the social-service field with 11 years coordinating and delivering training. He received his graduate certificate in management of nonprofit organizations from the University of Illinois at Springfield. Paoni previously served as the manager of training and technical assistance with the Illinois Community Action Association. Paoni is an alumnus of the Education Policy Fellowship Program of the Institute for Educational Leadership and is a certified senior alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse preventionist. His experience also includes serving as a board member for several nonprofit activist organizations.

Sarah Potter, Professional Development Resource Specialist
Sarah offers training on drug and alcohol prevention, prevention strategies for youth and school systems, rural community coalitions, community organizing, and policy and ordinance development. She holds a Bachelor of Social Work, and Master of Public Administration degree from SIU in Carbondale. Prior to joining Prevention First, Sarah served the Illinois Attorney General as a Program Specialist. She offered technical assistance to the southern region by developing initiatives in truancy prevention, court diversion programs, balanced and restorative justice, and rural methamphetamine responses. Sarah also worked in violence prevention from 1996 to 2001, during which time she developed and trained for a Batterer Intervention Program in Southern Illinois.

Felicia Roberson, M.A., I.C.P.S., Professional Development Resource Specialist
Felicia has 19 years of experience in the social-service field with most of her experience in substance-abuse prevention. She previously served for seven years at Prevention First, providing technical assistance and training to community-based providers. She returned to Prevention First in 2001 with knowledge and experience as a regional representative for the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS). As a DHS regional representative, she provided technical assistance and monitored various state-funded contracts. Felicia has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Troy State University in Troy, Alabama and a master’s degree in human performance and training from Governors State University, in University Park, Illinois.

Mary Ellen Shannon, Manager of Provider Services
Mary Ellen is based in Chicago, Illinois and provides oversight to the Expert Consultation, Chicago technical assistance services, and the Alcohol Enforcement training courses at Prevention First. Prior to joining Prevention First, Mary Ellen was the program administer of the Substance Abuse Prevention Program for the Illinois Department of Human Services. During her 8 years with the Department, Ms. Shannon also coordinated the Illinois' State Incentive Grant (Illinois Prevention 2000/ Communities CAN!) and Illinois' Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Block Grants. Prior to her work with the State, Ms. Shannon was the InTouch coordinator at the Cook County Sheriff's Youth Services Department where she worked with coalitions, organizations, and groups to reduce alcohol, tobacco and other drug use within the western suburbs. Mary Ellen received a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Illinois State University and has over 10 years of experience in the prevention field.

Jessica Stiffler, M.S.W., Professional Development Resource Specialist
In addition to her role as a Professional Development Resource Specialist, Jessica coordinates Expert Consultation services for Prevention First and is based in Springfield, Illinois. She currently delivers training on a variety of topics, including Prevention Basics, Conducting Focus Groups, and the Illinois Youth Survey. She has eight years of experience in the social-service field with most of her experience in substance-abuse prevention. She previously served for 5 ½ years at Chestnut Health Systems as an Assistant InTouch Coordinator, providing technical assistance and capacity building to community grant providers. Jessica has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Illinois in Urbana, Illinois.

FY08 Training Consultants

Carlton Hall, Training Consultant for Beyond the Basics – Essential Elements in Building an Effective and Sustainable Coalition
Carlton is the Senior Manager of Training and Technical Assistance for CADCA’s National Coalition Institute. Prior to joining CADCA, Carlton was president and CEO of Carlton Hall Consulting LLC (CHC), a multi-faceted full service consulting organization designed to provide customized solutions and enable measurable change for communities, organizations, families and individuals. In 2005, CHC partnered with the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) to provide training and technical assistance support to CADCA’s National Coalition Academy. The Academy, a year long coalition development program, is designed to increase the effectiveness of communities in drug demand reduction at population level outcomes. With over 10 years experience in fields of government, social services and prevention science, Carlton gained national prominence as a Communities That Care® Project Manager, for the Channing Bete Company. He had been a Communities That Care® trainer/senior consultant with Channing Bete Company for four years. He received his Masters in Human Services from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Education from the Fielding Graduate Institute. He was appointed as the Project Director for the Communities That Care® process in Philadelphia as well as the Crime and Public Safety manager for the Philadelphia Empowerment Zone, a division of the Mayor’s Office of Community Services. During that time he managed a small planning grant to over three million dollars for science-based prevention programming in the neighborhoods of Philadelphia. Carlton was also responsible for the design and implementation of the award winning "Operation Makeover", an effective community-wide intervention addressing blatant open-air drug trafficking and increasing levels of juvenile violence and substance abuse offences. Operation Makeover was recognized by Vice-President Al Gore and featured in "Programs That Work" a publication by the Office of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). After years of volunteering with many youth organizations Carlton founded The STRONG Foundation in 1993, which created opportunities to reduce service duplication while increasing partnerships with existing youth organizations.

Ron Jakubisin, Training Consultant for Facilitating School-Based Programs
Ron has been in the field of substance abuse since 1983 in which he spent the first 7 years of his career working in residential/hospital-based adolescent alcohol/drug treatment programs. Since 1991 Ron has been a prevention specialist with the Lake County Health Department serving on the InTouch Grant as well as the Community-Based Provider Grant. He has delivered Youth Prevention Education Curriculums, both model and guideline-based in several communities in his service area of Lake County. In his role as a prevention specialist, Ron has served as a facilitator, trainer of trainers, peer helper program trainer, and workshop presenter. Ron has worked with populations within the DHS grant specifications (10 - 17 year olds) as well as special populations such as college students within the community college setting concerning ATOD prevention. Ron has served as a volunteer for the Operation Snowball State Board of Directors as a board member and has been a trainer, consultant, and presenter for both the DHS statewide initiatives of Operation Snowball and the Illinois Teen Institute.

Trina Ragain, Training Consultant for Developing and Implementing Successful Communication Campaigns
Trina serves as a Manager of Research Programs at the Center for Prevention Research and Development (CPRD) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She works as part of a team at CPRD to provide evaluation services and technical assistance to prevention specialists who are funded through the Illinois Department of Human Services, Bureau of Community Based and Primary Prevention, Substance Abuse Prevention Program (SAPP) to implement evidence-based substance abuse prevention programs and practices targeting 10-17 year olds, their families, schools and communities. In her work at CPRD, Trina has consulted with the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Family Violence Prevention Council on the development of a social marketing initiative to prevent shaken baby syndrome. She also coordinates a biannual review of the evidence-based programs and practices implemented by SAPP-funded substance abuse prevention specialists. Trina is currently conducting a longitudinal study on the effectiveness of social norms marketing at reducing alcohol consumption among high school students. She holds a bachelor of science in liberal arts and sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master of science in public health in community health from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Chuck Klevgaard, Training Consultant for Sustaining Your Prevention Efforts
Chuck has earned his BSW and is a Certified Addictions Counselor. He has been an Associate for Central CAPT since 1999 and has worked in the field for 20 years. He has provided trainings and technical assistance in the following areas: evidenced-based prevention, strategic planning, youth as leaders, selection of model programs, sustainability, program evaluation, best practices, data collections, school and community partnerships, youth development, advanced coalition building, social marketing, and environmental strategies. He currently serves as a prevention program manager for the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services in Massachusetts.

Donna Prather, Training Consultant for Promoting the Illinois Youth Survey to Schools and Illinois Youth Survey Teleconference Series
Donna is the Illinois Youth Survey Project Coordinator at Chestnut Health Systems, Inc. in Bloomington, Illinois. She has served in this position since 2000 and her responsibilities include coordinating the Illinois Youth Survey process with schools and prevention providers in Illinois. Previously, she served as InTouch Area 14 Prevention Coordinator at Chestnut Health Systems, providing alcohol, tobacco and other drug prevention technical assistance from 1995 until 2000, and as Asst. Coordinator from 1987 to 1995.

Alan Markwood, M.A., Training Consultant for Promoting the Illinois Youth Survey to Schools and Illinois Youth Survey Teleconference Series
Alan is the Prevention Projects Coordinator at Chestnut Health Systems, Inc. in Bloomington, Illinois. His responsibilities include coordinating the Illinois Youth Survey and participating in prevention research, development, and training projects. He has directed prevention coalitions in three Illinois counties. Markwood is the principal author of the Best Practices in ATOD Prevention Handbook (1997), and has managed a series of statewide studies on youth substance use in Illinois. He served as InTouch Area 14 Prevention Coordinator at Chestnut Health Systems from 1987 until promoted to his current position in 1995. Prior to his work in prevention, he worked as a School Psychologist for seven years in Illinois and Massachusetts. He has a Master of Arts degree in Psychology from Alfred University and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Education from Boston University.

Kathy Jobin, LPN, C.A.D.P., Training Consultant for Cultural Context of Prevention
Kathy is a Nurse and Certified Alcohol and Drug Preventionist. She has worked and volunteered in the prevention field since 1987, having become involved when her own children were in high school. Kathy has worked as the Director of the Youth Substance-Abuse-Prevention Program with Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems since 1996. She is the Immediate Past President of the Illinois Drug Education Alliance. Her past experience includes three years as the Prevention Coordinator for the Rochester, Illinois School District and three years with the Springfield, Illinois Regional Office of Education where she served as the Homeless Education Liaison with project Success. Jobin has been a presenter and trainer with Prevention First in Illinois since 1994. She has delivered numerous programs related to substance abuse prevention throughout Illinois and other Midwestern States as a CAPT Associate and Trainer. She continues her prevention efforts on a local regional and statewide level as well as being a State Partner through the Illinois Drug Education Alliance to the National Program of Parent Corps.

Scott Friedlein, Training Consultant for Public Policy to Address Alcohol Problems
Sgt. Friedlein started his law enforcement career with the Champaign IL Police Department in September 1985, and was promoted to Sgt. In 1990. Since June of 1995, Sgt. Friedlein has been in charge of the City of Champaign’s Alcohol Enforcement Unit. Sgt. Friedlein is responsible for the development of enforcement and training programs for the city’s 165 licensed liquor establishments. He is also responsible for managing criminal investigations that occur within licensed establishments. Annually, the Alcohol Enforcement Unit conducts nearly 140 enforcement operations. With his supervision, compliance rates in licensed premises have risen from 40% to 95%, and several new enforcement programs have been developed. In addition to enforcement operations, Sgt. Friedlein provides a variety of instructional programs. He is a certified TIPS trainer, and has trained over 1500 in responsible server practices. He supervised the development of and teaches the Bar Employee Security Training (BEST) program that teaches security employees their rights and responsibilities. Sgt Friedlein provides educational seminars to student groups and the community. These seminars are presented to approximately 2000 people each year. He has provided instruction to law enforcement and communities in 27 states and has been a speaker at the International Alcohol Enforcement Workshop held in Washington D.C. Sgt. Friedlein provides instruction and consultation through the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE) and Illinois’ Prevention First. He has served as an adjunct faculty member of the University of Illinois Police Training Institute, and is a member of the National Liquor Law Enforcement Association.