OUR STAFF

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Senior Director

Programs and Training lisas@azpathwaytowork.org

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Lisa has been working with individuals with autism and developmental disabilities for over 20 years. She began providing in-home habilitation services to children with autism, and then became a lead habilitation trainer for a local agency while attending Arizona State University. She credits one of her psychology professors for instilling in her a passion for working with individuals with autism. Lisa has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Special Education, and obtained a Masters in Special Education with an emphasis in autism. Lisa has taught special education to students of all grade levels for 14 years, including preschool, elementary, middle school and high school. She has extensive training in applied behavior analysis and transition services. She holds a K-12 teaching certificate from Arizona Department of Education in special education and an endorsement in emotional disorders. For many years Lisa was Director of Special Education Services and a Special Education high school teacher for a private school for students with autism and other developmental disabilities. While in this position, Lisa developed her passion for working with individuals and their families to create transition plans to assist students in achieving greater independence to lead to paid, integrated employment and increased independent living skills.   

Board President & Treasurer 

Chief Executive Officer

nancyc@azpathwaytowork.org

Nancy has an MS in Aeronautics and worked in the airline industry for many years prior to working for Federal Aviation Administration Headquarters in Washington, DC. There she developed regulations, policy, and guidance for air carrier operations. For over 20 years, she served as the FAA’s technical expert regarding the use of child restraint and restraint systems used by people with disabilities on aircraft. During that time, she was also the FAA’s liaison to the Department of Transportation regarding DOT regulations that addressed nondiscrimination on the basis of disability in air travel.

 Nancy lives in Phoenix, AZ with her husband and her two sons. Both of her sons are bright, engaged, and talented individuals, one of whom has autism. 

Board Secretary 

Shanan is a Speech-Language Pathologist and co-owner of Arizona Advanced Therapy, LLC. Shanan attended Arizona State University, graduating with a BS in Speech and Hearing Sciences. She then continued her education at ASU and earned her master’s in Communication Disorders with an emphasis in Speech-Language Pathology. Throughout her college years Shanan worked with children with special needs, specifically children with autism. She helped to develop and implement home programs containing Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), Floortime, and other treatment techniques. As her career progressed she chose feeding therapy as her primary focus. Throughout Shanan’s career she has had the opportunity to attend training seminars related to feeding, teletherapy, Autism, Apraxia, oral placement and many other areas related to her field.

Board Member

Originally from Northern Michigan, Tara moved to Arizona in 1994 to complete her bachelor’s degree in Psychology at ASU. In 1997 while working for HOPE Group, she began a career as a Behavior Analyst, becoming the first nationally certified in the State of Arizona through the Behavior Analyst Certification Board.  For 3 years, Tara developed and directed summer programs focusing on the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis.  Given the high need for school programs serving individuals with differing abilities, she was approached by several families who requested that Tara and her business partner start their own private school.  They took on the challenge! Beginning in 2003, they co-founded and operated Chrysalis Academy, a Department of Education private day school and Play ABA, a DDD provider agency, for nearly 2 decades. Throughout her career, Tara worked directly with home-based clients, students, staff, and parents. 

Her roles ranged from designing and implementing individualized programs, writing goals, partnering with school districts, developing and implementing staff training and overseeing all aspects of the daily business operations. This is where many of the leading professionals in the Autism community got their start. After nearly 25 years, the time came to pass the torch and move on to some new adventures. In 2021 after selling the businesses and retiring from the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Tara began to pursue a career in Real Estate joining the Cook & Associates Real Estate team.

In herfree time, she enjoys watching sports, traveling, and spending time with her family. Tara and her husband have been married for 26 years and have 2 amazing young adult children who she enjoys having very close by her in Ahwatukee. 

Board Member & Director of Stewardship

richardf@azpathwaytowork.org

Richard P. Fernandez is a new valley resident, having come from Southern California. His last assignment was as Major Gifts Officer for Charles R. Drew University of Science and Medicine in Los Angeles (CDU).

Richard is a visionary executive with proven leadership and fundraising experience with CDU, Special Needs Network (SNN) and Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC).

Expertise in development including major gifts, naming campaigns, sponsorship and special event execution and design. He established, cultivated key relationships, and maximized existing relationships.

Richard also brings experience having worked in the educational, corporate and nonprofit sectors in Southern California.

He holds degrees from Northern Arizona University (NAU) and California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). Additional certification from University of Southern California (USC) and University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).

Richard resides in Chandler and serves on the Board of Directors for LAPD 77th Division Police Activities League (PAL) program. Past Board affiliation include Sunburst Youth Academy, International Law Enforcement Torch Run Executive Council, NAU Alumni, CSULB Sport Management Alumni and others.