Dr. William Stone, Ed.D., NCC, NCCC, President and CEO

Bill received his doctorate from Vanderbilt University, where he focused his research on career development issues. He holds a certificate of Advanced Study from the University of Maine and B.S. and M.Ed. degrees from the University of Southern Maine. He is both a National Certified Counselor (NCC) and a National Certified Career Counselor (NCCC). He has worked as a high school guidance director and staff development program director. Bill has also taught graduate courses in counselor education, especially on career-related topics. He is the co-author of Beginning the Career Exploration System and The Career Exploration System, published by AGS. Before becoming the President and CEO of Promising Futures, he was the Clinical Director of the Higher Education Resources Outreach program (HERO) for the MES Foundation.

Janet Etzel, MS, LCPC, NCC, NCCC, Managing Director, Career Coach and Counselor

Janet holds a B.S. from the University of Maine at Farmington and an M.S. in Mental Health Counseling from the University of Southern Maine. She is a licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) in the state of Maine, a National Certified Counselor (NCC) and a National Certified Career Counselor (NCCC). Before joining Promising Futures, Janet worked for the MES Foundation/Intelligent Learning Corp. for six years providing career and educational counseling to clients in-person, over a hotline, and in a mobile information center. Prior to that, Janet worked at the USM Counseling Center and as a health educator at various agencies for 12 years.

Crisanne Kadamus Blackie, M.Ed., NCC, NCCC, Managing Director, Career Coach & Counselor

Crisanne received her B.A. from Hobart and William Smith Colleges and her M.Ed. in Student Personnel Administration from Springfield College. She is a Registered counselor with the Maine Board of Counseling Professionals and is both a National Certified Counselor (NCC) and a National Certified Career Counselor (NCCC). Before joining Promising Futures, Crisanne worked for the MES Foundation/Intelligent Learning Corp. for seven years, providing career and educational counseling to clients in-person, over a hotline and in a mobile information center. Before that she spent nine years in higher education in various positions including director of career development, career counselor, and in residential life counselor.

Robert Hickey, B.S. Bus. Adm., B.S. Info. Technology, Certified WebMaster UNE 

Robert has utilized this dual strengths of Technology skills and business acumen on many fronts:

Employment: Chief Technology Officer and Certified Webmaster at Promising Futures, Inc.  Accomplished Web & Database Technology solutions Aricia; has taught Information Technology subjects at the College Level for the University of New England, Systems Programmer - B2B Explorer; MIS Manager - MES Foundation, a non-Profit providing financing for Higher Education; Manager of Information Technology Staff at the City of Portland, ME

Education: B.S. - University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME (Business Administration); B.S. - University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME (Computer Science); Webmaster Certificate - University of New England, Portland, ME

Patricia Brewer, V.P. Marketing & Business Development

Employment: Sales/Marketing and Business Development - Promising Futures; Director of Field Engineering Worldwide - Vignette, Inc (1.5 yrs); Director of Sales Engineering - OnDisplay, Inc. (2 yrs); Software Consultant - Connect, Inc. (1 year); Pre-sales & Post-sales Consultant - D&B Software (5 years); Human Resources Information Systems - Stanley-Bostitch (5 years)

Education: Northern Maine Technical Institute - Diploma; Solution Selling Training; Human Resources Policy & Procedures; Presentation Skills Coaching Program; Technical Training on Databases, Networks & WebServices

Ardith Weiss, M.S., NCC, NCCC, Career Counselor

Ardith received her B.A. in Liberal Arts from Ambassador College, Big Sandy, Texas and her M.S. with emphasis on Career Development and Communication. Ardith is a National Certified Counselor (NCC) and National Certified Career Counselor (NCCC). She is a member of the American Counseling Association and the National Career Development Association. Besides working in the Career Planning and Placement field at the university level for over 10 years, she has been an instructor in Speech Communication. Ardith's presentations and publications include the National Career Development Association, June 2000, in Pittsburgh, PA and co-authoring "A Third Order Component Analysis of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator" published in the journal of Educational and Psychological Measurement.

Kate Dulac, B.S., M.S., LCPC, NCC

Kate Dulac holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Trinity College in Hartford, CT and a Master's degree in Clinical Counseling from the University of Southern Maine. She is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) in the state of Maine, and a National Certified Counselor (NCC). Most recently, Kate served as an on-site consultant at the Career Planning Center at UNUMProvident Corporation for four years. In this capacity, she provided confidential counseling to employees of UNUMProvident in the areas of career and life planning, including general job search skills, identifying interests, understanding personality type, stress management, and life balance issues. Previously, Kate provided counseling services to students at the University of Southern Maine, and to victims of domestic violence at Family Crisis Services in Portland, Maine. She is a member of the American Counseling Association, the National Career Development Association, and the University of Southern Maine Mental Health Advisory Committee.

Anne Upton, M.S., LCPC, ACS, NCC

Anne Stockmar Upton, M.S., L.C.P.C., A.C.S., N.C.C., joined Promising Futures, on May 1, 2001, when she resigned as Director and Site Supervisor of the Career Planning Center at UnumProvident Companies in Portland, Maine, where she had served as an on-site consultant for over five years. As a licensed clinical counselor, with a special focus on career development, Anne offers individual career counseling and assessment, peak performance coaching, life review, group workshops and supervision and training of graduate interns. Anne holds a bachelor's degree in Anthropology and Communications from Dartmouth College and a master's degree in Clinical Counseling from the University of Southern Maine. She is a Licensed Clinical Counselor and an Approved Clinical Supervisor with National Certification.

Beda F. Knight, B.S. Ed.

Beda attended a private high school where etiquette lessons were required as part of the curriculum, which "opened many doors" for her, and created countless opportunities. It wasn't until years after graduating from the University of Maine with a Bachelor's Degree in Education that she understood how her degree in education and her research on the many useful and practical aspects of etiquette and protocol would be the foundation of her business, the Yarmouth School of Etiquette and Protocol, Inc. As a frequent guest on local television and radio, as their etiquette expert, Beda has discussed many areas of social and business etiquette. (Also, having worked in a large corporation for many years, she has considerable experience within the corporate culture.) Her clients include legal and medical professionals, employees of municipalities, universities, and a variety of local businesses, and business associations. A sampling client list includes: University of Southern Maine (Women in Management); the University of New England; the Court Reporters' Association; the Town of Yarmouth; the Town of Cumberland; and the Saco Rotary Club, to name just a few. Beda works in conjunction with Promising Futures to provide professional etiquette aspects as part of the Promising Futures Career Development program.

Leigh G. Mundhenk, B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Member local & national chapters of ASTD, member MEBSR, member MEOD Network

Leigh G. Mundhenk holds a BS in Psychology from Duke, her MS from the University of Pennsylvania in Organizational Dynamics. Leigh holds a Ph.D. in Psycho-Educational Processes from Temple University. She founded WorkConcepts, an organizational and personal development consulting firm. She is also an assistant professor of Leadership and Organizational Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Has designed and facilitated workshops and courses on performance management, career planning and management, change management, human relations, organizational theory and behavior, group dynamics, and training and development. Has strong training and experience in group development. Leigh has worked with large companies such as Mobile Oil, Scott Paper, DuPont and Exxon as well as numerous small and mid-sized companies and organizations including hospitals, medical practices, political groups and non-profit agencies. She had eighteen years of management experience with McNeil Consumer Products Company, a division of Johnson & Johnson. Was an instrumental member of charter teams responsible for developing new business start-ups by using innovative and resourceful approaches. As a product director for Tylenol®, Leigh demonstrated a strong ability to identify problems which hinder growth in business, while developing creative and highly effective solutions.

While at Temple Leigh conducted research, with employees whose organizations had gone through significant transition, to establish whether a career development training intervention could help them become more self-reliant. Her research provided preliminary evidence that such a program could help employees adopt new attitudes, knowledge and behaviors which favor career self-management and lead to increased feelings of control over their work lives. At the University of Pennsylvania, she studied and examined the key elements which comprise the Organization and those forces which influence and shape its ever changing dynamics. Her close examination of the Organization led her to strongly believe that organizations and individuals can and must partner to create positive work environments, and that personal career satisfaction and organizational success are intrinsically intertwined.

Elaine O'Reilly, MA is an instructor, counselor, and career coach who currently teaches career and personal development courses at the college level. She has a BA in Psychology and a MA in Counseling Psychology and Movement Therapy. She has been involved in the college planning process for high school students and adults who are returning to school for a number of years. She teaches workshops using the Myers-Briggs Personality Type tool and the Strong-Interest Inventory, as well as career workshops addressing finding one's true passion.

Elaine is currently serving as an academic advisor and lecturer in career development.  She has worked in private practice in both agency and private settings, has taught psychology, public speaking, sociology and English.  She is also president of the board of directors of a local non-profit organization.