Center For Collaborative Solutions

Our Team

	Janet Walden President & CEO Janet is our founding President and CEO. She has been at the helm of CCS since its inception in 1991. Commenting on her work, Janet says, "I have a passion for collaboration and partnership, and leading CCS is a great place to put this passion into productive action!" Janet's earliest vocation was social work, which led to a career in labor relations, culminating in her appointment to positions as regional director and division chief with the California Public Employment Relations Board. Janet left state government in 1991 to start CCS and is a past managing director of the California Afterschool Partnership. Janet has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work from California State University, Long Beach.
	Kathy B. Lewis Vice President & COO Kathy formally joined CCS in January 2007, but has been a CCS Board member since 2003 and has worked with CCS on a variety of afterschool projects over the past few years. Kathy first became involved with CCS when she was a Deputy at the California Department of Education (CDE), and CCS served as the afterschool intermediary for the California Afterschool Partnership. Speaking about that work, Kathy says, “Without CCS’ valuable expertise, we would have been unable to provide the much needed on-the-ground assistance to struggling afterschool programs. Every program CCS coached and mentored improved its performance.” Kathy’s background includes working in state government for 30 years, overseeing a variety of programs at the California Department of Social Services and the California Employment Development Department, and ultimately serving as a Deputy at CDE for five years. Since retiring in 2003, she has returned to state government to work on numerous high profile projects, including the Governor’s California Performance Review, a California Health and Human Services’ licensing improvement project, and the implementation of the TANF Reauthorization at the California Department of Social Services. She is passionate about helping government and organizations work better through collaboration. Kathy has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Indiana University and a Master of Arts in English from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has also completed the course work and qualifying examination for a Ph.D. in English at University of California, Santa Barbara
	Maureen McEnnerney Director, Program Services & Finance Maureen, who has been with CCS since 1995, has coordinated workshops, conferences and meetings both professionally and as a volunteer, for over 35 years. She manages all workplace and afterschool fee-for-service offerings, from initiating contracts and service agreements to overseeing that each project meets all contractual agreements. Maureen received an Associate of Science degree with Honors from Heald Business College.
	Shannon Beni Project Manager Shannon has been with CCS since June of 1997, taking on progressively greater and more challenging responsibilities. As project manager, Shannon serves as co-manager of CCS’ Annual Labor Management Conference, which presents all aspects of collaborative skills development. Shannon has also helped oversee the Regional Learning Center meetings and the Nutrition Education Leadership Learning Community sessions. Shannon received an Associate of Arts degree in Liberal Arts from American River College. In her spare time, Shannon enjoys traveling with her family and taking advantage of the many outdoor activities that her home in South Lake Tahoe has to offer.
	Debbie Kowalski Executive Assistant, Program Services & Finance Debbie’s responsibilities include providing high-level support to significant CCS contracts and projects. Activities include administrative oversight of the three-year health initiative, database maintenance and assistance to consultants on various projects. Debbie is also integral to the financial team with high-level support with receivables and payables, as well as assistance with the creation of financial reports. Debbie, who recently returned to CCS, also provides ongoing executive-level administrative assistance to CCS’ president and project managers.
	Vicky Sjol Executive Assistant, CECHCR Vicky Sjol has served as Executive Assistant to the CECHCR’s Project Manager and co-chairs since July 2007 where she works on special projects and is responsible for the overall administrative management, including but not limited to coordinating and tracking the schedule, activities, and project responsibilities of HBC Trainings for CECHCR. Prior to joining CECHCR, Vicky was executive assistant to the President, two Vice Presidents, and general counsel for a home framing company, as well as an executive assistant in Logistics at Hewlett-Packard for 6 years. In these positions, she developed strong organizational and administration skills, including developing and implementing standardized internal procedures, planning events, creating electronic forms and presentation templates, and maintaining logistic-related statistics. When not arranging meetings or writing minutes, Vicky can be found remodeling her home and hiking with her husband and family.
	Katie Lewis Administrative Assistant Katie’s responsibilities focus on the assistance with the implementation of key statewide initiatives. Activities include coordinating logistics and travel arrangements for large-scale, statewide meetings, monitoring and tracking of travel and other project expenses, and assistance preparing project deliverables, reports and budgets. Katie also coordinates the day-to-day office operations, as well provides ongoing administrative support to CCS’ president and project managers. Katie received a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Sociology and Sports Management from the University of California, Santa Barbara.