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Meet our team

Chiara Montante

Society President

Chiara Montante has been an active member in the health field community for many years.  Advocating for self care, she has been a leader in the mental health industry for most of her life.  Chiara joined the Pleneurethics Society in 2012, and has been at the helm throughout many of our small but mighty changes along the way.  Chiara continues to push our non-profit to be a larger part of the neurological conversation through community outreach and partnerships.  Chiara has a compassionate leadership style that enhances the mission as well as the people at the heart of our work.

JAmes Carroll

Institute President

Self-Care is Job #1, this has been the motto that James has taught thousands of students in his 40 year career in education and human services.  He was involved in the development of Pleneurethics with Mr. Collier, our founder.  Mr. Carroll has taught courses in Pleneurethics and is the author of The 10 Principles of Pleneurethics.  He currently serves as President of the Pleneurethics Institute, which is the applied arm of the Pleneurethics Society.   His strength empowers the team to bring their best to the organization.  He mentors, coaches and communicates in a manner that brings the best out of those around him. 

Jennifer Hensley

Coordinator and Administrative Assistant

Jennifer Hensley has been with the Pleneurethics since 2013, and first served in the capacity of Coordinator for the Institute working mainly with students, the community and outreach.  Later, she took on the roll of administrative assistant to both the Institute and the Society.  Jennifer taught in Argentina, and K-5 special education in Washington state before joining our team.   

Governing board of directors

Adrian
Brown

Vice President

My name is Adrian Brown. I earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Pacific Lutheran University and am a Registered Nurse at Saint Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington while working in a Level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Developing strong relationships is very important to me both professionally and personally. I am dedicated to my patients and their families to thrive throughout their lifespan as I continue to seek enrichment through evidence-based practice. My family means the world to me too. I am a mom to two very intelligent teenagers and a dog named Roman while being happily married nearly 20 years. In my spare time I enjoy outdoor adventures, karaoke, gaming, and scary movies. As a former Pleneurethics Scholarship recipient, I am honored to have been welcomed as a board member since 2019. My own visions align with Richard Bangs Collier’s ideas to improve the quality of lives through achieving a healthy balance in the mind and wholly as a physical being.  As a
nurse, I witness first-hand how neurological implications impact an individual's overall health status. It is with great pleasure to continue to support his work and philosophy for generations to
come through research, education, publications, and scholarships.

THOMAS
MATSON​

Thomas Matson was a Pleneurethic Scholar before he joined the team.  He spent most of his career in the helping field in the Pacific Northwest.  Thomas is a member of the Board of Directors as well as the Treasurer for the Society.

Ivonna
Anderson

Kenneth
Pimpleton

Dan
Small

Working at community colleges in Oregon and Washington, Dan served in various administrative positions for 40 years. At Tacoma Community College he directed the college’s community relations efforts for many years. He retired as Vice President of Institutional Advancement in 2014 after serving TCC for 36 years.

Dan’s communications and journalism training was beneficial as he produced TCC’s publications and directed the college’s advertising and marketing. Dan also coordinated the college’s legislative relations efforts, helping TCC secure funds for academic support and new building construction. Before retirement, he served as executive director of the TCC Foundation, the college’s non-profit organization which provides scholarships to many students.

Throughout his career, Dan was a passionate advocate for the college and had the pleasure of working directly for five TCC presidents. Dan met Richard Collier in the early 80’s and worked with him to publish and edit many volumes of The Pleneurethics Journal, a booklet featuring papers written by TCC scholarship recipients. Dan has served as a member of the Pleneurethics board for 27 years.

Pamela
Transue

Pamela Transue served as President of Tacoma Community College for nearly eighteen years before her retirement. She has served on the Pleneurethics board for even longer, twenty-three years. She is passionate about helping people discover their potential through education and experience and moving on to find meaningful work and a purposeful existence. Watching TCC students achieve these goals has been enormously rewarding.

Pamela has been active in her professional and volunteer affiliations throughout her career and retirement. She was Chair of the Board of the 1200 member American Association of Community Colleges and was twice chosen as Pacific Region CEO of the year by the national community college trustees’ association.

Over the years, Pamela has served on the boards of many different community organizations serving Tacoma/Pierce County, including the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, United Way, Goodwill, the Chamber of Commerce, and Rotary. Most recently, she serves on the board of the Tacoma Art Museum and Tacoma Garden Club, and during the election season on The News Tribune Editorial Board.

Pamela loves living in Tacoma with her husband Stuart Grover and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. She enjoys traveling, having visited all seven continents, reading, walking in a new neighborhood every day, trying new recipes, and connecting with people.

Judy
Colarusso

A proud graduate of Gonzaga University (1980) and worked over 40 years in public and private business and public and private education utilizing my accounting and business degree.  I retired from Tacoma Community College in 2017 having worked in administration for 14 years.

Washington has been my home for most of my life and I was born and raised in Tacoma.  I enjoy and appreciate the Pacific Northwest with my husband and have been active in some type of outdoor sports from an early age.  I currently enjoy the game of golf, riding my bike and enjoying the wonderful outdoors.

It was while working at Tacoma Community College that I became involved with the Pleneurethics Society.  I originally provided administrative support to the society as part of my job working for the President of Tacoma Community College (TCC).  As I became more involved and learned about Pleneurethics, I became more and more interested in the power and ability of the mind and how important it is in the health and wellness of the body.  I also enjoyed working to help provide scholarships for students.  After retiring, I was asked and delighted to become a member of the board.  I feel very blessed to work with some exceptional individuals who are selfless in their efforts to provide support for students working to achieve their educational goals.  This has been rewarding work for me and along the way I have learned and continue to learn amazing things about the mind and its potential.

Barbara
Peterson

Professor in the Human Services Professional Program at Tacoma Community College for nearly 30 years, and she is currently servicing as the program chair. She began her academic career at TCC as a student earning the Associate in Technical Arts Human Services degree along with an Associates in Arts and Science degree. She earned her BA in Human Services Management at Western Washington University and an MS/MA degree in Human Resources/Organizational Leadership from Chapman University. She earned her doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology from California Southern University. She and her late husband raised seven children and they have eight grown grandchildren. She enjoys gardening, all kinds of crafting, and travel in her spare time. Barbara first learned of Pleneurethics when she was a student at TCC. She had the privilege of accompanying Jim Carroll and Dan Small when they lunched with Mr. Collier. It was fascinating to listen to stories of his travels and the development of his ideas. The study of Pleneurethics is a natural fit with her deep interests in brain science, learning, trauma, and ethics. She has assisted a number of her students with brainstorming ideas for the creation of scholarly papers with a foundation in Pleneurethics.

Julie
Burton

Becky
Sproat

April
Arnold

Joel
Larson

Director of Operations of the School of Engineering & Technology at the University of Washington Tacoma.  In addition to his work at the UW Tacoma, Larson also serves as the chair of the Board of Trustees for the Knights of Pythias, Commencement Lodge #7. His interest in Pleneurethics stems from his belief that mankind is, at its core, a good people. By spreading the principles of Pleneurethics, he hopes to make the world a better place.

Davina
Schwab

I feel very blessed to know who I am and what my mission is. I am a mother, grandmother, and wife. My compassion and deep love for people as well as my desire to empower and advocate for others drive me to be a transformational leader at work and in my community. I am constantly pushing myself and others to step outside of our comfort zones, to implement systemic change, lift up the voices of marginalized community members, and achieve our God-given potential.  

I currently work at the Tacoma Rescue Mission as the manager of street outreach, serving alongside a team of compassionate, selfless, and extensively trauma-informed individuals who are truly helping to change lives and lift our hurting community members every single day. The Mission and the people I get to work with have impacted me just as much as I have been able to impact others.  

I received my Bachelor of Liberal Arts from Evergreen, Tacoma, in Social and Human services with an emphasis on leadership. I am grateful to have had teachers and mentors along my journey who have poured into me and helped to shape who I am today, three of which are my fellow board members.  

On my free time, I enjoy crafting, music, karaoke, and exploring the coast. Self-care is extremely important to me, filling up so I can continue to pour into others.  

Lastly, those experiencing mental health challenges and/or traumatic brain injuries are close to my heart. I have had the unique opportunity to walk closely alongside those individuals and adapt to love them well right where they are at.  

Emeritus Directors

Pat Brown

Elizabeth Willis

Laurie
Jinkins

Gael Tower