BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Text here about Compassion Counseling’s board of directors.
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Wendy Teffeteller
Wendy grew up in Maryville, attending Maryville High School, and then attended college in Georgia. Wendy holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education from Mercer University and a Masters of Education from Georgia College & State University. After moving back to East Tennessee, she married her childhood best friend, Dustin and they have a 9-year-old son, Wyatt. Wendy has over 20 years of experience in education. She taught middle school science for 18 years and now works as a Director of School Success with Project Lead the Way. A few other community organizations she has been involved with include Knoxville Mobile Meals, Greyhound Retirement Foundation of Tennessee, Random Acts of Flowers, Alcoa City Schools Foundation, Ronald McDonald House, and Alpha Delta Pi Sorority.
When Wendy isn’t working, she loves to travel, flip houses, take her two rescue greyhounds Sparkle and Elmer everywhere she goes, and is often cheering from the bleachers for her son.
Charles Barton
Charlie Barton was born and raised in Maryville. He graduated from Maryville High School and received a BS in Business Administration from the University of Tennessee in 1975. He worked as a contract employee to the Department of Energy in Oak Ridge TN for 36 years until his retirement in April 2013. Charlie is an active member of Maryville First United Methodist Church where he married Barbara in 1974. He volunteers with Blount County Habitat for Humanity and is a co-founder and volunteer with the No One Dies Alone Program at Blount Memorial Hospital. He has served for as a COMPASSion Counseling Ambassador since 2017.
Lisa Serpas
Lisa Serpas brings over two decades of branding industry experience, managing programs for Chrysler, Bridgestone, and Yokohama. At QEV Charge, Lisa applies her branding expertise to elevate the electric vehicle charging stations. Passionate about mental health, she actively advocates for accessibility to essential services. With her management acumen, Lisa drives behind-the-scenes efforts, while leveraging her sales and marketing experience to promote Compassion Counseling’s vital services.
Janie Wallace
After leaving a decades-long and successful career in human resources, Janie Wallace now spends the majority of her time actively working in the Blount and Knox County communities. Janie believes that through synergy we can make meaningful changes and impacts – no one person or organization can do it all, but together, without competition, we can.
When she’s not spending time with her husband, daughter and son-in-law, and grandsons, she focuses her skills and efforts within her church by chairing several key teams/committees and serving on the boards of directors for the non-profit organizations Family Promise of Knoxville and Compassion Counseling. Additionally, she continues to serve as a Champion for the United Way of Blount County. A few other community organizations she has been involved with include Compassion Food Connection, Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, Maryville Kiwanis, and Full-Circle Re-Entry Program.
Janie holds a Bachelor’s degree in Organization Management from Tusculum College and previously held two professional certifications in human resources. She is also a graduate of the Leadership for Accelerated Performance program through the Owen School of Management at Vanderbilt University.
Jeremy Stephens
Jeremy Stephens was born and raised here in Maryville, TN. He is a graduate of Maryville High School (1995) and received a BS in Business Administration (2000), a BA in History (2000) and MBA (2002) from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. After earning his graduate degree, Jeremy moved to Nashville, TN where he lived and worked for 10 years. He returned to the community in 2011 and now lives on his family farm in Blount County with his wife Katie and his two boys Owen and Sam.
Jeremy currently serves as the Vice President of Development and Operations for Managing Results, LLC and serves as a senior consultant facilitating strategic plans for local cities, counties, and not-for-profits.
He is a life-long member of Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church where he serves as Chairman of the Administrative Board and Song Leader. In his spare time, Jeremy enjoys working on the family farm, spending time with his family and playing music with his friends in the community.
Anna Graham
Joy LaForce
Joy began working at the Borden Insurance Agency in 2009 and purchased the agency from her Dad in 2018. She lives in Greenback but has always worked in the Maryville and Alcoa areas. She loves that the area has plenty of activities (including shopping and attractions), but what is most proud that the town has retained the small-town feel.
Joy loves visiting Cades Cove in the Smoky Mountains to watch the wildlife. Downtown Maryville is another favorite and she likes to take advantage of the unique shopping, small/local businesses and restaurants. Joy supports many non-profits in the area. Joy is a recent 2021 graduate of Leadership Blount and a member of the Board of Directors of Compassion Counseling. On weekends, she enjoys family time! Whether that is at home with her husband (Kevin), daughter (Taylor), and pets (dogs, Sadie and Pepper and Willow) or spending time with her 3 grandchildren.
Michael McCormack
Robert Myers
Robert is a retired Human Resources Manager from Alcoa, Inc. Along with human resources skills, he is experienced with organizational design and operating efficiencies. He has experience in developing business systems and implementing lean manufacturing practices. As a computer engineer he has extensive experience in project management. He also has experience providing training and implementing projects for Alcoa’s environmental, health, and safety departments.
Since retirement, Robert served for 2 years as the Secretary of the Board for the Blount County Friends of the Library. He has facilitated sessions on strategic planning, team building, and meeting efficiency for Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church.
Jill Pope
Jill Pope grew up in Knoxville and attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Lincoln Memorial University. She holds degrees in Spanish, Curriculum & Instruction, and Administration & Leadership. She worked at Maryville High School for the last 25 years of her career. After retiring from 32 years as a public high school teacher, Jill is now the executive director of DayBreak Dementia Respite.
Jill has been married to Albert since 1990, and their daughter is pursuing a PhD in near east archaeology. Jill is an active member at First United Methodist Church, Maryville and has also volunteered at many charities in the Knox and Blount county areas for decades.
When not at work, Jill can be found hiking the trails of Tennessee and North Carolina, baking, making stained glass, reading and traveling.