NEW PASSAGES

Board of Directors

Byron K. Love, Ed.D.

BOARD CHAIR

Former Deputy - Superintendent Pontiac, MI Schools

8201 Staghorn Trail

Clarkston, MI  48348

Dr. Love was formerly the Deputy Superintendent for the Pontiac school district.  Dr. Love has years of experience in financial management, and was the Co-Director of the Informula School Lobbyist group.  He has extensive ties to state government as well as local municipalities.  Dr. Love currently chairs the New Passages' Board of Directors.

Mr. Endres is former Director for General Motors PowerTrain, now retired.  He was previously a New Passages’ Board Member.  In 1998, he was re-assigned to Europe by General Motors and had to resign his position on the Board.  Tom was transferred back to the United States in late 2000, and graciously agreed to rejoin the Board.  Tom has an extensive background in management and organizational planning and mental health issues.  Before he was transferred to Europe, Mr. Endres served as a member on the Board of Directors of the Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Oakland County.

Daniel J. Montes

BOARD SECRETARY

Vice President - Commercial Banking

Citizens Bank

900 Tower Drive

Troy, MI 480983

Karen P. Spring is the Associate Director, Medicaid Liaison, BlueCaid Operations for Blue Care Network of Michigan.  She serves as the liaison between BlueCaid and government constituents and officials and coordinates all external reporting to ensure compliance with State and Federal regulations and statutes and is accountable for the day-to-day compliance direction and oversight of the Medicaid HMO program including service area, business planning, overall program budget, financial viability and operations and other related areas; and oversees and directs activities of the Medicaid HMO through a decentralized matrix reporting model. 

Ms. Spring has 25 years combined experience at Blue Cross and Blue Shield in various capacities and disciplines, and most recently with Medicare Advantage.   She has extensive work experience in planning, organizing and implementing systems and work processes and the management of core operations and business improvements. Ms. Spring’s career focus has been in improving customer relationships and achieving business results through the development and marketing of consumer and industry driven products and programs, most recently, translating CMS and MDCH rules into development of processes for Medicare and Medicaid compliance.   

Ms. Spring holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Organization Administration from Central Michigan University, and has successfully completed the Kerzner Project Management Certificate Course sponsored by Central Michigan University.  She is a Certified Professional Manager since 1988 and is a Member of the National Management Association.

Dr. Kevin E. Early, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Sociology

The University of Michigan-Dearborn

Department of Sociology

Kevin E. Early, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor Of Sociology at The University of Michigan-Dearborn.  He specializes in criminology, corrections, deviance, and alcohol/drug behavior.  He is a Certified Criminal Justice Specialist (C.C.J.S.) and a Certified Addictions Counselor (CAC) with more than fifteen years experience in the fields of mental health, corrections, and substance abuse.

Besides publications in death and dying, race and ethnic relations, prison-based treatment, and corrections, Dr. Early is the author of Religion and Suicide in the African-American Community (Greenwood, 1992), the coauthor of Nameless Persons: Legal Discrimination Against Non-Marital Children in America (Praeger, 1994), Drug Treatment Behind Bars: Prison-Based Strategies for Change (Praeger, 1996), and Criminal Justice in Michigan (Allyn and Bacon, 2001).  His book, Religion and Suicide in the African-American Community, has been compared to the work of Elliot Liebow in his Talley's Corner that was an award-winning study.  Drug Treatment Behind Bars:  Prison-Based Strategies for Change was presented at the 1998 White House Consensus Meeting on Drug Treatment in the Criminal-Justice System.

Lynda Joye Ashford-Scales, D.V.M

Advisor

Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine

6162 Wincliff Drive

West Bloomfield, MI 48322

Mrs. Scales holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine and is currently an Advisor to that institution.  She is also an Associate Veterinarian for the Morris Hospital for Veterinary Services in Redford, Michigan.

Some of Mrs. Scales credits include: membership in the Michigan Veterinary Medical Association and was the Chair of the State of Michigan Board of Licensing and Regulation, Veterinary Medical Board; President of The Roeper School Parents Association; and currently is a member of the Birmingham-Bloomfield Families in Action, a representative of the Parents League Association of Independent Michigan Schools; and also serves as a member of the New Passages Development Committee.

Mrs. Scales has received the Merck Award, the Southeastern Michigan Veterinary Medical Association Community Service Award, and the Focus and Impact Award from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.

Alan Hoffman, Ed.D., M.S.Ed.

Professor and Coordinator: Marriage and Family Psychology

339 Education Building

Wayne State University

Detroit, MI 48202

Dr. Hoffman received his doctorate from The Pennsylvania State University in 1972. He has been a professor at Wayne State University since 1974 where he created a masters degree program in marriage and family psychology which he has chaired for 26 years. He has served as an Assistant Dean in the College of Education for six years. In addition, Alan has maintained a private practice in individual, marital, and family psychotherapy for about 25 years. With his wife, Sharon Field, his research is in self-determination for people with and without disabilities. As a research team, they have brought in excess of three million dollars to the University. He is currently Co-Director, with his wife, of the Center for Self-Determination and Transition in the College of Education at Wayne State University. Alan has three children: Eric, 36; Abby, 33, and Alanna, 12 and two grandchildren.