CHAMP Board of Directors

Angela Pearson - Board President

Angela Pearson, Senior Vice President and St. Louis Market Leader for PNC Wealth Management

She specializes in providing customized trust and estate administration for high net worth individuals and families as part of an overall personal wealth management strategy. She has over 22 years’ experience in the financial services industry.

Angela earned a paralegal certificate from St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley, a BS from the University of Missouri –St. Louis, and a MBA from Fontbonne University.

Angela received the Certified Trust and Financial Advisor (CTFA) designation, and is a graduate of Cannon Financial and Coro Women in Leadership.

She is active in the community where she serves on numerous planned giving advisory councils. She is an active member of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis. Angela’s served as the Chair of CHAMP’s major fundraiser, Hooray for Howl-E-Woof Dog Pageant, in 2014, 2015, and 2016.

Angela enjoys spending time with her family, friends and her Shih-Tzu, Bo.

Bob Zangas - Board Vice President

Bob Zangas is the president of Anchor Health Care. Bob has a BS degree from North Carolina State University and an MBA from the University of Missouri St. Louis. Bob worked for the Corning Glass Company for 15 years in Sales Management and as a department supervisor. Bob has 25 years’ experience as the owner of a Private Duty Home Care Agency.

Bob has been a member of the Rotary Club of St. Louis for twenty one years and served as the President of the Rotary from 2001-2002. In addition, Bob served as a Director for the William Proffitt Foundation for ten years, a six year board member of Memory Care Home Solutions and has been an active member of the West St. Louis Chamber of Commerce for two years.

Lori Moore-McMullen, CFRE - Board Secretary

Lori has more than 30 years of experience in the development field. Her experience is very broad and diverse and has included work with health, social service and humane organizations; some of those organizations include The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Edgewood Children’s Center, Harris House Foundation, The Humane Society of Missouri, The American Lung Association and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, St. Louis Chapter where she began her career in 1987.

Lori received CFRE accreditation in 1999 and served on the Board of Directors of the AFP, St. Louis Chapter for a total of nearly 14 years.

Julie Otto - Board Treasurer

Julie joined the Board in 2022 after a 40-year career in Finance with Monsanto/Bayer. She held various roles in Accounting, Financial Analysis, M&A, Cash Flow Forecast, ending her career in the Treasury group. Julie has a BS in Accounting & BS in ED Math from Missouri State as well as an MBA from Washington University. She has been an active volunteer in the St. Louis community serving on the board of The Women’s Safe House and The Coro Foundation. She was the President of the MOCPA Members in Industry Committee. She is currently the Secretary of the Spirit of St. Louis Labrador Retriever Club. In addition, she has volunteered with Support Dogs, Inc (now Duo) since 2003, serving on various committees and taking her black lab Mona through Touch Therapy Training. They visited skilled nursing facilities for almost 10 years and learned first-hand how positively dogs affect the humans they visit. Her current dog is a yellow lab, Miley, pictured above with her and the Stanley Cup.

Philip Chamberlain - Board Member

Philip Chamberlain Director of National Sales for Forshaw of Saint Louis Joined the board in 2017. Philip has a BA From Webster University with an emphasis in marketing He is active the Saint Louis community and serves on the boards of various organizations.

Philip has an extensive background in brand marketing ,fund raising for not for profit organization’s & political campaigns He is a masters swimmer enjoys traveling spending time with his family and his Wheaton Terrier Isabel.

Diane Buhr Engelsmann - Board Member

Diane Buhr Engelsmann is the Executive Director of the Special Education Foundation. During the past ten years, under Diane’s direction, the Foundation has grown from an annual budget of \(40,000 to \)500,000 and increased its outreach from minimal scholarships and summer camps to major programs and services for students with disabilities. Today, the Foundation reaches more than 5,000 children and youth with disabilities through its programs.

Diane attended the University of Arizona and received a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Pathology and received a Master of Science in Communication Disorders from St. Louis University plus 30 graduate hours in education, administration and communication.

Diane has always been very active in the community. A few of her activities include: Leadership St. Louis, Class of 1991, she served as the President of the Missouri School Public Relations Association and Commissioner of St. Louis County Human Rights Commission, St. Louis Congressional Awards Committee, the president of the board of Easter Seals, and served the United Way Allocations Committee and other committees and board positions.

Diane is pictured here with her beloved Havanese, Bentley.

Nola Ewers - Board Member

Nola Ewers received her B.S. degree in Engineering Management from the University of Missouri - Rolla. She left the Boeing Company after 16 years in the Business Management group to devote her time to CHAMP.

Nola is an active volunteer at CHAMP. She is Director of our Assistance Dog Program, makes numerous presentations to businesses, social, and civic organizations, helps teach therapy dog class (with Education Dog Deja), and particularly enjoys working with the offender-trainers at our prison program in Greenville, IL, as well as individuals who are preparing for the arrival of their own service or facility dogs.

She is a Founding Member of CHAMP Assistance Dogs, and a past president of our Board of Directors.

Geraldine Halpern - Board Member

Gerry joined the Board in April 2016. She retired in June 2013 after a 35 year career in Human Resources, most recently as Vice President, Global HR Programs for Energizer Holdings, Inc. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University.

Gerry also served as a Board member for the Humane Society of Missouri and Support Dogs, Inc. where she was a member of the Development Committee. She and her therapy dog Trudy spent 7 years visiting hospice patients and skilled nursing facility residents across the area. Gerry is pictured with her German Shepherd, Max and her Shih Tzu/Maltese mix, Lulu.

Leslie Hodges - Board Member

Leslie Hodges is a Principal at St. Louis Trust & Family Office, where she coordinates financial administration and planning strategies for her client families. Leslie graduated from Saint Louis University with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting. She is a CPA and started her career at Ernst & Young before joining the International Tax group at Deloitte. Leslie is now a recovering accountant but maintains her CPA license for fun.

Leslie and her husband enjoy traveling, playing tennis, and spending time outdoors with their son, Henry, and their black lab, Nike. Leslie is a long-time volunteer for the Friends of the Saint Louis University Liver Center, where she was previously on the Board and an inaugural member of their Young Friends group.

Kathy Holman - Board Member

Kathy’s professional career included English teacher, Director of Communications at Clayton School District and realtor at Dielmann Sotheby’s. She has served on several community boards and was the first woman president of the Clayton Rotary.

Kathy and her husband Ed share 5 children, 7 grandchildren and a grand dog, miniature Goldendoodle Waffles.

Kathy loves serving on the  board of such a worthwhile organization. Being a part of CHAMPs’ growth and scope has been extremely exciting and rewarding.  

Kathy Howard - Board Member

Kathy is a registered nurse and works as an Abdominal Transplant Coordinator at St. Louis University Hospital specializing in kidney and pancreas transplant. She has served as a board member of the American Board of Transplant Certification where she also chaired the national exam certification committee for Transplant Coordinators. Locally, Kathy has served on the Friends of CharacterPlus Board where she is a past President and has chaired their Fall Social event. For years, she was the treasurer and interim President of the Daniel Road Improvement Association and chaired meetings with the neighborhood and elected officials of Ladue. She has fundraised close to $40,000 for breast cancer research by participating in 60 mile walks for Susan G Komen.

But her real passion is her dogs and sharing their healing powers with the community. Kathy was a former volunteer for Duo Dogs where she took 2 of her labs through their therapy dog program, was a ‘dog mom’ for a breeding female, was closely involved with the breeding process, whelping and raising of puppies in their breeding program. She has helped teach their therapy dog classes, been a puppy raiser and chaired the largest fundraiser Gala.

Kathy has taken her youngest Labrador, Tu, through CHAMP’s Therapy Dog program and is thrilled to be more involved with this organization by serving on their board. She shares her home with her husband, Todd, young adult offspring, Mati, and 3 dogs, Ellie, Tu and Chelsea the Beagle.

Jennifer Kuehnle - Board Member

Special Programs Coordinator & Instructional Specialist at eMINTS National Center.

Jennifer is an educator who instructs teachers on new classroom technology and techniques. She has a Masters of Ed, Special Education with Focus on Autism, and Masters of Ed, Educational Technology. Jennifer’s expertise has helped CHAMP staff and volunteers better understand autism and other disabilities, plus she’s used her instructional expertise to enliven the less exciting portions (rules and regulations) of our therapy dog classes, gaining the unending thanks of both students and staff.

Jennifer is also a service dog user, and is partnered with CHAMP Public Access Service Dog Woody.

John Marbarger, M.D. - Board Member

Dr. Marbarger recently retired as the Chairman of Cardio-Thoracic Surgical Services at Mercy Hospital and as the Physician Liaison for the Mercy Health Foundation. Dr. Marbarger serves on the Mercy Health Foundation Board, the Enterprise Bank Medical Advisory Board and on the Board of Care and Counseling.

TUG is a “selfie” retirement present and was named after a boat seen on Lake Michigan in Door County. His “mother” Sharon, believes that at one year, he is showing great potential to be a master paper shredder. MILLIE, TUG’S adopted sister is a ball of energy and supports the concept that TWO is better than ONE!

Linda Yatkeman - Board Member

Linda Yatkeman is a proud native of St. Louis. A graduate of Fontbonne University with a BBA degree.

Linda spent her career alongside her husband in residential and commercial real estate, and as an agent with Janet McAfee real estate.

She is passionate about community service, and has been involved with numerous programs, initiatives and committees. The National Council of Jewish Women of St. Louis presented Linda with a Volunteer Service Award in 2019.

After the loss of her husband, she joined the Wife Widow Woman support group, which helps women connect the chasm between heartache and progression, in their new reality of being spouseless. After completing the program, she and a friend in the program produced an updated video that furthers the understanding of how to move forward during the difficult times resulting from the loss of a spouse.

Her household was dog-less for several years until her husband felt a connection with Murphy, whom he met at the APA, shortly before his death.

Linda joined CHAMP Assistance Dogs in 2015. Linda and Murphy, a trained therapy dog and Linda’s confidant, visit the USO, Ranken Jordan and local libraries. She is honored to be part of this awesome organization, as she knows firsthand, that every day is better with a dog in your life.