New Hires

Congratulations to Kaylee Carroll on her promotion to VMC’s Director of Admissions! Kaylee has been an integral part of the VMC team since before it was acquired by BrightStar Education and has been working as an admissions representative since the acquisition.  Kaylee was awarded the distinction of Rookie of the Year in 2010 based off of her excellent admissions performance and was promoted to Senior Admissions Rep in March of 2011.  We wish Kaylee the best of luck, and are excited to have her lead the soon-to-be Salem IOT admissions team as they continue their growth. 

Congratulations, Kaylee!

We are pleased to announce that Tim Jolly has joined BrightStar Education Group as Vice President for Admissions.  Tim comes to us from Anthem Education Group where he served for over 22 years in a variety of positions, culminating in the position of Vice President of Admissions for the Western Region, Anthem Education Group.  Tim will report to Todd Lardenoit, Brightstar’s Chief Operating Officer.  There is no better person to join Brightstar in the key role of advising the admissions department at our schools in key compliance and performance matters. 

Tim will be traveling heavily to the schools, and will be based out of Phoenix, AZ, or Ashland, OR, when not at the schools.  Tim is married and his wife Wendy is the better half of the Jolly team.  

Please join us in welcoming Tim & Wendy Jolly to our great BrightStar team. 

BrightStar Education Group is pleased to welcome Antony Page as a new Financial Analyst.

Antony was recently employed at Anthem Education Group as a Finance Manager. He prepared budgets forecasts and various ad hoc analyses, and he is looking forward to his work at BrightStar Education Group.

Originally from Canada, Antony has been living in Phoenix for 11 years and is the proud father of 9-year-old daughter, Zoya. In his free time, Antony enjoys spending time with his daughter, hiking, and going to the gym.

Welcome, Antony!

As of this month, Sarah Heifets is BrightStar Education Group’s new Marketing Assistant. A Denver native, Sarah is a recent graduate of George Washington University in Washington, D.C. with a degree in Marketing and International Business. Sarah has held market research internships at The National Geographic Society and at EchoStar Technologies, and she is excited to be back in Denver and ready to start her new marketing role at BrightStar!
Sarah’s main responsibilities will include updating Placement and Defensive Scouting reports, managing BrightStar’s social media, conducting competitive research, and writing and compiling the newsletter.

The Clovis Campus welcomes our new Director of Admissions, Paul Smith. 

Paul comes to us from Orlando, Florida, where he was the Senior Director of Admissions for Rasmussen College. Paul has years of experience in admissions leadership, and we are excited to have him join is at the Clovis campus. Clovis is a good fit for Paul, as he used to ride steers in rodeos! Paul is already offering great ideas and working hard to maximize the strengths of our admissions team. Welcome, Paul! 

Please join me in welcoming the corporate office’s newest hire, Office Manager/Executive Assistant, Marne Brassell.  A little about Marne:

Marne grew up and still resides in Colorado with her husband and three great kids; 2 girls and a young son.  She has worked as an Executive Assistant/Office Manager for years, most notably with EAS (Experimental & Applied Sciences) and most recently with Staples. Marne enjoys the challenges of running an office and working with executives, and looks forward to her work here at BrightStar Education Group.

Currently, she divides her free time between being a Girl Scout Troop leader for her 8 year old’s Brownie troop and heading up the talent show at her daughter’s elementary school.  We are excited to have Marne on board, as she brings wonderful organizational skills and administrative experience to the corporate office.

Welcome, Marne!

BrightStar Education Group is proud to usher in a new wave of accounting staff to help support the rapidly growing student population at each campus.

At the start of 2011, BrightStar welcomed in its new CFO, Denise Bock.  Denise comes to BrightStar with years of experience in the industry, and is excited to be working with a growing organization. “I look forward to working with all of you to help BrightStar continue its growth now and into the future,” said Denise.

Her immediate leadership has helped to stabilize the financial/accounting department and her  experience will help improve the efficiency of many tasks that directly effect campus level employees on a daily basis.

Denise started her career as an auditor for Ernst & Young LLP in Denver, CO and after that worked in the proprietary education industry for 14+ years, while living in Laramie, WY.   She primarily served in the Controller, CFO, & VP of Finance roles while working for WyoTech and Corinthian Colleges, overseeing combined revenue budgets up to $400 million with campuses coast-to-coast.

Denise has a husband, Mitch and a 13 year-old daughter, Ashley.  Their favorite activities are watching Ashley play soccer and run cross-country races. They also enjoy various outdoor activities together, such as biking, skiing and camping.

One of Denise’s first tasks was to locate a new Corporate Accounting Manager, and she moved quickly to locate the right candidate.  Chad Wilson started in mid-January and has quickly made himself at home at the BrightStar office.

Chad is a native of Loveland, CO and comes to us with over ten years of accounting experience.  He is a graduate of the University of Northern Colorado and enjoys golfing during his down time.

Maureen Osborne and Brenda Barber also recently started with BrightStar and will be assisting with accounts payable and receivable duties.

Welcome to BrightStar!

Please join me in welcoming BrightStar’s new Chief Financial Officer, Denise Bock!  Denise started with us this week and is excited to serve in her new leadership role at BrightStar.
Denise started her career as an auditor for Ernst & Young LLP in Denver, CO and after that worked in the proprietary education industry for 14+ years, while living in Laramie, WY.   She primarily served in the Controller, CFO, & VP of Finance roles while working for WyoTech and Corinthian Colleges, overseeing combined revenue budgets up to $400 million with campuses coast-to-coast.
While with WyoTech, Denise assisted with two ownership changes and helped the WyoTech organization grow from one to six campuses through branching and acquisitions.  In addition to overseeing the financial operations of numerous campuses for Corinthian Colleges, Denise assisted with the integration of a large Canadian school acquisition, and served as Interim VP of Internal Audit to lead the implementation of Sarbanes Oxley across the entire company.
Denise has a husband, Mitch and a 13 year-old daughter, Ashley.  Their favorite activities are watching Ashley play soccer and run cross-country races. They also enjoy various outdoor activities together, such as biking, skiing and camping.
“I look forward to working with all of you to help BrightStar continue its growth now and into the future,” said Denise.
We are very happy to have Denise joining us.

Edia Camara joined the Institute of Technology Team on December 1, 2010 as a Career Services Advisor supporting the Professional Medical Assisting, Medical Billing & Coding, Medical Office Administration and Pharmacy Technician programs. She previously worked for over four years in the staffing and recruiting industry for Volt Workforce Solutions and 14 years in office management and executive sales administration.

Penny Dhindsa recently rejoined the Career Services Team at the Institute of Technology being promoted to the Lead Career Services Advisor supporting all the Institute of Technology’s medical programs. Penny previously worked as the Extern coordinator for two years, and three years in Career Services. Penny worked as an instructor for three years prior to moving into administration.

Michael Ramos joined the Institute of Technology Team on January 3, 2010 as a Career Services Advisor supporting the HVAC and Criminology and Emergency Response Management programs. Michael started his career nine years ago in the HVAC industry, then moved into the banking and mortgage industry for over five years. During the past year, he has worked in the staffing and recruiting industry for Account Temps/Robert Half.

Welcome to these new hires at the Modesto campus!

Alicia Casteneda
Adjunct Instructor - PMA

Yvette Herndon
Instructor Part-time PT

Wendy Millard
Career Services Adviser

Michael Silva
Career Services Adviser

Chan Pen
Career Services Adviser

Elizabeth Ramirez
FA Officer

Cory Perkins, new DOA/Campus President in Training.