Leadership

Catherine St Clair

Founder & Chair Emeritus

With a background in special needs personal care and extensive experience in government affairs, working closely with elected government officials reaching as high as the U.S. Congress, Catherine has always had a gift for getting to the heart of a matter.

In 2015 she was named The Face of Family Care Givers for the State of Texas by AARP and was asked to represent millions of family caregivers on the National level to influence policies made in the best interest of families.

After her own personal NPE revelation in 2017, Catherine was driven to create an emotional support group on Facebook. The rapid growth of this online community inspired the birth of the non-profit organization, NPE Network (formerly NPE Friends Fellowship.)

Since 2018, Catherine has appeared on national and international networks including, ABC, NBC, Fox, and BBC as well as numerous publications worldwide, sharing her NPE story and raising awareness for the NPE community.

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John Wise

Chairman of the Board
President

  • Since 2008, Stephanie Meyer has served in a variety of roles in public school business, bringing dedication and leadership to her work. She and her husband of over 30 years are proud parents to two grown children, and Stephanie has long been active in both her local and global community through her church and numerous volunteer roles. Over the years, she has contributed her time and skills on PTA boards, booster clubs, and other community organizations.

    In 2019, Stephanie experienced her own life-changing DNA discovery. That moment ignited her commitment to personal healing and inspired her to walk alongside others facing unexpected truths about their parentage. Today, she combines her professional experience, community service, and personal journey to help NPE Network offer understanding, resources, and hope to those navigating similar paths.

Stephanie Meyer

Board Member
Vice President

  • Cleo brings 25+ years of strategic planning and organizational design expertise to her role as Treasurer. Her passion for team building and brand advocacy is rare in the financial world. As Head of Café Operations and Community Affairs for ING Direct USA, she helped build a culture that placed its cafés at the heart of the brand’s national identity—making community outreach a defining pillar of the company’s success.

    Before leaving her mark on America’s most successful online bank, she held executive roles in foreign exchange and international fund transfer at Custom House, Thomas Cook, and Deak International. She has since served as an independent consultant focused on guiding organizations through growth and transformation.

    Cleo has been instrumental in helping NPE Network reinvigorate our infrastructure during our rebrand transition (formerly, NPE Fellowship), lending her insight and leadership to strengthen both our operational foundation and long-term vision.

Cleota Brown

Board Member
Fundraising

  • Jodi Girard received an email from Ancestry.com on September 28, 2018 that changed her life.

    Jodi grew up on a rural lowa farm with two white parents and two white siblings and clearly looked different. Despite that, she never asked her parents why and no one ever talked about it. When the DNA test revealed that she was 46% African American, her life was turned upside down.

    Discovering that the father who raised her, who loved her, was not her biological father was

    devastating and freeing at the same time. For the first time in her life, the image in the mirror made sense and she had people she looked like. On the other hand, she had been telling a narrative her whole life that wasn't true. She is still working on figuring out what it means to be a biracial woman but has enjoyed getting to know her new half siblings and cousins.

    She is the Director of a women's pregnancy center and has her Masters in Mental Health and Wellness with an emphasis in prevention. She lives in Iowa with her husband Scott on a small hobby farm, where they have raised their five children. She loves gardening, reading, cooking and fossil hunting.

    Jodi serves on the NPE Network Board of Directors as Secretary.

Jodi Girard

Board Member
Secretery

  • Josie is a talented graphic designer who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family. She generously contributed to our organization by designing our new logo, upcoming website, and overall branding giving us a fresh and cohesive look.

    Her involvement began after her own NPE discovery in September 2021. Revisiting her 23&Me profile years later,

    she noticed a newly added "DNA relatives' family tree," which highlighted glaring discrepancies. Faced with bureaucratic hurdles from 23&Me's support and minimal guidance beyond a blog post on navigating unexpected relationships, Josie sought answers both online and from her mother.

    This lack of personalized support from 23&Me propelled her to resolve her genetic mystery independently. Her journey led to a deeper understanding and a commitment to advocate for those with similar experiences—those left with no compassion or personal support after their DNA test revelation.

    Today, Josie is dedicated to fostering awareness and empathy within the NPE community, ensuring others have access to the resources, vocabulary, and community that had taken her so long to find on her own.

Josie Decker

Board Member
Brand & Digital Strategy

  • Doni Aldine is a globally mobile Afro-Latina and first-generation North American who, by age 19, had lived in and identified with seven cultures on four continents. She is passionate about creating a community for cross-cultural populations.

    Doni presents around the globe as a keynote speaker at conferences, universities, and in media as a lifestyle expert focused on media, marketing, and multiculturalism-specifically culturally-fluid identity and hidden diversity.

    She developed university curricula for global culture identity. She founded Culturs Global Multicultural Lifestyle Network, a team of seasoned professionals in 17 countries on five continents using media, products, and experiences to activate 21st-century cultural diversity, because "everyone should feel like they matter." Doni is a FOLIO Top Women in Media Honoree for her work with "Culturs," the global multicultural magazine for cross-cultural identity. Culturs Global team has published content reaching more than nine million people in email, mobile, digital and print editions featured internationally in major grocers, major booksellers, and university and independent bookstores.

    Doni serves on the NPE Network Board of Directors as an At Large Representative of the United States, Trinidad and Tobago, and Costa Rica.

Doni Aldine

Board Member
At-Large Representative

  • We are actively seeking a new Board Member to fill this role.

    Please stay tuned for more info!

Coming Soon

Board Member
Fundraising

  • Dr. Paulette M. Bethel, PhD, MPA, CMC – is an internationally known expert on human behavior and leadership development. Her knowledge spans 35 years of cross-disciplinary work and research. She has worked with public and professional audiences globally.

    She is a trained marriage and family therapist, certified master coach, workshop leader, trainer and a former non-profit leader. Paulette is also a career US Air Force Military Officer with a background in logistics and program management and has lived and worked throughout the United States and in 15 countries around the globe.

    She has appeared in multiple national and international newspapers and magazines and is a multiple recipient of prestigious awards and honors.

    Paulette loves helping others to overcome their challenges and to discover their gifts and activate their dreams through her explorative and narrative coaching approach, transformational learning, strategic storytelling and mindful play.

Dr. Paulette Bethel

PhD, MPA, CMC
Mental Health Advisory Team

  • Bobbi Parish is a pioneer in trauma-informed care who transitioned from a background in Marriage and Family Therapy to establish a new path forward: Trauma Recovery Coaching. In 2014, after witnessing the profound healing impact coaching had on survivors, she became one of the earliest professionals to leave traditional therapy to focus solely on this emerging field.

    In 2017, Bobbi founded the International Association of Trauma Recovery Coaching (IAOTRC) to formally train and certify others in this powerful approach. Her work has helped shape a profession grounded in empathy, lived experience, and neurobiological understanding of trauma.

    Today, her specialized and rigorously developed certification program uniquely positions the NPE Network to serve the needs of the NPE community with deep sensitivity and strategic care—offering trauma-informed coaching that meets people exactly where they are in their identity journeys.

Bobbi Parish

MA, CTRC-S
Founder IAOTRC

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