THE MENTORING GROUP is a division of our not-for-profit corporation, the Coalition of Counseling Centers, Inc. (CCC). CCC was founded in 1980 by Dr. G. Brian Jones, Dr. Linda Phillips-Jones, and colleagues in the San Francisco Bay area of California.

In the mid-80’s, Brian and Linda organized THE MENTORING GROUP to provide consulting/technical assistance, skill-based training, skill assessment, research/evaluation, and publications related to mentoring. Dr. Linda Phillips-Jones died in December 2006. Brian maintains the organization they developed and pursues the vision they received in the fields of counseling and mentoring. His focus now is on integrating mentoring into their long-term project on character assessment and development.

G. Brian Jones, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist specializing in relationships, character assessment and development, conflict resolution, research, and evaluation. A doctoral graduate of Stanford University, he’s the CEO and CFO of THE MENTORING GROUP and CCC

Linda Phillips-Jones, Ph.D., also a licensed psychologist, was a mentoring consultant, author, and researcher. Her Ph.D., dissertation at UCLA in 1977 was the first on the process and skills of mentoring. She’s authored Mentors and Proteges, The New Mentors and Proteges, The Mentoring Program Design Package, and other publications. She was quoted in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Success, Psychology Today, Reader’s Digest, Entrepreneur, Black Entrepreneur, Executive Female, and several eZines. She was featured in the videos, “Mentoring that Makes a Difference” and “Mentoring: The Success Connection.”

Brian and CCC’s business operations are managed by Laurie Schell, Tricia Nicosia, and Cherie Stevens Jones. In the field, he is assisted by these trainers/consultants:

Kathleen Barton, MBA, is a professional speaker, trainer, and consultant. She has more than 20 years experience in human resource management and development. Kathleen managed an award-winning mentoring program at Hewlett-Packard Company for five years, and later supervised the mentoring component of HP’s global leadership development program. She is the Executive Producer of “Mentoring That Makes a Difference” video and also author of Connecting with Success: How to Build A Mentoring Network to Fast-Forward Your Career. Her work has been featured in numerous publications including Business Week, The Executive, and The Wall Street Journal Online. Kathleen earned her Master’s degree in Business from California State Universities. As a certified Success Coach, she received her training from the Institute for Professional Empowerment Coaching.

Kim Follis, M.A., received his graduate degree from the University of British Columbia, Canada. Kim served for nine years as Dean of Student Development at Ambrose University College focusing on the mentoring of student leaders and also student athletes through his role as hockey coach. Now as a university fundraising professional, Kim writes and speaks on the significance of mentoring in higher education. For the past 10 years, Kim has helped assess candidates for ministry in The Church of the Nazarene.

Sharon Heron, Ph.D., has worked in the field of mentoring and education for eight years as lecturer, mentor, trainer, and consultant. Her doctoral thesis focused on mentoring in the nonprofit sector and paid particular attention to issues of definition and evaluation, winning an award for excellence in research, presented at an international mentoring conference in Denver, 2008. Sharon also holds an honors degree in English Language and Literature and a Certificate in Adult and Continuing Education from The Queen’s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, where she also attained her doctoral degree. She is a guest lecturer in local colleges and at Queen’s University and speaks at international and local conferences on a variety of topics including mentoring. She instigated a variety of mentoring programs in education and for nonprofit organizations and wrote a number of articles in this field. Recently, Sharon started her own resource development, consulting, and speaking business, Connexions Plus, in which she serves as Director and Principal Consultant.

Les Hirst, Ph.D., has worked in the field of mentoring for 30 years, serving as a mentor, trainer, consultant, program designer, and administrator. His doctoral program at Trinity International University enables him to focus on non-formal educational strategies that facilitate training in many environments. In Latin America, Les is currently developing a training program which employs mentoring as the principal educational strategy for vocational training. Les has authored articles on mentoring and consulted with organizations in the nonprofit and NGO sectors. Les had the privilege of working with Dr. Linda Phillips-Jones during her last year before her untimely death.

Andrea Molberg, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist, consultant, trainer, and coach. For the last 25 years, she has worked with Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, professional and trade associations, governmental agencies, and educational and health organizations. Andrea received her doctorate in industrial/organizational and counseling psychology from the University of Minnesota. She is a frequent speaker at regional and national conferences and also teaches at the Management Center at the University of St. Thomas, the College of Executive Coaching, and the Executive Development Center at the University of Minnesota. She is the author of Making Live Training Lively! 50 Tips for Engaging Your Audience.

Don Payne, Ph.D., has worked in the field of mentoring for 13 years, serving as a mentor, trainer, consultant, and administrator. He obtained his doctorate from the University of Manchester, England. He currently oversees a graduate school mentoring program that regularly involves over 300 mentees and 450 mentors. Don has authored numerous articles on mentoring and consulted with organizations in corporate, nonprofit, and military sectors. Don had the privilege of working with Dr. Linda Phillips-Jones during her last year before her untimely death.

Gwyn Robson, Ph.D., designed, developed, implemented, and evaluated mentoring programs in a variety of large and small government organizations: Defense Information Systems Agency, Department of Commerce, and National Science Foundation. In 2007, she received the government- wide “Distinguished Service Award for Leadership Development through Mentoring” from the Training Officer’s Consortium. Throughout the federal government, she’s given many presentations about mentoring. Outside government settings, she spoke at the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation about the “Importance of Mentoring in Graduate Education”. She received her Ph.D. from American University in Curriculum and Instruction with a supporting field in Organizational Development. She is an Instructional Systems Designer at the National Science Foundation and also an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland University College.

Liz Selzer, Ph.D., has played a part of mentoring programs for more than 10 years, benefiting as a mentee, volunteering as a mentor, and serving as a trainer in the mentoring field. Her doctorate in education provided the content for a journal publication on the importance of mentoring in the transfer of institutional learning for graduate students to real-life scenarios. She has authored a number of articles and speaks frequently on the “nuts and bolts” as well as the importance of mentoring. Liz currently oversees leadership development for over 30,000 leaders in the nonprofit sector, where mentoring is a key strategy.

Victor Silva-Palacios, Ph.D., worked at Atascadero State Hospital as a clinical-forensic psychologist for the multicultural and admissions units, managing a wide range of penal code commitments ranging from chronically mentally ill persons to patients faking mental illness to avoid legal consequences. In both contexts, Dr. Silva-Palacios provided mentoring and consulting services to pre- and post-doctoral interns and psychologists and served on various committees, such as bioethics, internship, and peer review. Twice elected vice-chair of the hospital psychology department, Dr. Silva-Palacios supported and mentored his colleagues in the areas of forensics, ethics, and clinical responsibilities. He earned his doctorate in clinical psychology from the Wright Institute, Los Angeles, in 1985. Currently, he is in private practice in San Luis Obispo, is a member of both the California and Central Coast Psychological Associations, and serves on the board of directors for Family Care Network. He maintains an active speaking schedule for the English- and Spanish-speaking communities, teaching and mentoring families, couples, and professionals on relationship issues, personal development, and forensic psychology.

Dee Nyamieh Walker, Ph.D., a native of Liberia, West Africa, has served as mentoring consultant, trainer, and mentor in Africa and the USA for over 10 years. He earned his doctorate in education from Trinity International University, Illinois. Dee has worked on cross-cultural issues in mentoring globally, and is passionate about helping learning organizations develop culturally appropriate mentoring programs for executives and emerging leaders. Dee currently manages the leadership development program for over 3000 members in a global nonprofit organization.

Imogen Wareing, B. Sc (honors) Sociology (London University) M.Ed., and Post Graduate Diplomas in Industrial Psychology and Industrial Law. Imogen’s key areas of professional expertise are: mentoring; workplace change; strategic and workforce planning; performance and career coaching; leadership and people development; and bullying, harassment, and diversity. She developed her mentoring expertise over a 30- year professional career designing and developing 51 mentoring programs for leaders, high potentials, graduates, apprentices, professional women, front line staff, and school personnel. She has trained over 4,000 mentors and mentees. She is a master facilitator known for engendering trust and creating a safe space in which people can expand their understanding and learning capacity and is one of Australia’s leading consultants in mentoring.