Meet the SOC Team

These people have witnessed first hand how the staff at a School of Character embrace their responsibility to positively shape the social, emotional and character development of every student in their school.

We are here to help you become a School of Character.

Character.org Team

Lori Soifer

lori@character.org

Director, Schools of Character

State Coordinators

This team of volunteers across the U.S. and the world give countless hours, working alongside us to ensure the success of the Schools of Character program. They promote the Schools of Character program in their states, provide technical assistance to schools, review applications, work with their team of state evaluators, and meet monthly with Lori Soifer, the Director of Schools of Character, to discuss issues in the field and share best practices.

Kara Chism

Alabama

Kent Fahrenbruck

Colorado

Val Gallina

Florida

Tracey Toth

Florida

Pam Green

Georgia

Madonna Murphy

Illinois

Jill Tomey

Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio

Tabitha Coquette

Iowa

Noalee McDonald-Augustine

Kansas

Pauline Roberts

Michigan

Barb Bergseth

Minnesota

Nicole Diehl

Missouri

Laurie Coletti

New Jersey

Mary Reinhold

New Jersey

William Trusheim

New Jersey

Philip Fusco

New York

Justyn Knox

North Carolina

Charm Hoehn

Oklahoma

Brendan Petersen

Pennsylvania

Lauren Boyher

Texas

Karen Barker

Washington

Kimberly Bilanko

Washington

Elaine Gehring

Wisconsin

Pam Woodard

Wisconsin

Perky Ibarra

Brazil

Commitment

Parents need to commit to model and reinforce to their children the core values and character strengths that mean the most to them. They also need to be creative and offer meaningful experiences that illuminate how important these character strengths are to the family’s core values.

Conversations

We know “We need to talk” freaks kids out, but too often parents avoid having conversations about character, especially as children get older. While it may not be easy to talk sometimes, we know from the research that parents who avoid talking to their children about serious matters quickly lose trust and connection.

Celebration

Parents need to find ways for their children to be active participants in their own character growth. Optimal character development occurs when children begin to make self-motivated commitments to consistently practice a core value (e.g. “I want to be the kind of person who is always honest and shows up on time.”) Parents need to celebrate these moments to shape and define individual character.

Meet the SOC Team

Character.org Team

Lori Soifer

State Coordinators

Kara Chism

Kent Fahrenbruck

Val Gallina

Tracey Toth

Pam Green

Madonna Murphy

Jill Tomey

Tabitha Coquette

Noalee McDonald-Augustine

Pauline Roberts

Barb Bergseth

Nicole Diehl

Laurie Coletti

Mary Reinhold

William Trusheim

Philip Fusco

Justyn Knox

Charm Hoehn

Brendan Petersen

Lauren Boyher

Karen Barker

Kimberly Bilanko

Elaine Gehring

Pam Woodard

Perky Ibarra

Consistency

Community

Commitment

Conversations

Celebration