Board of Directors

My name is Carol Wohlk and I became involved with AWPA to help change the lives of our youth. I am currently a CalWORKs Specialist for Riverside City College in Riverside, CA. I began working for RCC in January 1999 for the CalWORKs Department and over my 19 years I have worked with many different programs under Workforce Development to help underserved students.

It is my passion and honor to help those students who need assistance in reaching their goals and self-sufficiency. I was born and raised in Riverside, CA and have been married to my husband, Jack, for 29 years and have 2 daughters, Hannah and Heather.

I am honored to be included in the exceptional and much needed work Dr. Metcalfe is doing with Abbey’s Purple Winged Angels.

Dr. Shelagh Camak retired in 2014 from Riverside City College (RCC) as the Vice President of Workforce & Resource Development. During her sixteen year tenure at RCC, Dr. Camak administered a multi-million dollar budget and led a talented team devoted to serving students who were underprepared and underserved. Dr. Camak gained extensive experience in designing programs and services for non-traditional students and was nationally recognized for her work with low-income students. Passionate about community service and committed to providing a broad network of opportunities for her students, Dr. Camak created long standing partnerships with the Riverside County Workforce Investment Board, the Riverside County Community Action Partnership, the Greater Riverside Chamber of Commerce and the City of Riverside Mayor’s Office. Dr. Camak holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, a master’s degree in Counseling and a doctorate in Organizational Leadership. Currently Dr. Camak resides in Spokane, Washington with her husband Jack. She works part-time as a leadership coach and is a busy volunteer serving as board president for a large local nonprofit. She can be contacted here.

I am deeply honored to be a part of Abigail’s Purple Winged Angels (APWA). For over 25 years I have been helping people, directly and indirectly, deal with barriers to success. For the past 12 years I have been supporting youth, specifically at-risk youth graduate from high school and connect to higher education. I have successfully implemented and managed both fiscally and operationally numerous grants specifically directed toward addressing problems faced by today’s teens and young adults. I look forward to supporting APWA enrich and empower the lives of youth.

Penny began her career as a CPS Social Worker, and then became a parenting educator, teacher trainer and consultant in the field of human development and adult-child relationships, practicing for over 40 years. She has held a number of professional positions in non-profit agencies, schools and community colleges working directly with parents, teachers, children, and early childhood students/staff, as well as foster/adoptive caregivers and social workers. Penny retired in 2011, but continues to provide trainings as a Consultant through Respectful Relationships Consulting. She is a Certified Lead Trainer with the Positive Discipline Association, and a Senior Facilitator with Sound Discipline, Inc.

Penny received her B.A in Sociology from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, and her M.A in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena, CA. Her graduate work was focused on attachment, brain development and behavior of children with a focus on those who have experienced chronic trauma (abuse and/or neglect), and the use of Positive Discipline with this population. As a result of this work, she has extensive experience training social service staff and caregivers regarding behavior management of children with trauma histories.

Stephen Baber is a systems developer with 30 years of experience. As a member of Abbey’s Purple Winged Angels, he believes that informed mothers and fathers can raise healthier youth as he personally experienced parental disinterest and neglect followed by 18 months in a children’s home during the era of corporal punishment. Luckily, steadfast foster parents imparted values of an engaged citizen and the benefits of realizing one’s full potential. Please join him as a dedicated participant of this worthy cause.

Debbie Whitaker-Meneses has served as the Associate Dean of Academic Support at Riverside City College from 2012-2017, and Associate Dean of Early Childhood Education at Riverside City College District from 2003-2012. She has taught Early Childhood Education courses for Riverside City College, as an associate faculty member in 1988-1990, and then Associate Professor from 1990 – 2003, and 2017-Present. Ms. Whitaker has also taught for the University of California Extension, Riverside.

She was an elementary teacher for six years in the California public school system from 1984-1990. She has served a member of NAEYC, CAEYC, CCDAA, Riverside County Child Care Consortium’s Local Planning Council, West County Child Care Council, and has served as a Commissioner for First 5 Riverside, Children and Families Commission in California.