Colette was born in Ireland, and lived and taught for twenty years in Spain before coming to the U.S and Arizona in 1977 for a year, to help out with the Hispanic families attending local catholic schools.  She liked her experience and decided to stay and received her basic degree in education from Northern Arizona University, her Master’s in Education Administration from the University of San Francisco and later her Certificate in Nonprofit Management from ASU. She taught all grades from kindergarten through college both in the U.S. and in Spain serving as teacher, counselor and school Principal...
 
In 1988, she began her USA career in Behavioral Health Prevention in the town of Guadalupe, AZ where she worked for six years developing and implementing bilingual prevention programs which increased the likelihood that children from Hispanic and Native American communities be successful in school. She served as State President for Arizonans for Prevention, preventing issues such as substance abuse, suicide, teen pregnancy, diseases, and a variety of other threats to health and wellness. They succeeded in getting the legislature to dedicate 5% of the Behavioral Health Budget strictly for Prevention Programs and received the “Chris Bell Award” in recognition of her service to prevention in Arizona in 2005. 
She joined the staff of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the East Valley in 1994.  Her role there was to procure and oversee grants for the nine clubs.  There she also developed the first Charter School belonging to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.  In 2004 she received the “National Service To Youth Award”.
 
Colette joined Rotary in the late 90’s and was Secretary and President of her Club Mesa Sunrise.  Her passion for service found a home in the various programs supported by the Club, especially those that improved the lives of children.  Twice she had the opportunity to travel to Bolivia bringing Rotary services and support to a leadership development program in Cochabamba.  On retiring and moving to Sun Lakes she joined the Sun Lakes Club and has served as Secretary for a number of years.  There she has continued to participate actively in the education programs and volunteering in Neighbors Who Care.
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