Bates Counselor Advisory Board

The Office of Admission established a Counselor Advisory Board (CAB) in 2022. This initial cohort of 16 counselors from secondary schools and community-based organizations across the United States share their expertise and guidance with Bates, and are invited to campus once a year. Each counselor serves either a two-or-three year term on the board. Read below for more information about them!

Our school counseling colleagues can find further resources, counselor-specific events, and an overview of Bates on our Information for Counselors webpage.

For more information about Bates’ Counselor Advisory Board, contact Assistant Dean of Admission Joe Spir Rechani at jspir@bates.edu.

David Chehey

College and Career Counselor
Boise High School
Boise, Idaho

David Chehey, M.A., LPC, has been a counselor at Boise High since 2004, having previously been a junior high counselor and a secondary school math teacher. Other professional highlights include: PNACAC Executive Board; AP Coordinator Consultant for CollegeBoard; reader for National Merit Scholarship; CollegeBoard’s Western Regional Council (and “Distinguished Service Award” recipient); post-9/11 Red Cross counseling in NYC; “High School Counselor of the Year” for both Boise School District and State of Idaho; presenter at NACAC, PNACAC, CB, ISCA, and other regional, state, and local conferences and webinars. Outside of school, David is a runner, practices yoga, and is a voracious/adventurous reader, streamer, traveler, and foodie!

Beth Doane

School Counselor
Yarmouth High School
Yarmouth, Maine

Beth Doane has been a school counselor for 33 years, including the past 31 years at Yarmouth High School. Beth started her professional career in college admissions, working for the University of Maine system for 5 years. Beth believes that the relationship between school counselors and college admission colleagues is both essential and rewarding. One of Beth’s favorite aspects of her role is advocating for students, and working with admission offices as trusted allies. Beth is a past president and current membership chair for the Maine Counseling Association. She also served as a New England Association for College Admission Counseling Assembly Delegate, and New England Regional Council member on the College Board. Her favorite activities include cycling and hot yoga.

Sharmon Goodman

Director of Scholars Program
One Voice
Santa Monica, California

Sharmon Goodman has been with One Voice since 2002. She continues to help the Scholars Program grow stronger and more accountable during her tenure. She serves as a founding and steering committee chair of Southern California College Access Network (SoCal Can, an alliance of over 120 community based, college access organizations) since its inception. Sharmon previously worked in genetics research and advertising. She holds a B.A. in English and theatre arts from Franklin & Marshall College, and is a graduate of the post-baccalaureate premedical program at Scripps College. She lives in Hollywood, CA with her husband, two children and dog, Harpo.

Steven Johanson

Head of Future Pathways and University Counseling
United World College Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa Rica

Through his ten years advising students in the university process, Steven Johanson started in admission for Ohio Wesleyan University before a return to Memphis (home to his alma mater, Rhodes College) at Memphis University School. After a wonderful few years at MUS, Steven and his wife, Meredith (also an educator), moved to Dubai working at GEMS Dubai American Academy before finding their way to Costa Rica. Now serving largely high achieving, low-income international students connected to the mission of utilizing a multi-national education as a platform for peace and sustainability at UWC, he hopes to bring his experience to bear in advising Bates in their efforts to expand upon their own mission and meet the needs of their dynamic student body.

Claudia Jolivert

Senior Associate Director of College Counseling
Ransom Everglades School
Miami, Florida

Claudia Jolivert is Senior Associate Director of College Counseling at Ransom Everglades School, where she has been a member of the college counseling team since 2008. Born and raised in Bogota, Colombia, Claudia received her B.S. in Finance from Georgetown University and her M.S. in Economic and Political Development from Columbia University. She currently serves as the Treasurer of the SACAC Board of Directors and served a five-year term on the Board of Trustees for the Association of College Counselors in Independent Schools (ACCIS). A mother of three and the proud owner of two rescue dogs, Claudia enjoys volunteering with Breakthrough Miami, practicing ashtanga yoga, and dancing salsa.

Micah Lyles

Co-Director of College Counseling
The Hockaday School
Dallas, Texas

Micah Lyles serves as Co-Director of College Counseling at The Hockaday School in Dallas, TX. Prior to Hockaday, Micah held school counseling roles at Highland Park High School, where he served as lead counselor, Plano Independent School District (ISD) at both Memorial Elementary School and Clark High School and Sam Rayburn ISD as the K–12 counselor. Early in his career, he served as a college admissions counselor and as a high school English and theatre teacher. Micah is a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), the Texas Association for College Admission Counseling (TACAC), and the Association of College Counselors in Independent Schools (ACCIS). He served a three-year term in the presidents’ cycle of TACAC and previously served as chair of the annual conference and co-chair of the Professional Development committee.

Anna Takahashi

Director of College Counseling
Eastside College Preparatory School
East Palo Alto, California

For the past sixteen years, Anna Takahashi has served as the Director of College Counseling at Eastside College Preparatory School in East Palo Alto, California, a private, independent high school serving low-income, first-generation students. She teaches a college counseling class to the seniors guiding them through all aspects of the college process and helping with their transition to college. Prior to Eastside, she was Associate Director of Admission at Stanford University. She enjoys the opportunity to work with students and their families in a process that is transformative and uplifting. Outside of Eastside, Anna enjoys exploring green spaces, reading works not written in essay form and adding to her vast collection of art and stationery supplies.

Khaliah Williams

Postsecondary Advisor
Baltimore City College High School
Baltimore, Maryland

Khaliah Williams began her career in college admissions and counseling as a tour guide and senior interviewer at Sarah Lawrence College and later worked on diversity recruitment efforts at her alma mater and Eugene Lang College. After receiving her MFA in Fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she returned to counseling work and spent twelve years as a college counselor at independent schools in Baltimore and Brooklyn, NY. She is currently a Postsecondary Advisor at Baltimore City College High School.

Past Counselor Advisory Board Members

Donielle Couture

Served 2022-2024
The Shipley School
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania

Mikaela Crank

Served 2022-2024
College Horizons
Bernalillo, New Mexico

Stephan Golas

Served 2022-2024
The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools
Chicago, Illinois

Teresa Hichens Olson

Served 2022-2024
Great River School
St. Paul, Minnesota

Allison Kleiman

Served 2022-2024
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts
New York City, New York

Anthony Phillips ’10

Served 2022-2024
TeenSHARP
Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania

Kathleen Reid

Served 2022-2024
Benson Polytechnic High School
Portland, Oregon

Dan Rubin

Served 2022-2024
Newton South High School
Newton Centre, Massachusetts

Mitchell Thompson

Served 2022-2023
Scarsdale High School
Scarsdale, New York

Phil Trout

Served 2022-2023
Minnetonka High School
Minnetonka, Minnesota