Our Team
Jim Herm
Jim retired as a teacher and counselor in 2010 after close to 40 years of employment with the Portage Public Schools.
He is married with three adult children and four grandchildren and enjoys being active in professional organizations. His hobbies include playing tennis, golf, working out, travel, listening to music, reading, and playing bridge.
Walt Kyes
A certified arborist and former business owner, Walt has been a board member since 2022 and in 2024 became CFT’s board President.
Walt has been a CFT mentor since 2022 , and meets with individuals weekly at Ministry with Community.
Jim Walters
Jim is a native of Wyandotte, Michigan. He is married with 2 children and 5 grandchildren.
Jim had a successful career in electrical engineering and spent three years teaching high school at a Catholic mission in Malawi, East Africa, during his retirement. An ex-baseball and basketball player, Jim is now an avid bicyclist, hiker, and sports fan. Jim serves as CFT’s Treasurer as well as an active mentor.
Fred Welch
Fred is a retired business owner, married for 51 years, with three adult sons. He has been an active mentor with CFT since 2022, and joined the Board in January of 2025. He currently serves as an elder and chair of the Mission Team with Westminster Presbyterian Church.
Jim Houston, PhD
Jim joined the CFT Board in 2024. He is a retired professor and former accountant and with his wife Marianne Novak Houston, is a co-founder of the Community Promise Federal Credit Union, which helps people re-establish credit, and offers a range of services to the community, including workshops on finances and budgeting, which Jim has led.
After retiring from the corporate world in 2000, Jim stepped into a second career as an educator, teaching business, finance, and tax accounting courses at Olivet College. Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Ferris State University, and is a substitute teacher at Portage Northern.
Ed Ross
Joyce Dunbar, PhD
Joyce joined CFT as executive director in 2024. She has a background in education and international development, and has worked on projects in East and West Africa.
Joyce has taught at various institutions in the USA, including Central State University, The Ohio State University, and Kalamazoo College, where she facilitated the introduction of Swahili language teaching and the expansion of study abroad opportunities in Africa. She is the current board president for the Columbus Empowerment Corporation, which supports entrepreneurship and urban development.
Jared Licavoli
Jared joined the CFT board in January 2025. He is currently an engagement specialist with Nation Outside and brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the work of advocating for the formerly incarcerated and returning citizens.
Andrew Lehman
Andrew has spent much of his career working with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals: from working at a juvenile facility during college, to opening re-entry facilities for the Illinois Department of Corrections, to hiring returning citizens as a private business owner.
Andrew is grateful for the opportunity we have in CFT to offer a hand to those coming out of prison and tell the person we'll walk with them, and encourage them as they make a sometimes difficult transition.