New Board Members Join the Team

The CFEC Board of Directors is pleased to announce four new members, each who will serve a minimum of a three year term. Those individuals are Carmen Canales, Frank Cardenas, Yolanda Edwards and Bryan Dooley.Carmen Canales is the Chief People Officer at Novant Health. She has progressive experience in all aspects of human resources and talent management, including 15 years at the executive leadership level. She is a results-oriented visionary who focuses on organizational impact, maximizing talent, and building a resilient workforce. Canales’ experience includes leadership roles in the healthcare, higher education, consumer goods, banking, and professional services industries. Prior to joining Novant Health, Canales served as the Chief Human Resources Officer at Wake Forest University, and as the Chief Talent Officer at the law firm now known as Womble Bond Dickinson, a role in which she held firm-wide responsibility for people and culture. Prior to her work at Womble, Canales held positions in Human Resources at Wachovia (now Wells Fargo) and Pepsi-Cola. A native of Michigan, Canales has lived in North Carolina for most of her adult life. She enjoys involvement in the community in which she works and lives. Most recently, Governor Roy Cooper appointed her to the Forsyth Technical Community College Board of Trustees. Prior Board involvement includes roles with the Enrichment Center, The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, River Run International Film Festival, Victory Junction Gang Camp, The Hispanic League, Goodwill Industries, and the Bethesda Center for the Homeless. Canales is bilingual in English and Spanish. She has been recognized as a “Woman Worth Watching” in the Profiles in Diversity Journal, and also as an Al Día 2021 Woman of Merit. She has a Master of Labor and Industrial Relations degree from Michigan State University and is a Gallup Strengths Coach. Her daughter attended The Children’s Center.Frank Cardenas’ passion for serving individuals has led him into a career of servitude. With nearly a decade of experience working for The Social Security Administration - first as a Claims Adjudicator, then an Area Operations Analyst, and lastly as an Operational Supervisor - his focus became how to solve an informational gap between the government and the people they serve. After receiving two Master's degrees, in Public Administration and Health Administration & Planning, in November 2015, he co-founded FEDlogic, Inc. FEDlogic navigates individuals and families through Social Security Benefits such as Retirement, Disability, Spousal, Widow, Child, SSI, and Medicare. FEDlogic is proud to be servicing over 280 companies in over 100,000 households. Notable companies include Ingram Industries, Pinnacle Financial Partners, & LBMC. FEDlogic is also proud to be an endorsed partner of The Tennessee Hospital Association.Yolanda Edwards is currently the Department Chair, Program Coordinator, and Professor of Rehabilitation Counseling at Winston-Salem State University. Prior to her time at WSSU, she served as an Assistant Professor at both the University of South Carolina and the University of Maryland. She earned her Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Counselor Education from the University of Iowa, her Master’s degree in Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling from South Carolina State University and her B.S. in Biology from South Carolina State University.Bryan Dooley is a graduate of Guilford College, Summa Cum Laude. While earning a degree in History, he won numerous leadership awards and scholarships, wrote for The Guilfordian, and worked as a Diversity Coordinator. Bryan, who has cerebral palsy, is an advocate for individuals with disabilities. He began advocating from a young age, earning state and national awards by high school, including the Yes I Can award in assistive technology from the Council for Exceptional Children and the Matthew Graziadei Achievement Award. He participated in the Youth Leadership Forum at NC State and numerous youth groups, including the National Youth Leadership Network and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD). Bryan chose to focus on the history of the disability movement as an academic subject because of these experiences. He completed the NC Council on Developmental Disabilities Partners in Policymaking program in 2014 and the Advancing Strong Leadership in Developmental Disability Initiative in 2016. He is the governor-appointed current chair for the NC Council on Developmental Disabilities, past chair for Disability Rights NC, past chair for the NC Empowerment Network, and speaks at numerous educational and disability advocacy events. Before joining the staff of Solutions for Independence as a community inclusion specialist, he was a board member for both the Adaptables and its eventual incarnation as Solutions for Independence.