Bryan Day

President

Bryan Day is the new President of Community HigherEd Institute (CHEI) which includes Community Care College, Clary Sage College and Oklahoma Technical College.

Mr. Day served as the Chief Executive Officer for 17 years at Oklahoma’s largest inpatient / outpatient addiction / behavioral health treatment center. His leadership provided documented competencies to expand services, revenue and the number of employees by 300% during his tenure while successfully maintaining stringent accreditations through the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Facilities (ODMHSAS), Joint Commission (JCAHO), and the Commission of Accredited Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). Additionally, the organization developed and managed multi-million dollar contracts during his tenure with the Veterans Administration (VA), Native American tribes including the Cherokee Nation, and Muscogee Creek Nation, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and many others.

Mr. Day has developed and managed successful collaborative programs with higher education including the University of Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State University (OSU). These included the development of ACGME accredited Addiction Medicine Fellowships and residencies. He has developed and managed public / private community partnerships with both the City of Tulsa and State of Oklahoma designed to improve outcomes, public safety and reduce costs.

Mr. Day has served on multiple Boards, Governance Councils, and community based collaboration initiatives including serving as one of nine founding members of the Alliance of Mental Health Professionals Board of Directors; the Board of Directors of Oklahoma Substance Abuse Service Alliance as the Legislative Chair for the statewide membership; and as Past Chair of the Governance Council, A Way Home for Tulsa including service as the Continuum of Care representative and Tulsa Mayor appointee for the HUD Development Committee Tulsa.

Mr. Day has successfully led and completed multi-million dollar capital campaigns. Additionally, he has raised millions of charitable dollars through grant writing and fundraising events. Mr Day’s leadership history also encompasses over twenty years as the Chief Executive and proven, successful business owner in ‘for profit’ publishing and retail ventures in Oklahoma.

Since 1994, Bryan and his wife, Connie, have lived on the outskirts of Sapulpa, near Pretty Water Lake. They attend First Presbyterian Church in Sapulpa and enjoy traveling to beautiful places, antiquing, attending concerts, and giving back to the community through a wide variety of charities.

Christina Stueart

Campus Director

Christina Stueart has extensive experience in post-secondary education. She has served in many capacities for higher education including Manager of Student Records, Director of Financial Aid, and Director of Accreditation and Compliance. With over 25 years of experience in higher education at an ACCSC accredited institution, Christina is highly regarded for her mastery over execution of organizational compliance tasks and maintaining regulatory controls. Because of Ms. Stueart’s comprehensive knowledge she has achieved success in the following areas: direct service positions with complete oversight of student records, managing compliance requirements for federal and state accreditation, including establishing and executing policies and procedures to meet the Department of Education’s regulatory compliance, monitoring complex standards for Student Academic Progress, serving in the capacity of Primary Designated School Official for International students, and acting as the final authority overseeing all aspects of annual audit, including outside agency audits and processing catalog updates. Annually, Ms. Stueart maintains high dedication to professional development to remain attuned to regulatory changes and industry trends. Christina completed her Bachelors of Business Administration in Accounting with a minor in Business Management in December of 2022. Christina has served as the Director of Accreditation and Compliance for 7 years. In September of 2022, Christina accepted the Campus Director position at Clary Sage College.

Michelle LaFortune-Wamego

Director of Education and Fashion Design Department Head

Erica Parker

Esthetician Department Head

Erica Parker brings an extensive background in the beauty industry to Clary Sage College. After graduating from cosmetology school in Wichita, Kansas in 1989, she knew even then that she would eventually go into education.

Before becoming a Master Instructor, she worked in several different salon settings and owned her own full-service salon for 14 years. What she found the most fulfilling about that work was when she was able to equip tomorrow’s professionals. After taking time off from the beauty industry to focus on raising her two sons, she went into the medical field and worked in doctors’ offices before returning to her first passion–teaching. While Erica has taught cosmetology courses, she really found that her strength was in esthetics. Skin care and the science of skin are something that has always been a fascination for her, and she loves sharing that knowledge with her students.

At Clary Sage College, Erica fully involves herself in the inner workings of education and assists in the creation of the best quality education. Her students are now her best customers and Erica strives to provide exemplary customer service everyday. After 35 years in the beauty industry, Erica appreciates that her diverse knowledge and experience continue to contribute to everything she can share with her students.

Paula Matthews

Barber Department Head

Paula Matthews is an Oklahoma Native who lives in Owasso with her husband. She has two daughters and three granddaughters and one grandson. Prior to developing the barber program at Clary Sage College, she spent 30 years in the industry as a barber stylist and 14 of those years as a licensed barber instructor. Throughout those 30 years of experience, she became involved with “Oklahoma Barber Advisory Board and The National Association of Barber Boards of America” and performed many tasks while being an active member of those boards. Her love for the industry has transformed into a passion, sharing her craft with talented barber students. Within the 12 years since the program started, she has been blessed in seeing students find great success in established shops, high end barbershops and salons, and some even became shop owners themselves. Paula has given back to her community over the years by going to John 3:16 men’s shelter, 12 and12 Drug Rehab Center and The Day Center and giving haircuts. Giving back to the community is a way for her to share her skills and passion that reflect her love for the barber industry.

Elizur McLaughlin

Cosmetology and Master Instructor Department Head

Elizur McLaughlin comes from a heritage of hair industry professionals. After completing high school, he enrolled at Cameron University to embark on his journey to become a Psychiatrist. Elizur had aspirations of serving his country in the U.S. Air Force after completing his first year of college. However, prior to finalizing his contract to serve in the U.S. Air Force God had another path and different  plans in mind.  Elizur moved to Washington State in 1999 to attend Barber College where he obtained many awards including a certificate of completion. Elizur has taught at esteemed world renowned hair colleges. He and his students have dedicated time to serving in the local community donating haircuts to the homeless, less fortunate, and back to school cuts for children. He has been an active leader in the Barbering and Cosmetology professions for many years. In addition Elizur is a Master Instructor, Department Head, a previous Owner/Operator of two successful Salon/Barber Shops, and College Director over two Campuses. He received many industry awards and 1st place winner of the HouseWives of Atlanta hair take over battle royal.  His participation in national competitions afforded him many opportunities and championships.  With dual licenses  in Cosmetology and Barbering, he was also the first student to do the Barber Crossover program at Clary Sage College and in the State of Oklahoma. His dedication to continuing education led him to take master level  classes at the Toni & Guy Academy. He is committed to training students to become industry professionals and leading the Cosmetology/Master Instructor Departments, growing both programs while upholding the C. A.R.E. S culture..

Katherine Ashby

Makeup Artistry Department Head, Nail Technician Department Head

At a young age Kat knew that she wanted to grow up to work in a field where she could be creative; to surround herself with likeminded people and all come together to create the bigger picture. She has been a licensed Cosmetologist since 2009, Master Instructor since 2013, two-time award-winning Makeup Artist, and Clary Alumni! Kat loves to work with all things beauty but has specialized in the Production scene since 2015. She loves working in film because it gives her the opportunity to create something new every time she’s on set and it also gives her time to meet and connect with people.  A nerd to the core, she loves to create a look from hair, makeup, props, wardrobe, and everything in between. When Kat is not running the Departments of Makeup Artistry and Nail Technology you can usually find her hanging out with her kids, cat, or starting a new project to stay busy and learn new things.

Bridget Brock

Massage Therapy Department Head

Pallavi Agarwal

Chief Financial Officer

Pallavi “Polly” Agarwal serves as the Chief Financial Officer for Community Care College, Clary Sage College, and Oklahoma Technical College. Polly is a true servant leader and loves the college’s CARES culture. Polly has her Bachelor’s degree in Accounting with a major in Accounts/Finance. While pursuing her bachelors, she worked as an intern at a CPA firm for several years. A few years later she earned her Master’s in Business Administration at Oral Roberts University (ORU), Tulsa OK. During her M.B.A. program, she started working at Community Care College as an Accountant, and was then promoted to the Accounting Manager position. Polly has been serving as the CFO of the colleges since January of 2016. Throughout her 10+ years with the colleges Polly has been dedicated to serving others and developing leaders.

Alexis Acker

Interior Design Instructor and Department Head

Alexis Acker is a Clary Sage Alumni who began her interior design teaching career in 2021 after completing her externship at ME Interiors and working as a junior interior designer at 918 Interiors here in Tulsa. She grew up in the small town of Mannford, Oklahoma and spent her younger years on Keystone Lake with her storm chaser dad, Lanny Dean, and family. Alexis went off to college at Allen Community College on a full-ride soccer scholarship and worked on her general education. She then transferred to Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas where she majored in Broadcasting/Reporting Communications and minored in Interior Design. After years of dreaming of making it big in the media industry, she soon realized her heart was just too big for the evils of the world. She moved back to the Tulsa area and took a few more classes at TCC for meteorology just to finish up her degree. Putting all her faith in the Lord, her prayers were finally answered. She knew her path was all things Interior Design after finding her grandmother’s old drafting kit and went to finish her education in design at Clary Sage College. She has such a passion for helping others so educating people in her most favorite subject is one of her greatest joys. When Alexis isn’t teaching all things Interior Design, she is spending time with her husband, little girls and their 4 fur babies. You can most likely find her outside of class with a book in one hand and a coffee in the other.

Karissa Marcangeli

Director of Financial Aid

Karissa Marcangeli has been a part of our financial aid team for over 20 years. She started her career at Community Care College over 21 years ago after attending Oklahoma State University. Karissa has a passion for helping students create financially responsible educational plans that make their career goals a reality. College is a large investment and can be an overwhelming process for students. Karissa and her team work hard to make the financial aid process as painless as possible during the enrollment period. Karissa grew up in McAlester, OK and loves Italian food. Karissa lives with her fur child, Duke and enjoys spending time with her nieces and nephews.

Charmaine Hartin

Career Services Manager

Charmaine holds degrees in both Cosmetology and her Associates of Medical Billing & Coding. She began her career at Community Care College in 2020 as the Coordinator for both the Medical Billing & Coding and Healthcare Administration programs. Charmaine quickly developed a passion for helping graduates of those programs find employment in their field of choice. She quickly found a passion for helping others achieve their goals!

In early 2021 Charmaine joined Career Services to help all Distance Education graduates with employment opportunities. She thrives on creating an individualized experience for each graduate, knowing they all have different needs and goals. She’s a natural at relationship building.

In 2023 Charmaine became one of the instructors for Career Life and Development ( CLD ). She is now the manager for all three campuses for Career Services as well as the CLD instructor for all online.

In her spare time, Charmaine enjoys swimming, camping, crafting, and spending time with her family. Her number one role, though? Being a mom to her two beautiful kiddos!