Culinary School of the Rockies Staff

After careers as a French teacher and lawyer, Founder/Director Joan Brett started Culinary School of the Rockies in 1991. Brett finds cooking to be personally relaxing and therapeutic, and believes that cooking is creative, a nurturing life force, and a work of art. Brett attended Peter Kump's New York Cooking School (now known as The Institute of Culinary Education). She completed an apprenticeship at the Small Wonder Café in Boulder, Colorado.

Brett has appeared on numerous television spots, and her articles on food and cooking have been published in Active Times Magazine. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in French from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, a Masters Degree in French and Teaching from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Colorado School of Law in Boulder, Colorado. Brett is involved with the community. She is past Board President of Community Food Share and Boulder County Safehouse. As Director, Brett is responsible for overseeing operations and management.

Joan Brett will be inducted into the Boulder County Business Hall of Fame in May, 2008. One of six inductees for the class of 2008, Joan will be honored at the hall of fame's 16th annual induction luncheon Thursday, May 1, at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center in Longmont, home of the hall. The Boulder County Business Hall of Fame was established in 1992 to recognize and honor businesswomen and men who personify "business at its best." More than 110 people have been inducted into the hall.

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Karen Barela, Chief Operating Officer

Karen Barela's enthusiasm for the hospitality industry is multi-faceted — from beer and wine to food and travel, all of which she has incorporated into her professional background. She has a Bachelor of Arts from California State University at Fullerton and an Executive Master of Business Administration from the University of Colorado, Denver. Before joining Culinary School of the Rockies in 1997, she worked for seven years at the Association of Brewers (AOB) in Boulder, the organization that hosts Denver's Great American Beer Festival.

While with the AOB, she traveled throughout North America, Europe and Asia conducting beer tastings and educational seminars. Her travel experiences greatly expanded her passion for all things culinary, and turned her into an avid "foodie". As C.O.O., Karen enjoys helping graduates achieve their career goals and following their successes. She oversees all day-to-day management and marketing efforts for the School. Karen is a founding member of the Naturally Boulder Products Task Force. For fun, she likes to ride motorcycles with her husband, and grow tomatoes, herbs and peaches in her garden.

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Dorian Rabin, Admissions Specialist

Dorian Rabin graduated from Johnson & Wales University in Charleston, South Carolina, and she holds a Bachelor of Science and Business Administration from the University of New Orleans, Louisiana. She has held a variety of culinary and management positions, in geographically diverse areas of the country.

Dorian was the chef and marketing manager for Moonbowl Restaurant in Whitefish, Montana, which used only 100% certified organic ingredients procured from local farmers and suppliers. She was the kitchen and event manager for the New Orleans Cooking Experience, a cooking school in Louisiana which featured James Beard Award winning Chefs. At Spice Inc., a specialty food market and gourmet foods center, also in New Orleans, Dorian was involved with marketing and business development.

At Pour la France Catering in Denver, Colorado, she managed all of the catering sales, creating menus designed specifically to meet clients' needs. Dorian has also been a Private Chef and Caterer, in both Montana and Louisiana, providing food services for specialty retreats and private families. Dorian enjoys outdoor activates year round with her husband, young son, and golden retriever.

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Sophia Berry, Professional Programs Administrator

Sophia Berry started her business career with a degree in Business Administration and Marketing, with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship, from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Since graduating, she has worn a variety of hats in her business career, from real estate associate to managing the front desk at the renowned Hotel Boulderado, to directing a kids summer camp in Monterey Bay Santa Cruz, California.

Throughout her life, she has always baked, and loves to experiment with quick breads, pastries, cookies, cakes, and well, just about anything sweet. She practices her passion for cooking and baking by entertaining, taking classes at CSR, and making treats for birthdays, holidays, and special occasions. In her free-time, Sophia enjoys backpacking and fly fishing with her husband. Her role at Culinary School of the Rockies involves assisting students with every aspect of their application and enrollment process.

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Sharon Halkovics, Director of Home Cook & Corporate Kitchen

Sharon's love for working in the food business began to ripen when she accepted a side-job harvesting and selling organic produce for a farm outside of Boston. After working for a few years as an environmental planner, her interest in food, specifically local foods, expanded when she accepted a job as market manager with Greenmarket in New York City.

Next, she managed several farmers' markets in the Cleveland-area and cooked at a nationally acclaimed restaurant, Parker's New American Bistro which utilized local foods. She has held several interesting jobs in pursuit of learning as much possible about "all things food" including working on farms in the Hudson Valley as well as on a sheep farm in southern France.

After five seasons of managing and operating farmers' markets and working on a contract basis as an event planner, Sharon joined the staff at CSR as the Director of Home Cook and Corporate Kitchen. Her role at CSR includes a whole bowlful of duties to keep the department running smoothly while organizing a variety of cooking classes and events for home cooks and corporate clients. She earned her Bachelor of Science from Ohio University and is super-motivated about biking, snow sports, cooking, and gardening.

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Carrie Wunsch, Marketing Assistant

Carrie started her career in Los Angeles working at Guess Inc., developing their online marketing campaigns and assisting with the launch of BabyGuess.com. Carrie moved to Boulder in 2001 and began working at Electric Rain, a developer of 3D software, where she was the head of PR and a marketing/sales assistant.

After working for three years in the software industry she decided to follow her passion for food. She took a year off to travel around Italy and France and upon her return she started her career at CSR. Carrie covers a myriad of roles at CSR, from marketing assistant to corporate kitchen assistant. Carrie graduated from University of Southern California with in B.A. in Communication and Media. In her free time Carrie loves to cook, bake (especially cupcakes!), read, dance, and cheer on her alma mater USC - Go Trojans!

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Sarah Blecher, Office Manager

Sarah is a CSR alumni. She graduated from the Pastry Arts program in 2008. Sarah has worked in a variety of different jobs in the industry including Assistant Pastry Chef at Laudisio in Boulder, and Baker at Shamane's Bake Shoppe, also located in Boulder.

Most recently she worked at the Savory Spice Shop in Boulder, which expanded her knowledge of food, and furthered her love and passion for cooking.

Sarah's tremendous love for food has been apparent her whole life. Sarah loves to experiment in the kitchen and is always on a quest to learn something new, whether it be a new recipe, or a new trick to temper eggs. Sarah will use her pastry chef personality to be innovative and creative in the kitchen and well-organized and detail oriented in the office. When Sarah is not baking she loves to ski, and practice yoga, and hike with her dog.

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