Staff
Susan Berman
President and Chief Executive Officer
Susan has served as president and CEO of Fresh Start since Sept. 2011. Previously, she was the director of programs at Childhelp and managed Childhelp’s National Child Abuse Hotline. For more than 10 years, Susan led the Workforce Development Program throughout Maricopa County and published case management and case note curriculum that was adopted by Rutgers University’s, John J. Heldrich Center on Workforce Development. Susan is a member of the American Counseling Association (ACA), the National Career Counseling Association (NECA) and is a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC). Susan holds a B.S. in psychology from ASU, an M.A. from University of Phoenix in counseling, and pursued her college education while raising her three children as a single parent.
Heidi Coupland
Vice President of Development
Heidi initially joined Fresh Start over 20 years ago and instantly fell in love with the Fresh Start mission and the services offered to women in our community. Since that time she has served as the Chair of the Auxiliary Board, as well as Chair of the Fresh Start Fashion Gala. In 2017, Heidi joined the administrative team at Fresh Start as the Development Manager. Prior to that she owned a consulting practice that launched the operations of multiple new business start-ups. She also spent over 10 years in the NBA, serving as the Director of Corporate Sales for the Phoenix Suns.
Abdu Dahr
Director of Operations
Abdu Dahr is the new Director of Operations at FSWF. Abdu’s role is to lead all program development, process and protocol design, data gathering and processes. Also, to provide direct management oversight for Program, Social Work, Family Law, Client Relations, and Volunteer and Outreach staff. Abdu grew up in Rabat, Morocco where he obtained his Social Services degree with focus in Special Education from Centre Pedagogique Almanar before moving to Phoenix, AZ in 2006. He has over thirteen yeras of experience in the nonprofit field with a professional certificate in Nonprofit Executive Leadership from ASU. He has served in multiple leadership roles and recently as Arizona Executive Director at One Step Beyond, Inc.
Cathy Kleeman
Chief Development Officer
Cathy’s involvement with Fresh Start spans nearly two decades. She has served on Fresh Start’s Executive Board and was a part of the lead capital campaign team to build the Jewell McFarland Lewis Fresh Start Women’s Resource Center. During her tenure as a Fresh Start board member, Cathy chaired several fundraisers, most notably Fresh Start’s Fashion Gala in 2002 and 2007. Prior to her current role as vice president of development, Cathy owned KNK2, a strategic marketing company and served as vice president of sales and marketing for the Phoenix Suns.
Lata Pall
CFO
Lata Pall joined Fresh Start Women’s Foundation in November 2018 as the CFO. She brings a wealth of knowledge from her experience in running her own accounting firm with a focus on automating processes and working on productivity and efficiency to selling her company a few years ago to Clifton Larson Allen. Lata obtained her Chartered Professional Accounting, Certified Management Accountant designation in Canada and has worked in various capacities with Non-Profits for the past 10 years.
Additional Staff Members