About Us

James T. Allen
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of myFootpath, LLC
J.T. Allen is an innovator in strategic design, development and implementation. He is a former consultant with Ernst & Young/Chicago and has worked with a variety of multi-national corporations. His prior experience includes the development of a leadership program for expanding entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley. Mr. Allen graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan Business School.

Gerald Nardella
Vice President, Finance & Operations
Jerry Nardella brings experience in finance and operations from privately held and Fortune 500 companies. Most recently he spent several years consulting and his clients have included Hyatt Corporation, Wolters Kluwer and Philadelphia Gear. His previous direct roles include CFO and VP of Operations at two mid-sized privately held companies and along with a variety of operations and accounting roles at Ecolab. Mr. Nardella has two BS degrees from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Northwestern University’s J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Business.

Maria Opdycke
Vice President
Maria has extensive experience in building and developing businesses. She knows how to recruit the right team, find the first clients in a new line of business, strike and build strategic partnerships, and create the right processes and procedures to scale any organization. Before joining myFootpath, Maria was a co-founder of Malia Designs, a fair trade, fashion accessories business where she developed domestic distribution channels, sourced internationally-produced products and managed daily operations. Maria also worked as a Senior Economist reviewing market movements and driving investment decisions at a regional investment bank. She has a BA in Economics from Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio and an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurship from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

John Ryan
Director of Online Marketing
John Ryan is a savvy marketing executive with deep expertise across all aspects of online marketing and lead generation. Most recently, John spearheaded the growth of TotalAttorneys, an Inc 500 company that created the online lead generation model within the legal space. On his watch, TotalAttorneys grew it’s revenue 54x, went from 6 employees to 200, drove millions of leads to attorneys nationwide, and defined the legal lead generation category. Prior to that, John built out high performing teams driving traffic to hundreds of different web properties for various agency clients, utilizing best of breed solutions in SEM, SEO, and Affiliate Marketing. John did his undergraduate work in Liberal Art and Communications at Luther College.

Who We Are: Business Advisors

Tricia Cagua
Advisor
Tricia Cagua is a dedicated and passionate interactive media executive with over 15 years of experience driving new customers and monetizing traffic across multiple channels, including: display, social media, email, lead generation, behavioral targeting, networks and exchanges, and affiliate. Previously VP Director at Digitas, Tricia led a digital media team for clients such as Bank of America and Sears Holdings Corporation.  Her experience also includes Vice President of Online Marketing at Q Interactive managing a team responsible for their proprietary websites, as well as, Media Director at Leapfrog Online leading customer acquisition for clients such as:  Discover Card, Comcast and Time Warner. Tricia has a BA in Advertising from Michigan State University.

Colleen Cassell
Advisor
Colleen Cassell joined myFootpath, LLC following corporate marketing leadership and sales positions at several Fortune 500 corporations and well known brands including Education Management Corporation (EDMC), Sears Holdings Corp., Citibank and Pfizer. Most recently, Cassell served as VP of Marketing at Argosy University, a division of EDMC. Cassell has extensive experience in all facets of marketing, from the strategic planning level to executing multi-channel advertising campaigns. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Dayton and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business.

Brian Lynch
Advisor
Brian Lynch has over 25 years of experience in higher education.  Most recently, Brian was the Executive Director of the National Catholic College Admission Association (National CCAA)  a national organization of 185 colleges.  During his six year tenure at National CCAA he was responsible for the production of the Official Catholic College and University Guidebook, the official Catholic College and University website (www.catholiccolllegesonline.org), various recruitment programs, and the Values that Matter Campaign to promote the value of Catholic higher education. Prior to National CCAA, he served DePaul University as the Director of Undergraduate Admission and Roosevelt University as the Director of Admission.  When he’s not advising myFootpath, Brian leads the Avanzare Group that works to advance nonprofit and educational organizations, serves as counselor for College Advance, and does free-lance writing. Brian has a BA in Marketing from St. Xavier University, and a Masters in Education from Northern Illinois University.

Who We Are: The College Prep Advisory Board

Nancy Mitchell
Nancy Mitchell brings over 30 years of guidance counseling experience to myFootpath. She has served as President of MACAC (a state professional counseling association) and has led several educational initiatives in the Metro Detroit area. She is retired from Rochester Adams High School (Michigan).

Mary Ann Newbill
Mary Ann Newbill was the Director of Guidance at Powers Catholic High School (MI) and co-founder of myFootpath. Mary Ann is responsible for developing the initial product concepts, having had over 20 years of experience in college counseling. She has served as President and other leadership roles for MACAC and she has served on national committees for NACAC. Additionally she has served as a representative for the Midwest Regional Council of the College Board. Mary Ann is the recipient of the prestigious MACAC Gramenz Award for achievement and professional dedication.

Patrick O’Connor
Patrick O’Connor has held numerous leadership roles in NACAC and MACAC including serving as President for both associations. He was awarded the Gramenz Award, MACAC’s most prestigious honor. Patrick has served as a college counselor within high schools, in a private advisory role and as a college admissions counselor, bringing myFootpath both a high school and college view. Patrick is a Professor at Oakland Community College in Royal Oak, Michigan and the head of College Counseling at the Roper School in Michigan.