About Us

Meet Our Team

Executive Director

Mark Howard
Assistant Executive Director

Pepper Keeling
Office Manager

Casey Nichols
Maintenance Supervisor

Larry Leigh
Senior Advocate

Astrid Lorbeer
Beth Robinson
Staff Grant Writer

Beth Robinson
Shelter Manager

Patti Graham
Senior Counselor

Alyssa Chaney
Executive Director

Mark Howard

Mark and his wife Cindy recently moved to Stillwater, returning to Oklahoma from Arkansas. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Leadership and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration both from Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma. Mark comes to us from Ouachita Children, Youth, and Family Services in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Prior to that Mark was the President/CEO of the Presbyterian Home for Children in Alabama and was the Vice- President of Program Services for the United Methodist Circle of Care in Oklahoma. Mark was twice awarded the George Parlier Award in Oklahoma for his outstanding contribution to the childcare profession. He also received the Administrator of the Year Award from the State Childcare Workers Association. He is a Certified Trainer for Trauma Informed Care for Children.
Assistant Executive Director

Pepper Keeling

Pepper Keeling has been employed at Wings of Hope for five years and is the Assistant Executive Director.  With a background in restaurant management and public accounting, Pepper holds two Bachelor Degrees from Oklahoma State University: one in Hotel and Restaurant Administration and another in Accounting.  She is also a Certified Nonprofit Accounting Professional. Currently married to her high school sweetheart, they share six wonderful children.  Pepper enjoys being a part of the Stillwater community and spends most of her time with friends and family.

Office Manager

Casey Nichols

Casey Nichols is the Wings of Hope Office Manager. Since beginning employment with Wings

of Hope in 2019, she has enjoyed learning across a variety of subjects pertinent to Domestic

Violence and Sexual Assault advocacy. She has also enjoyed taking on a leadership role within

the organization and is personally committed to help end the cycle of violence.

Maintenance Supervisor

Larry Leigh

After several career changes Larry discovered how much he liked to build things.  With 16 years’ experience in construction he became the Facilities Minister at Sunnybrook Church for 15 years.  He has now been the Maintenance Supervisor at Wings of Hope for 8 years.  He has been blessed with a wonderful wife for 47 years resulting in 4 children and 10 grandchildren.  Passing along building knowledge and Biblical wisdom is his passion.

Senior Advocate

Astrid Lorbeer

Astrid has been a victims’ advocate with our agency since 2009. Before working with Wings of Hope, she taught elementary school age children at inner city public schools in Houston, TX and in Dresden, Germany, where she was born and brought up. Astrid holds a Masters degree from the University of Oklahoma in Health and Human Services Administration and a Bachelors degree in Education from Germany. She enjoys being with family and friends. She also loves spending time in nature, traveling to far away places and learning about different cultures.

Staff Grant Writer

Beth Robinson

An experienced grant-writer, Beth Robinson holds a B.A. in journalism/professional writing from the University of Oklahoma and an M.A. in English/creative writing from the University of Central Oklahoma. Prior to joining Wings of Hope, she taught writing at Oklahoma State University in OKC, in the English Department at Oklahoma City University for 9 years, as well as at Northern Oklahoma College, Rose State College, the University of Oklahoma Continuing Education program, Moore-Norman Technical Center, and the OCU Red Dirt MFA program. On the Oklahoma Arts Council Artist-in-Residence Roster since 1998, she presents workshops and enjoys creating with writers of all ages across the State. Robinson’s book, Poetry Unbound, written with women incarcerated at Mabel Bassett Correctional Center, was a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award in 2014.

Shelter Manager

Patti Graham

Ms. Graham came to OSU for college in 1977 and, except for a brief 3 years in Muskogee, made her home in the area. She received her B.S in Psychology at OSU, met her husband in Stillwater and they started and raised a family here.

After 16 years working in sales, marketing, and customer service, Ms. Graham joined Stillwater Domestic Violence Services as the Shelter Manager. She has worked in the position for over 11 years. She has been certified by the Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault as a domestic and sexual violence response professional. She says “Few jobs require you to give so much but in turn give so much back. To see victims, change their path and be lifted by our services and support is one of the greatest outcomes of this job. It propels you to come back every day!”

Patti has 3 grown children and 2 granddaughters. She says family time is number one on her list of favorite things. Close behind are her 4 dogs and 2 cats. She also is a foster for Cimarron Valley Humane Society and has saved a multitude of dog’s lives and helped to find them homes.

Senior Counselor

Alyssa Chaney

Alyssa is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a graduate of the Master of Science Counseling Psychology Program at Northeastern State University. At Wings of Hope, Alyssa currently serves as our Senior Counselor and is passionate about helping adults, children, and families overcome the negative effects that stressful or traumatic life experiences have on how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. She works to provide a safe and accepting environment for clients to express their needs, identify goals, and make progress toward desired changes.