C.C. boasts over 20 years of fundraising expertise with prominent nonprofits and startups. Now the Director of Philanthropy at Saddleback MemorialCare Medical Center Foundation, she previously raised $3.2 million in two years at St. Anne School. With Hoag Hospital Irvine under the Hoag Hospital Foundation, C.C. was instrumental in generating over $38 million for the Hoag Irvine campus's transformative healthcare initiatives. She significantly contributed to securing $8 million for the Benjamin and Carmela Du Emergency Pavilion in 2018 and steered Hoag Orthopedics to a triumphant $17 million fundraising during the Hoag Promise Campaign. Prior to Hoag, C.C. held significant roles at CHOC Children’s Foundation and the Tony Hawk Foundation. C.C. graduated from Western Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Marketing and completed her Masters of Arts in Non-Profit Management and Leadership Studies from the University of San Diego. C.C. comes from a long line of teachers and educators in her family. Her family has always valued education and forwarding one’s career through advanced education programs. Mrs. Hafner resides in San Clemente with her husband of 18 years, Ian Hafner, and two children, Declan and Madelyn.

C.C. Hafner | Fundraising

Lindsay is a marketing specialist and thrilled to be on the Board of Directors at Pathway. After earning her bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder’s Leeds School of Business, she went on to work in the marketing and advertising industry. Her clients included several Fortune 500 companies as well as smaller start up brands. She is a mom of two and has a passion for helping more families discover the incredible transformations that happen at Pathway. In 2017, Lindsay’s son transferred to Pathway when she realized that the public school system was not meeting the needs of his learning differences. Lindsay’s goal is to let others know about the positive impact Pathway School has had for so many families in Orange County, especially for her family and son.

Lindsay LaBonge | Marketing

Erin Ludwig is the Owner of Optimal Consulting, whose mission is to bring big corporate experience to small business owners to meet their financial needs. Drawing from experience in public accounting at PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLC, and private industry, she is able to take an analytical approach to help companies optimize their performance. Erin has an active CPA license in the state of CA.

Erin joined the Pathway Board to give back to her community, and in doing so, has been touched by the effect the school has on the children and families who have walked through its doors year after year.

Erin Ludwig | Board Treasurer

Travis is a Managing Director at Deloitte, a seasoned professional with over 21 years of experience consulting Fortune 100 companies across industries, providing risk and financial advisory services. His areas of expertise include extended enterprise management, and more recently Sustainability Strategy where he leads a market offering related to Operations and Value Realization. Travis plays an active role in Orange County through several leadership positions, which focus on sustainability, both environmental and human, “making an impact that matters,” including Deloitte’s Impact Day where over 600 volunteers serve 20 non-profit organizations across the community. His mission is to foster meaningful change within organizations and their ecosystems by leading with positivity and supporting team development. Travis and his amazing wife Sofie have one human son Milo who attends Pathway School, a 115 lbs "puppy" named Jazz, and numerous foster puppies that come and (when everything goes as planned) go.

Travis Markowitz

Nicole's life passion has been to help others, a calling she answered from a young age as a teen mediator and later studying Psychology at the University of Oregon. Her career in healthcare marketing allowed her the privilege of working on brands that provided life-changing results for patients.

When her husband passed away suddenly and tragically in 2019, Nicole was forced to confront profound grief while caring for her grieving twins. It was during this dark time that she met Amy, another young widow further along on the healing journey. Amy provided Nicole community, hope and healing when she needed it most.

Attending a retreat for young widows called Never Alone Widows in 2021 sparked a vision in Nicole to create that same support system for others where she lived. She and Amy partnered to launch the first Never Alone Widows Locals group in San Clemente, CA. There they counseled over 200 widows, exposing the glaring unmet need for professional grief coaching during those first brutal days of loss.

From this experience, the idea for Healing at the Well was born. Nicole's driving passion is to ensure no widow feels unseen, unheard or alone in their darkest moments. Her goal is to create a judgment-free safe haven where each woman can openly share her unique grief journey while being met with compassion.

Nicole loves to travel, she enjoys a good outdoor concert, creating new memories over a meal with friends, and a day at the beach in San Clemente with her twins. The twins are thriving in school and are very active in cheer, softball, soccer and baseball. It is through our community of widows and children that our family has found hope and healing.

Education & Credentials:

B.A. in Psychology, University of Oregon
Certified Grief Counselor (GC-C)

Nicole Thomas

Troy Wathen, Ed.D., has a long career in education and working with gifted learners. He graduated with a business and economics degree from Westmont College and then went on to earn a teaching credential. He taught kindergarten, 4th and 5th grade and served as an administrator in Downey and Capistrano Unified School Districts. In 2000 he moved to Houston to help open the doors of Providence Classical School and grew it to 300+ students. In 2010 he helped develop a charter school in Denver. Along the way he earned a Doctorate in Education from Biola University in Student Engagement in Learning and Nonprofit Leadership. In 2014, Troy began to develop an approach to independent education that has grown into BurstTutors. He created a program that teaches young people of all abilities to embrace a growth mindset, develop mindful awareness towards learning, and become self-motivated learners. In April 2021, Troy and his wife, Patricia (Pachi), opened BurstTutors and Miss Pachi’s Ateliê in Newport Beach where they teach art, music, reading, math and self-motivated learning. Troy is excited about the future of Pathway School and the ministry of Christian education for students with learning differences.