Carla Landwerth, MC, Executive Director

Carla Landwerth is the ALLC’s Executive Director. Carla has her B.S. in Elementary Education from Grand Canyon University, M.C. in Counseling at ASU, and Professional Certificate in Nonprofit Management from ASU’s Nonprofit Management Institute. Carla has been managing non-profits for more than 20 years, and is excited to be involved with ALLC. “This agency is a Godsend to parents of children with reading disabilities.”

Linda Barr, MEd, Program Director, Clinical Supervisor & Assessment Team Member

Linda Barr is the Program Director for the ALLC East Valley center, and is the clinical director over both centers. Linda taught in special education and in the regular education classroom for 18 years. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and Special Education. Her Master’s degree is in the area of elementary education with a focus in reading. She currently holds a teaching certificate in special education K-8 and Elementary Education with endorsements in both Early Childhood and Reading Specialist K-12. Linda has worked with neuropsychologists at Barrows Neurological Institute as the lead educator working with traumatic brain injured students. She is our liaison with ASU and the TGen’s dyslexia genome project. She currently serves as vice president of the Arizona branch of the International Dyslexia Association.

Suzanne Brimley, Marketing & Development

Nicole Engel, Client Services

Nicole Engel is the friendly person on the other end of the phone as she fields questions for the correct specialist. She assists staff with special projects, front desk duties, and other-related functions in the office. Nicole enjoys the opportunity to help callers and visitors get answers to their questions. Nicole has been with Arizona Literacy and Learning Center since Nov. 2004. She moved to Phoenix from Prescott, AZ to work with us.

Early Childhood

Ilce Alexander, B.A. Early Childhood Director

Ilce Alexander, B.A., is ALLC’s Director of Early Childhood Initiatives. She received a B.A. in English as a Second Language and Elementary Education. Ilce is a bilingual parent trainer presenting workshops throughout the Valley. She oversees all of our early childhood programs, including developmental screenings at Valley preschools and the Phoenix office. As our volunteer coordinator, Ilce manages more than 50 volunteers who assist in all non-clinical program areas at ALLC.

Heidi Benson Rodriguez, M.S., SLP-CCC Phoenix

Heidi received her B.A. in Communication Disorders and Spanish, and her M.S. in Bilingual Speech and Language Pathology. She also completed additional training at ASU in order to have her Master in Bilingual Speech and Language Pathology. She is a licensed, clinically certified Speech and Language Pathologist. Heidi works in our early childhood program providing speech screenings to children who are receiving developmental screenings.

Intervention Team

Jamie Dana, M.C., Educational Assessments Phoenix

Jamie Dana, M.C., is a trained mental health counselor and psycho-educational evaluator. She has a B.S. degree in Psychology from Brigham Young University. She obtained her M.C. in Counseling from ASU while working as an intern at ALLC. Jame has a passion for assessment and diagnosis of learning disabilities, with emphasis in written language and reading. Jamie provides intake services to all of our Phoenix clients, and meets with families after evaluations are completed to explain the evals and ensure they understand what educational accommodations ALLC has recommended.

Danielle Bourgault, Ed.S. Educational Assessments East Valley

Danielle Bourgault has a B.S. in Psychology, an M.A. in School Psychology, and an Ed.S. in School Psychology from James Madison University in Virginia. She has worked as a school psychologist since 2003. Danielle conducts educational assessments of our children in the East Valley office. Danielle has attended professional workshops on dyslexia, brain development, phonemic awareness and multi-sensory reading programs. Danielle’s primary interests include dyslexia, early literacy and brain imaging.

Julie Lukas, M.C.D., CCC-A, F-AAA, Director of Audiology Phoenix

Julie Lukas, M.C.D., CCC-A, F-AAA, is Director of Audiology for ALLC. Julie is a state licensed and certified clinical audiologist, an American Academy of Audiology Fellow and a member of the Educational Audiology Association. She joined ALLC in 1988 as an early childhood screener, and was director of the early childhood program from 2002-2006. Julie earned her Master’s in Communication Disorders from San Francisco State University. She was awarded a traineeship at the San Francisco Veterans Administration Hospital prior to her graduation. She was also awarded the Graduate Student Award for her research in auditory processing assessment, which resulted in a published chapter in Central Auditory Assessment: The SSW Test (D. Arnst and J. Katz, editors).
Julie has more than 30 years of diagnostic audiology experience. She has been a clinical supervisor and academic instructor for the Arizona State University Speech and Hearing Department. Julie is a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the Educational Audiology Association. She is also a fellow in the American Academy of Audiology. She specializes in Auditory Processing Assessment and Treatment.
As a member of our clinical team Julie provides our hearing and vision screenings and auditory processing evaluations and therapy.

Susan Sofranac, MEd, Reading Specialist Phoenix

Susan Sofranac, has a BA is Education from ASU and a M.Ed. from NAU. She also has a reading certificate from the University of Phoenix. She has taught every grade from K-6. Susan provides reading therapy to our children who have reading disabilities such as dyslexia.

Gayle Case, M.Ed, Reading Specialist Phoenix

Gayle Case, has a B.A. in Education from ASU, M.Ed in Early Childhood Education from NAU, Arizona Reading Recovery Certificate from U of A and a Reading Certificate from the University of Phoenix. She is a certified teacher and has endorsements in structured English immersion, early childhood, and as a reading specialist. Gayle provides reading therapy to our children who have reading disabilities such as dyslexia.

Cheryl Holton, M.S. Reading Specialist Phoenix

Cheryl Holton has a B.A. in Elementary Education from Luther College in Iowa, and a M.S. in Curriculum/Reading from California State University in California. She has endorsements as a Reading Specialist, Early Childhood, and English as a Second Language. Cheryl provides reading therapy to children who have reading disabilities such as dyslexia.

Kristine Coulter, M.Ed. Reading Specialist, West Valley

Kris Coulter has her B.S. from University of Minnesota in Duluth. She received her Master’s degree from Chapman University. She is certified to teach primary and secondary grades, and has endorsements structured English immersion, early childhood and as a reading specialist. Kris provides in-home reading therapy to children with reading disabilities such as dyslexia in the West Valley.