C. Dean Debnam
Chief Executive Officer
Has over 30 years experience in creating and growing businesses. Since 1972 he has turned ideas into successful businesses and stills acts as CEO of several of them. In 1993 he became CEO of Workplace Options, Inc. a business started by his wife in 1982. Over the years he has transformed WPO from a consultancy and management company, into the one of the largest work-life companies in America.

He believes that each one of his businesses informs the other and uses the best practices from each to enhance the other. His diverse background has helped him position WPO as the supplier of choice to EAPs and third party vendors nationwide.

Alan King
President and Chief Operating Officer
Alan King brings over 20 years of business development, marketing and operations experience to Workplace Options. Prior to this position, he was Vice President of Resource Services for Ceridian's LifeWorks division, where he oversaw the resource and referral, provider relations, external training, quality, and customer service functions. He joined Ceridian in 1998, as a result of its acquisition of Work Family Directions, where he was responsible for resource and referral, and central database functions. Mr. King served in several senior management positions at Central Maine Power Company, the most recent of which was as Vice President of its' international consulting division. Mr. King has a bachelor's degree from Colby College and a master's degree from the University of Rhode Island.

Rita Piper. M.S.,  BSW
Vice President  of Wellness Services
Rita brings thirty years of experience to WPO as a work-life/wellness professional, trainer, project administrator, account manager and sales person. At WPO, for four years, she served as the Vice President of Client Support, managing relationships with WPO's EAP partners.  In that role, she was responsible for working with EAP clients on an ongoing basis to assure high standards of service delivery and to provide the support needed to sell work-life/wellness products to their clients. During that time she also focused on designing wellness solutions for clients and acting as a liaison with wellness partners.  In 2007, she was appointed as WPO's Vice President of Wellness Services.  She is responsible for managing WPO's new internal Wellness Department while designing and implementing a broad menu of workplace wellness services. She is excited to focus on merging her two passions wellness and work-life into a suite of wellness solutions designed to compliment WPO's work-life services.

Prior to joining WPO, she was the Director of Work-Life Service at FEI Behavioral Health where she managed all facets of the work-life division of a national behavioral health organization.  Rita has designed and taught classes on wellness, work-life balance, stress management, time management, parenting and related topics.  Prior to her position at FEI, Rita was President of Work-Life Partnering, a Work-Life consultation firm in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Rita holds a Master's Degree in Administrative Leadership & Adult Education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a Bachelor's degree in Social Work from Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

Mary Ellen Gornick, MA
Senior Vice President Global Products
Mary Ellen Gornick, MA, is Senior Vice President at Workplace Options (WPO) She is a nationally recognized expert in the field of work-life. Mary Ellen leads the Work-Life Consulting Practice and the National Training Center. Work-life innovation is the focus of the WPO consulting practice, assisting clients in designing creative approaches to investing in Human Capital. Ms Gornick helps clients determine new directions through organizational assessments, impact studies, strategy development and unique program initiatives. Comprehensive personal and professional development programs are delivered through a national network of trainers in traditional and on-line venues.

Prior to joining Workplace Options, Ms. Gornick founded the CPA Group a nationally recognized work life consulting and training organization. Ms Gornick is a founding board member and past President of the Alliance of Work-Life Progress (AWLP). She is an instructor in the Boston College - AWLP certificate program and currently serves as a subject matter expert on the EAPA Work-Life Committee. Ms. Gornick earned a Master's Degree from the University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration and is currently associated with the Entrepreneurship Center, housed in the School of Management at Purdue University-Calumet.

Adrienne Bacchus
Vice President, Account Management
Adrienne brings over 18 years of experience in the work-life and EAP field to her role of leading the account management function at Workplace Options.  She and her team support customers with creative and effective work-life solutions, including a focus on improving employee health and productivity.  She has consulted with and supported numerous Fortune 100 businesses - including pharmaceutical, manufacturing, retail, hospitality and banking industries.  Since 1998, Adrienne held account management and sales roles at Ceridian Corporation.  She held the position of Director of Government Business Development at Ceridian, prior to joining Workplace Options in 2007.  Adrienne holds an undergraduate degree from Guilford College and a Master's degree in Education from West Chester University of Pennsylvania.

Jean-Baptiste Gruet
Vice President of Sales
Jean-Baptiste Gruet is responsible for managing the sales team, with a specific focus on working with organizations to optimize their workforce productivity and performance around the world. Jean-Baptiste brings 12 years of business development experience in the human support services industry to Workplace Options. Prior to this position, he was Director Global Business Solutions at Shepell.fgi, where he played a key leadership role in the evolution of their Global EAP, Expatriates Services and Cross-cultural training offerings. His total commitment to business development and customer satisfaction resulted in an outstanding sales track record. He holds longstanding relationships with a range of HR professionals and organizations across various market sectors. His strong entrepreneurial spirit was first illustrated during his work as co-founder of a language and cultural publication in Paris, France. His early sales career was launched while living in London, UK and working for an executive language and training enterprise. Jean-Baptiste holds a Bachelor's degree in Marketing from IESM Business School in Grenoble, France.

Darrell Shipley
Vice President of US Service Delivery

Darrell Shipley brings over 10 years of Call Center Management experience to his role of Vice President of US Service Delivery. He has gained a vast knowledge of the work-life industry through his nine year history with WPO. Darrell was in the role the Director of Service Delivery at Workplace Options before assuming his current position.

He is currently responsible for managing the US Service Delivery team which consists of WPO’s Work-life, Backup Care, Network Advantage, and Advantage Answer 24 divisions. His primary goal is to continue developing the Service Delivery Management staff at WPO while instilling the mission of “First Serve the Customer” through excellent customer service.

Prior to joining WPO, he was a Qualitative Project Manager at Campos Market Research. Darrell has a marketing degree from Pennsylvania State University.

Clark Adams
Vice President, Strategic Growth
Formerly CEO of Mulberry Child Care, Clark’s responsibility is to develop and negotiate business partnerships between Workplace Options and complementary enterprises within the work/life industry. Such partnerships include acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures and cooperative marketing strategies. While at Mulberry, he grew the company from $4 million to $65 million in annual revenue, prior to completing a sale to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., in 2001.

As an early participant in the development of employee-supportive work environments, Clark was co-founder of Alliance of Work Life Professionals (AWLP), the preeminent professional membership organization advocating the advancement of work/life benefits as a critical factor in the continuing improvement of workplace productivity. He has an undergraduate degree from University of Maine, with a Master’s degree from University of Massachusetts.