Leadership Team

Deborah Copeland headshot

Deborah Copeland, M.Ed.

Executive Director

Deborah Copeland M.Ed. has spent her career in the nonprofit sector working with multiple populations toward the goal of a brighter future. Prior to returning to DRTC (Dale Rogers Training Center) in 2019, she served for three years as the Chief Operating Officer of Sunbeam Family Services providing operational and program leadership in early childhood education, foster care, senior services and counseling services.

Deborah began her career 30 years ago in direct care, case management, and program management in New Mexico at ENMRSH providing residential and vocational rehabilitation services for adults with a disability. Deborah considers this experience foundational as it was a time of radical change for people with disabilities who were leaving institutional placements and moving to community programs following the NM Jackson Compliance ruling, as well as the Hissom lawsuit in Oklahoma in the late 1980s which resulted in a similar verdict.

After returning to Oklahoma in 1996, Deborah began her journey with DRTC spending more than 14 years with the agency. In 2018, the Board of Directors selected Deborah to return as Deputy Director to prepare to lead the agency in 2020 as Executive Director. Deborah navigated DRTC, as a new Executive Director, through the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time DRTC secured additional funding, renovated its main campus facilities, re-opened a food service facility, and expanded capabilities & services throughout the agency.

Deborah holds a Master of Education specializing in Adult Education from the University of Central Oklahoma and a BA in Education from the University of Central Florida. In 2022, Deborah was elected as a board member for SourceAmerica, a national non-profit which provides employment for people with disabilities through the AbilityOne Program. She also serves on several Oklahoma boards, panels and committees. Most recently, Deborah spearheaded a Coalition of Oklahoma providers and state entities, along with the support national organizations, for Oklahoma’s transition to community integrated employment and eliminate the use of the 14c Special Certification in Oklahoma. Deborah was the recipient of the APSE Wendy M. Wood Emerging Leader Award 2022 and named in the Journal Record’s 2023 Power List of Influencers on Diversity.

Lillian Hobbs headshot

Lillian Hobbs, CPA

Chief Financial Officer

Lillian Hobbs is a successful business executive with more than 25 years of broad-based accounting experience. Ms. Hobbs began her career at DRTC in 2001 as Fiscal Manager and was promoted to Chief Financial Officer in 2013. She is responsible for all accounting and IT functions of the agency ensuring compliance with GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles), agency policies and all required state and federal funding guidelines. During her tenure, DRTC has grown from a $5 million agency to a $20 million agency.

Previous to her employment at DRTC, Ms. Hobbs worked for the natural gas division of Phillips Petroleum Company as a Producer Settlements Manager in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, offices and later as a Revenue Manager for Duke Energy Field Services, Inc. serving offices in Denver, Colorado, and Midland, Texas. She also has eight years of experience as an Operations Analysis and Control Accountant with Phillips Petroleum Company in Borger, Texas.

Ms. Hobbs earned a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas, and received her Certified Public Accountant license from the State of Texas in 1992.

Kevin Sonntag headshot.

Kevin Sonntag, MBA, MA, LPC

Chief of Contract Services

Kevin Sonntag joins the agency to provide leadership for DRTC’s federal contracts at multiple locations including Tinker Air Force Base, Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center at FAA, US Marshals and federal buildings downtown. Kevin will also continue to build on DRTC’s long-standing relationship with SourceAmerica®, a national nonprofit that helps link the federal government to private sector organizations as they seek to procure services through AbilityOne®.

Kevin most recently served as Director of Population Health & Analytics at NorthCare where he supported the agency’s transition to value-based care through improving data-driven leadership capabilities and leading population health and analytics projects. He is also a Licensed Professional Counselor in Oklahoma and has led a team of therapists at Sunbeam Family Services as Director of Counseling. Kevin received his BBA in Management-Human Resources from Texas A&M University and completed his MA in Counseling at Denver Seminary.

Gayle McGuire headshot.

Gayle McGuire, MHR

Human Resources Director

Gayle McGuire manages the Human Resources Departments for both DRTC and the Federal Contract sites. She is responsible for staff training and development for all staff at the NISH/SourceAmerica projects and main campus.

Gayle started in the nonprofit field, 20+ years ago, working with the frail elderly and memory deficits. Her broad experience includes working with youth and adults with disabilities, the frail elderly, and economically and/or educationally disadvantaged individuals. She has a broad base of knowledge and training in disabilities, administration, staff development, and program development.

Within the first year of employment, Gayle was recognized by the Board of Directors for her work with the DDS Survey Team. She has extensive training in the field of rehabilitation including behavior management, case management, and NISH/SourceAmerica documentation of disability and internal investigations. Gayle holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Central Oklahoma and has completed a Masters of Human Relations with a Public Personnel Administration emphasis from the University of Oklahoma.

Mark Woods headshot.

Mark Woods

Chief Operating Officer

Mark Woods joined the DRTC Team in 2004 with the Operations Department and serves as Chief Operating Officer.

Responsibilities include oversight of day-to-day business and safety operations in regards to grounds and buildings, purchasing/centralized planning, transportation/DHS 5310 federal program since 2004, Lockheed Martin project in support of the IPV GEN II program for 10 years, DRTC Framing marketing, business strategy and budgets since 2010, agency safety program since 2014 and agency insurance since 2015.

Mark has overseen multiple building and campus expansion and new construction projects. He has a BS in Business Administration from Oklahoma State University.