Meet the people behind Journeymen

Shawn became part of Journeymen when his then 12-year-old stepson joined the program in 2019. Initially his role was primarily as a parent and supporter but that soon turned into a desire to do more which provoked him into joining Journeymen as a mentor, facilitator, and eventually, board member. Behind his service is his burning desire to not only be a mentor to support future generations of men but also to be part of a group that is benefiting the community and working toward a more positive outcome for today's teen boys. He brings with his commitment to Journeymen,  years of  expertise as a parent, a career communicator in journalism and marketing and a willingness to do the work that needs to be done.

Caleb Carwell, from Rocky Mount, NC, began mentoring with Journeymen Triangle in 2022 as a senior at NC State. Inspired by a visit from ED Jordan Bowman in his nonprofit leadership class, Caleb sought to reconnect with his community post-pandemic and apply his mentoring experience. A graduate of Psychology, he now leads programs fostering self-awareness, healthy masculinity, and interpersonal relationship-building among young men. 

Caleb is passionate about sustaining spaces for youth to grow into men of integrity and self-determined purpose. When not mentoring, Caleb enjoys learning about history, exploring the rich world of music, facilitating book club discussions, and going for a decompressing run.

John Craichy, MBA, MSW, LCSWA, is a management consultant, personal coach, and family therapist. After years of volunteer work with men and adolescents, John pursued training and licensing in clinical social work with an emphasis on change models and substance use disorders. Specializing in authentic communication, substance use issues, trauma facilitation, addictions, change processes, crisis management, family dynamics, and personal leadership development, John has been able to create individual leadership opportunities, group processes and workshops to help people communicate and lead more effectively.

Jamie found Journeymen in August of 2024 when doing an internet search for mentorship for her teenage son. Through her families experiences with Rites of Passage weekend and Homecoming, Jamie became a fast champion for Journeymen and its mission to help develop boys into men of integrity. Jamie is currently passionate about increasing parent involvement. As a current JourneyMom, she experiences and understands the importance of parents feeling supported, having communication lines with mentors, and having knowledge to support their Journeyman.

Jamie grew up in the Northern Virginia area. She moved to the Raleigh in 2003. She currently resides in Rolesville with her husband and son. Jamie is an occupational therapist and has worked for WCPSS for 20 years. Jamie is passionate about helping children with special needs remove their barriers to success and access their education as best as possible. This passion has carried over to Journeymen, helping young men conquer their barriers as they try to navigate life as a man in 2025.

Her favorite things to do are nurture friendships, exercise, and snuggle with her dogs.

Brian is a dedicated member of the board of directors, bringing a wealth of experience and passion to the mission of Journeymen. As a father of two boys, he is deeply invested in nurturing caring, joyful, and compassionate young men, a cause that resonates with his personal and professional values. Originally from San Francisco, CA, Brian now resides in Wake Forest, NC, where he serves as the COO of a large national foundation focused on clean energy. With a doctorate in education, he has spent his career in higher education and nonprofit sectors, leading operations to ensure efficient and effective mission delivery. His expertise lies in organizing time, talent, and resources to achieve impactful outcomes, providing stability and consistency to those he works with. Outside of his professional endeavors, Brian enjoys kayaking on North Carolina’s lakes and rivers, working out, and spending quality time with his family.

In 2006, I experienced a life-changing men’s initiatory weekend that left me wondering why I hadn’t received something like it during my own challenging adolescence. That question sparked a journey. I began searching for similar opportunities for teenage boys and discovered the Boys to Men program in Washington, D.C. I traveled there, volunteered for a week, and immediately knew—I was hooked. This kind of transformational experience was something I wanted to bring home to Asheville.

In 2007, I met Chris Frisco, who shared a similar longing for the kind of mentorship he never had growing up. Together, in 2008, we co-founded Journeymen Asheville with a shared vision: to offer meaningful rites of passage and mentorship for young men in Western North Carolina and beyond.

Since then, I’ve served Journeymen as Executive Director, Program Director, board member, and weekend co-leader. I’m also a certified co-leader with the ManKind Project, an organization that facilitates rites of passage experiences for men.

One of my deepest beliefs is that the young men we mentor today should one day lead this work themselves. That’s why it brings me such joy to see Jordan Bowman—whom I first met at age 14—now serving as the Director of Journeymen Triangle.

I’ve called Asheville home since 2000 and spend much of my time enjoying the region’s incredible natural beauty. Professionally, I work as an independent mortgage broker, helping individuals and families achieve the dream of homeownership.

With a background in coaching, facilitation, and organizational strategy, Jake Humphrey brings a diverse set of leadership experiences to Journeymen. He began as a board member at 20, contributing to strategic planning, operations, and fundraising, then served as Program Director (2019–2023), co-leading the organization’s growth from a volunteer-run group to a more established nonprofit. Jake continues to support Journeymen’s mission through rites of passage leadership, organizational consulting, and leadership coaching.

Rodger Koopman is a transformative Lean-Agile leader whose career has been forged at the intersection of high-stakes military operations, software innovation, and large-scale corporate transformation. As a Senior Enterprise Agile Coach, Rodger specializes in guiding C-suite executives and multi-team organizations through the high-pressure complexities of modern digital transformation.

Most recently, Rodger served as a lead enterprise coach at Allstate, where he was one of two senior coaches overseeing a 20-person Agile Center of Excellence. In this role, he acted as the primary agile transformation engagement lead for both the Business Insurance and Data Science divisions. His coaching is grounded in deep operational reality; prior to his pivot to coaching, Rodger was a Product Development Executive who architected and built two successful commercial enterprise software solutions and led globally distributed R&D organizations. Following Itron’s acquisition of his first startup, he was tapped to lead the transformation of their R&D division, where he owned seven product lines, including Itron’s flagship utility automation suite. A veteran of the startup ecosystem, Rodger holds two software patents and has personally interviewed over 1,000 candidates to build high-performing engineering cultures.

Rodger’s leadership philosophy was galvanized in the U.S. Air Force, where, for example, he served as an Aide de Camp and Executive Officer for the General leading all Central Command’s counter-terrorism and force protection programs across Southwest Asia and Africa. While serving directly under two Air Force Generals, he helped define DoD long-term policy and investment strategy for mission-critical C4I (Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence) and airborne weapon systems. He is also the author of the Headquarters Air Combat Command (HQ ACC) Global Broadcast System Concept of Operations. This background in mission-critical systems instilled a rigorous commitment to "Impact over Activity"—a principle he now applies to help Fortune 100 companies achieve true business agility.

A dedicated lifelong learner and former Raleigh City Councilman, Rodger holds an MS in Computer Information Systems from Boston University and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma. He has a BS in Industrial Engineering, which started him in Lean thinking and Continuous Improvement (Kaizen). His commitment to the next generation of technical leaders is reflected in his decade of service as a Computer Science Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland and several other institutions. This academic foundation, paired with his experience as an instrument-rated pilot and public improv performer, allows Rodger to lead with a rare blend of disciplined execution and creative adaptability—fostering the "team sport" mentality essential for global organizational success.