C. Dean Debnam
Chief Executive Officer

C.Dean Debnam 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. (WPO) 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. His diverse background has helped him position WPO as the supplier of choice to EAPs and third party vendors nationwide. In May of 2005, Workplace Options entered into a strategic partnership with Work-Life Benefits (WLB) and Mr. Debnam assumed the chairmanship of both companies.

He believes that each one of his businesses informs the other and uses the best practices from each to enhance the other.

Alan King
Chief Operating Officer

Alan King brings over 20 years of business development, marketing and operations experience to the Workplace Options/Work-Life Benefits partnership. 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.

Mary Ellen Gornick, MA
Senior Vice-President, Union Services

Mary Ellen Gornick, MA, is Senior Vice President at Workplace Options (WPO), and serves in this capacity for the WPO/WLB partnership. 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.

Michael L. Criss
Vice President, Account Management

Mr. Criss assures Work-Life Benefits effectively works with our clients to satisfy their objectives for work-life programs. He brings over 20 years of progressive experience in the behavioral health field, including 15 years of executive level experience in the delivery of managed healthcare and EAP products. Prior to joining Work-Life Benefits, he served in various key positions in organizations such as CIGNA Behavioral Heath, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Michigan, Value Behavioral Health, and Preferred Health Care.

Mr. Criss earned a Master’s degree from the University of Michigan School of Social Work, and he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Eastern Michigan University.

Berjin Adibelli
VP of Finance, Raleigh NC

Ms. Adibelli brings over 15 years of experience to her role as
Vice-President of Finance. She was the Director of Finance at
Work-Life Benefits before assuming her current role of Vice-President at
Workplace Options. She has worked with our Accor Partner both here in the
United States and at Accor Services in Istanbul, Turkey.  Prior to her
relationship with Accor, Ms. Adibelli was the Accounting Manager of Kone
Elevators in Turkey.  

She is a graduate of Gazi University with a degree in Economics.