The Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation (COMTA) consists of ten to thirteen elected Commissioners, including at least two public representatives. The COMTA address is 5335 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Suite 440, Washington, DC 20015. Electronic correspondence is preferred (info@comta.org). 

Randy Swenson, D.C., COMTA Chair (Educator) - Term ends 2016
Dr. Swenson is currently a tenured professor and Dean of the College of Allied Health Sciences at National University of Health Sciences (NUHS). He developed the Massage Therapy Program in 1999 and continues to manage the day-to-day operations of the program. He is also responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences degree completion and professional pre-requisite programs. He was previously the Academic Dean and the Dean of Curriculum Development for the chiropractic program at NUHS. He holds a Doctor of Chiropractic degree from NUHS and a Master of Health Professions Education from the Department of Medical Education of the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has led NUHS Steering Committees for Higher Learning Commission Self-Study Reports (SSR) and Commission on Chiropractic Education SSR's. He has led and written COMTA SSR's for the NUHS massage program. Dr. Swenson has been a site-team member, site-team leader and off-site peer reviewer with COMTA since 2006.

Jeff Harmon, COMTA Vice Chair  (Public Member) - Term ends 2016
Jeff is currently employed at Ocean County College in New Jersey as the Associate Director for Elearning.  He is an Adjunct Faculty at Ocean County College and an Associate Professor of Business at Amridge University.  He has been teaching business, management, and human resource management courses since 2007.  Jeff's previous positions include being the Deputy Director of Client Services at TaskStream (a provider of campus-wide assessment tools), Director of Accreditation at the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Accreditation (COAMFTE), and serving as a consultant to various DC-area accrediting agencies.   He currently serves as the public member and Treasurer for the Commission on Collegiate Interpreter Education (CCIE), an accreditor of sign language interpreter training programs.  Jeff holds a BS in Business Administration from Rider University, a Master's of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix, and a CFP from Boston University.   

Patricia Maloney, Ph.D., Member of the Executive Committee (Public Member) - Term ends 2016
Patricia Maloney, Ph.D., president of Higher Education Consulting and Research, is an experienced higher education professional and scholar with a background in higher education administration and policy at public and private colleges and universities, in state systems of higher education, higher education associations, and research organizations. Dr. Maloney received her Ph.D. in higher education at the University at Buffalo. She publishes and presents frequently on higher education research and policy issues. She is a faculty member in the online Master of Science program at Drexel University. She is immediate past president of the Higher Education Group of Washington, DC, and a member of the Association for the Study of Higher Education.

Beverley Giroud, Commissioner (Practitioner) - Term ends 2016
Beverley is a graduate of the Desert Institute of the Healing Arts and has been practicing massage since 1999. She is certified in Orthopedic Massage as well as Neuromuscular Therapy. Beverley is also a personal trainer, certified through the Chek Institute. She runs a private practice in Tucson, AZ and provides massage and training services to a variety of clientele. Her practice focuses on injury assessment and treatment which includes prescriptive exercise for postural alignment, core strength and injury rehabilitation. She spent seven years teaching a wide variety of classes at the Desert Institute and is currently an instructor at the Costa Rica School of Massage Therapy. She has also taught continuing education classes in ethics, orthopedic assessment, and neuromuscular techniques. She spent 7 years as a volunteer for the NCBTMB and served as a subject matter expert, committee member and ultimately as Chair of the Exam Development Committee. She is currently writing a book on ethics and professionalism. Prior to her career in massage therapy and personal training, Beverley was a civil engineer and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Delaware.  

Lisa Helbig, Commissioner (Administrator) - Term ends 2016
Lisa Helbig is both a School Director and a Massage Therapist. She is the founder of The Institute for Therapeutic Massage in New Jersey. She has written a book for Running Press Book Publishers on Hot Stone Massage and has developed several educational videos. What started out as a love for massage and a dream has grown into six locations and five different programs including a dual certification program for Massage Therapy and Personal Training, and an Oncology Massage Program. She has locations in three different hospitals. In the past 15 years she has spear headed her schools through the accreditation processes of both ACCSCT and COMTA. Lisa has added programs and new locations as well as added and maintained Title IV. In 2007, she was a volunteer with NCBTMB for Job Task Analysis and attended their meetings in both Chicago and San Antonio. In 20 08, she was appointed Commissioner for the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation. In 2009, she became a subject matter expert for the exam development committee for the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork.

CG Funk, Commissioner (Employer) - Term ends 2014
CG Funk is the Vice President of Industry Relations and Product Development for Massage Envy Franchising. Her department is responsible for the creation of national programs regarding massage, massage therapists, estheticians and skin care. These responsibilities include national therapist/esthetician recruiting/retention strategies, new service and model offerings, and national public relations programs and campaigns. CG has developed many programs benefiting the network of 17,000+ Massage Envy therapists, created the Massage Envy Spa model and designed Massage Envy Careers. Com. CG, a national spokesperson for Massage Envy, provides outreach to the media, professional organizations, government regulatory departments, and corporations and businesses interacting with Massage Envy Franchising. CG has been actively involved in the massage therapy industry since 1992 as a massage therapist, instructor, curricula and program developer, writer and presenter, corporate trainer and school administrator.  School administrator responsibilities included oversight on accreditation processes including working with ACCET and COMTA during on-site visits, providing responses to educational questions on accreditation reports and ABHES accreditation visits as requested. CG is a licensed massage therapist in Arizona and California.

Christine Kiely-Granstaff, Commissioner (Practitioner) - Term ends 2014
Christine has been a professional massage therapist since 1995 specializing in manual lymph drainage. Over the years she has worked in a variety of environments such as sports rehabilitation, chiropractic office’s, holistic centers and day spas, making her work very eclectic. In addition to her private practice, Christine has been involved in the educational side of massage therapy. Most recently, she was the director of the massage therapy program at Great Bay Community College in Portsmouth, New Hampshire before residing in Kentucky. At GBCC, she was responsible for increasing enrollment, writing curriculum, setting up, managing the massage clinic, and guiding students through their career path.  Previously, she developed and successfully ran the massage therapy program at Hesser College in Manchester, Portsmouth and Salem, New Hampshire for 8 years. In 2003, Christine was awarded the President’s Club Award as Key Employee of the New England Region.  Christine currently works with ACICS, the Accrediting Council for Independent Schools and Colleges, as a program specialist. Christine has served on the New Hampshire massage therapy advisory board since 2004 and was a founding member of the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards and served on the executive board as treasurer for 4 years.  During that time, she participated in the development of the MBLEx, the Massage and Bodywork Licensing Exam. She is currently licensed to practice massage in New Hampshire and Kentucky.

Cliff Korn, Commissioner (Practitioner) - Term ends 2016
Cliff has been a professional massage therapist since 1993. He specializes in clinical and sports massage therapy and has been recognized by the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) as a specialist in event Sports Massage since 1996, when he was admitted to the AMTA National Sports Massage Team. Cliff is the owner of Windham Health Center Neuromuscular Therapy LLC, in Windham, NH. He is Nationally Certified in Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork and is licensed as a massage therapist by the states of New Hampshire and Florida. Cliff is a professional member and Past-President of the New Hampshire chapter of AMTA. He is a certified member of Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals and a past Chairman of the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork. Cliff has served his profession for seven years as the inaugural Editor of the nationally distributed trade publication, Massage Today, and was a 2009 inductee in the World Massage Festival's Massage Therapy Hall of Fame, in addition to his recently elected position as a Commissioner for the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation, Cliff currently serves as a Trustee and Executive Committee member of the Massage Therapy Foundation.

Dale Healey, D.C., Commissioner (Educator) - Term Ends 2016
Dr. Healey is the Dean of the School of Massage Therapy at Northwestern Health Sciences University. Dr. Healey was trained as a chiropractor at Parker College of Chiropractic, but his career has focused on massage therapy education since 1997. He is working toward his PhD in Organizational Leadership, Policy and Development at the University of Minnesota. Dale is a member of a Massage Therapy Foundation Best Practices Committee working toward the development of best practices guidelines for the profession. He has also been actively involved in his home state of Minnesota working toward state regulation of massage therapists and has a particular interest in hospital-based massage therapy. 

Wendy Weiner, Ph.D., Commissioner (Public Member) - Term ends 2014
Wendy has spent over 20 years in higher education as both a faculty member and an administrator involved in the assessment process. Activities included developing pilot assessment activities, implementation of programs, and leading a college in developing an assessment program that resulted in having accreditation warning status lifted. She is a past president of the Virginia Assessment Group and is currently working on a book tentatively entitled Certifying a Culture of Assessment. Having recently been named Dean of the School of Arts and Letters at the College of Southern Nevada, Wendy is leading 150 full-time faculty in managing day-to-day operations of the academic program housed on three campuses, as well as developing new strategic initiatives. In addition, she does freelance public relations work that includes creating brochures and writing press releases. Wendy has a B.A. from the Pennsylvania State University and an M.Ed. and Ph.D. from George Mason University.

Dawn Hogue, M.A., Commissioner (Administrator) - Term ends 2016
A 1996 graduate of the Cayce/Reilly^® School of Massotherapy, Dawn has been in the healing arts profession for over 15 years. She currently enjoys her administrative position as the Director of Education for the Cayce/Reilly School where she oversees a variety of functions including accreditation compliance, curriculum development and faculty training as well as community outreach and student clinical practice. Dawn has also been an instructor in Professional Ethics courses for the past 12 years, educating massage therapy students and practitioners about ethical practice management and the unique dynamics of the therapeutic relationship. Prior to being elected as a Commissioner, Dawn volunteered with COMTA for 5 years as a peer reviewer and site evaluator and currently serves as a volunteer for the NCBTMB on the Ethics & Standards and Government Relations Committees. She is a 2005 graduate of Naropa University, where she earned a Master’s degree in Somatic Psychology. Trained in the Matrixworks model of leadership and group facilitation, Dawn is passionate about holistic health and supporting others on their path of professional development and personal growth and healing.

Position Open, Commissioner (Esthetics Educator) - Term begins October 2013 and ends 2018
Candidates for the Esthetics Educator position will have experience as practitioners as well as teaching in a program leading to licensed practice in esthetics/aesthetics/skin care. To be eligible as a Commissioner, the candidate must be employed as an instructor in a COMTA accredited school or program. 

Position Open, Commissioner (Esthetics Practitioner) - Term begins October 2013 and ends 2018
Candidates for the Esthetics Practitioner position will have experience as licensed practitioners in esthetics/aesthetics/skin care. Affiliation with a school is not necessary for Practitioner candidates.

Open Commissioner positions will be elected during the summer of 2013. Positions with terms ending in 2014 will be open for election during the summer of 2014. Please see the Elections page for details.