Leadership
Mike Gonidakis, President
Mike was born in Akron and raised in Stow, Ohio. Mike graduated from The Ohio State University in 1995 with a BA in Political Science and a Minor in Sociology. He earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Akron, School of Law and was admitted to the practice in 1999.
Mike brings valuable insight and knowledge regarding regulatory affairs, public policy, federal and state politics, and grassroots organization. Mike’s professional career includes experience in both the private and public sector. Beginning his career with then State Auditor Jim Petro, he provided legal counsel regarding statutory compliance with federal and state laws to elected officials and political subdivisions. He then practiced law in Columbus at the law firm of Kegler, Brown, Hill & Ritter focusing in the areas of national and state government affairs, health care law and administrative law. Mike served as the campaign manager for Pro-Life Justice Terrence O'Donnell and Pro-Life Justice Robert Cupp who both successfully were elected to the Ohio Supreme Court in 2006.
Mike, his wife Amy and their adopted children, Olivia Grace and Isaac Charles, reside in Dublin with their chocolate Labrador Reagan and English Bulldog, Ruby.
Email: mgonidakis@ohiolife.org Phone: (614) 547-0099, ext. 301
John Coats, Executive Director
John Coats, II, has led the Ohio Coalition of Concerned Black Citizens (CCBC) for 15years. Reverend Coats has advocated for greater urban involvement in the political system via political candidate screenings which he has helped to spearhead for 18 years.
John is active in church development, marketing and ecclesiastical protocol issues and has professionally worked in media for over 15 years as a Senior Marketing Specialist at The Columbus Radio Group and as a media, political and public relations consultant.
John is an ordained Elder in the Church of God In Christ is currently Senior Pastor of the Metropolitan Church of God In Christ. He is a native of Columbus, where he lives with his wife and daughter.
Email: jcoats@ohiolife.org
Kayla Smith, Director of Legislative Affairs
Born in Huber Heights, Ohio, Kayla Smith grew up in the Southeastern portion of the nation, having spent most of her rearing years in metro-Atlanta. She grew up in the restaurant business until 2004 and has been working in the service industry ever since.
After graduating high school, Kayla ventured back to her home state, Ohio, and planted roots in Columbus studying political science and dance at Ohio State. She graduated from Ohio State in 2011 and began her work with the State. A Legislative Service Commission Fellow alumnus, Kayla has a variety of experiences in the legislature having been placed in the offices of State Representatives Johnson, Pelanda, and Uecker. In addition, she also served as campaign manager to State Representative Christina Hagan in the summer of 2012.
She enjoys traveling the state of Ohio and the Eastern-half of the country to visit friends and family, staying active and spending time with loved ones in Columbus.
Email: ksmith@ohiolife.org Phone: (614) 547-0099, ext. 303
Emmalee Kalmbach, Director of Communications
Emmalee, a native of Northern New England, graduated with a degree in Journalism and Public Relations. During her college years, she enjoyed participating in various extracurricular activities including: co-hosting a campus radio show, writing for the University’s paper, serving several leadership positions and participating in outreach opportunities within the community.
Emmalee has enjoyed a variety of professional experiences within the journalism, marketing and public relations fields. These opportunities include serving as a staff writer for a local newspaper, participating in an Account Executive Training Program at a public relations firm in South Carolina and most recently completing an internship at a local business-to-business marketing firm.
Emmalee currently resides in Marion, Ohio with her husband, Paul and cat, Simba. In her free time, Emmalee enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, volunteering and playing guitar in her church’s praise team.
Email: ekalmbach@ohiolife.org Phone: (614) 547-0099 ext. 309
Scott Alpeter, Director of Operations
Scott has financial reporting experience from The Limited and customer service and management experience from Bank One. He has been a salesman for a wholesale picture frame company for the past 17 years prior to joining Ohio Right to Life.
Scott and his wife Mary are both from the central Ohio area and are graduates of Otterbein College. They have 5 children (2 boys and 3 girls) that occupy much of their free time. Aaron is a junior at Ohio State University studying international business and banking. He recently returned from serving a 2-year church mission to Sweden. Erika is a junior at North Carolina State University studying math education. She is also a member of the Track and Cross Country teams at NC State. Austin is a junior at Hilliard Bradley High School. Elaina is a freshman at Hilliard Bradley High School and Eliza is a 7th grader. Their activities include school concerts and plays, soccer, basketball, softball, track and cross country.
Scott really enjoys attending the activities of his children. He also likes to play golf in the warm months of the year and basketball in the winter.
Email: salpeter@ohiolife.org Phone: (614) 547-0099 ext. 305
Glenn Winters, Digital Media Director
Glenn recently graduated from The Ohio State University where he completed his B.A. in English. He has learned to love the nature of stories and marvel at what makes the best stories appealing. This fascination has carried over into his work with film and editing.
Glenn has partnered with and produced videos alongside the staff at his church for Joshua House, the twenty-something community of Vineyard Church of Columbus. His work also includes promotional videos for various events in and around Columbus as well as a mini-documentary with a faculty member at Ohio State.
Learning the ways of the ever-changing online world and adapting best practices for ORTL’s mission to save lives is a challenge that Glenn embraces everyday. When not at work, Glenn enjoys running and riding his bike down the streets of Columbus.
Email: glenn@ohiolife.org Phone: (614) 547-0099 ext. 306
;)
Katie McCann, Public Relations Manager
Katie is a senior at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, where she majors in History and minors in both English Literature and Political Science. During her time at Denison, she has enjoyed tutoring elementary school children in Newark through Denison’s America Reads program and participating in weekly faith-based dialogues with her friends in the campus group Denison Religious Understanding. She served as a Resident Assistant in a first-year community last year and serves as an R.A. in the senior apartment community this year.
After completing an internship at the Federal District Court in the Southern District of Ohio, Katie joined Ohio Right to Life as an intern in June 2012. She has enjoyed learning not only about the pro-life movement, the law, and the ins and outs of the non-profit organization, but she has also thoroughly loved developing her writing ability and interests through ORTL’s blog and social media sites.
Katie enjoys spending as much time with her family and friends as she can. Outside of classes and work, she likes to read, craft, run and do Zumba.
Email: katie@ohiolife.org
Deb LaBarre, Accounting
Debby works part-time as the bookkeeper for Ohio Right to Life and also works part-time as the Secretary and Bookkeeper for a church in Dublin.
Debby LaBarre previously worked as the bookkeeper for the family-owned office furniture business. Her husband Richard has owned Business Equipment Electronics for over 16 years, and has worked in the business for nearly 40 years.
Debby has also been a licensed Realtor and fundraiser for Easter Seals of Central Ohio, where her daughter Andrea attended and was a past Easter Seals Child Representative. Andrea currently attends the Alpha Workshops in Delaware County. Besides Andrea, Debby and Richard have two other adult children, Steve and Stacey. Both graduated from Ohio State University, Steve with a degree in Art and Stacey a degree in business.
Debby resides in Powell with Richard and Andrea, and Kramer, the much adored Weimaraner. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends.
Email: dlabarre@ohiolife.org Phone: (614) 547-0099 ext. 307