Our Focus Comic Advisory Board comprises of community leaders In special education; the arts and public safety. That includes board members who are first responders, those who are actively serving the military and veterans. The board also includes a certified social cultural anthropologist.
Meet Yvonne Wan our United Humanities Project – Focus comic founder, creator, writer and the lead artist. She is on the advisory board. She is a certified social cultural anthropologist with a background in psychology and psychiatry. She devises the exclusive art programming that helps the children thrive. Art is therapeutic. She leads the team in fulfilling the projects mission in maintaining dignity for autistic and special needs individuals by removing the stigma, provide free child development services, and honor heroes through art. Yvonne teaches our students, handles event planning, marketing, graphic design work, filming, photography, website maintenance, social media, fundraising and daily operations. Yvonne paints all the portraits that we gift to our living and fallen heroes. She delivers legacy portraits to the memorial services personally, to honor the memory of our fallen heroes and help the families heal. Yvonne Wan holds the Inspiration in Life award hosted by the Discovery channel, the Pentel creators Award and People’s choice award by the City of Goodyear. She has over 30 years advertising and creative industry experience having worked for some of the worlds top advertising agencies such as Ogilvy. She was also a former volunteer for the VFW.
Meet Jill Voit one of our Focus™ Comic team members. She was the Principal at Phoenix Day school for the Deaf when Yvonne previously taught their students with American Sign Language interpreters. Jill helps with our free art programs for autistic and special needs kids, ensuring they have a great experience at our special graduation events. Jill is on our advisory board. We are proud to have presented Jill with a Heroes award for her service as a wildland fire fighter and we thank Governor Hobbs for signing a commendation that we requested to honor her for her service. We look forward to presenting Jill with her commendation at our next event.
Meet Captain Scott Figgins, a fire fighter and former President of United Mesa Fire Fighters IAFF Local 2260. Captain Scott Figgins is one of our Focus comics public relations liaison officers and is on our advisory board. He connects us with fallen fire fighter family members as part of our humanitarian project, helping us honor the memory fallen fire fighters in a meaningful way. Captain Figgins helps us with handling hospitality at our events and public speaking. He helps deepen the impact of our work by helping us plan meaningful memorial events for our fallen heroes. Thank you Governor Hobbs for signing the commendation that we requested for Captain Figgins. We are proud to have awarded him with a legends award for his community service.
Meet one of our Focus Comic team members: David Shuler. He is on our advisory board and helps us with logistics. David Shuler is a USMC E4 veteran who served honorably from 1998-2002. He also follows a family line of veterans, including an uncle who served in the Army, and 3 of his grandparents served in the US Navy during WWII. He is also an advocate for autism because of his son, Carson, who is an avid artist and kaiju enthusiast. David’s MOS was Small Systems Computer Specialist. He was involved in many facets within the 1st Marine Division HQ network and infrastructure during his time in service. “Earning my EGA and becoming a Marine is a big part of what made me who I am today and I carry much that with me still today”. We are proud to have presented Shuler with a Hero award within the USMC category this year. We want to thank Governor Hobbs for signing a commendation giving him state wide recognition for his service and contribution in the community. Visit focuscomic.com to learn more about our advisory board members. Please support us in any way you can with our mission and purpose in supporting autistic and special needs kids and honoring heroes.
Meet US Air Force airman Gabriel Howell of Luke Air Force base. He is one of our Focus™ Comic team members and is on our advisory board. Gabriel Howell helps us at events with set up, guest speaking and singing the National anthem during the Presentation of colors. We are proud to have presented him a United Humanities Project Hero and Legends award for his service. We thank Governor Hobbs for signing a commendation that we requested for him for his contribution to our nation. The statewide recognition is of significance to his legacy and Americas heritage. Photo credit: Yvonne Wan
Meet Deborah Musselman, one of our Focus comic team members. Deborah is a Az Fire Medical authority Chief Assistant with a heart of gold. She helps us at events, admin and fundraising. She is on our advisory board. Debbie ensures we are able to deliver the legacy portraits to our fallen heroes memorial service by researching the dates and locations of the memorial services so we can honor the memory of our fallen heroes and help the families heal. Thank you Debbie for her compassionate support.
Meet John Sanders, one of our Focus comic team members. John is a journalist and helps us with our press releases, communications and admin. He is on our advisory board. He graduated at ASU and formerly worked for Sound of Freedom; Luke Air Force base magazine. Photo credit: Yvonne Wan.
Focus Team Member Spotlight
Meet Ryker Helgeson one of our Focus™ Comic team members. Ryker is part of our Focus media team who handles some of the photography and photo editing for our events. He is 18 years old. Photo credit: Yvonne Wan.
We have a team of special education teachers.
Meet Nolan Radoslovich one of our team members. He is 14 years old and helps with admin, logistics, event set up and hospitality. Nolan and his mother are passionate about community work and are proud to be part of our project. We are proud to support youth in gaining vocational work experience.
