Our Founders
Ethos is led by two experienced, knowledgeable, compassionate, and skilled professionals committed to the well-being of children with communication disorders and their families and schools.
Dr. MaLesa Reese
MaLesa has almost four decades of experience treating and caring for children with speech-language and learning challenges. She has served as a speech-language pathologist with numerous school districts in Texas and has trained and supervised hundreds of young speech pathologists.
MaLesa is an innovator and strategic leader in both speech pathology and education. She served as the Vice President for Professional Services for the Texas Speech and Hearing Association (TSHA) and received a TSHA Award of Honor for her leadership in the association. She has provided alternative service delivery programs to speech pathologists, administrators, and classroom teachers in numerous school districts and to Regional Education Service Centers in Texas. MaLesa founded and directed a support program for families of children with autism. She is coauthor of Let All the Children Come to Me, a book that guides faith-based organizations toward the inclusion of families of children with disabilities.
MaLesa received her training in speech-language pathology at Abilene Christian University and her Ed. D. in Educational Leadership from Texas Tech University. She was appointed Director of the Graduate Program in Communication Disorders at Abilene Christian, then the Chair of the Department of Communication Disorders and ultimately the Dean of the College of Education and Human Services. With wisdom and humor, MaLesa has maintained her commitment to children with speech-language or learning challenges, bringing to others a sense of calm and a lifetime desire to learn.
MaLesa and her husband Jack enjoy traveling, singing, cooking together, traveling to new places, reading geeky social science books, hosting friends in their home, and spending time with six adorable grandchildren.
Carmen McElfresh
Carmen has been helping kids and serving as a dynamic, innovative leader in speech-language pathology for more than two decades. Throughout her career, she has been engaged in therapy services for children, clinic assessment and evaluations, family and caregiver education, individualized lesson planning, professional development for teachers, patient satisfaction, graduate student supervision, and ethical compliance, among many other responsibilities for schools and families in North Carolina and Texas.
Carmen received her M.A. in speech-language pathology from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. Upon graduation, Carmen quickly emerged as a leader in her field. She has led programs in language development for typically and non-typically developing students. She worked extensively with early childhood intervention and assessment of preschool children for the San Antonio North East Independent School District. She served the Texas Speech-Language and Hearing Association as co-chair of the Continuing Education Review Committee and was recipient of the 2024 TSHA Executive Council Member of the Year.
In addition to her speech pathology responsibilities in schools, Carmen has served in significant roles of executive leadership and strategic planning, where she has engaged in change management, institutional improvement, conflict resolution, quality assurance, performance evaluation, and teambuilding. She has worked closely with a number of San Antonio area school districts providing mentoring and assessment of speech-language pathologists and school psychologists, advocating for non-typically developing students and their families, and providing educational innovation and ethical leadership. Carmen is a natural leader whose professional competence is matched by her vivacious personality.
Carmen and her husband Ehren have three bright, beautiful children. They love to entertain, often having friends in their home enjoying handmade pizza and enriching conversations.
Join Our Team
We are looking for caring, competent, and personable professionals who want to get in on the ground floor of a rising organization in the San Antonio area. We expect each team member to reflect the ethics our company was founded on and that are reflected in our very name.
We will ask each team member to share our commitment to our Core Values.
If you are seeking this kind of organization, we would love to hear from you. Click on the link below to let us know a little about you. Someone will respond to you quickly.