About Us

Today’s young people face an overwhelming number of adult decisions, choices that will ultimately affect their educational and professional futures. In order to make informed decisions, adolescents require expert direction and support.

Founded in West Vancouver, British Columbia in 2003, Options Solutions was created to help students, aged 14 to 24, and their families explore and pursue educational and professional opportunities available to them during and after secondary school. Options Solutions is a comprehensive educational consulting practice dedicated to assisting with course selection, study skills, career counseling, prep classes, sports recruitment, and post-secondary placement. We offer all individuals the benefits of a range of diverse services and professional and knowledgeable guidance, provided one-on-one in a personable setting.

Options Solutions is a unique educational practice. We not only educate, but also encourage students and allow them to explore their future in a safe and nurturing environment. Our primary operating principles are focused on the belief that adolescents need to be supported during this crucial developmental period, and our policies and procedures incorporate the latest adolescent brain research and psychology. The role of an Options Solutions educational consultant is to work with students by exploring, evaluating, and constructing progressive action plans for the future, based on their individual strengths, values, and interests. During each session, we work to empower and energize our students, leading them towards academic success.

Each year, Options Solutions helps students all over North America understand and navigate the complex post-secondary selection processes in Canada, the United States, and abroad. Our successes demonstrate our commitment to our clients. In 2008-2009 alone, Options Solutions’ students were accepted into over 45 Canadian universities and 65 American universities, and our specialized services assisted them in qualifying for over four million dollars in scholarships.

Melinda Giampietro, President of Options Solutions, is a vibrant and widely respected educational consultant in the fields of academic planning, career counseling, university admissions, and sports recruitment. Melinda believes options are empowering, and she helps students–and their parents–work together to find careers, majors, and universities that match each student’s unique academic aspirations.

Melinda holds multiple degrees in Education, and she is a graduate of both the Counseling for College Institute and the Harvard Institute on College Admissions. She has worked the last fifteen years as an Advanced Placement (AP) teacher, an assistant principal, an acting principal, head of a counseling department, and an academic planner focusing on university admissions. She is a member of the British Columbia College of Teachers and a certified teacher and principal in the United States.

To provide the best possible service to her clients, Melinda attends regional and national conferences, and to stay current, she continually travels throughout Canada and the United States visiting universities and meeting with admissions personnel. She is also a member of numerous educational and college counselor associations leading to a broad and diverse professional network.

Melinda is an advocate for adolescence as a developmental period, and she leads adolescent leadership conferences throughout North America.

Carmen Samuda-Lehman

Carmen Samuda-Lehman is a highly skilled and experienced educator committed to helping students maximize their potential. Her academic history includes a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology (specializing in adolescence and youth), teacher training at Simon Fraser University (Professional Development Program), a Master’s degree in Education, as well as a Law degree from the University of British Columbia. She is also trained in conflict resolution, mediation and negotiations from the Justice Institute of British Columbia.

Over the course of the past 25 years, Carmen has worked with students at all levels – elementary, secondary and university. Throughout this time, she has held the following positions: secondary classroom teacher, counselor, Career and Personal Planning (CAPP) co-coordinator, department head (Counseling and Planning 10), Graduation Program coordinator and university sessional instructor.

Among other things, as a counselor and department head in the public school system, Carmen was responsible for providing direction and assistance to students with respect to academic planning, applications to post-secondary institutions, scholarship information and career options.

She well appreciates that adolescence is a pivotal period of development where navigating the present and planning for the future can seem especially daunting. Her years of experience in education, together with a solid understanding of adolescent psychology, allow her to work particularly well with students at this stage of growth. She welcomes the opportunity to help Options’ clients with their educational pursuits.

Monica Brown
Monica Brown hails from a family of writing professionals. In 2001, she earned an Honours B.A. in English from the University of Waterloo, where she specialized in Rhetoric and Professional Writing. Since then, Monica has gone on to earn an M.A. in English from University of British Columbia. This fall, she returns to UBC as a member of their Ph.D. program and as a teaching assistant for undergraduate English courses. Alongside her work in academia, Monica writes, edits and proofreads professionally, and also tutors university-level students to improve their writing and communication skills. She strongly believes in the value of post-secondary education, and as an undergraduate fundraised over $300,000 for scholarships and priority projects at the University of Waterloo. Monica looks forward to helping Options Solutions students use effective writing to achieve their educational goals.