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2011-2012 CHADD
Officers and Board of Directors
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Steven Peer
Minnesota
President
Steven Peer became president of CHADD's board of directors in July 2010.
Peer served as the chapter coordinator of CHADD Twin Cities in the
Minneapolis-St. Paul area. He is president of Emotional Mastery, Inc., a
company delivering anger and emotion management programs to
professionals within the judicial system. As a pastoral counselor, Peer
has worked closely with teens and adults with ADHD. In 1982, he
cofounded a men's group that continues to provide community support to
individuals with anger-management issues. In addition to his enormous
work on behalf of those living with ADHD, Peer is working on a book
titled Why Is My Child Always Angry? He is also the father of
children with ADHD. |
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Marie S.
Paxson
Pennsylvania
Immediate Past President
Marie Paxson of West Chester, Pennsylvania is the mother of two
grown children with ADHD. She has spent years as an advocate for people
living with the disorder. She has been instrumental in CHADD’s
work to influence federal policy, even testifying at a U.S. Department
of Education hearing on special education law. Paxson’s knowledge
of ADHD stems from both her professional and personal experiences.
Fluent in the findings of science and research, Paxson also understands
well the practical day-to-day issues facing people affected by
ADHD. |
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Barbara
Hawkins
Maryland
President-elect
Barbara Hawkins is chair of the Children’s Mental Health
Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. The former coordinator of CHADD of
Greater Baltimore, she presently is a member of its advisory board. She
is a recipient of the CHADD Volunteer of the Year Award. The parent of
an adult daughter with ADHD, Hawkins is a retired educator. |
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Michael Garza, EdD
Texas
Secretary
Michael Garza, EdD, a former counselor and community leader in
Dallas, Texas, founded the North Texas Chapter of CHADD in 2002. Garza
is recognized for his understanding of ADHD in the Spanish-speaking
community and has worked closely with CHADD in disseminating culturally
sensitive information to the public about the impact of ADHD on the
Hispanic/Latino community. He currently teaches psychology at Brookhaven
College.
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Holly Graff
California
Holly Graff, CPO, is a certified professional organizer and
productivity consultant. She has a passion for teaching others how
to improve and implement their own organizing skills so they are free to
focus on the important aspects of their lives. Graff is the Northern
California CHADD chapter coordinator with numerous branches. She
brings interesting and informative speakers,
selected from the region’s best experts and resources,
to each meeting. As a certified Parent to Parent teacher, she has
supported parents and developed a terrific community network. Graff was
recognized as CHADD’s Volunteer of the Year in 2010. She
also volunteers with the National Association of Professional
Organizers as the committee chair of Quantum Leap, a community service
program, and with American River College, providing classes
for Traumatic Acquired Brain Injury Services (TABIS). Graff resides
in El Dorado Hills, California, with her husband and daughter.
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Charles
Kaplanek
New York
Charles (Chuck) Kaplanek was born in New York
City, the only son of Eastern European parents, and grew up
multilingual. At the age of thirty-two, he took the helm of the family
business after his father suffered a heart attack. Floral Glass grew
over the next twenty years, until mid-2004, when it was acquired by
a large public company. Kaplanek raised three boys, Chris, Carey, and
Cory. He began his volunteer work with CHADD in 1990 shortly after one
of his boys was diagnosed with ADHD. He attended and then assisted with
support groups in the local CHADD chapter in Suffolk County, New York.
He became involved nationally when his wife, Beth, became the president
of CHADD in 2000. In 2005 Chuck joined the CHADD President's Council by
making a family donation because he believes in the products of the
President's Council, such as Parent To Parent and the Educators
Manual. Chuck is currently the chairman of the President’s
Council.
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Jeffrey S. Katz, PhD
Virginia
Jeffrey S. Katz, PhD, is a clinical psychologist practicing in Norfolk,
Virginia, where he uses his passion for ADHD to raise awareness and to
educate the Hampton Roads community. Katz’s interest in ADHD began
with his doctoral dissertation and continues in his practice
with clients who have the disorder and his long association
with CHADD. As a board member, Katz is the chairperson of CHADD’s
Public Policy Committee. He also serves on CHADD’s annual
conference committee, reviewing presentation proposals and facilitating
the mental health networking session. Katz served as the coordinator of
the Tidewater chapter of CHADD for many years. In addition to his
service to CHADD, he volunteers with the Southeastern Virginia Chapter
of the American Red Cross as the chairperson for Disaster Mental
Health.
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Harvey C.
Parker, PhD
Florida
Harvey Parker, a licensed clinical psychologist, is a cofounder and a
former executive director of CHADD. He played an instrumental role in
encouraging the U.S Department of Education to clarify the
responsibility schools must assume in providing appropriate educational
services to students with ADHD. Parker has authored and coauthored a
number of publications on ADHD. Because of all of his contributions to
making the country a better place for people affected by the disorder,
Parker was inducted into the CHADD Hall of Fame in 1994. |
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Sharyn S.
Rhodes, PhD
Maryland
Sharyn S. Rhodes, PhD, joined CHADD’s national board of
directors in 2009. She is a retired professor of special education who
taught undergraduate and graduate courses at Appalachian State
University, Johns Hopkins University, and, for twenty-nine years, Loyola
University Maryland. She has served on the professional advisory board
and board of directors for CHADD of Greater Baltimore for fifteen years.
She was coordinator of the chapter for two years, and is currently
immediate past coordinator and event chair. Rhodes is a certified Parent
to Parent teacher and has been running P2P classes for five years. |
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Ana Romero,
MAF
California
Ana Romero is an accomplished professional with a record of success in
the corporate financial world. She is currently the controller at the
Jankovich Company in San Pedro, California, managing the company's $500
million budget. Romero holds a BA in Economics from California State
University, Long Beach, and a MAF in Accounting and Financial Management
from the Keller Graduate School. In addition to her extensive job
responsibilities, Romero has dedicated her time to raise awareness about
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and its effects on the
Hispanic/Latino community. Romero also serves on CHADD's Board of
Directors and Audit & Finance Committee. Romero is able to bring a
number of perspectives to each meeting, including that of a
Mexican-American mother, as well as that of a business woman who
understands the financial intricacies of a well-run publication and
business. |
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Anthony Rostain, MD
Pennsylvania
biography to come |
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M. Jeffry Spahr, MBA, JD
Connecticut
M. Jeffry Spahr, MBA, JD, is an attorney in Norwalk,
Connecticut. He is the proud father of two children, one of whom has
ADHD and the other who is the loving sibling. He is husband to Marlene
who, as a physical therapist and "horse person," volunteers to work with
children with learning disabilities through the Pegasus Therapeutic
Riding program. Spahr is president of the Connecticut Association
of Children and Adults with Learning Disabilities (CACLD). He has been
the driving force behind the Connecticut governor's annually
declaring an ADHD Awareness Week in the state. He also founded the
Association of Parents of Exceptional Children and Siblings (www.apecsct.org) to assist parents in
his state in coping with the legal and academic challenges they face for
their children.
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Mary Anne Tharin
North Carolina
Mary Anne Tharin is a retired educator with forty-three years of
experience. After classroom teaching in both general and special
education in the 1960s and 70s, she became the North Carolina Department
of Public Instruction (NCDPI) consultant for Specific Learning
Disabilities during the dawning of PL94-142. She focused for
fifteen years on development of statewide SLD policy and program
development. During that time, attention deficit disorder became a
national focal point and also an area for her consultation. In
1994, Tharin became a staff member with the NC Standards and
Accountability Commission, an advisory commission for the
governor, state legislature, and state board of
education. The commission and the subsequent 1998 Standards and
Accountability Committee were significant advisors for North
Carolina’s current graduation and assessment
requirements. Tharin served as staff for the NCDPI Raising
Achievement and Closing Gaps Commission until her recent retirement. She
also taught courses at the college level.
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