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2012-2013 CHADD
Officers and Board of Directors
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Barbara S.
Hawkins, BA
Maryland
President
A retired educator, artist and current farmer, Hawkins has been involved
with CHADD since her daughter’s diagnosis with ADHD almost twenty
years ago. She served at the local level on the PAB, as volunteer
coordinator and as Chapter coordinator of CHADD of Greater
Baltimore. Instrumental in the development of several regional
conferences on ADHD, she also chaired the Children’s Mental Health
Conference in Baltimore. At the National level, Hawkins served on
the Chapter Services and Finance Committees and has been on the National
Board of Directors serving as Secretary and Treasurer. Hawkins lives in
Baltimore with her husband, daughter and extended family awash in
ADHD. |
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Steven Peer
Minnesota
Immediate Past 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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M. Jeffry Spahr,
MBA, JD
Connecticut
Secretary
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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Michael
MacKay
Maryland
Treasurer
Michael F. MacKay, JD, CPA, MSIA is a retired health care
executive living in Baltimore, Maryland. He and his wife, Jane,
are the proud parents of two exceptional sons. When their younger
son was diagnosed with ADHD they began their personal journey of
challenge and growth in understanding the impact of ADHD. This
culminated in their appreciation for and Mike’s volunteering to
work with CHADD. In addition to serving on the Board, MacKay
chairs the Finance Committee. |
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Ingrid Alpern, JD, LLM in Tax
Maryland
Ingrid Y. Alpern, JD, LLM in Tax, practiced tax law in
Washington, DC for many years. Alpern has also raised awareness
about ADHD and has provided support to families coping with ADHD through
her long-term work as a volunteer for CHADD and as a Parent to Parent
teacher. As a board member, Alpern is the co-chairperson of
CHADD’s Public Policy Committee. She also serves on
CHADD’s Finance Committee. In each of these roles, Alpern
brings to CHADD the expertise she developed as a tax attorney in legal
research and writing and analysis of complex matters.
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Holly Graff, CPO, BS
New York
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 was recently 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 national committee chair of Quantum Leap,
a community service program. Graff has a talented and creative daughter
with ADHD, and resides in Victor, NY.
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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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Anthony Rostain, MD
Pennsylvania
biography to come |
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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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Dulce Torres, LPC-S,
BCC
Texas
Dulce Torres is the mother
of a young adult with ADHD and has been a therapeutic foster parent for
children with ADHD and other co-existing conditions. She is a Licensed
Professional Counselor-Supervisor, Board Certified Coach by the Center
for Credentialing and Education and the founder of DST Counseling &
Coaching Services, specializing in ADHD therapy and coaching. Dulce has
over 20 years of experienced in the mental health field. Dulce’s
passion is to tap into each person’s strengths and partner up with
them to follow their own life compass. She volunteers as the
coordinator for the North Texas Chapter of CHADD, she is a certified
Parent to Parent teacher and has been running P2P classes for the last 4
years. She is also a P2P Spanish trainer. Dulce is fluent in Spanish
and is a columnist for the Spanish newspaper El Panorama and co-author
of the book, 365 Ways to Succeed with ADHD. |
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