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2009-2010 CHADD
Officers and Board of Directors



Marie S. PaxsonMarie S. Paxson
Pennsylvania
President

Marie Paxson, of West Chester, Pennsylvania, became president of CHADD’s Board of Directors in July 2008. The mother of two grown children with AD/HD, Paxson 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 the disorder 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 those affected by AD/HD.

Steven PeerSteven Peer
Minnesota
President-Elect
Steven Peer, the chapter coordinator of CHADD Twin Cities in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, 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 AD/HD. 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 AD/HD, Peer is working on a book entitled, Why Is My Child Always Angry?  He is also the father of children with AD/HD.

Anne Teeter ElisonAnne Teeter Ellison, EdD
Wisconsin
Immediate Past President

Anne Teeter Ellison, professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), has served on the CHADD Board of Directors since 2002. During the course of her service to CHADD, she has served as the Board secretary, chair of the Professional Advisory Board, chair of the Editorial Advisory Board for Attention! magazine, and chair of the Conference Planning Committee for three of CHADD's International Conferences. Prior to service on the national level, Ellison was a professional advisor to the Wisconsin ADHD Project, and a member of the State of Wisconsin ADD Council. Currently the training director of the School Psychology Doctoral Program at UWM, Ellison has published numerous scientific articles and books and is the co-editor of the CHADD Educator's Manual on Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: An In-depth Look from an Educational Perspective.

Barbara Hawkins
Maryland
Secretary
Barbara Hawkins is chair of the Children’s Mental Health Conference in Baltimore, Md., and former coordinator of CHADD of Greater Baltimore. She presently is a member of CHADD’s National Finance Committee and the CHADD of Baltimore Advisory Board. She is a recipient of the CHADD Volunteer of the Year Award. Hawkins is assistant dean of Villa Julie College in Stevenson, Maryland.

Carter McDowell, JD, LLM
Washington, D.C.
Finance Committee Chair
Carter McDowell, JD, LLM is the current chief legislative counsel for the American Bankers Association and general counsel of the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade. He is the former chief counsel and policy advisor for the Committee on Financial Services for the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, DC. He has previously served on CHADD’s Public Policy Committee.

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Cecile de Jongh
U.S. Virgin Islands
Cecile deJongh became the first lady of the U.S. Virgin Islands on January 1, 2007, when her husband was inaugurated as the territory’s seventh elected governor. Cecile is an outspoken advocate for people affected by AD/HD, a disorder that has touched her own family. As first lady, she has established two local chapters of CHADD in the Virgin Islands. She is also one of CHADD’s certified Parent to Parent Teachers. DeJongh holds a degree in business administration from Marquette University. She and her husband, John, were married in 1986 and have three children—John III, Rene, and Julian.

Michael Garza, EdD
Texas

Michael Garza, EdD, a former counselor and community leader in Dallas, Texas, founded the North Texas Chapter of CHADD in 2002. Mike is recognized for his understanding of AD/HD in the Spanish-speaking community and has worked closely with CHADD in disseminating culturally sensitive information to the public about the impact of AD/HD on the Hispanic/Latino community. Mike currently teaches psychology at Brookhaven College.

Charles Kaplanek
New York
Bio coming soon


Judy Marshall
California
Judy Marshall’s journey with AD/HD started when her son was diagnosed nineteen years ago with the disorder. She found that CHADD provided her with the information she needed to better understand and deal with the disorder. After getting involved with CHADD, she was instrumental in the reorganization of the Contra Costa chapter. Over the years, Judy has served as treasurer, membership coordinator, and Parent to Parent coordinator for the Northern California chapter. Because of her incredible work on behalf of people affected by AD/HD, she was named Volunteer of Year in 2006, and became a member of the Chapter Services Committee last year.

Harvey C. Parker, PhD
Florida
Harvey Parker, a licensed clinical psychologist, is a co-founder 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 AD/HD.  Parker has authored and co-authored a number of publications on AD/HD. 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.

Sharyn S. Rhodes, PhD
Maryland
Bio coming soon

Ana Romero, MAF
California
Bio coming soon

Suzanne Vogel-Scibilia, MD
Pennsylvania
Suzanne Vogel-Scibilia, MD, is a practicing clinical psychiatrist. She founded and operates an independent mental health clinic in Western Pennsylvania. She is a clinical assistant professor at Western Psychiatric Institute and serves on the faculty of two community hospitals. Vogel-Scibilia is a consultant for psychopharmacology projects at the National Institute of Mental Health. As well as being chair of The Child-Adolescent Policy Subcommittee, she oversees projects involving support and education for young families. She established a Roman Catholic mental health nonprofit organization that provides seed money for programs and undertakes projects in the United States. Vogel-Scibilia resides in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, with her husband, Jim, and their five children. Vogel-Scibilia is the outgoing national president of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).


Elliott Portnoy
Washington, DC
CHADD General Counsel
Elliott Portnoy is a Partner with the Washington, DC office of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal. He has represented CHADD for over a decade, and has extensive experience in matters involving not-for-profit organizations, education law, and disability policy. Portnoy is the chair of Sonnenschein's national Public Law & Policy Strategies Group, and represents clients on a variety of public policy matters. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Portnoy is a former Rhodes Scholar and holds a PhD from Oxford University. He is admitted to the District of Columbia and Maryland bar associations.

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