BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PRESIDENT
Jeremy Didier, LSCSW, LMAC
Jeremy Didier, LSCSW, LMAC, has over fifteen years of extensive experience working with children, parents, and adults with ADHD in both her personal life and as an ICF/JST/ADDCA-certified ADHD coach with ImpactParents. She currently provides assessment, diagnosis, and therapeutic services for adults with ADHD in her private practice at the Jordan Psychological Center in Kansas City. She is also the group founder and co-coordinator of Kansas City’s award-winning CHADD chapter, ADHDKC, twice recognized as the organization’s chapter of the year. Prior to being elected president of CHADD’s board of directors, Didier served on the board in many capacities: as secretary, as co-chair of both the chapter advisory board and the governance committee, and as a volunteer leadership trainer and chapter mentor. She is a nationally recognized speaker and a frequent contributor to national media outlets such as the Washington Post and NBC Nightly News. A passionate advocate for justice-involved individuals with ADHD, she specializes in the underdiagnosis of girls and women with ADHD and the intersection of ADHD and addiction. Diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, she was honored to be selected for Chris Zeigler Dendy’s inaugural advocacy training program at “Camp Dendy.” Didier holds a master of social work from Fordham University and a bachelor of science in journalism from the University of Kansas. Her favorite job is being mom to five fabulous kids, four of whom also have ADHD among other neurodiversities.
PRESIDENT-ELECT
Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS
Suzanne Sophos is a neuro-inclusivity advocate who has been engaged in family and child work since 2010. She is the executive director of CHADD of Greater Los Angeles and the manager of the ADHD Empowerment Community™. She previously directed CHADD of San Fernando Valley, twice recognized as Chapter of the Year. Sophos serves as co-chair of CHADD’s chapter advisory board and is a member of the planning committee for the Annual International Conference on ADHD. She received the CHADD Volunteer of the Year award in 2022. Sophos grew up in Texas and received her communications degree from Texas Christian University before moving to Los Angeles with her husband. Her background includes serving as a social-emotional learning specialist, peer support specialist, ADHD educator, writer, and family coach. She has also been trained, certified, and previously served as a foster parent through the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. Her work is informed by her education, professional experience, and life experience as an ADHD/2e individual and the parent of an ADHD/2e child.
TREASURER
Shirelle F. Pearson, MBA, GBA
Shirelle F. Pearson is an account manager with Marsh & McLennan Agency (MMA) in their New York City employee health and benefits office, with over thirty years of experience in insurance carrier, human resources, and group benefits consulting. She also extends her knowledge to her graduate students as an adjunct professor at the New York Institute of Technology. She sought resources to support her newly diagnosed son and found CHADD quite valuable in her ADHD educational pursuits, for herself and family. In 2014, she accepted the role of treasurer for the Nassau County chapter and accepted the additional role of coordinator in 2018. Having recently assumed membership on CHADD’s diversity, equity, and inclusion committee, she is currently pursuing an ADHD parent coaching certification. Her career has allowed her the opportunity to effectively communicate across organizations and implement thoughtful benefits and wellness recommendations, positively affecting the lives of thousands of employees and their families. She is a published essayist who enjoys helping clients empower employees through emotionally intelligent strategies, which foster better health, employee satisfaction, higher productivity, and loyalty. A member of MMA’s diversity, equity, and inclusion council she participated in its Aspire mentorship program. She also volunteers as the director of programs with the New York Metro Area chapter of the International Society of Certified Employee Benefits Specialists (ISCEBS) and its chapter working group. She is a lifelong learner and critical thinker who believes that collaboration is the best way to build a strong village that elevates everyone. She earned her BBA from Adelphi University, her MBA from Dowling College and Group Benefits Associate Certificate from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans in partnership with Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Her crowning achievements are her marriage of twenty-five years and the role of doting mother to her two sons.
SECRETARY
Vincent Buttaci, JD
Vincent N. Buttaci, JD, is a member of Buttaci Leardi & Werner LLC, a boutique health law firm with offices in New Jersey and New York. He focuses his practice on representing nonprofit and for-profit behavioral health facilities and health systems in all aspects of care delivery, access, and reimbursement. Additionally, he has nearly twenty-five years of experience representing nonprofit healthcare associations in matters of advocacy, legislative action, and public policy reform. While in law school, Buttaci struggled with undiagnosed adult ADHD and later learned about coping with neurodiversity. His experience spurred him to establish the Wellness in Career Program at The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law, which provides workshops to law students on building self-awareness and addressing time management, stress, and anxiety. He first became involved with CHADD after his daughter’s ADHD diagnosis and is thrilled to join the board of directors to support the organization’s ongoing mission.
BOARD MEMBER
Kristin Austin, EdD
Kristin Austin, EdD, is a lover of learning and unlearning. Her goal is to catalyze individuals and structures to question, "Who is at the table? Who is missing from the table? For whom was the table built? And who is unaware the table exists?" Dr. Austin has pursued answers to these questions via twenty-plus years of administrative and faculty higher education roles domestically and internationally, as well as by leading organizations and teams through equity, inclusion, and belonging-oriented education. Currently, she serves as vice president of IDEAs (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access) at Rewriting the Code, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to disrupting and dismantling racial and gender inequality in the technology sector by equipping and empowering college women in tech. Along with her professional work, Dr. Austin engages in speaking, teaching, and pushing visibility for many inclusion topics, especially those related to neurodiversity. Holding identities of ADHD and learning disabled, she loves to create and hold space for “neurospicy” brains—like hers, and maybe yours. She holds a doctorate in higher education leadership and administration; a professional certificate in diversity, equity, and inclusion; a master’s degree in counseling; and a bachelor's degree (her favorite degree) in social work. She is also blessed to learn from three small and forgiving professors, ages fourteen, twelve, and eight, and is married to a fellow education professional. For these reasons, her favorite getaway is to Target… alone.
BOARD MEMBER
Stephen Chen
Stephen Chen is a board-tested operational leader and CFO who connects people and initiatives that can improve business and societal outcomes at the intersection of technology and business transformation. Chen was educated at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, New York University, and Brown University. He is a public and private board member of several companies, including Phunware, Kent Moore Capital, BioIntegrate, and formerly Anchor Fundings. He was previously the chief investment officer for a UHNW commodities-based family office and started an alternative asset fund that was collateralized by assets in excess of $2B. Chen brings twenty years of executive experience in financial services and technology, where he has built up particular expertise in sales, capital markets, strategic partnerships and investments, as well as growing and scaling business operations in the United States and Asia. He is a member of the US Chamber of Commerce in New York City, the Urban Land Institute, New York Investment Network, and Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship. His philanthropic work has been covered by the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Fox News, ABC, and NBC. He has spoken at Yale, Brown, NYU, and Columbia University and is the recipient of the Orphans International Global Citizenship Award, the Dragon 100 Fellowship, and the C.V. Starr Fellowship. He has been profiled in two books, Luck Does Not Exist by Mario Calabresi and Inspired! by Vik Venkatraman.
BOARD MEMBER
Jane Indergaard, DNP, RN
Jane Indergaard, DNP, RN, E-TNS, is an associate professor of nursing at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and a licensed registered nurse in North Dakota and Minnesota. Her forty-plus years of clinical and teaching experience spans critical care, emergency trauma, research/evidence-based practice, and behavioral health nursing. Dr. Indergaard is a recognized speaker, budding author, and long-standing provider of education, advocacy, and outreach for individuals living with ADHD. She is the local co-founder of the award-winning Red River Valley CHADD, an affiliate of CHADD. She also serves on the editorial advisory board for CHADD’s Attention magazine. Her interest in worldwide behavioral health collaboration has led to international presentations and the development of global health initiatives for advancing nursing practice, nursing education, and behavioral health care outreach for programs in Africa and China. She is currently co-leader for undergraduate interdisciplinary exploration of behavioral health service research and delivery in the United Kingdom. Dr. Indergaard’s current research and clinical interests focus on the impact of hormonal fluctuations on women with ADHD, neurocognitive disorders and ADHD, clinical practice guidelines for adult ADHD, and the design and implementation of psychoeducational programming into provider treatment for ADHD.
BOARD MEMBER
Larry Jones, MD, MBA, AACC
A retired pediatrician, Larry A. Jones, MD, MBA, AACC, received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He completed his pediatric residency, genetics fellowship, and MBA in executive healthcare management at Washington University in St. Louis. He opened a general pediatrics office in St. Louis in 1981, with a specialty in learning disabilities. Dr. Jones became more involved in treating children with ADHD after he and his three sons were diagnosed, and ever since he has been proactive in bringing awareness about ADHD to public health officials, hospital administrators, and physicians. He served as the chief administrator for childhood lead poisoning and all other child and maternal health activities for the city of St. Louis. For ten years he served as a physician advisor for hospitals in St. Louis, and he subsequently served in that capacity in Charlotte, North Carolina, prior to his retirement. A member of WIE Champions, a group of Charlotte men promoting open discussions on race and culture, he also serves on the board of directors for NAMI Charlotte and several ministries at Friendship, MBC, including social justice. With his wife, Audrey, he coauthored Falling Through the Ceiling: Our ADHD Family Memoir. After training as an ADHD and life coach, he founded TASTE of Success Coaching, with “turning ADHD from stigma to stability” as his mission. Most recently, Dr. Jones and his wife founded the nonprofit Enable Tables Media to support individuals, families, and educators addressing learning challenges. He received CHADD’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022.
BOARD MEMBER
Carolyn Lentzsch-Parcells, MD
Carolyn Lentzsch-Parcells, MD, is a board-certified pediatrician and the owner and president of Girls to Women/Young Men’s Health and Wellness Fort Worth, a multifaceted clinic dedicated to meeting the physical and emotional needs of adolescents and young adults. Dr. Lentzsch-Parcells is also an assistant professor of pediatrics at the TCU Burnett School of Medicine. As a physician with ADHD herself, she has a special interest in caring for patients and families with ADHD and learning issues. Dr. Lentzsch-Parcells regularly speaks to parent, student, and professional audiences on subjects such as parenting, ADHD, depression, anxiety and stress, adolescent development, sexuality, and preparing for college.
BOARD MEMBER
Tanya Murphy, MBSRP, CBTAC
Tanya Murphy is a holistic wellness expert, meditation facilitator, restful lifestyle curator, and ADHD mentor and advocate. She specializes in mind/brain/body management strategies to support overall wellbeing. A women's health advocate, she has served as a federal women's health lobbyist for over twenty-five years in a variety of national associations in Washington, DC. After being diagnosed with debilitating anxiety, panic, and depression, Murphy suspected she had ADHD and began seeking a diagnosis. Murphy received a diagnosis of predominantly inattentive ADHD at the age of fifty-three. She is committed to bringing awareness to the importance of addressing ADHD, neurodivergence, and mental wellbeing, particularly in communities of color. Understanding the constant level of exhaustion many women with ADHD live with, and the shame that often accompanies that exhaustion, Murphy created REST, an online community that helps women with ADHD embrace rest in their daily lives. Murphy is a Christian minister and contemplative who has been featured in Thrive Global, Meditation Magazine, and on InsightTimer.
BOARD MEMBER
David Palmiter, PhD, ABPP
David Palmiter, PhD, ABPP, is a board-certified clinical psychologist and the clinical director at The Chesapeake Center in Bethesda, Maryland, one of the largest ADHD specialty clinics in the country. He is also professor emeritus at Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Pennsylvania Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Clinical Psychology. Dr. Palmiter is a past president of PPA, serves as an examiner for the American Board of Professional Psychology, and has served on the board of directors of two local CHADD chapters. The author of over three dozen professional publications (including two books on promoting resilience in youth), he has completed over two hundred fifty continuing education presentations for mental health professionals across the country, partnered on over three hundred media projects for audiences around the globe, and received numerous awards for his work. Dr. Palmiter weaves magic into his professional services to promote inspiration, meaning, and joy. He has been married to psychiatric social worker Lia Richards-Palmiter for over thirty years; together they have three adult children, all of whom are either lawyers or on the path to becoming a lawyer (go figure: two mental health professionals churn out three attorneys). His personal interests include the too-often tragic exploits of the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Commanders, low stakes poker, golf, and fishing.
BOARD MEMBER
Jean Tidd, LISW-S, ADHD-CCSP, SAP
Jean Tidd, LISW-S, ADHD-CCSP, SAP, received her bachelor’s degree in social work from Ohio University and her master’s degree in social work from The Ohio State University. She has been a licensed independent social worker since 1998. She has spent twenty years as adjunct faculty, teaching in both the undergraduate and graduate social work programs, at The Ohio State University. For the past twenty-seven years, she has been perfecting her craft as a therapist and coach with a specific focus and specialty in evaluating, diagnosing, and treating people with ADHD. Her current professional endeavors include creating Badass ADHD Evaluation, Coaching, Consultation and Training, a division of Holistic Consultation. The mission of this effort is to create opportunities for people with ADHD to move beyond living to thriving. By helping people with ADHD embrace their unique blend of brilliance, resilience, and fearlessness, they can feel truly successful in every sense of the word. Believing it is critical to offer support and care to couples and families challenged with ADHD, she created numerous programming opportunities within her membership-based Badass ADHD Powerhouse Collective. With many years of experience as a trainer and teacher, Tidd offers learning opportunities and continuing education credits to other professionals interested in anything related to ADHD. She holds memberships in several ADHD organizations, including CHADD, APSARD, and ACO. Perhaps most importantly, she is a card-carrying member of the ADHD community, as she too has been diagnosed with ADHD, as have two of her three children.
BOARD MEMBER
John Willson, MS, LRT/CTRS
John Willson, MS, LRT/CTRS, is the executive director for SOAR, a nonprofit residential boarding school, adventure summer camp, and GAP program serving youth with learning and attention challenges. This is his second stint supporting the CHADD on the national board of directors. Willson holds an undergraduate degree in sociology from Texas State University and a master’s degree in outdoor therapeutic recreation administration from Aurora University. He is licensed in the state of North Carolina as a recreation therapist and holds a national certification from NCTRC to practice therapeutic recreation. He serves on the national board of the Learning Disability Foundation Association and has been a state president of the Learning Disabilities Association of North Carolina. He is a certified wilderness first responder, lifeguard, and rescue SCUBA diver. He can be found canoeing class 3/4 whitewater in his free time. He has led hundreds of adventure courses with youth diagnosed with LD and ADHD. He actively presents to parents and professionals at local, state, and national conferences. Finally, he is the parent of two magnificent adult children living with ADHD.
BOARD MEMBER
Max Wiznitzer, MD
Max Wiznitzer, MD, is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Medicine. He trained in pediatrics and developmental disorders at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and in pediatric neurology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He then did a National Institutes of Health funded fellowship in disorders of higher cortical functioning in children at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York. Since 1986, he has been a pediatric neurologist at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. He is an associate professor of pediatrics, neurology, and international health at Case Western Reserve University. He has a longstanding interest in neurodevelopmental disabilities, especially ADHD and autism, and has been involved in local, state, and national committees and initiatives, including autism treatment research, Ohio autism service guidelines, autism screening, and early identification of developmental disabilities. He is on the editorial board of Lancet Neurology and the Journal of Child Neurology and lectures nationally and internationally about various neurodevelopmental disabilities.
FOUNDER AND LIFETIME BOARD MEMBER
Harvey C. Parker, PhD
Harvey Parker, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist, is a cofounder and former executive director of CHADD. He played an instrumental role in encouraging the US Department of Education to clarify the responsibility schools must assume in providing appropriate educational services to students with ADHD. Dr. 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, he was inducted into the CHADD Hall of Fame in 1994.
EX-OFFICIO BOARD MEMBER
Craig Bruce Hackett Surman, MD
Craig Bruce Hackett Surman, MD, is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is the scientific coordinator of the adult ADHD research program of the clinical and research Program in pediatric psychopharmacology at Massachusetts General Hospital. His research strives to improve the assessment and treatment of self-regulatory disorders, including ADHD, in adulthood. He completed a residency in psychiatry at the Harvard Longwood Psychiatry Residency Training Program in Boston, as well as a fellowship in neuropsychiatry at the division of cognitive and behavioral neurology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, also in Boston. His work has been published in peer-reviewed journals and presented internationally. Dr. Surman has directed or facilitated over forty studies related to ADHD in adults. He is coauthor of FASTMINDS: How to Thrive If You Have ADHD (or Think You Might) and editor of ADHD in Adults: A Practical Guide to Evaluation and Management.
