Development Committee
Formed in August 2023, the Development Committee supports and collaborates with the CHADD CEO to build a Culture of Philanthropy at CHADD and serve as an advisory group for fundraising and other revenue generating ideas.
Carolyn Lentzsch-Parcells, MD, Chair
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.
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.
Richard Gallagher, PhD
Dr. Gallagher is associate professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the Child Study Center, NYU School of Medicine. He specializes in anxiety disorders, ADHD, and learning disorders. He has been a co-principal investigator on NIMH grants investigating executive function deficits in children with ADHD and how to overcome those deficits. Dr. Gallagher is a former leader of the ADHD special interest group for the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT). He has presented programs at ABCT, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He has been an invited speaker at the International Convention of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the Canadian ADD Resource Alliance, the American Professional Society of ADHD and Related Disorders, regional professional organizations and schools. He is coauthor on numerous papers, first author of Organizational Skills Training for Children with ADHD: An Empirically-Supported Treatment and The Organized Child (for parents), and coauthor of the Children's Organizational Skills Scale. Dr. Gallagher has provided content to the Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS Evening News, The New York Times, and Parents, and has conducted many parent workshops.
Krista Mason
Krista Mason brings two decades of experience working in nonprofit organizations as a development and communications professional. She currently resides in Massachusetts where, prior to joining CHADD, she was the director of development at New England Village, an organization that supports adults with developmental disabilities, and the director of communications at MENTOR, a national nonprofit for the mentoring movement. Most of her career has been centered in nonprofits, advocacy groups, and education in the greater Baltimore metropolitan area—as a grant writer at The Maryland School for the Blind, director of communications and information management at the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council, and development director at The Ingenuity Project, an advanced STEM program in Baltimore City Public Schools. She also spent several years teaching high school English and serving as department chair.
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.
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.
