BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PRESIDENT
Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS
Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS, is president of CHADD’s board of directors, where she provides strategic and governance leadership in support of CHADD’s mission to empower and improve the lives of people affected by ADHD. She also serves as director of CHADD of California, overseeing one of the nation’s largest and most active ADHD communities, including a robust online presence and more than thirty monthly peer support groups, educational meetings, and social gatherings across the state. Sophos represents CHADD on the leadership steering team for the International Conference on ADHD and serves on the editorial advisory board of Attention magazine. She was honored with the CHADD Volunteer of the Year Award in 2022, and she has twice led chapters recognized as CHADD Chapter of the Year. An adult with both autism and ADHD (AuDHD), as well as a twice-exceptional (2e) individual and parent of a neurodivergent child, Sophos brings lived experience to her work as a certified peer support specialist, ADHD/AuDHD coach, and support group facilitator. She is also the founder of Brave Spaces, a peer support and coaching practice. Sophos speaks to the national ADHD and AuDHD community—individuals, families, clinicians, and leaders—on the role of community infrastructure in supporting follow-through and sustainable change. Prior to this work, she spent two decades as a business strategy consultant for Fortune 100 and global brands, including AT&T, Toyota, Honda, and Nintendo. She is a graduate of Texas Christian University and is based in Los Angeles.
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
Jeremy Didier, LSCSW, LMAC
Jeremy Didier, LSCSW, LMAC, ADHD-CCSP, is the immediate past president of CHADD’s board of directors and has more than fifteen years of experience supporting individuals and families affected by ADHD. Grounded in CHADD’s mission of evidence-based information, support, and advocacy, she is the founder and co-coordinator of Kansas City’s CHADD chapter, ADHDKC, twice named CHADD Chapter of the Year. Didier provides assessment, diagnosis, and therapeutic services for adults with ADHD through her private practice, TreehouseADHD, in the Kansas City, Missouri, area. A nationally recognized speaker and contributor to the Washington Post and NBC Nightly News, her professional focus includes the underdiagnosis of ADHD in girls and women, the intersection of ADHD and addiction, and improving outcomes for justice-involved individuals. Diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, she holds a master’s degree in social work from Fordham University and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas. Didier is most proud to be the mother of five children, four of whom are also neurodivergent.
TREASURER
Carolyn Lentzsch-Parcells, MD
Carolyn Lentzsch-Parcells, MD, is a board-certified pediatrician and the owner and president of Our Place Adolescent and Young Adult Health, 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.
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.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER-AT-LARGE
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
Beth Bardeen
Beth Bardeen is a change management consultant and neurodiversity advocate with four decades of experience in enterprise program adoption, marketing strategy, and organizational change across global technology companies. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in management, marketing, and organizational behavior from the University of Puget Sound. Her consulting practice focuses on the gap between strategy and execution; diagnosing why well-designed initiatives fail to produce downstream results and redesigning them so incentives match the needed outcome for everyone involved. Bardeen was diagnosed with ADHD following a 37-year tech career, an experience that led her to expand her practice to include the ADHD community as a personal change agent to lead and equip newly diagnosed adults navigating the real-world complexity that comes after the diagnosis. In 2022, she founded Seattle CHADD, which was recognized as Chapter of the Year in 2023. Since January 2024, she has served as co-chair of CHADD’s chapter advisory board, where she draws on her experience building a new chapter as an inexperienced volunteer leader. Now, these lessons help strengthen the national chapter system with programs and resources for other volunteer leaders when they are getting started. Her advocacy centers on ADHD and rejection sensitive dysphoria, grounded in research by William Dodson, MD. She also serves on the King County Board for Developmental Disabilities.
BOARD MEMBER
Alita-Geri Carter, DNP, RN, CPNP-PC, BCPA, PMP
Alita-Geri Carter, DNP, RN, CPNP-PC, BCPA, PMP, is a dynamic healthcare leader, quality improvement strategist, and policy advocate dedicated to improving patient- and family-centered outcomes across the health and education sectors. Having recently achieved her doctor of nursing practice degree in nursing leadership, she brings clinical insight, executive leadership, and systemic expertise to the CHADD board of directors. Throughout her career, Dr. Carter has been a driving force for healthcare transformation. As a seasoned leader, she specializes in design thinking, training and development, and building organizational capacity. Her work as a quality improvement strategist focuses on breaking down institutional silos, optimizing clinical workflows, and deploying sustainable, data-driven solutions that directly elevate the family experience. She is a staunch policy advocate and disability rights champion. She leverages her public health background to influence systemic change, ensuring that educational and healthcare policies align to support families as they navigate the challenges of the healthcare and educational systems. As both a board-certified patient advocate and a project management professional, she possesses a rare skill to translate complex policy into structured, real-world execution. Dr. Carter’s unique intersection of healthcare leadership, transformation strategy, and grassroots advocacy perfectly positions her to support CHADD’s mission. She is deeply committed to leveraging her diverse skill set to dismantle barriers to care, advance education, and empower families nationwide.
BOARD MEMBER
James Douglas Jr., MHC, MFT, CHWC
James Douglas Jr., MHC, MFT, CHWC, is a clinical mental health counselor, marriage and family therapist, certified health and wellness coach, and ADHD performance coach based in Wellington, Florida. Douglas supports youth, teens, adults, families, and organizations through coaching, psychoeducation, and wellness-focused interventions centered on ADHD, executive functioning, emotional regulation, resilience, and sustainable wellbeing. Diagnosed with ADHD at the age of seven, he brings both professional expertise and lived experience to his work supporting neurodivergent individuals and families. He earned his master’s degree from Barry University and brings an integrated background in mental health, coaching, and organizational wellness. Grounded in a neurodiversity-affirming and strengths-based approach, he has worked across clinical, coaching, and corporate wellness settings with organizations including Google, YouTube, Cerebral, AbleTo, Ezra, and Shimmer. His work focuses on helping individuals better understand and navigate ADHD-related challenges while supporting professionals and organizations in improving employee wellness, building resilience, strengthening communication, preventing burnout, and creating sustainable mental health support systems within the workplace. Through coaching, advocacy, and community engagement, Douglas remains committed to empowering neurodivergent individuals, families, and organizations with education, support, and meaningful connection.
BOARD MEMBER
Laura Edell, MS, PhD(c)
Laura Edell, MS, PhD(c), is a transformational technology executive serving as chief innovation and technology officer at Csuite Growth Advisors, where she advises healthcare systems, government organizations, and enterprise clients on AI, data, cloud, and digital transformation strategy. She is a former executive leader at both Microsoft and Apple, with deep expertise spanning generative AI, analytics, enterprise architecture, cloud platforms, and innovation strategy. Throughout her career, she has led large-scale modernization initiatives focused on operational transformation, patient and citizen experience, and responsible AI adoption. She is known for translating emerging technologies into practical business outcomes and helping executive teams navigate complex technology decisions. Edell is a frequent keynote speaker and advisor on topics including Generative AI, healthcare innovation, analytics, and the future of intelligent systems. As a life-long sponsor and mentor of the next generation of girls in STEM and Women in Tech, she translated her advocacy and passion into a female-centered podcast called An Eye 4 AI with Annielytics available on all podcast streaming services. Her peers recently recognized her exceptional combination of technical expertise, executive leadership, algorithm proficiency, and community-centered advocacy, particularly in the realm of advanced AI simulation algorithms that led to her inclusion in the 2026 Power 10 list. Edell is passionate about advancing education, raising awareness, and providing support for individuals and families affected by ADHD. She eagerly anticipates bringing her extensive knowledge and expertise in artificial intelligence to the CHADD board in a safe and responsible manner.
BOARD MEMBER
Rachel Feldman, LCSW, ADHD-CCSP, ASDCS
Rachel Feldman, LCSW, ADHD-CCSP, ASDCS, is a licensed clinical social worker and neurodiversity-affirming therapist with extensive experience supporting children, adolescents, and families navigating neurodivergence. She currently provides psychotherapy and consultation through her private practice, specializing in neurodivergent mental health and parent support. She earned her MSW from Columbia University, where she completed clinical internships within school, vocational, and medical settings. She went on to work as a bilingual (Spanish) psychotherapist at YAI Center for Specialty Therapy in NYC, where she supported neurodivergent children and families for five years before transitioning full-time to private practice. Feldman holds certifications as an ADHD-CCSP and ASD-CS. She completed an advanced certificate in applied behavior analysis (ABA) at Hunter College but chose not to pursue BCBA certification, acknowledging valid critiques from the autistic community. Instead, she integrates behavioral concepts through a non-pathologizing, affirming lens. She serves on the advisory board of the award-winning Bergen County, New Jersey, CHADD chapter and is passionate about reducing stigma through education and advocacy. Her presentations on ADHD/AuDHD reflect a commitment to fostering greater understanding across clinical, community, and family systems. Her work is grounded in lived experience and strengths-based care, with a deep commitment to equity, accessibility, and authentic connection. As a member of CHADD’s national board of directors, she brings her clinical insight, dedication to inclusive care, and passion for reshaping how we understand and support ADHD/AuDHD individuals and their families.
BOARD MEMBER
Ashley Harding
Ashley Harding, MA, founder of North Star Academics, is a fourth-generation educator committed to improving educational outcomes for students and families. A Los Angeles native, she brings both local insight and global experience, having studied education reform in South Africa at NYU’s Steinhardt School and served as a 2019 graduate fellow in the University of Pennsylvania’s social impact program in Belize. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree in child development from Tufts University. For over a decade, Harding has helped families navigate complex educational systems with clarity and care. She specializes in supporting students in private and independent schools, offering targeted strategies that promote academic achievement, personal growth, and long-term success. As the former director of external engagement for a national school network, she supported more than 6,000 students through strategic family engagement and comprehensive support models. Her work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal and includes research on educational disparities affecting Black and Latino students. She has collaborated with scholars such as James Jennings of Tufts and Harvard to advance equity in education. Through North Star Academics, she provides personalized academic coaching and executive functioning support to help students build strong learning habits, confidence, and resilience. She also serves as president of the Black Education Advocacy Network (BEAN) board and on CHADD’s board of directors, advocating for students with learning differences and executive functioning challenges.
BOARD MEMBER
Deb Javerbaum
Deb Javerbaum joins CHADD's national board of directors with a deep and personal investment in its mission. A graduate of Brown University and diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, she has increasingly focused her work on identifying resources and solutions for individuals affected by ADHD. Through her consulting practice, Hyacinth LA, she represents multiple organizations recovering from the January 2025 Pacific Palisades (California) wildfire. Her clients include Team Palisades, Palisades Wellbeing (a community mental health initiative), Pali411, the Palisades Renewal Celebration, and the Palisades Voices documentary project. The work spans community websites, Airtable databases, volunteer management platforms, and event production—the connective tissue that helps displaced residents find services and take action toward recovery. Javerbaum also designs websites, systems, and workflows for clients in media, coaching, healthcare, and the arts, including many business owners who have been diagnosed with ADHD and seek new approaches to organization and operations, through her business, Deb Support. Earlier in her career, she produced digital projects for Comedy Central's The Daily Show and co-founded Apple's first accessibility team in New York City.
BOARD MEMBER
Christine Kotik, PCC, NBC-HWC
Christine Kotik, PCC, NBC-HWC, is an ADHD coach, speaker, and consultant with more than fourteen years of involvement with CHADD and a career dedicated to supporting individuals, families, educators, and organizations affected by ADHD and neurodiversity. She is the founder of CK ADHD Coaching & Consulting, where she works with adults, college students, professionals, and families to better understand how their brains work and develop practical, individualized strategies for success. She is a professional certified coach through the International Coaching Federation and a national board certified health and wellness coach. In addition to coaching, she provides speaking programs and interactive training experiences for schools, businesses, and organizations, including her immersive In Their Shoes ADHD simulation and training program designed to build empathy, awareness, and practical understanding of neurodivergent experiences in educational and workplace settings. Her long-standing involvement with CHADD has been a cornerstone of her professional journey. She serves as the coordinator for CHADD of Ohio and co-chair of CHADD’s chapter advisory board, helping support and strengthen local chapters across the country. Kotik has also contributed to the ADHD community through webinars, podcasts, presentations, and educational programming focused on ADHD, executive functioning, wellness, and neurodiversity-informed support strategies.
BOARD MEMBER
David Palmiter, PhD, ABPP
David Palmiter, PhD, ABPP, is a board-certified clinical psychologist who’s spent decades working with neurodiverse children and adolescents in his private practice. 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
Ronald J. Yother, EdD
Ronald “Josh” Yother, EdD, a seasoned advocate with twenty-five years of experience, passionately champions the cause of students and families who grapple with learning and attention challenges in his local and global communities. His journey stretches from the depths of the Amazon Basin to the streets of Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he and his dedicated team have relentlessly pursued the mission of delivering vital educational and financial resources to families and students facing inadequate support from schools and communities due to their learning and attention challenges. As a dynamic speaker and inspiring leader, he is currently the president and head of school at Skyuka Hall—a thriving K-12 institution lauded for its dual accreditation and individualized commitment to students and families with diverse learning and attention needs. In a mere decade, Skyuka Hall has blossomed into one of Tennessee’s fastest-growing independent schools, poised for expansion by acquiring a facility to reach even more students and families in the region. A proud alumnus of Tennessee Wesleyan University, Gonzaga University, and the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, Dr. Yother’s narrative weaves seamlessly into his professional mission. Diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood, he is unwavering in his resolve to enhance the lives of those facing similar hurdles, dedicating every day to forging a brighter future for them. Celebrating twenty-five years of a loving marriage, he is also a devoted father to three remarkable children. His work is a testament to his profound passion for education, inclusivity, and advocacy, and he looks forward to helping CHADD continue to make a lasting impact on the lives of families across the country.
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
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.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Laurie Kulikosky, CAE
