CHAPTER ADVISORY BOARD
The CHADD chapter advisory board (CAB), a subcommittee of the CHADD board of directors, collaborates with CHADD management to foster the formation, growth, and sustained success of CHADD chapters. In partnership with CHADD chapters, regional centers, and the chapter services manager, the CAB facilitates idea exchange, identifies common needs, and provides oversight for chapter services processes. Committed to supporting CHADD chapters and regional centers, the CAB offers annual training and mentorship opportunities as well as acknowledges and celebrates outstanding contributions to the CHADD mission by chapters and individual volunteers.
Beth Bardeen, Co-Chair
Seattle CHADD
Beth Bardeen has been co-chair of the chapter advisory board since January 2024. In 2018, she was diagnosed with ADHD after thirty-seven years as a tech industry executive and consultant in marketing, ecosystem design, and change management. The growth she experienced after her diagnosis led to helping others experience a similar growth. In 2021, she presented on rejection sensitivity at the Annual International Conference on ADHD and was introduced to the CHADD chapter system. She wanted to bring that kind of support to Seattle, and six months later, she founded Seattle CHADD in 2022. Responding to the demand in the Pacific Northwest led to winning Chapter of the Year in 2023. Building a chapter from scratch showed Bardeen firsthand the twists and turns of being an inexperienced leader. She hopes to share these lessons and her business experience to help others save time and work to grow the chapter system into new areas. When she isn’t thinking about CHADD or hanging out with her CHADD friends, she’s busy being an advocate and consultant for the newly diagnosed. She also serves as a board member on the King County Board for Developmental Disabilities on initiative strategies. She holds a BA in management, marketing, and organizational behavior from the University of Puget Sound.
Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS, Co-Chair
CHADD of Greater Los Angeles
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.
Jami Demuth, Regional Center Coordinator
Midwest Regional Center
Jami Demuth serves as CHADD’s Midwest regional coordinator and health information team manager. She supports CHADD chapters in the Midwest region and provides evidence-based health information about ADHD to callers on the National Resource Center’s helpline. She coordinates and facilitates regional events, workshops, and training for members, volunteers, and partners, and liaises with local and national media outlets to raise awareness and visibility of ADHD issues. She is passionate about empowering people with ADHD to thrive in all aspects of life and is committed to advancing CHADD's mission of improving the lives of people affected by ADHD through education, advocacy, and support. Since 2017, she has volunteered with CHADD of Iowa and serves on their executive board. She has more than eighteen years of experience in writing, communication, and education, and uses her skills to create engaging and informative content for websites, newsletters, and social media platforms. Her writing has been featured in the HuffPost, Des Moines Register, Scary Mommy, Motherly, The Mighty, and Attention magazine.
Christine Mathis, Regional Center Co-Coordinator
Northeast Regional Center
Chrissy Mathis has served on the board of BuxMont CHADD since May 2018 and as the co-coordinator of the Northeast Regional Center since January 2022. She joined CHADD after her eldest son’s ADHD diagnosis to educate herself and become a better advocate for him. Less than a year later she received her own formal diagnosis. She brings her experience as both a parent of a child with ADHD and an adult with a late diagnosis to help others manage the disorder. She lives outside Philadelphia with her husband, three children, and three dogs.
Claire Noyes, Regional Center Co-Coordinator
Northeast Regional Center
Claire Noyes has been the founding member and coordinator of BuxMont CHADD in the suburban Philadelphia area since 2009. She is the mother of two sons who were diagnosed with ADHD as young children and are now young adults. Her drive to help families and individuals with ADHD comes from her own experiences with the educational and emotional challenges of raising her children. Through her work with CHADD, she has seen the impact of ADHD from childhood to adulthood and uses that knowledge to help others find their own strengths to live well with ADHD. Since 2021, Noyes has been co-coordinator of CHADD’s Northeast Regional Center. Drawing on her personal experience as chapter coordinator, she supports chapter coordinators, provides training and mentorship to new coordinators, and has created a community of chapters and a bridge to the national office. She also works to provide information about ADHD and awareness of the support that CHADD provides.
Naline Walker, Regional Center Co-Coordinator
Southern Regional Center
Naline Walker has over fifteen years of experience working with neurodiversity and neurodivergent individuals as a residential counselor in human behavior and a case manager in Virginia and Maryland. She earned a bachelor’s degree in social science from the University of University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland, and holds dual Master of Science degrees in business administration and management/criminal justice at University of Maryland University College. Walker is a Howard University associate investigator/research assistant and has served as a liaison in the DC metropolitan area for recruitment suites in a five-year research study titled An Examination of the Relationship Between Sleep and Parental Distress in Children with ADHD Who Differ in Their Medication Status. She worked at Joint Base Andrews, a military facility in Prince George County, Maryland, for the past ten years. Walker serves as a volunteer facilitator/coordinator for Prince George County CHADD parent support group and as regional coordinator for the CHADD Southern Regional Center. She also volunteers with a domestic violence nonprofit organization advocating against human trafficking.
Dale Davison, Chapter Coordinator
Chicago Area / North Shore CHADD
Dale Davidson started and coordinates Chicago's North Shore CHADD support group, an award-winning group that provides connection, support and evidence-based information to the local community. Dale earned her Master's degree in Special Education with an emphasis in Behavior Disorders, ADHD, Learning Disabilities and Dyslexia at Arizona State University. Her internship was at the Neuropsychiatric Institute UCLA. She taught remedial reading, was an educational specialist, and an educational diagnostician. An entrepreneur at heart, she then went into business. She founded and managed the full-service national advertising agency, D. Gordon & Associates, Inc. She worked hard and got lucky, managing multi-million-dollar budgets for national clients. Dale enjoyed doing strategic planning, production and media advertising for 15 years. She wanted to help others with strategic planning for their lives instead of for products. Dale pursued her passion, re-trained to become a Life Coach which the specialty in ADHD and Executive Functioning.
Jeremy Didier, LMSW, LMAC, Chapter Coordinator
ADHDKC / Kansas City CHADD
Jeremy Didier, LMSW, 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.
Belynda L. Gauthier, Chapter Coordinator
Louisiana Capital Area CHADD
Belynda L. Gauthier has served on numerous local, state, and national committees and boards involved in special needs and mental health advocacy. She previously served on CHADD’s national board of directors from 1999-2002, and was named CHADD’s Coordinator of the Year in 1998. A longtime board member for Families Helping Families, she is a founding member of the Greater Baton Rouge Learning Disabilities Coalition, and currently serves on the Louisiana DHH Task Force on ADHD. She has thirty-four years of professional experience in human resources, including twenty years as the human resources director of a large organization. During that time, she received the Employer of the Year Award from BACE for her work employing individuals with disabilities.
Angela Green, Chapter Coordinator
Philadelphia CHADD
Angela Green, MEd, is a passionate voice for children with ADHD, leveraging her roles as both a parent and educator to address the unique challenges they face in academic settings. Drawing from firsthand experiences within her own family and classroom, Green’s work is deeply rooted in empathy and understanding. As the coordinator of Philadelphia CHADD, she engages with the community to address the pressing needs of individuals with ADHD. Green recognizes the importance of implementing evidence-based approaches to support caregivers and educators in fostering the success of children with ADHD. To achieve this goal, she works as an education consultant for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and as an ADHD and executive function professional trainer. She is also a licensed provider of Managing ADHD, Executive Function, and Behavior in the Classroom, created by Cindy Goldrich of PTS Coaching LLC. Furthermore, Green's journey includes a late diagnosis of ADHD in her forties, shattering misconceptions and underscoring her advocacy efforts. She has a bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communication from Point Park University and completed graduate studies at St. Joseph’s University. Green's greatest joy lies in her family, including her husband Edward Green III, and their four children.
Larry Jones, MD, MBA, AACC, Chapter Coordinator
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.
Judy Marshall, Chapter Coordinator
CHADD of Northern California
Eva O’Malley, Chapter Coordinator
TRI CHADD NJ
Eva O’Malley is a dedicated advocate and coordinator of TRI CHADD NJ, a chapter she founded in 2007 to address the needs of her community through ADHD education, support, and advocacy. With seventeen years of experience, she emphasizes the importance of community ADHD education for families, teachers, and healthcare professionals to navigate the complexities of ADHD. O’Malley aims to help families understand and access the resources needed for safety and health. She is committed to ensuring that everyone working with children has access to accurate information on ADHD. Her involvement with the NJ Children’s System of Care and the Children’s Interagency Coordinating Council since 2009 has given her a comprehensive understanding of mental health, developmental disabilities, and addiction services for youth. Her dedication to improving ADHD treatment led her to collaborate on the development of the clinical practice guideline for the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with complex ADHD published by the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics in 2020. Her passion for empowering parents and advocating for children's needs has been a driving force in her work. O’Malley believes in the power of parents as advocates and is dedicated to supporting families in advocating for their children's well-being and success.
Shirelle F. Pearson, MBA, GBA, Chapter Coordinator
Nassau County CHADD
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.
Rick Webster, Chapter Coordinator
CHADD of Northern California
Rick Webster has been a volunteer with CHADD and ADDA for over twenty-five years. He is the chapter coordinator of CHADD of Northern California, serves on the chapter advisory committee, and has been a frequent conference speaker for both CHADD and ADDA. Webster founded RenaFi, an educational platform that provides an affordable life-coaching solution to the chronic financial difficulties and stress that a majority (61%, as per Russell Barkley, 2008) of individuals in the ADHD community endure. He is a graduate of UC Davis and holds degrees in psychology and Hellenistic art. Webster has been personally involved with personal and business finance over most of his career, specifically, real estate investment, portfolio and institutional lending, and JV investing. His primary focus in real estate has been in the service of enabling tenants to become homeowners in the Detroit, Michigan, area using a variety of lending vehicles. Diagnosed well into adulthood, Webster possesses an academic understanding and an empathy level grasp that can only be born of years of lived experience with ADHD.