People

Board

Advisory Board

Core Team

Subject-Matter Experts

Board

Raúl E. Alvarado - Co-Founder and Chairman

After 33 years of leadership service at Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, Raúl chose to dedicate his time and resources to helping people empower themselves and grow through the use of complementary and alternative healing methods. Raúl has a longstanding history of commitment and a passion for supporting children and education. He currently serves as chairman of the board at Children’s Institute, Inc., an organization that serves at-risk children and families in Los Angeles. He has also served on the board of the Fulfillment Fund, a college-access organization that offers mentoring and counseling to disadvantaged students. Raúl grew up in Panama, came to the U.S. to go to college, and has lived and worked around the world. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical and petroleum refining engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and a master’s in business administration from Purdue University.

Hildegard (Gerdi) Matzer Alvarado - Co-Founder and Trustee

A former nurse and current Reiki master teacher, Gerdi deeply understands the unique value of complementary medicine and alternative healing. In addition to Reiki, she also advocates acupuncture, chiropractic, yoga, and proper nutrition and exercise to optimize and integrate one's physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being. Gerdi was born in Austria and immigrated to the United States as a young child. Having lived overseas, both as a child and later as an adult, she acutely recognizes the importance of culturally sensitive support. Gerdi speaks German, Spanish and English, and she is a dedicated practitioner of Anusara yoga, an avid journaler and an enthusiastic writer of fiction. She also advocates writing, chanting and drumming as healing tools. She is the proud mother of three successful adult children whom she raised with her husband, Raúl, with integrity, compassion and unconditional love.

Ahmad Gramian – Trustee

Ahmad is co-founder of CorpInfo Services, an information technology company that delivers infrastructure and application development consulting services. He also devotes his time as a member of the board of trustees of Children’s Institute Inc., the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Boy Scouts of America. He is also on the Advisory board for Upward Bound House.

Ahmad holds a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering/Computer from the University of Southern California (USC), and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia. He also serves as a University of Southern California Ambassador.

Andrea Cockrum – Trustee

Andrea joined the Fulfillment Fund in 1988 as its first full-time Executive Director and later CEO. Her vision, commitment and passion for assisting promising, economically disadvantaged youth helped to grow the Fulfillment Fund from a grassroots, volunteer organization into a national model for college-access programs that provide mentoring, classroom outreach, college counseling and college scholarships.

Under Andrea’s leadership, the Fulfillment Fund has received various prestigious awards and recognition including the “Spirit of Mentoring Award” by the California Mentor Initiative as the best community-based mentoring program in California. The organization is also recognized by the President’s Initiative on Race as one of 177 “Promising Practices.”

Prior to joining the Fulfillment Fund, Andrea served 10 years at UCLA as Executive Director of the Early Intervention Program for Developmentally Handicapped Children and the Special Preventive Research and New Technology Program. For 13 years preceding her UCLA tenure, she worked in management with United Airlines, specializing in in-flight service and industrial and labor relations. In addition to her professional duties, she currently serves as a member of the Conductor’s Circle of The Harmony Project, as President of the Board of New Designs Charter School, and as a board member of both Playwright’s Arena and A Thousand Joys.

Andrea has been honored by the Los Angeles Dodgers as a “Dodger Hometown Hero,” and by the Century City Chamber of Commerce as a “Woman of Achievement.” She has also been formally recognized by The League of Women Voters, the Central City Association of Los Angeles and the National College Access Network. In 2008, the Fulfillment Fund honored Andrea with a special Inspiration Award. All of these awards pay tribute to her lifelong commitment to underserved young people. She considers helping students to understand the importance of helping others her greatest legacy.

Samman Baker – Trustee

Born and raised in Syria, Samaan Bakar immigrated to the U.S. in 1970. He earned his bachelor of science degree from California Polytechnic Institute San Luis Obispo in 1975, and began his professional career at Borg-Warner Corporation as a member of its Management Training Program.

In 1982, Samaan joined the management team of Western Data Systems, a startup software company in Los Angeles. During his tenure with the company, he was instrumental in driving its growth to become one of the leading aerospace and defense materials requirements planning (MRP) software companies at the time.

Samaan later joined Accenture, where he worked on building a new mid-market business for the aerospace and defense practice. In 1997, he co-founded BBSC, an enterprise software sales and consulting company. The following year he sold BBSC and founded a new startup, Ten Dots, a business intelligence and competitive analysis company based on the Internet subscription model.

Samaan serves on the Board of Trustees of Children Institute, Inc., a Southern Californian nonprofit organization that provides services for at-risk children and families. He enjoys studying the cultures and history of other countries and their impact on how we live today. He travels throughout the world with his family, encouraging them to embrace diversity and experience other cultures.

Advisory Board

James (Jim) D. Mitchell - Advisory Board Member

Jim Mitchell brings 18 years of experience in the global media, high technology and electronics industries. He has worked with clients such as Google, HP, Sun, DirecTV, Ingram Micro, Qualcomm, Toshiba, Intel and Nokia to increase their shareholder value by opening new channels, launching new products and business, improving supply chain and global operations, and enhancing customer care. During his tenure with Accenture, Jim co-founded the firm’s e-commerce practice and established Internet centers throughout the country to deliver Internet-based solutions to Fortune 500 and leading-edge companies. As Managing Partner at Accenture’s Los Angeles office he was responsible for overseeing business operations and a staff of 700 employees. His responsibilities included staffing plans, mentoring, motivating and retention. Jim earned his B.A. in Business and Computer Science from Purdue University. He holds 6 patents on e-commerce frameworks for conducting business on the Internet.

Denise Neumark-Reimer - Advisory Board Member

For the past 18 years, Denise has worked as a practitioner, teacher and clinical supervisor of acupuncture and Oriental medicine. She taught Oriental medicine and was a clinical supervisor at Yo-San University, Emperor's College, and at Samra University of Oriental Medicine, where she also served as academic dean. Denise retired from teaching in 2002 to focus on her private practice and to develop classes based upon her clinical experience. In 1996, she became a Reiki master teacher and since then has incorporated this form of energy healing into her practice by teaching classes to both acupuncture students and her private patients. Denise’s focus for healing is on educating her patients about the body/mind connection and helping them to maximize their potential for wellness. She is also the owner of the BodyMind Alliance, an adjunct to her private practice.

Core Team

Liza Auciello, PsyD - Managing Director

Liza is a licensed clinical psychologist with specialized training in psychological testing, early identification and intervention, behavioral disorders, and abuse and neglect. During her ten-year tenure at Children’s Institute, Inc., Liza worked as a staff psychologist conducting psychological assessments with children. She also served as director of the Child and Family Assessment Center and as vice president of Mental Health Programs. In the latter role, she was responsible for program effectiveness, staff performance and wellness. In September 2006, Liza began her role as managing director of A Thousand Joys. She spearheads the organization’s activities and manages operations, client consultation, education, and advocacy. Liza has participated in complementary healing, meditation and yoga for nearly 15 years. She is committed to developing wellness models for staff in the mental health field and treatment models that incorporate complementary/alternative healing for clients. She holds a doctoral degree in health psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles.

Lisa M. Lawrence, MBA - Sales and Development

Lisa supports the ATJ team in sales, development and services delivery. She is a consultant, facilitator and solutions expert with more than 20 years of experience in strategic business, market and organization planning. Her areas of specialization include helping clients to achieve specific results through strategy and operations, communication, leadership, and business infrastructure. She has worked with executives for improved performance and developed targeted leadership programs, including ATJ’s Leadership Learning Lab, and her innovative work on leadership has been widely published. Before joining ATJ, Lisa founded her own consultancy business and, prior to that, she was with Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting) where she led strategic planning sessions for both the company and client executives. Lisa holds a Master of Business Administration, with an emphasis on productivity and international business from the University of San Diego, and she received her bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Development and Organizational Communication from Brigham Young University.

Sherisa Dahlgren, LMFT

Sherisa is a licensed marriage and family therapist in California with specific expertise and interest in the application of the arts to language acquisition, education and the healing of trauma. Sherisa has a special interest in co-parenting issues and post-divorce parenting strategies as well as applying mindfulness and movement techniques to strengthen coping skills in young children. She received specialized training in the application of functional analytic psychotherapy for treatment resistant personality disorders, Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and she is trained as a parent-child interaction therapist, which focuses on increasing the parent-child bond and reducing oppositional behavior in young children. Sherisa currently treats children and families impacted by sexual abuse, domestic violence and child abduction. She earned her master’s degree in clinical psychology from San Jose State University.

Marie Elena Rigo, MA

Marie Elena is a consultant, facilitator and coach with more than 15 years of experience in teaching, marketing and communications. She is president of MER Life Design, a full-service firm that offers personal/professional coaching, residential and commercial Feng Shui/interior design, and customized workshops and seminars to help organizations motivate, inspire and promote positive change. Marie Elena has worked for Fortune 500 companies such as MasterCard, IBM and Deloitte, and she served as vice president of marketing and communications for Gilda’s Club Worldwide, a nonprofit cancer support community. Her business acumen, along with her graduate training in psychology, equips her with a unique ability to impart tangible skills for personal and professional growth, development and success. Marie Elena teaches classes and workshops for A Thousand Joys, the Learning Annex and major corporations such as Amtrak and the Disney Store. She holds a master's degree in spiritual psychology from the University of Santa Monica and a bachelor’s degree in classics from Trinity College in Hartford, CT.

Karen Eastman, Ph.D.

Karen is a licensed clinical psychologist with experience in meditation, spirituality and mind-body interventions, and she is an assistant clinical professor in the UCLA Department of Psychology. She served as the assistant director of the UCLA/RAND Center for Adolescent Health Promotion, where she led the Training and Education Core and developed, implemented and evaluated programs for parents and adolescents that focused on communication and adolescent health issues. Since then, Karen has worked as an independent contractor for several child-related organizations, leading training seminars on communication skills and providing training materials on child development issues. Karen has taught courses at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, UC Irvine and UCLA. She received her doctorate from the UCLA, completed a postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA’s Semel Neuropsychiatric Institute, and conducted mind-body research in the UCLA Department of Pediatrics. She maintains a private practice in Los Angeles.

Teresa Holzbach, CPT - Consultant

Teresa holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business from Michigan State University. She was Account Supervisor at The Townsend Advertising Agency in Chicago, managing accounts for such corporations as United Airlines, Discover Card and Ford Motor Company. Teresa is also an AFFA Certified Personal Trainer as well as an AFPA Certified Nutrition and Wellness Consultant. She is an athlete and former Junior Olympian who has earned national awards. Over the last 20 years she has worked with many different trainees, trainers and coaches. Teresa worked with Dr. Lori Miller to develop the Body Sobriety Program, which assists addicts to live a life of moderation through the integration of body and mind. She has been a volunteer in the activities program for inner-city children at HOLA (Heart of Los Angeles). Teresa still trains privately and works with patients at Beverly Hills Physical Medicine.

Subject-Matter Experts

Tanya Beilke, RYT

Tanya is a Certified Anusara Yoga® Instructor and the founder of Sacred Space LA, where she currently teaches public classes and leads advanced studies programs. She has extensive experience in the therapeutic aspects of yoga including meditation, pranayama and philosophy. Tanya led a volunteer program at Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall teaching yoga in a locked-down unit of teenage boys who were being tried as adults. This program taught inner-city gang members to strengthen their ability to cope with difficult circumstances, heal physical and emotional wounds and to trust themselves. She also worked with the Child and Family Guidance Center teaching yoga to teenage girls who were victims of sexual abuse. This program, which focused on self-image, esteem and personal power, helped to facilitate deeper communication between the girls and their therapists. In addition, Tanya led a Seva (selfless service) program to the Sacred Valley of Peru, building a medical clinic for Casa de Milagros, a home for abused and abandoned children. Tanya is on the Certification Board for Anusara Yoga. She graduated summa cum laude from Ohio University with a bachelor’s degree in communication.

Kathryn De Planque, Ph.D.

Kathryn is a certified holistic health practitioner-hypnotherapist. She works as group facilitator for Mediation/ Imagery Groups for cancer patients at the Simms-Mann UCLA Center for Integrative Oncology and serves as an integrative clinician on The Pediatric Pain Team at UCLA. She is also a consulting psychologist for the Odyssey Charter School in Pasadena and the Institute of Educational Advancement in Pasadena, a Pipeline to Success Program for gifted students. Kathryn earned her doctorate in philosophy of holistic health sciences from the Clayton College of Natural Health; her master’s degree in counseling school psychology from California State University, Los Angeles, and her bachelor’s degree in special education K-12 and elementary education 1-8 from the William Paterson College in Wayne, New Jersey.

Ken Korade, BS - Consultant

Ken Korade is a professional musician by trade. He has played music around the world with some of the biggest names in the business, and his music can be heard in many hit TV shows and films. Ken has been intensively studying meditation, bioenergetics, Kriya yoga, nutrition, breathing exercises and Qigong for 15 years. He has had the rare privilege of being a primary disciple of two master teachers in meditation and has received advanced personal training from both. He has completed the Mudrashram master and advanced courses in meditation, and he is a Supreme Science Qigong practitioner. Ken has also completed the entire Self-Realization Fellowship three-year training. Through these once-secret energy practices, Ken has transformed his life, and he has a sincere desire to share this knowledge with those who are interested. Ken believes that in the future, these practices will become widely known, allowing people to enjoy increased vigor, mental acuity, youthfulness and, as a result, to transform their health and humanity. Ken graduated summa cum laude from State University of New York at Albany Business School with a concentration in marketing.