The ASDAH Board of Directors is chosen by member vote on an annual basis. Any full voting member of ASDAH is eligible to run for office. Committee Chairs are identified by the elected board and committee members are drawn from the general membership. The elected board and committee chairs function as the ASDAH Leadership Team and meet via conference call on a monthly basis, or as needed. If you are interested in running for a board position or serving on a committee please contact our Nominations Committee chair.
Please feel free to contact us. We welcome your comments and questions!
Board of Directors
President: Deb Lemire, BFA
Vice-President: Joslyn Smith
Vice-President, International: Lily O'Hara, PhD (cand), MPH
Past-President: Dana Schuster, MS
Secretary: Fall Ferguson, JD, MA
Treasurer: Nomi Dekel, MA, LMFT
Membership: William J Fabrey, BSEE
At-Large:
Sandy Andresen, MA, PhD abd
At-Large: Ellyn Herb, PhD
Committee Chairs
Conference Planning Committee Co-Chairs: Dana Schuster, MS & Deb Lemire, BFA
Education & Programming Committee Co-Chairs: Barbara Bruno, PhD & Ellyn Herb, PhD
Internal Policy Committee Chair: Dana Schuster, MS
Media Relations Committee Chair: TBD
Newsletter Committee Chair: Amy Herskowitz, MSc
Nominations Committee Chair: Dana Schuster, MS
Public Policy Committee Chair: Sandy Andresen, MA, PhD abd
Research Committee Chair: Paul Ernsberger, PhD
Website Committee Chair: Nomi Dekel, MA, LMFT
BIOS
Deb Lemire, BFA, President: Deb is Founder and Artistic Director of Queen Bee
Productions, a professional organization producing creative works that
advocate for women. QBP offers workshops, talks and performance
presentations that focus on issues important to women including body
and size acceptance. She has been honored for her achievements by the
National Organization for Women, YWCA, and the Akron Women's History
Project. She currently serves as an advocate for Health At Every SizeSM
on her school district's Wellness Policy committee in Ohio.
Joslyn Smith, Vice-President: Joslyn currently serves as a consultant for Ophelia's™ Place, a resource and support center in Syracuse, NY for those impacted by body dissatisfaction, disordered eating and eating disorders. In this and her previous role with the organization, she has been responsible for organizational and programmatic development; workshop and conference planning; and efforts to promote health and wellness through Health at Every Size℠ . Prior to joining Ophelia's™ Place in October, Joslyn was Senior Legislative Assistant for the American Psychological Association's™(APA) Public Interest Government Relations Office in Washington, DC where she led federal policy efforts addressing eating disorders and obesity prevention by bringing a Health At Every Size℠ perspective to policy discussions. Before her employment at APA, Joslyn served as a congressional intern in the office of then-Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, working closely with the Senator's health staff on issues related to health and mental health. Joslyn currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Andrea's™ Voice Foundation, the Professional Advisory Council for A Chance To Heal and the Diversity Task Force for the National Eating Disorders
Lily O'Hara, Vice-President, International: Lily is a lecturer (professor) in public health and health promotion at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. She teaches HAESSM to undergraduate and postgraduate students, and conducts research projects based on HAESSM principles. She is also a health promotion practitioner, and has worked in the field for over 20 years. Lily is actively involved in the development, implementation and evaluation of HAESSM oriented health promotion programs in the community, particularly in schools. She has been awarded Life Membership of the Australian Health Promotion Association in recognition of her contribution to health promotion in Australia.
Dana Schuster, MS, Past President: Dana is a Health and Fitness Instructor with a Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling. She was an exercise instructor for Kaiser Permanente for 13 years, co-founded Women of Substance Health Spa, and currently teaches exercise classes at Every Woman Health Club in Redwood City, California. Since 2005 Dana has been involved in School Wellness Policy development and implementation as an avid HAESSM promoter at both the county and district level.
Fall Ferguson, J.D., M.A., Secretary: Fall is a holistic health educator and coach. Her professional practice focuses on Health At Every SizeSM, including working with individuals and groups on body image and disordered eating issues. She emphasizes cultivating body awareness as a way to access our healing and transformative edge. Fall also serves as adjunct faculty at John F. Kennedy University, where she teaches a variety of courses. Formerly an employment attorney specializing in sexual harassment and disability discrimination law, Fall has a J.D. from Yale Law School and an M.A. in Holistic Health Education from John F. Kennedy University.
Nomi Dekel, MA, LMFT, Treasurer & Website Chair:
Nomi is a licensed psychotherapist who practices in the San Francisco
Bay Area. She has extensive experience facilitating workshops, groups, and individual & couples
sessions with a focus on transforming negative body image & the HAESSM principles (CelebrateYourBody). Nomi is also the owner of VoluptuArt – Art & Gifts for Celebrating Your Body; an online store specializing in body positive art.
William J. Fabrey, BSEE, Membership: Bill is a retired biomedical engineer who has been active in size acceptance since 1969, when he founded the NAAFA organization, and was active in its leadership until 1991. He was the Big News columnist for Radiance Magazine for large women from 1989-2001, and was a co-founder of the Council on Size &Weight Discrimination in 1991. He is currently one of several directors of that organization, and remains a life member of NAAFA. Bill runs a mail order company called Amplestuff, which has carried products for large people since 1988.
Sandy Andresen, MA, PhD abd, At-Large:
Sandy is a Health Educator, Therapist, and teacher residing in
Sebastopol, California. She was the developer of the "Beyond Weight"
program for Kaiser Permanente's Northern California Regional Health
Education and Kaiser Permanente in Santa Rosa, California. She has
developed educational tools to foster medical staff sensitivity to size
acceptance, and designed materials and implemented Health Education
services that realign Kaiser's overall approach to weight and health to
focus on health rather than weight loss.
Ellyn Herb, PhD, At-Large: Ellyn is a licensed psychologist and certified eating disorders specialist practicing in San Jose, CA area since 1983. Using both individual and group therapy, she treats girls and women who struggle with issues of size, weight, eating, and body image. Ellyn is a frequent presenter speaking on topics such as, “Health At Every SizeSM”, “Size-ism in Psychotherapy”, and “Expressive Arts Therapy in the Treatment of Eating Disorders”. She also designed the Eating Disorder Certificate Program at John F. Kennedy University and continues to teach in their continuing education department, as an Adjunct Professor at the Campbell, CA campus. Her website is Therapy 4 Women.
Barbara Altman Bruno, Ph.D., Education Co-Chair: Barbara is a clinical social worker long active in size acceptance and HAESSM. She is on NAAFA's Advisory Board and authored their Guidelines for Therapists Who Treat Fat Clients. Barbara teaches courses at SUNY-Westchester Community College related to stress relief, mind-body healing, and HAESSM, and has written and edited articles, columns, chapters, and books related to well-being at any size, including Worth Your Weight (Rutledge, 1996).
Amy Herskowitz, M.Sc., Newsletter Chair:
Amy is a senior policy and programming consultant for the Ontario
provincial government. She is also a health educator and consultant
whose business "FED-UP! Fight Eating Disorders by Understanding the
Problems" specializes in the awareness and prevention of eating
disorders and self-harming behaviors. She designs & facilitates
interactive workshops and presentations to clinicians, educators and
students on issues of strategic health policy, weight and body
pre-occupation and employs a HAESSM philosophy.
Paul Ernsberger, PhD, Research Chair: Paul is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Nutrition, Medicine, Pharmacology, and Neuroscience at Case Western Reserve University. He is a researcher on topics including weight, dieting, the yo-yo syndrome and blood pressure. Paul has also authored numerous articles published in biomedical and medical journals.
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