| Meet our Board of Directors! | |||
| Kenneth Graves - President |
Ken is a psychologist in private practice at Brief Therapy Institute. He evaluates children, parents, and families involved with Child Protective Services. Prior to devoting his full time work week to private practice, Ken was Director of the Infant-Child comprehensive Assessment Program as well as Chief Psychologist at Salesmanship Youth and Family Centers in Dallas. His special interest is children from birth to six and their families. In addition to serving as a consultant to several agencies that serve young children, Ken has done teaching, training, and clinical work in university, hospital, and outpatient clinic settings. In the past he has served on a number of advisory committees and boards including the board of directors of the National Children's Advocacy Center. While being a full-time husband, father, and grandfather Ken has over 25 years experience working with young children and families with developmental, behavioral, and emotional challenges. He does training related to child and family issues with parents, childcare professionals, educators, mental health professionals and professionals in the judicial system. Ken is also an avid collector of Mickey Mouse toys, watches, and memorabilia. | ||
| Marnie Stone - Past President |
Marnie Stone, Fully qualified Early Intervention Specialist and Director of Early Childhood Intervention at LaunchAbility, resides in Carrollton, Texas with her husband, Randy, and two daughters Amy, age 13, and Corrie, age 7. Marnie has worked in the field of ECI for 16 years, 7 years as the ECI Director at LaunchAbility. Marnie is the out-going President of the Early Childhood Consortium of North Texas and recently was Membership Chair for the Texas Association for Infant Mental Health. She is also a member of the North Texas Association for Early Intervention Specialists. | ||
| Somer Washington - Treasurer |
Somer comes to us as a graduate of the Blueprint for Leadership program coordinated by the Center for Non-Profit Management. Somer is a Supervising Senior in the Financial Services practice of Rothstein Kass & Company (“Rothstein Kass”). Somer is responsible for the coordination of audits for a diverse range of domestic and offshore clients within the alternative investment industry, including hedge funds, fund of funds and management companies. Prior to joining Rothstein Kass, Somer held a position with Ryan & Company, Inc. as a senior consultant in the state and local tax audit defense arena. Somer received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and a Master of Professional Accounting with an emphasis in Taxation from The University of Texas at Austin. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants (TSCPA). Somer is a certified public accountant in Texas. In addition to working with TAIMH, Somer serves as Vice President of Public Relations for the National Association of Black Accountants, Dallas/Fort Worth Chapter, 2009 Class Representative for the Dallas Blueprint for Leadership Advisory Board, and networking committee member for the Dallas affiliate of Texas Wall Street Women. | ||
| Mary Greene - Secretary |
Mary Greene came to KERA with extensive experiences in an array of state, federal, and local initiatives that focused on children's health and education concerns. Prior to Sesame Street going on the air in l968, Mary Greene worked in the development of the outreach beyond the broadcast. There was only Fred Rogers on educational television and it was necessary to build an audience and awareness of a new television program for children. In 1979, Greene joined the White House Conference on Children and Youth. Most recently Greene has worked with KERA in the development of a documentary, Ready for Life, that then became a training program for parents and care givers with modules that includes a train the trainer model. To date there have been modules developed: Temperament, Socialization/Attachment, Early Literacy, and Nutrition/Fitness. This project is for parent and caregivers of children 0-5. | ||
| Jeannette Goodman | Jeannette is married with 3 daughters and 3 grandchildren. Jeannette and her husband have been foster parents to 162 infants over the past 25 years. She served as Executive Director for the Low Birth Weight Development Center for 16 years. Jeannette taught school for 17 years, using her Master Thesis as the basis for the Pre-school program. She also taught Alphabetic Phonics. She has been active in TAIMH for several years having served on the board for two terms and chair of the membership committee for several years. She is also a member of the NAEYC, SAEYC, TAEYC and Zero to Three. | ||
| Edie Hernandez Putt | Edie Hernandez Putt is a licensed professional counselor and delivers bilingual (Spanish and English) mental health services to the North Texas Community. Edie was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. She as a bachelor's degree in Psychology, a Master's degree in Counseling, and she is currently at her pre-doctorate internship site. Edie specializes in individual, marriage, couple, and family counseling. Her counseling procedures consist of cognitive behavioral, solution-focused, and brief counseling. She possess practical knowledge about issues of domestic violence (victim, children, and perpetrators), sexism, ageism, substance abuse (adult and adolescents), and crisis intervention to name a few. Edie values spending time with her husband and toddler, the Texas State Fair, and the myriad of cultural events Big "D" has to offer. | ||
| Gary M. Cole | Mr. Cole is currently the Executive Vice President for Independent Medical Systems, a privately owned Preferred Provider Organization based in Dallas, Texas. In this leadership capacity, he is responsible for business development, sales channel distribution and market development activities. Formerly, Mr. Cole was the Vice President of Sales with Humana Inc. in DFW. Prior to his time at Humana, he spent over 20 years in the Insurance/Managed Care environment working for several large national and regional health plans. Mr. Cole has both a Bachelors Degree (from Owosso College—Owosso, Michigan) and a Masters Degree (from Asbury Theological Seminary - Wilmore, Kentucky). He is interested in aviation as he maintains a Multi-engine Commercial Instrument Certificate as well as Flight Instructor Certificates. Mr. Cole also serves on three nonprofit community boards including the Dallas Chapter of the American Red Cross, DFW Health Industry Council’s Foundation, and the Advisory Board of the North Texas Entrepreneurial Center for Medical Devices. | ||
| Stacey Jourdain, ex-officio member | Stacey Jourdain is a graduate of Northwestern State University of Louisiana and has worked in social services for more than 15 years. Her experience includes case management, intake supervision, project management, and consumer and public relations. In her current position with the Department of Family and Protective Services, she serves as the Regional Resource and External Relations Specialist for Child Protective Services, Region 3. Under the Division of Community Engagement, she works to develop and strengthen collaborations and interactions with service providers such as Early Childhood Intervention, and a wide range of other professionals across North Texas committed to the safety and well-being of children and improved family outcomes. She is actively involved in coalitions, workgroups and state and local initiatives to solve problems that lead to child abuse. Stacey is married and has one child. | ||
| Susan Peek Hoff | Susan Hoff is a native of Midland, Texas. She earned a degree in bilingual/bicultural education from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado and completed graduate work in early childhood education at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin and post graduate work in public administration and policy analysis at the University of Texas at Dallas. In early 2009 she joined United Way of Metropolitan Dallas where she currently serves as Senior Vice President of Community Impact. Prior to joining the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas team in 2009, Susan was the CEO and President of ChildCareGroup, a Dallas based non-profit organization dedicated to promoting, delivering and expanding the best child care services available outside the home. She is the incoming President of the board of the Texas Early Childhood Education Coalition (TECEC) and a member of the advisory board of the Texas Early Care and Education Career Development System and serves on the Board of the National Society for Collegiate Scholars and is a member of the Dallas Social Venture Partners and the Jr. League of Richardson. | ||
| Eulalia Gillum-Roberson | No Bio Available | ||
| Merinda Condra - West Texas Association for Infant Mental Health Chapter President, ex-officio |
Merinda K. Condra is a graduate of Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University School of Law. Before attending law school, Merinda worked for both Congressman Chet Edwards of Waco Texas and Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives James E. "Pete" Laney. After graduating with honors from law school, Merinda served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Texas. She then joined her father in a successful law partnership in Lubbock, Texas which concentrates on dealing with governmental agencies and serves clients nationwide. Merinda founded and serves as the executive director of Adoption Covenant, a nonprofit adoption agency which provides adoption services both internationally and domestically. Merinda is the mother of Emma who began her life in Russia, but came home in 2003. | ||
| Mary Sondgeroth BabyConnections - Austin Area Chapter Rep, ex-officio |
No Bio Available | ||
| Grace White - Early Connections for Children's Mental Health Chapter President, ex-officio |
No Bio Available. | ||
| Texas Association for Infant Mental Health 1199 S. Beltline Road, Suite 100 Coppell, Texas 75019 972-906-2696 |
|||