Board of Directors & Staff

Board of Directors

Adam Price

Adam (he/him) is a licensed psychologist with over 30 years’ experience working with children, teens, adults, couples, and families. Adam is an expert in learning disabilities and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder and specializes in working with unmotivated teens. As the former Director of Outpatient Services at Newark Beth Israel Hospital and Associate Director at Family Connections, a non-profit mental health agency, he has supervised and trained numerous clinicians in family and child therapy. Adam has published articles on family and child therapy in academic journals, books, newspapers, and magazines including the Wall Street Journal, Family Circle, and Psychology Today where he has a blog. He is the author of He’s Not Lazy; Empowering Your Son to Believe in Himself. Adam lectures nationally to parents and has appeared on numerous podcasts, television, and radio broadcasts. He maintains a private practice in New York City and in Chatham, New Jersey.

Allie Brashears

Allie (she/her) has been involved in transgender advocacy since 2014, and has worked with youth organizations since 2012. She served for two years as the director of Graduate Partners in Science Education at Arizona State University, which mentors junior high students, and is director of the CUNY LGBTQI+ Consortium and LGBTQ+ programming for the LaGuardia Archives. Allie has a PhD in evolutionary physiology, and is an Associate Professor at LaGuardia Community College. Her research interests focus on evolutionary biology, education, and LGBTQ+ advocacy.

Beth Dorogusker 

Beth (she/her) has worked in the field of psychology for over 30 years, providing psychotherapy to children, adolescents, and adults in both the public and private sectors. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Union College graduating Phi Beta Kappa and her Ph.D. from Adelphi University. She has worked in many hospitals both nationally and internationally. She served as the Director of the Child and Adolescent Inpatient Unit at Trinitas hospital specializing in the treatment of trauma and abuse. She also worked as the Director of Psychology Internship training where she taught and supervised interns and clinical staff. Currently, Beth is in private practice where she works with people across the life span with a specialty in adolescents and young adults. Her expertise includes treatment of anxiety, depression, ADHD, and families working through a divorce. Beth co-founded the Sam & Devorah Foundation for Trans Youth with her husband, Adam Price, after their daughter Sam Harel Price who was transgender took her own life. From this loss sprung the desire to create an organization that would provide safe spaces and a sense of community for transgender and non-binary youth. She is devoted to building the foundation so that trans youth feel less isolated, as well as develop long-lasting connections with one another.

Beth Turetsky

Beth (she/her) is a licensed psychologist whose career has encompassed clinical practice as well as teaching, research and writing focused primarily on gender equality. She spent the first decade of her professional career in college counseling, first at Fairleigh Dickenson University and then as a staff psychologist, intern supervisor, and coordinator of the eating disorders program at Princeton University’s counseling center. After that, she was in private practice and a consultant to the eating disorders program at a health care system in New Jersey. Beth sat for 15 years on the executive board and steering committee of Rachel Coalition, a non-profit that provides counseling and legal assistance to victims of domestic violence and their children in NJ. Currently, she co-leads a NJ chapter of Sisterhood for Salaam Shalom (SoSS), a national grassroots organization of 3500+ Muslim and Jewish women who together fight hate, negative stereotypes, and racism. She also co-chairs SoSS’s national social justice committee, Immigrant Communities Advocacy and Support, which develops national and local strategies for its 150 chapters to assist people who are undocumented, seeking asylum, or refugees. Beth received a BA from Tufts University and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Adelphi University.

Julia Jeffries

Julia (they/them) holds a PhD in Education from Harvard University, where they studied how teachers can work with students to create culturally responsive and inclusive environments. During their time as a graduate student, they also worked as a curriculum writer, focusing specifically on civic education and identity. Julia created and facilitated professional development experiences that helped teachers to implement their curricula with fidelity, and helped coach teachers as they experienced problems of practice. After graduating, Julia worked as an Associate at McKinsey & Company, where they had the opportunity to work with clients on some of the most pressing problems in education. Julia is currently Head of Education at Clayful, a mental health startup that works to improve access to mental health supports for youth. Julia cares deeply about young people feeling safe and finding joy in being themselves, and is thrilled to bring their experiences to the board. Julia is based in Providence, RI and outside of work enjoys running, hiking, cooking, and spending time with their wife, son, and dog.

MICHELE BETTENCOURT

Michele (she/her) is the executive producer of the award-winning documentary, "Beautiful Lie," the story of Michele's transition from Anthony Bettencourt to Michele Bettencourt, a non-binary transgender m2f. Prior to this, Michele served as CEO and Chairman of Imperva, a cyber-security software and services company. Michele retired from Imperva in February 2018 and the company agreed to be acquired for $2.1B later in the year. Prior to Imperva, Michele was the President and CEO of Coverity.  The company agreed to be acquired by Coverity in 2014 for more than $375m.

Nikki Pimentel

Nikki (they/them) was born in Queens, New York, and also lived in the Dominican Republic for 8 years of their life. Nikki has a Master's in Special Education and is currently enrolled to obtain their second Master's degree in Psychology. They are fluent in Spanish and English. They currently live in Rhode Island and are working in early intervention. They have worked with children and teens with developmental disabilities for over 7 years. Nikki is very passionate about advocacy for folks who have developmental or intellectual disabilities and for the nonbinary/trans community. They were an intern with Sam & Devorah and are currently a mentor with Trans Mentor Project. In their free time, they enjoy yoga, reading, painting, and traveling.

Nina Greenberg

Nina (she/her) is the founder and Managing Partner of Major League Events Inc. The company specializes in implementing full-scale corporate hospitality and incentive programs, meetings as well as developing fundraisers for professional sports figures. Nina began her career in 1984, in the non-profit sector, creating fundraising events for the New York City Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society.  From fundraising, she moved into sports marketing, implementing corporate hospitality programs at world-class sporting events including the Olympics, the World Cup, the America’s Cup, the Super Bowl, The Masters as well as PGA and Champions Tour Golf events. In addition to her commitment to excellence, Nina brings superb leadership ability and an unparalleled brand of hospitality to her clients. Her enthusiasm for the industry is matched only by her attention to detail and her unfailing resolve to develop and implement premier experiences for each of MLE’s clients.  Exceptional standards and a clear devotion to creating distinguished events the world over have defined her company for 25 years

Steven Lerner

Steven, (he/him) a serial entrepreneur, has spent the last 25 years creating and launching new companies in the entertainment business. He co-founded music company Wind-up Entertainment in 1996 and served as President and C.E.O. until March 2007. Wind-up was the first record label to create partnerships with artists for their recording, publishing, merchandise, and touring rights. Prior, Steven served as founder, President, and C.E.O. of Castle Entertainment, a division of publicly-traded Alliance Entertainment. While there, he was responsible for the successful launch of the record label which focused on acquiring label and artist catalogs, in addition to new recordings from established artists. He started his career in banking in 1986 at Citicorp and later with Chase Manhattan Bank. He received his B.A. in Economics from Rutgers College and an M.B.A. in Marketing from Fordham University. Steven serves as Board President for the I Have A Dream Foundation - New Jersey which provides long-term support to youth and their families that live in under-resourced and/or under-serviced communities.

Staff

Interns