The International Dyslexia Association Promoting literacy through research, education and advocacy

IDA Board of Directors

The Board of Directors of The International Dyslexia Association is a cross section of individuals concerned with the issues of dyslexia. Included are dyslexics, parents of dyslexic children, researchers, educators and professionals. They represent a variety of professions, educators and educational administrators, scientists and researchers, business people, attorneys, and psychologists.

	EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:
	Eric Q. Tridas, M.D., President A developmental and behavioral pediatrician in Tampa, Florida and Director of The Tridas Center for Child Development and the Medical Director for Pediatric Health Choice’s Prescribed Pediatric Extended Care Facilities. Dr. Tridas specializes in the management of ADHD, dyslexia, and other neurodevelopmental disorders.
$S:\BOARD\Pictures\Sauter.jpg$	Guinevere F. Eden, Ph.D., *Immediate* Past-President Guinevere Eden was born in Germany and holds both American and British citizenships. She received her B.Sc. from University College London, her D.Phil. in Physiology from Oxford University and her postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Eden is currently an associate professor with tenure in the department of Pediatrics with a secondary appointment in the department of Psychology at Georgetown University and has an adjunct appointment in the Department of Pediatrics at George Washington University. She directs the Center for the Study of Learning (CSL), funded by the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development and the National Science Foundation. Dr. Eden also serves as a Scientific Co-Director of the Science of Learning Center for Visual Language and Visual Learning at Gallaudet University and serves on the boards of several local schools that enroll students challenged by language-based learning differences.
	Suzanne Carreker, Ph.D., CALT-QI, Vice President Suzanne Carreker, is vice president of program development at Neuhaus Education Center in Houston, TX, a non-profit organization that provides professional development to teachers in research-based reading instruction. A past president of the Houston Branch of IDA, she is a frequent speaker at local and national conferences and is the author of several language and literacy curricula. Ms. Carreker serves on the boards of the Academic Language Therapy Association and the Alliance for Accreditation and Certification.
$S:\BOARD\Pictures\Sauter.jpg$	Cinthia Coletti Haan, Vice President Cinthia Coletti Haan is co-founder and chair of The Haan Foundation for Children and she presently oversees the executive management and all daily operations of the non-profit organization dedicated to developing and implementing educational solutions. Her primary goal is to unite the efforts of scientific research, education practice, innovation, and technology to support dramatic improvements in student achievement. Haan’s business career began as one of the founding team members in Southern Pacific Railroad's launching of SPRINT where she remained until the company was sold to GTE. She then accepted a position as director of Ford Aerospace, Starnet Division, before performing a series of mergers and acquisitions of telecommunications corporations. Her experience includes cross-functional operations management, integrating core and revolutionary product strategies, expertise in financial profit-and-loss modeling, and delivering innovative and entrepreneurial thinking to organizations. She currently serves as CEO of Syndacon Corporation, and now brings her talents and expertise to the crucial needs of education and health.
	Susan Lowell, M.A., B.C.E.T., Vice President Susan C. Lowell, M.A., B.C.E.T., is a member of the Board of Directors of I.D.A. and past President of NC IDA. Ms. Lowell serves as an advisor to the Office of Overseas Schools, U.S. Department of State, where she serves as a reading consultant for the international schools. Ms. Lowell’s course, ‘Teaching Reading in the International School,’ is offered for graduate level credit through Buffalo State S.U.N.Y. in the Masters degree program for international school teachers. Ms. Lowell also trains teachers for ‘Brookes on Location’, using research-based curriculum in phonemic awareness and reading instruction. As the director of Educational Therapy Associates in Chapel Hill, Ms. Lowell works as an educational diagnostician providing evaluations of learning difficulties including dyslexia. She is also an instructor in the Simmons College graduate program, Language & Literacy.
$S:\BOARD\Pictures\Sauter.jpg$	Karen E. Dakin, M.Ed., Secretary Director of Learning Resources at Hathaway Brown School in Shaker Heights, Ohio. Her area of expertise includes the diagnosis and remediation of dyslexia in children and adults. For over 20 years, she has been actively involved in IDA Branch development with the New York and Northern Ohio Branches of IDA.
	Ben Shifrin, M.Ed., Treasurer Ben Shifrin, M.Ed., is the Head of Jemicy School, an independent day school in Baltimore County, Maryland, for college-bound students who need extensive remediation in reading, written expression, spelling, and/or organization. A dyslexic himself, Mr. Shifrin has dedicated his career to helping students with language-based learning differences. Prior to coming to Jemicy in 2002, he was a special education administrator for the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Head of Westmark School in Encino, California.
	Rebecca (Becky) Aldred, M.Ed., Chair, Branch Council Executive Committee Becky Aldred is a retired teacher and director of Sounds and Syllables of Virginia, LLC, a private comprehensive reading service, offering tutoring, diagnostic evaluations, and professional development. Becky is a former VA Branch President and Regional Representative for Branch Council, IDA. She has been involved with the VA Branch since 1979, signing the original incorporation papers for the Orton Dyslexia Society—later to become the VA Branch IDA.
	AT-LARGE DIRECTORS:
	Elsa Cardenas-Hagan, Ed.D., CALT Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan is a Bilingual Speech Language Pathologist and a Certified Academic Language Therapist. She holds a doctorate degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She is the Director of Valley Speech Language and Learning Center in Brownsville,Texas and works with Texas Institute for Measurement Evaluation and Statistics at the University of Houston. Dr. Cárdenas Hagan is the author of Esperanza (HOPE): a Spanish language program designed to assist students who struggle with learning to read. Her research interests include the development of early reading assessments for Spanish speaking students in addition to the development of reading interventions for bilingual students. She was the co-principal investigator of a longitudinal study funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Institute for Education Science, examining the oracy and literacy development in English and Spanish of Spanish speaking children. She is also the Co-Founder of Brownsville READS! a nonprofit organization to promote literacy. She has authored curricular programs, book chapters, and journal articles related to oracy and literacy development for English language learners.
	Gad Elbeheri, Ph.D. Dr. Elbeheri is the Executive Director for the Centre for Child Evaluation & Teaching located in Kuwait. The CCET is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting individuals with learning disabilities in Kuwait and the rest of the Arab and Gulf region. He is an applied linguist who's field of interest focuses on the cross-linguistic investigation of specific learning difficulties in Arabic.
	Lynne Fitzhugh, Ph.D., CALT-QI Executive Director of The Dyslexia Center at Penrose-St. Francis Hospital in Colorado Springs, a non-profit organization providing direct services to individuals with dyslexia, professional development in reading instruction, and community services related to dyslexia. She is creator and instructor of the Dyslexia Institute for Educators at Colorado College, and Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Psychology at the University of Colorado, in Colorado Springs. Dr. Fitzhugh serves on the board of the Academic Language Therapy Association.
$S:\BOARD\Pictures\Sauter.jpg$	Jonathan Green, M.Ed. Director of The Hamilton School at Wheeler in Providence, Rhode Island — an innovative school-within-a-school serving elementary and middle school children diagnosed with dyslexia or other language-based learning disabilities. Mr. Green has a Masters of Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is a founding board member of the Bradford L. Dunn Institute, a nonprofit corporation committed to assisting students, parents, and teachers with issues related to learning differences.
	Erik E. Heyer Erik Heyer, founder and CEO of Capital Schools, is a respected education leader, business manager and social entrepreneur. Capital Schools operates private schools, summer camps and therapy centers for children with autism spectrum disorder. In 2006, Mr. Heyer established The Siena School in Silver Spring, MD. The Siena School has earned a reputation as one of Washington, D.C.’s leading private schools for students with dyslexia and language-based learning differences. The school and its staff have earned several honors, along with accolades from area educators, community leaders and the media, including The Washington Post. Previously, Erik was on the founding team and management committee of Victory Schools, a national leader in the charter school and public education reform movements. In 2003, he was awarded a Broad Fellowship in the Broad Foundation Superintendents Academy, one of the nation’s most prestigious educational leadership training programs. He began his career in finance with Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan, before joining New Mountain Capital, a leading private equity investment firm. Mr. Heyer holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in systems engineering with high honors from the University of Virginia. He has served on governing boards of the Atlantic Seaboard Dyslexia Education Center, the Mental Health Association of Montgomery County, and Calvert Education Services, one of the nation's oldest and largest homeschooling organizations.
	Richard "Dick" O. Jacobs, J.D. Dick Jacobs joined the Trenam Kemker Attorney firm in February 2006 and focuses his practice on health law, corporate and tax law (including entity formation, mergers and acquisitions), personal estate planning and asset protection. Prior to joining the firm, he was with Holland and Knight, LLP. Before he joined Holland & Knight, Dick built one of the largest law firms on the West Coast of Florida. In 1983, he took leave of absence from his firm to assist a troubled bank, for which he served as president and CEO during its final three years in business. As a result of that experience he wrote the book, Crash Landing – Surviving a Business Crisis.
	Hal Malchow Hal Malchow is the co-author of The Sword of Darrow, a young adult fantasy novel which he wrote with his son, Alex. At the time they began writing, Alex was eight years old, had undiagnosed learning disabilities and could not read at all. To celebrate the book’s success, they are donating all author royalties to the International Dyslexia Association and their publisher, Ben Bella Books, is donating half of its profits to learning disabilities organizations as well. Hal is a nationally recognized political consultant who has worked for candidates at the presidential level all the way down to local offices. His work has won numerous creative awards and he helped pioneer the use of statistical modeling in the political arena. After becoming discouraged by the negative character of political campaigns, he closed his firm in 2010. He continues to do some consulting and is working on his next book.
	Gregory E. Matthews, CPA Gregory Matthews is a principal and senior benefit consultant with Matthews Benefit Group, Inc. in St. Petersburg, Florida. He is the creator and author of the monthly employee benefits newsletter 401(k) Advisor, author of the Payroll Answer Book, and co-author of the 403(b) Answer Book Forms & Worksheets for Aspen Publishers. He is a frequent speaker at regional and national benefit programs. Mr. Matthews also authored and taught Course 6 of the American Institute of CPAs’ “Compensation and Benefits” in the Tax Certificate Program. Gregory is a graduate of the University of Tampa (mathematics) and completed his accounting and mathematical studies at Strayer University and American University, Washington, D.C.
	Janis Mitchell Janis Mitchell holds a B.A from the Ohio State University in Political Science and is a Registered Security Industry Professional. Mitchell is a dyslexic serial entrepreneur and has been involved in the information technology industry for over eleven years. She founded her previous successful enterprise, Info Fortress Solutions in January 2000 which she then sold on to global firm Betrusted, Inc., owned by Bank One. Mitchell served as President of Betrusted Consulting for the Americas and was responsible for managing and growing the professional services group domestically. She serves on Executive Boards for the Central Ohio Dyslexia Association, Ohio Legislative Committee for Dyslexia Legislation, Ohio’s IT Alliance, and InsightETE, Past Vice President of the Central Ohio Board of the International Association for Dyslexia, Board for Franklin University, Board of Directors for Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, National 4H Foundation, Mayor’s Columbus 2012 Commission, Columbus Chamber Small Business Executive Committee, Columbus Chamber Legislative Committee and Columbus Ohio’s Mayor Workforce and Talent Commission.
$S:\BOARD\Pictures\Sauter.jpg$	Louisa Moats, Ed.D. A consultant on literacy research and literacy products, Sopris West Educational Services and a researcher, writer, and consultant specializing in professional development and teacher education. Dr. Moats earned her doctorate in reading and human development at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.
	Gordon F. Sherman, Ph.D. Gordon F. Sherman is Executive Director of The Newgrange School and Education Center. Before joining Newgrange, he was Director of the Dyslexia Research Laboratory at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and was a faculty member in neurology (neuroscience) at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Sherman received his doctorate in developmental psychobiology from the University of Connecticut. He is a former president of IDA and a recipient of two of its most prestigious honors, the Samuel T. Orton Award and the Norman Geschwind Memorial Lecture Award. He also was inducted recently into the Sylvia O. Richardson Hall of Honor. Dr. Sherman speaks nationally and internationally to parents, teachers, and scientists about cerebrodiversity, learning differences, brain development, and the future.
	Leo Stern, J.D. Leo Stern is an attorney-at-law for more than 40 years, Leo Stern’s focus is alternative dispute resolution. Among his selection to national and international arbitration and mediation panels, is selection to the mediation education panels for the States of Minnesota and Wisconsin where he handles IEP mediations and facilitated IEPs. As an adjunct professor, Mr. Stern has taught at law schools in the U.S. and abroad. His community service includes more than 30 years on the pro bono panel of the Minnesota Lawyer’s Network as well as service as a director and chair on several Minnesota based non-profits, including six years on the board of IDA-Upper Midwest Branch. He helped establish The June Stern Family Foundation for Children with Dyslexia, a nonprofit foundation providing scholarships to K-3 general and special education teachers in theTwin Cities to learn research-based methods to teach reading, writing and spelling. He is the son and parent of dyslexic individuals, and is one, himself.
	Edward C. Taylor. Ph.D. Edward Taylor is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Jacksonville, Florida. His practice focuses on child and adolescent psychology. He received his PhD from the University of Florida and completed an internship and post-doctoral fellowship at the Kansas University School of Medicine-Wichita. He has held faculty appointments in the Department of Psychiatry of the Kansas University School of Medicine-Wichita and in the Department of Pediatrics of the University of Florida School of Medicine, Shands-Jacksonville. In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Taylor provides educational interventions to children with learning disorders through The Learning Specialists, an educational practice he developed 15 years ago. Dr. Taylor serves as the Treasurer of the Board of Directors of the Florida Branch of the International Dyslexia Association and is a member of the American Psychological Association.
	Mary Wennersten, M.Ed. Mary Wennersten is the past-president of the AZ IDA. She is currently working for the Arizona Department of Education in the School Effectiveness Division with K-12 Literacy and School Improvement. She provides professional development and technical assistance to schools across Arizona in literacy and (RTI) Response to Intervention/Instruction - leadership, coaching, curriculum and instruction, assessment and data analysis. Because of her own experience as a struggling dyslexic student and having a child with dyslexia, Mary has spent her career in public education improving instruction for all students.

	EX-OFFICIO, NON VOTING MEMBER:

$S:\BOARD\Pictures\Sauter.jpg$	Stephen M. Peregoy, IDA Executive Director Mr. Peregoy holds a Bachelors and Masters degree in Health Science from Towson State University in Maryland, where he continues to teach courses in Public Health Education. He had been with the American Lung Association of Maryland since 1981, serving as that organization's President and CEO from 1989 to 2008. He brings an impressive track record of success in fundraising, leadership, financial management, strategic planning, marketing, government affairs and developing collaborative partnerships with like-minded organizations.