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0Lisa Honig Buksbaum, MBA, MAPP; CEO & Founder, Soaringwords
Lisa Honig Buksbaum is a passionary: a visionary driven by great passion and action. She is an intuitive healer and well-loved inspirational speaker, workshop leader and master teacher who has shared her wisdom with thousands of people throughout the world. Three experiences with death and illness in her family during a ten-month period motivated her to launch Soaringwords, a not-for-profit organization she founded to inspire millions of ill children and their families to “Never give up!” Since 2001, Lisa has shared her SOARING into Strength success strategies with over 500,000 people through Soaringwords. She’s been featured as an expert on ABC News, Fortune Small Business, USA Today, and Delta Sky Magazine.
Lisa has been a keynote speaker, moderator, and panelist at dozens of professional and scientific conferences including the International Positive Psychology Association, European Positive Psychology Conference and International Positive Education Network. Lisa has led workshops at Universities, Medical Schools and Nursing Schools including University of Pennsylvania, UVA School of Medicine & School of Nursing, Tecmilienio University, NYU, and Columbia, She has led professional development workshops at dozens of Fortune 50 companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Facebook, Google, JPMorgan Chase, New York Life, and Verizon. Lisa graduated with honors from The University of Pennsylvania; holds an MBA in Marketing from Columbia University Graduate School of Business; and a Masters of Applied Positive Psychology from The University of Pennsylvania. She has a certificate in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and a certificate from the American Institute for Mental Imagery. Her first book is a memoir entitled SOARING into Strength. Lisa lives in New York City with her husband, Jacob. Her pride and joy are her two grown sons, Jonathan and Joshua, daughter-in-law Evelyn, and delicious grandbaby Charlotte. She gets her energy from swimming each day and connecting with people in meaningful ways.
Michaela Smith
, Community Relations Manager, SOARING into Strength Positive Health Initiative
Community Relations Manager, SOARING into Strength Positive Health Initiative Michaela joined Soaringwords as a fellow after completing her Master’s in Counseling at New York University. Throughout her Master’s Program, Michaela worked with a diverse population of children in the New York City Department of Education as a school counselor. Previously, she attended the University of Virginia and received a Bachelor of Arts in Cognitive Psychology. During her undergraduate career, Michaela spent her free time working as a research assistant and volunteering at a variety of organizations. Currently, she works closely with leading non-profit organizations in Silicon Valley, Tampa Bay, and Jersey City to deliver the 24 virtual workshops that comprise the Soaringwords’ SOARING into Strength Positive Health Initiative. Michaela is often found pouring over the data from participant surveys to measure how this initiative is enhancing the physical, emotional and mental well-being of participants. She is applying for her doctoral degree. She hopes that her experience with Soaringwords can influence and inform future research on trauma and resilience. In her free time, Michaela enjoys running through Manhattan and exploring new restaurants.
Pamela Nuñez del Prado Chaves, Director of Research
Pamela is the Research Director at Soaringwords. She is also the Founding Director of the “Peruvian Positive Psychology Research Centre” at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. She is the Founder of the Peruvian Positive Education Initiative and one of the founding members of Mami Linda, a non-profit organization that promotes mental health and well-being for vulnerable populations groups in Perú. Pamela is a registered clinical psychologist and full member of the Peruvian Psychological Society (Colegio de Psicólogos del Perú- CPP). As a qualified clinical psychologist and researcher, Pamela has worked across government and health, not-for-profit welfare, education and business sectors such as the Peruvian Health Department, the Peruvian Education Department, the National Institute of Mental Health and Peruvian Institute of Children’s Health (Children’s Hospital). Pamela graduated with honors from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Perú and she holds a Master in Applied Positive Psychology, from the University of Melbourne. Pamela discovered Soaringwords at the European Conference on Positive Psychology when she attended a workshop Lisa Buksbaum was leading. She joined Soaringwords and has led the Global Soaringwords Empirical Research study in Latin America. Since then, the two of them have presented the study findings at several International Scientific conferences together.
Anne Moses
Anne brings a depth of experience and expertise to the Soaringwords team helping children and families to take active roles in self-healing. With twenty+ years of working with children and schools, along with parenting three children, including parental management of severe anxiety and OCD, learning differences and ADHD, Anne is a tireless advocate for differently-abled people.
Anne discovered Soaringwords as a participant in the SOARING into Strength Positive Health Initiative in the Silicon Valley. Since she joined the organization, she has worked to expand the initiative into other markets. Anne served on the Board of The Armstrong School (for children with learning disabilities) for ten years, which involved numerous projects aimed at obtaining and analyzing relevant data to help improve school performance, especially regarding curriculum and alumni relations. Anne has an MS in Clinical Psychology from Notre Dame de Namur University. She holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.B.A. from Kent State University. She has consulted in the Silicon Valley in marketing and strategy and held management positions at Quantum Corporation, 3Com, Hewlett-Packard Corporation, and Hewlett-Packard GmbH. Anne enjoys a robust round of Pickleball when she’s not working.
Greta Rozensweig, Community Relations Manager
In 2000, Greta joined Soaringwords as an intern, working 20 hours per week, during her senior year of college. In 2002, upon her graduation, Greta became the first full-time employee. She coordinates corporate community outreach programs, which includes companies such as Accenture, BNYMellon, Cisco, Deloitte, Eli Lilly, Facebook, Google, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, New York Life Insurance, SONY, Verizon, and Viacom. She also manages nationwide educational outreach initiatives working closely with School superintendents and Principals and Child Life professionals at 196 hospitals. Greta managed Soaringwords + Zumba initiative coordinating with Child Life professionals in hospitals and hundreds of Zumba instructors who led classes for hospitalized children. She lives in Arkansas with Alex and her two adorable daughters. She enjoys cooking, hiking and is a voracious reader.
Michaela Greenlee, Soaringwords Fellow in Psychology
Michaela is a first-year student at New York University with an intended major in Psychology with a double minor in Public Health and Data Science. Prior to NYU, she founded a Make-A-Wish Club at her high school that successfully raised nearly $5,000 for the critically-ill children associated with the Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic Chapter. She also has experience initiating summer programs, such as a science program in the local library, that provide academic resources for children in low-income communities. She is passionate about Soaringwords’ mission and is eager to make long-lasting differences in the lives of children, families, and adults Soaringwords serves.
Laraib Humayun, Soaringwords Fellow in Public Health
Laraib received her Bachelor of Science in Community Health from Hofstra University in 2017. During this time, Laraib discovered her passion for improving psychosocial outcomes amongst families in community health settings and advocating for social justice within healthcare systems. She has worked in multiple roles at non-profit organizations, promoting quality improvement in service delivery and coordinated systems of care. From 2017-2019, Laraib worked as the Health Liaison for Docs for Tots, implementing a two-year initiative to bring maternal depression screening to several Federally Qualified Health Centers on Long Island, NY. Since 2018, Laraib has been pursuing her Master of Clinical Social Work and Master of Global Public Health at New York University. In May 2020, Laraib completed the NYU Zelda Foster Studies in Palliative & End-of-Life Care Fellowship while working as an oncology social work intern during her MSW clinical training.
Eily Jones, Soaringwords Fellow in Production
Eily is a senior at Pace University studying Digital Cinema & Filmmaking and Spanish. Eily has created and collaborated on several short films ranging from the classroom to professional work. Her filmmaker debut was selected and played at several film festivals both nationally and internationally. She has previously worked as the Volunteer Coordinator at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. She plans on getting her Master of Arts in Film Studies next year.
Kaili Le, Soaringwords Fellow in Education & Child Development
Kaili is a senior at New York University majoring in Early Childhood/Special Education and minoring in both Communicative Sciences & Disorders and Child & Adolescent Mental Health Studies. During her time at college, she has taught several early elementary school classrooms in New York and London. Kaili has also worked as a library intern, running an infant/toddler story time program to promote emergent literacy practices. As an NYU Peer Mentor, she plans events and co-instructs introductory seminar courses for incoming students. In her free time, Kaili also loves dancing, art, traveling, and trying new food spots!
Julian Memmo, Soaringwords Fellow in Production
Julian is a second-year student at New York University studying Media, Culture, and Communication. He has a passion for developing unique and high-impact projects, both through his writing and video producing. He creates pieces for NYU’s Communications Club website covering a wide range of topics, including film, politics, and sports. He currently works as an Admissions Ambassador for NYU, where he assists with university recruitment and administrative responsibilities.
Narise Ramlal, Soaringwords Fellow in Psychology
Narise is a senior at Hofstra University majoring in Psychology and minoring in English. During her time at Hofstra, she has been a research assistant, contributing to research projects ranging from how psychosocial factors affect the risk of developing mood and anxiety disorders during and after pregnancy, to the influence of cognition and emotional schemas on attentional bias, to how psychological terminology influences the way people decide to pursue therapy. As a Soaringwords Fellow, she is a member of the grants cohort and assists in the integration of psychological theory into the SOARING into Strength workshops. At the start of 2020, Narise made valuable contributions as Soaringwords transitioned from delivering in-person programs, shifting all its initiatives to a virtual platform. She plans on going into research focusing on disparities in mental health care and the development and promotion of culturally-sensitive psychotherapies.
Board of Directors
Lisa Honig Buksbaum, MBA, MAPP, CEO & Founder, Soaringwords
Lisa Honig Buksbaum is a passionary: a visionary driven by great passion and action. She is an intuitive healer and well-loved inspirational speaker, workshop leader and master teacher who has shared her wisdom with thousands of people throughout the world. Three experiences with death and illness in her family during a ten-month period motivated her to launch Soaringwords, a not-for-profit organization she founded to inspire millions of ill children and their families to “Never give up!” Since 2001, Lisa has shared her SOARING into Strength success strategies with over 500,000 people through Soaringwords. She’s been featured as an expert on ABC News, Fortune Small Business, USA Today, and Delta Sky Magazine.
Lisa has been a keynote speaker, moderator, and panelist at dozens of professional and scientific conferences including the International Positive Psychology Association, European Positive Psychology Conference and International Positive Education Network. Lisa has led workshops at Universities, Medical Schools and Nursing Schools including University of Pennsylvania, UVA School of Medicine & School of Nursing, Tecmilienio University, NYU, and Columbia, She has led professional development workshops at dozens of Fortune 50 companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Facebook, Google, JPMorgan Chase, New York Life, and Verizon. Lisa graduated with honors from The University of Pennsylvania; holds an MBA in Marketing from Columbia University Graduate School of Business; and a Masters of Applied Positive Psychology from The University of Pennsylvania. She has a certificate in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and a certificate from the American Institute for Mental Imagery. Her first book is a memoir entitled SOARING into Strength. Lisa lives in New York City with her husband, Jacob. Her pride and joy are her two grown sons, Jonathan and Joshua, daughter-in-law Evelyn, and delicious grandbaby Charlotte. She gets her energy from swimming each day and connecting with people in meaningful ways.
Dr. Karen Garman
Dr. Garman is currently Education and Engagement Manager, Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine. Prior to this she was the Director of Education and Development for the Southern California Permanente Medical Group. With a doctorate from the University of Southern California in adult/higher/professional education, along with certifications as a human performance improvement expert and board certified coach , Dr. Garman has over 35 years of experience in the delivery of a variety of professional development training programs to public and private healthcare organizations. In addition to the large-scale healthcare systems work that she designs and implements, she also professionally coaches healthcare individuals on how to become better leaders and clinicians at the local, state and national healthcare levels.
Dr. Garman was one of the first graduates of the Masters in Applied Positive Psychology program at the University of Pennsylvania completing her capstone in her field of medical education entitled – Broadening and Building Medical Students Clinical Performance: An Action Research Study. This study showed that positive psychology interventions practiced by medical school faculty actually improve the clinical performance of their students. Now as a 10 year specialist in positive psychology in healthcare, Dr. Garman was recently recruited as a co-director of a NIH consortium of 16 academic medical centers around the country that are addressing the cultural changes and interprofessional education required to positively implement professional change as a result of the Affordable Care Act.
Dr. Garman’s professional and personal goal is to collaborate and implement the best positive psychology practices being developed throughout the country that will make successful healthcare providers more successful, while improving patient satisfaction with every clinician-patient encounter.
Dr. Sharon Herzfeld
Dr. Herzfeld is a pediatric neurologist specializing in alternative, holistic neurology. She is board certified and a Diplomate of The American Board of Pediatrics. Dr. Herzfeld completed residency training in general pediatrics and adult neurology and a fellowship in child neurology at the New York University School of Medicine where she currently serves as a faculty member. After fellowship training, she practiced traditional child neurology for four years. When her own children became seriously ill, she discovered the effectiveness of alternative medicine including homeopathy and was inspired to use what she learned from their success to help others.
She has spent the last few years researching and studying alternative treatments for many common and chronic conditions that can be treated with homeopathic remedies successfully and less intrusively than with traditional pharmaceuticals.
Her academic achievements include teaching courses in Developmental Pediatrics, Child Neurology and Adult Neurology at The Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education and served as preceptor in The Child Neurology Clinic at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. In addition to ongoing search for new, safe and effective therapeutic modalities, Dr.Herzfeld is a member of the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Neurology and The Child Neurology Society. She is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Dr. Herzfeld lives in New York City with her husband and two daughters.
Christopher LaPage
Chris is Manager of Research and Consultative Services as well as Senior Grants Development Consultant for Grants Office, LLC. In his role at Grants Office, Chris is responsible for providing and overseeing innovative grants development services that enable corporations, municipalities and nonprofit organizations to maximize their grant initiatives. He has a B.S. in Policy Analysis and Management with a Health Concentration and a Master’s in Health Administration from Cornell University. Chris was initially drawn to the healthcare field through an emotional connection as a teenager, as he grew up in a family on a fixed income and witnessed his father choose to feed his family over purchasing life-saving heart medications. Chris developed a passion to understand the healthcare system from all angles, whether it be policy or the direct provision of care in the hopes of making a positive impact for patients and families that experience difficulty accessing and navigating the system.
Chris previously worked as a legislative aide for the New York State Assembly Committee on Health. He has also served in a project management capacity for a variety of healthcare organizations ranging from healthcare clinics to major academic medical centers. In his time working for a Medicaid Managed Care insurer, Chris was able to work with safety net practices to transform the delivery of care in a way that improved outcomes for the most at risk patients. As a post-graduate fellow at Stony Brook University Medical Center, Chris oversaw the creation of a “One Call Does All” Transfer Center to expedite incoming emergent transfers from surrounding providers on Long Island. In his time at a Federally Qualified Health Center, Chris was able to oversee the implementation of electronic medical records as well as a grant-funded community-led health assessment for immediate catchment area of the facility. Chris was introduced to Soaringwords through Cisco, one of its corporate supporters. He has been volunteering for Soaringwords since 2015 since his greatest satisfaction comes from helping healthcare organizations and other non-profits fund important projects that improve the care and overall well-being of vulnerable populations.
Chris resides in the Greater Rochester, New York area with his loving wife and Bugzy a spoiled 7-year old Beagle. Chris is an avid sports fan that also enjoys nature walks, non-fiction books, documentaries and spending time with his large extended family.
Caren Raphael
Caren has more than 16 years of experience in Structured Trade Finance with a strong focus on International Trade. She has been the President of Corporate Funding Partners since its inception in 2000.Corporate Funding does approximately $200 million in sales arranging Port to Port financing on letter of credit transactions for clients who import product. CFP caters to high-level apparel groups; as well as commodities such as food, petroleum, and steel. Caren has developed a number of marketing, sales and management tools that have become the basis of the company’s continued success and growth over the years. Currently she oversees the development of a global network of representatives in Europe, Africa, Asia, Middle East, South America, Central America and North America.
Before Caren began her foray into Finance in 1999, she worked in the art world for fifteen years, as a prolific artist selling her artwork in galleries, as well as teaching art to children and adults. Caren worked for the Montclair Art Museum, where she taught adult painting and drawing classes as well as the children’s classes. She developed projects for school and local community programs, incorporating the visual content of the Museums’ main exhibits. In addition, Caren worked for a few years with the Studio in the Schools program in New York City where she provided art education to thousands of students in over 100 NYC public schools. Caren also spent a few years teaching and developing the art program for Manhattan High School for Girls. She is the proud mother of two children and lives in Manhattan with her husband and kids.
Paul Rupert
Paul is the Founder & CEO, Rupert Organizational Design, Washington, D.C.-based flexibility and management development consultancy. The firm is the premier provider of strategic consulting services and management training on flexible leadership and workplace flexibility to Fortune 1000 companies, professional service firms and major hospitals. Its principals have provided comprehensive services to over one hundred organizations whose goal was to become more flexible employers. Those ranged from Aetna and Amgen to Wal-Mart and Xerox. He is also the Founder of Respectful Exits.org
Paul combines more than thirty years’ general leadership, research and consulting experience with expertise in the development of flexible and remote management skills. From 1992 until the fall of 2000, he founded and served as Practice Leader of Boston-based WFD’s Flexibility Consulting and Training Practice. For five years before that he directed New Ways to Work’s national EquiFlex Project, the first corporate advocacy group promoting workplace flexibility. From 1972-85 he developed and led a series of start-up or turnaround medical, legal, publishing, mediation, counseling and consulting firms which he managed with increasing use of flexible management skills and flexible work arrangements.
A leader in innovation and continuous improvement, Rupert Organizational Design was a pioneer in developing a business-beneficial process for negotiating flexible arrangements that maximize individual control and measurable productivity. It created the FlexWise™ online guidelines and online training tools to assure best practice flexibility systems. It has developed Team Self-Scheduling systems for hospital workforces and Leading through Mutual Respect initiatives for hospital administrators and doctors. And it has pioneered the Collaborating through Chronic Conditions initiative to enable companies to provide support to employees with a range of challenging medical conditions, and the managers and HR staff who support them.
Mr. Rupert speaks widely on the topic of the flexible workplace and is quoted regularly in the national media, including the Wall Street Journal, CBS News, National Public Radio, Newsweek, BNA HR Report, Washington Post, Marketplace and others. He received his B.A. in History from Stanford University. Paul lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and son.
Hana Shahin
Hana is an Accounting Manager at MacAndrews & Forbes a top private equity firm. She is finance professional with an exceptional track record leading business development initiatives that drive savings and enhance productivity. Hana is a strategic problem solver, change agent and respected manager. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance from the National Liberal Arts and Engineering School, Paris, France and will be embarking on her Executive MBA starting in the Fall, 2016.
Hana’s childhood experiences inspired her to join the Soaringwords Board where she chairs the Finance committee. Her sister suffered with Crohn’s Disease and her mother’s outstanding positive attitude and coaching helped the family overcome the debilitating challenges of this illness. Because of this life-changing experience, Hana is committed to using words to make a difference helping people step into a positive frame of mind. Hana is excited to share Soaringwords’ unique “pay-it-forward” positive psychology interventions with millions of children and families.
Hana was the Assistant Controller at Forrest Solutions Group where she developed and automated financial reporting systems and led all areas of accounting operations. As Senior Accountant/Assistant Controller at the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, she managed all aspects of a $52 million budget and 42 departments/state chapters. She was the General Accountant for the Benelux Region for LOGIX-IBM in Courbevoie, France.
Hana lives in New York City and enjoys yoga, scuba-diving, marine conservation, skiing, hiking, mountain climbing and relaxing with her friends.
Advisory Board
Julie Haizlip, MD, MAPP, FNAP
Julie is a clinical professor of nursing and holds a joint appointment as associate professor of Pediatrics at the University of Virginia Schools of Medicine and Nursing.
Based on her experiences working in a collaborative health care environment, Dr. Haizlip has developed an interest in inter-professional education and practice. She serves at co-director of the UVA Center for ASPIRE (Academic Strategic Partnership for Inter-professional Research and Education) with Dr. Tina Brashers and has worked with the UVA Center for Appreciative Practice since its inception. She has completed a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology and has published and presented nationally on creating culture change in academic health care using applications of Positive Psychology.
Dr. Haizlip is board certified in pediatrics and pediatric critical care and she has practiced as a pediatric intensivist for more than 10 years. Currently she maintains a practice with UVA Health Systems’ Pediatric Sedation Service.
Chris Mackey, Dip. Clin. Hypnosis; FAPS
Chris is a clinical and counseling psychologist and Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society with 40 years’ psychotherapy experience. He is the principal psychologist at Chris Mackey and Associates, his private psychology practice in Geelong, Australia.
Chris is the resident psychologist for Destination Happiness, a wellbeing TV show aired nationally across Australia.
Chris contributes a monthly opinion column for The Geelong Advertiser. Chris has presented at numerous national and international scientific conferences over the past 25 years on such topics as the assessment and treatment of psychological trauma, the evaluation of effectiveness of psychological therapy for anxiety and depression and the wellbeing benefits of synchronicity. He has a particular interest in promoting more optimistic approaches to mental health, including positive psychology.
Chris and Lisa Buksbaum met at the International Positive Psychology World Congress in 2013 and he featured this meeting in his first book Synchronicity. He has been a guest on the SOARING into Strength Positive Health series.
Dr. Elaine O’Brien, Ph.D., MAPP
Elaine is a CEO of Lifestyle Medicine Coaching, Training and Consulting. A health/fitness/medical educator, researcher, speaker, writer, strategist, program director, and consultant, Elaine’s aim is to elevate the art and science of Somatic Learning and Positive Movement (Positive Exercise Practices: PEP) to help promote vibrant energy, radiant health, healing, learning, love, peace, and flourishing in the world. Elaine designed and implemented an award-winning Dance/Fitness program for the State of New Jersey Community Alliance in 1992 to lower the risk of alcoholism and (prescription) drug abuse in senior adults that she continues to lead. Elaine is an Associate Editor for the IPPA Chronicle of Well-Being in press, and a writer for the Penn MAPP Magazine.An international applied positive psychology presenter, Elaine is also a certified Health Coach, and holds certificates in Group Fitness, Personal Training, and Lifestyle and Weight Management.