Our Team

core team

John founded Good Wolf based on the belief that people everywhere should be able to benefit from understanding themselves better through neuroscience. He serves as Good Wolf’s neuroscientist-in-residence, leads the Good Wolf team, and is responsible for overall strategic and programmatic direction and content development.

John is a physician, scientist, educator, and healthcare leader whose career has spanned behavioral neurology and neuroscience, internal and geriatric medicine, hospice and palliative care, and medical ethics. A graduate of Tulane University and Harvard Medical School, he received his postgraduate training in Internal Medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and in Neurology at the Harvard-Longwood Neurology Program. His neuroscience research focused on the effects of neurotransmitters and neuromodulators on mammalian cortical neuronal systems in vitro. He was Chair of Geriatric Medicine at Deaconess Hospital, founding Medical Director of the Sherrill House Alzheimer’s Program, and founding Director of Deaconess ElderCare. At Harvard Medical School he served as Assistant Professor of Medicine and Neurology and at the Harvard School of Public Health as Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management. While serving as Chair of the Subcommittee on Dementia of the Ethics and Humanities Committee of the American Academy of Neurology, he authored and lobbied successfully for the passage of the Massachusetts Health Care Proxy Act. He later served as a Healthcare Policy Fellow with the U.S. Senate and was honored by the American Medical Association with the annual William Beaumont Award in Medicine in recognition of his "contributions to programs serving frail elders and successful extension of this work into the public sector and legislative spheres." John has held numerous other leadership roles in healthcare organizations including, most recently and just prior to forming Good Wolf, Chief Medical Officer for Patient Care Services at Visiting Nurse Service of New York.

Angela leads Good Wolf's outward-facing communications including social media engagement, community outreach, and media and public relations. She collaborates in content development and organizational strategy.

Angela is a communications professional with over 12 years of experience developing, managing, and executing comprehensive, multicultural, and integrated communication campaigns and strategies within the U.S. and international markets. Ms. Betancourt works with businesses, organizations, entrepreneurs, and community and government leaders to help them achieve their communication goals. She has experience creating and adapting communication strategies and messaging for various audiences, including internal teams, media, government officials, community leaders, non-governmental agencies, ministries, departments, and agencies, and private sector actors. Angela holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations from Barry University in Miami Shores, Florida, and a master’s degree in Global Strategic Communications from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Angela was a 2018 Summer Fellow for the prestigious Georgetown University-Santander Bank Partnership on Social Economy. She is also certified in market systems development and monitoring and evaluation methods. Angela is a proud member of the United States Air Force Reserve.

Rebecca serves as the Program Coordinator at Good Wolf, bringing a rich academic foundation and a passion for positive change. With degrees in Psychology and Criminal Justice and a keen interest in Neuroscience, she is deeply invested in mental health issues and criminal justice reform.

Rebecca's commitment to service and community is exemplified by her volunteer work in Israel, where she tutored and assisted children, reinforcing learning concepts and fostering mental and social development. Her experience extends to curating engaging content for social media and co-leading Dialectical Behavior Therapy groups.

At Good Wolf, Rebecca supports both current and future initiatives, setting up and managing administrative processes, overseeing communication and project management, and developing and delivering content across various channels. Working collaboratively with an interdisciplinary team, she is dedicated to Good Wolf’s mission to support individual and organizational growth.

Johanna leads Good Wolf’s strategic planning process, including cultivation of institutional partners and funders. She develops content for the Good Wolf website and other communications channels and supports Public Policy working groups.

Johanna is a writer and researcher who has written and presented extensively about issues related to criminal and juvenile justice reform, educational equity, and implicit bias. Between 2006 and 2018, she served as Director of Strategic Planning at the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School. During that time, she worked closely with FrameWorks Institute on a multi-year project aimed at developing new public messages focused on justice reform. Prior to that, she served as a Policy Analyst at the Civil Rights Project, where she organized the first national conference on the school-to-prison pipeline and co-edited the journal “Deconstructing the School to Prison Pipeline”, that was published by Jossey-Bass. Johanna’s past work includes law review articles, policy briefs, book contributions, and op eds on policing, prosecutorial reform, juvenile justice, school discipline, and other aspects of the justice system that have been published in Slate, salon.com, The Crime Report, U.S.A. Today, The Marshall Project, the Huffington Post, The Washington Post, and Education Week.

Jade brings broad expertise in social and emotional learning, education and social service training, and facilitation of group processes to her role in senior leadership at Good Wolf. Jade coordinates the development, implementation, and assessment of Good Wolf’s engagement with individuals, organizations, and communities.

Jade has served over 15 years in nonprofits as a social worker, educator, and management specialist, with experience in working with a diversity of populations. She is passionate about developing, managing, and facilitating programs for people who are undocumented, formerly incarcerated, vulnerable youth, survivors of human trafficking, pregnant while homeless, and more. Understanding the power dynamics between communities served and those who work with them, her professional mission is to facilitate inclusive, sustainable, and goal-oriented practices in nonprofits. Ms. de Saussure’s insights into addressing stress and burnout were featured inSocial Worker Today andPrevention Magazine, and comprehensively detailed in her co-authored book,Dancing the Labyrinth - Spirituality in the Lives of Women. As reflected in her Emerging Social Work Leader Award from the National Association of Social Workers, she also has extensive experience professionally developing future nonprofit leaders and runs her own nonprofit training company, Desa Training, Inc. Her work can be found in theNonprofit Management: A Social Justice Approach textbook. Jade is a PhD Candidate at the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service.

As a Creative Director of art and design Shelly brings a viscerally original point of view and comprehensive experience to every project. Her inspiration is born from a genuine desire to help others be their best selves, by communicating insightful messages with compassion and empathy.

A native of Hawaii, Shelly began her advertising journey as a studio artist at Chiat/Day, where she was soon promoted to art director. From the get-go Shelly was working on major brands such as CNBC, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, and National Rent-a-Car. This led to producing TV and print campaigns for Bell Atlantic and CorningWare and pitching in on the legendary MasterCard “Priceless” Pitch. Shelly also worked on international digital campaigns for Dell and IBM, as well as a Slim-Fast Super Bowl Spot, while winning advertising awards along the way.

All this experience opened doors to video and film-based projects, web design, CRM, and experiential. While freelancing for ad agencies and PR firms, Shelly also put teams together for her own clients which included brands like MetLife and Vonage. In her role at 360i, she sharpened her social media chops working on Fisher-Price, Enterprise Rental Cars, and Nestlé Waters campaigns. Most recently, Shelly has brought her experience and talent to some notable pharma-based agencies bringing DTC and HCP efforts for clients like Jardiance, Cologuard, and Urvant to name a few.

Greg leads Good Wolf’s content strategy and operations. His responsibilities include managing projects related to website content and participating in organizational strategic and program planning.

Greg is a content and communications expert with over nine years of experience in content production and strategy with a track record of delivering communication plans and building audiences for globally renowned clients including Sky Arts, The British Council, and The Arts and Humanities Research Council. As a freelance photographer and writer his work has been published by Positive News, Sotheby’s, The Globe Theatre, and The London Library. From multi-channel campaigns to websites, magazines and photo essays, he believes that compelling communication can facilitate positive change in individuals and society. As an environmentalist and mental health advocate he is thrilled to be a part of Good Wolf, dedicated to making tangible, positive change in the world.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dr. Daniel B. Hier is emeritus Professor of Neurology and Rehabilitation at University of Illinois at Chicago and Adjunct Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology. He is dual boarded in Medical Informatics and Neurology. He previously served as Head of Neurology at University of Illinois at Chicago and later as a Physician Consultant to the Cerner Corporation of Kansas City MO. His research interests are in electronic health records, machine learning, and patient phenotyping via Natural Language Processing. He is a student of Buddhism which has offered him insights into the importance of being cognizant of the well-being of all living things, our fellow humans, and the world we all share and enjoy.

Danne Johnson is a tenured professor of law, a certified diversity professional, and a small business owner. She founded her firm, Our Work, LLC during the pandemic and is able to devote necessary time to her goal of changing the world.

Johnson earned her BA from the University of Pennsylvania, her JD from George Washington University, and a certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University. In addition, Johnson is a DELA Certified Diversity Professional and an IDI qualified Administrator. She has studied, traveled, and taught all over the globe from the Cayman Islands, to Nantes, France, to Tianjin, China.  She is an active nonprofit board member and trainer, speaker, wife, and mother of two. Her children are her source of inspiration.

Ms. Lawless is the chair-emeritus of the Board of Directors for the Foundation for Health Smart Consumers. She was a founding trustee of the organization. She has been recognized for innovation in health and care strategies which leverage her experience in business, journalism, and consumerism. Through her work with industry and policy leaders, she has won numerous awards and credits for initiatives that involved major corporate, and educational sector organizations. She is a recipient of the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA) Rising Star Award for "outstanding accomplishments which made a difference in the industry and inspired others." She is also a former member of the Executive Committee for The Council of Growing Companies and received the "Creative Use of Technology" award from IBM Corporation. Previously, Ms. Lawless worked for ABC News and was on staff at "Good Morning America" and "World News." She attended Montclair State University, the University of South Carolina, Graduate School of Journalism, and the University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business, Executive Education Certificate Program.

Richard A. Martin has been involved in litigation in the state and federal courts of the U.S., Europe and Asia for more than 40 years. From June 1987 to July 1990, Mr. Martin served as Special Representative of the Attorney General, located at the United States Embassy in Rome, Italy. He represented the Department of Justice in Europe and handled extradition and mutual assistance matters, among other duties. In August 1990, Mr. Martin’s contributions to the Administration of Justice in Italy were recognized when he was named “Commendatore al Merito della Repubblica Italiana,” the Italian Legion of Honor. Prior to transferring to Rome, Mr. Martin served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, from January 1980 to June 1987 and was honored by the Department of Justice for his role as lead counsel in a case known as the “Pizza Connection”. Today Dick is Senior Counsel at the law firm Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, where he primarily provides pro bono assistance for several nonprofit organizations.

Dr. Nancy Michael is the Rev. John A. Zahm, C.S.C. Associate Teaching Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Neuroscience and Behavior major at the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Michael’s dedication to excellence, innovation in education, and commitment to community wellness have earned her numerous, advising, and community awards. In partnership with multiple community organizations, Dr. Michael works to develop and implement NEAR (neuroscience, epigenetics, adverse childhood experiences, resilience) science approaches that aim to mitigate the impact of toxic stress on individuals and communities. Her research uses a community-based change theory model to work with community organizations in developing population-specific NEAR-based strategies to support organizational and community efforts in becoming trauma-informed. Dr. Michael received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. She was awarded the Society for Neuroscience Next Generation Award in 2020 for members who have made outstanding contributions to public communication, outreach, and education about neuroscience.

Boris Rauls is a Managing Director and Head of Strategy for Bank of America’s Wealth Management Business. He works directly with the Presidents of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and BofA’s Private Bank on their strategic plans and strategic initiatives. Previously, Boris acted as a COO of the Personal Wealth and Retirement Business. Prior to joining Bank of America, Boris was a Principal with The Boston Consulting Group, where he worked with Financial Institutions in Europe, Asia, and U.S. Boris is a CFA Charterholder and also chairs the Investment Committee of St. John’s Lutheran church in Mamaroneck. He lives in Larchmont, NY, and has two daughters.

Mr. Rosenblatt has held various national and international leadership and management positions during his 34 plus year career at IBM, including systems engineering, product and marketing management, business development, and global program management with areas of specialization including antivirus technologies and advanced water management. After retiring from IBM, he served as Vice President for an India-based software company. He volunteers to work in developing countries, mentors recently incarcerated persons and supports environmental advocacy and community action organizations, including serving on the Boards of several nonprofit organizations. Steve holds an MBA in International Business and Graduate Certification in nonprofit management.

Attorney and educator Barry Shanley has been a California attorney since 1976, practicing with firms in Beverly Hills, Century City, and Montrose. He has handled numerous jury and court trials and argued cases before the California Supreme Court and California Courts of Appeal, in matters of personal injury, real estate, consumer rights, contract, entertainment, and family law. Mr. Shanley was the law teacher for 12 years at Woodrow Wilson High School Law Magnet in Los Angeles, where he also served as a coach for the Mock Trial Team, and Chair of the School Site Council and Social Studies department. Mr. Shanley is founder and president of L.A. Wilson Dollars for Scholars, which has helped nearly 200 first-generation college students attend college. He is a past president of the Beverly Hills Bar Association and of the Southern California Coalition for Handgun Control.  He has also served on governing boards of Public Counsel Law Center, Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice, Californians for Death With Dignity, and the Beverly Hills Bar Foundation.  He helped draft two California ballot initiatives, the 1992 Death with Dignity Initiative and the 1982 Handgun Control Initiative.

Tony Venezia served over 40 years as a senior executive in three of the world’s most iconic companies – PwC, IBM and Morgan Stanley – providing audit, consulting and large-scale business and technology transformation services to the C-Suite and Boards of many of the world’s largest financial institutions. He is an expert in transformative change of processes and technology supporting digital, audit, finance, risk management and transaction operations in banking and financial markets.

Tony is currently the Managing Director of TCVenezia Consulting LLC, providing advisory services to global financial institutions and consulting firms serving those institutions

ADVISORY BOARD

Robert Carpenter is a leading executive coach and leadership development consultant from Mount Vernon, NY. He is recognized for his work in Asia, Europe, Canada, and the United States, where each year he helps hundreds of 500 managers improve their operational effectiveness. He has trained groups at Verizon, Motorola, the Port Authority of NY & NJ, the American Society on Aging, Cayman National Bank, PepsiCo Puerto Rico, the New York City Departments of Environmental Protection, Aging and Education, the U.S. General Services Administration, the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Defense, and IBM in the U.S., Austria, Hungary, Italy, and the U.K. Formerly, Mr. Carpenter held sales and management positions at IBM and Digital Equipment Corporation. He has been a principal in several start-up companies and today is a long-time faculty member at the American Management Association, the world’s leading executive development organization. He holds an MBA degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, is a trustee of the New York Choral Society and a former trustee of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, in New York City.

Paul de Vries is President of the New York Divinity School, with 25 years of leadership in Christian higher education administration, including at Wheaton College, Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the Seminary of the East. He earned his PhD and Master of Arts at the University of Virginia, specializing in applied ethics, critical thinking, and hermeneutics. He is the lead author of three books: The Taming of the Shrewd (1992, Thomas Nelson Publishing); Ethics Applied (1999, Simon and Schuster); and Business Ethics Applied (2001, Pearson), and a contributing author to a dozen other books, predominantly in the areas of hermeneutics and applied ethics. He is the founder of the Office of Community Service at the University of Virginia and founder of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College, Illinois – the first ethics center of any Christian college. Dr. Paul is also an ordained minister.

Joseph J. Fins, MD, MACP, FRCP is The E. William Davis, Jr. M.D. Professor of Medical Ethics and Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics at Weill Cornell Medicine where he is a Professor of Medicine. He is Chair of the Ethics Committee of New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell, an Attending Physician, and Director of Medical Ethics. A member of the Adjunct Faculty of Rockefeller University and Senior Attending Physician at The Rockefeller University Hospital, he co-directs, the Consortium for the Advanced Study of Brain Injury (CASBI) at Weill Cornell Medicine and Rockefeller. In 2015, he was appointed the Solomon Center Distinguished Scholar in Medicine, Bioethics and the Law at Yale Law School where he is a Visiting Professor of Law. Dr. Fins is an elected Member of the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences as well as the Association of American Physicians. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and by Royal Appointment, an Academico de Honor (Honored Academic) of the Real Academia Nacional de Medicina de España (the Royal National Academy of Medicine of Spain). Dr. Fins is a graduate of Wesleyan University and Cornell University Medical College.

Sidney Greenfield is Professor of Anthropology Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Co-chair of the Columbia University Seminars on Brazil, Studies in Religion and Contents and Methods in the Social Sciences. He has conducted ethnographic research in Barbados and New Bedford, Massachusetts, but mainly in Brazil, and ethnohistorical and historical research in Portugal and the Atlantic Islands on problems ranging from family and kinship, patronage and politics, the history of plantations and plantation slavery and entrepreneurship to Spiritist surgery, religion and healing, spirit medium-ship, syncretized religions and Evangelical Protestants in Brazilian politics. He is the author and/or editor of nine books, producer, director, and author of five video documentaries and has published some 150 articles and reviews in books and professional journals.

Dr. Anita Lightburn, Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service is the Director of the Beck Institute for Religion and Poverty. Professional interests are community-based clinical practice, capacity building and evaluation research with recent work in program development with the faith community to provide restorative programs to support people returning from prison and survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. Dr. Lightburn has a background in program evaluation and intervention research in family support and school-based social work. She is a founding member of the International Association of Outcome-based Evaluation and Research in Children and Family Services. Her academic appointments include the Columbia University School of Social Work and Dean of the Smith College School for Social Work.

Jim Parker’s executive experience includes more than 25 years of executive healthcare leadership. He most recently served as the Senior Advisor to HHS Secretary Alex M. Azar, during which time he steered the development and implementation of many significant health policy initiatives. Jim also served as the Secretary’s advisor to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, through which he steered numerous policy changes. Previously, Jim served as the chairman and CEO of MDwise, an Indianapolis-based Medicaid managed care organization and was an early member of the Anthem leadership team. He led a public affairs team that created public buy-in and regulatory approval of Blue Cross and Blue Shield mergers and acquisitions that fueled the company’s early growth into one of the nation’s largest healthcare benefits companies. Jim earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from Kenyon College with a concentration in Mathematics. He completed his Master of Business Administration from The Ohio State University with a concentration in Finance.

Robert Pollack is an American biologist whose interests cross many academic lines. He majored in physics at Columbia University (1961) and received a PhD in Biological Sciences from Brandeis University in 1966. He served as Dean of Columbia College from 1982 to 1989, overseeing the enrollment of women in the College for the first time, and served as Director of the University Seminars from 2011 to 2020; he was the fifth Director since its founding in 1944. He is also a member of the Affiliated Faculty of the American Studies Program. From 1999 to 2012, he was the Director of the Center for the Study of Science and Religion at Columbia's Earth Institute program. Dr. Pollack has authored many research reports, reviews, articles, and opinion pieces on molecular biology, medical ethics, and science education. For the academic year 1993–1994, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in science writing. He has written or edited ten books, including Signs of Life: The Language and Meanings of DNA (1994), which won the Lionel Trilling Award and translated into six languages. His most recent book is The Course of Nature, a book of drawings by the artist Amy Pollack, accompanied by his short explanatory essays.

IN MEMORIAM

Dr. Emily Butler Anderson, a founding member of the Good Wolf Board of Trustees, died on June 19, 2024, after a several-year battle with cancer.

Emily was Professor Emerita and former Chair of the Department of Social Sciences & Human Services at the City University of New York and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Social Work. She leaves a rich legacy. Her professional career spanned social services, child welfare, early childhood education, psychiatric social work, and higher education teaching and administration. A proud alumnus of South Carolina State University, an HBCU, she earned three graduate degrees from New York University and Teachers College of Columbia University. Her research work for the City University of New York was instrumental in shaping the field of education.

Emily was a devoted member of the Riverside Church since 1984, serving in many capacities including on the Church Council and as Chair of the Education Commission. One of Emily’s most significant contributions was her service with distinction for over twenty years as a Board Member and eventually as Chair of the Riverside Hawks. This program, which has touched and continues to touch many young lives through basketball, academics, community engagement, and personal mentoring, is a testament to her dedication and impact. Emily's service extended to other nonprofit organization boards, including the Young Adult Institute, the Coalition of 100 Black Women, the BMCC Early Childhood Center, and the Board of Trustees for Good Wolf. Emily also served as the Co-Chair of the Columbia University Seminar on Memory and Slavery.

Emily is survived by her devoted husband, Clarence Anderson, and her daughters, Victoria and Vanessa.

We are grateful for having known Emily as a colleague and friend, and for her wonderful impact on family, friends, our community, and the world.

ABOUT US

HOW WE WORK

Our Team

core team

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

ADVISORY BOARD

IN MEMORIAM

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