BOARD OF DIRECTORS & STAFF

Jennifer Schugam, LCSW-C - PRESIDENT/DIRECTOR
Jennifer Schugam graduated with a master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Maryland at Baltimore. She is a licensed clinical social worker and has worked as a mobile mental health clinician in Baltimore County for ten years.

Through this position she provides weekly, in-home clinical mental health services for the chronically mentally ill. Prior to attending graduate school, Jennifer served as regional manager of client services for Global Crossing. She received her B.A. in Sociology from St. Mary's College of Maryland in 1996.

Susan Birch, Esq. - BOARD MEMBER
Susan Birch has had a private counseling practice for 25 years. She is an associate with the Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution, where she has trained mediators for 15 years.

Ms. Birch is also a member of the Howard County Mental Health Disaster Team and a core member of the Baltimore Jung Working Group. She served as the system public defender for the mental health division of the Maryland Public Defenders Office for 10 years.

Her prior experience includes: Assistant Program Director with the ARC, Staff Attorney for the National Epilepsy Foundation, and Interim Program Director for the Howard County Domestic Violence Center. Ms. Birch earned an M.A. in Counseling from Antioch College and a J.D. from the University of Baltimore.

Sheri DePetro, M.Ac., L.Ac., MSW, LCSW-C - BOARD MEMBER

Sheri DePetro received her Master of Social Work from the University of Maryland School of Social Work in 1994 and am an LCSW-C, a licensed certified social worker-clinical. From 1994-2002, she served as the Executive Director of the STTAR Center, the Sexual Trauma Treatment Advocacy and Recovery Center in Howard County, Maryland. Sheri has maintained a private psychotherapy practice since 1995.

In the spring of 2006, Sheri received a Master of Acupuncture degree from Tai Sophia Institute for the Healing Arts in Laurel, Maryland. She is a member of the Maryland Acupuncture Society and the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association. She also serves as assistant faculty at TAI Sophia Institute for the Healing Arts. Sheri is certified as an ADS, Acupuncture Detoxification Specialist through NADA, the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association.

Adriane Kozlovsky, MS, RD, LD - BOARD MEMBER
Adriane Kozlovsky, MS, RD, LD, has been a Nutritionist in private practice for the past 25 years, as a contributing writer. Adriane is a former faculty member at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and has provided nutritional assessment and menu planning for the Chimes organization for more than 20 years.

She works at the GRECC (Geriatric Research Education Clinical Core) unit at the Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center/University of Maryland at Baltimore as a Research Nutritionist examining the effects of weight loss and exercise for people over the age of 45 with cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol.

Christine Mitchell, D.O. - BOARD MEMBER
Dr. Christine Mitchell specializes in family practice and osteopathic manipulative medicine in Auburn, Maine. She is a graduate of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. She completed an undergraduate fellowship in Osteopathic Manipulation in 2003.

Her postgraduate medical training includes a residency in Family Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland as well as a one year fellowship in Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine and Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (NMM/OMM) in Bangor, Maine.

She is board certified in Family Medicine and in NMM/OMM, a faculty member with the Cranial Academy, and a member of the Andrew Still Sutherland Study Group. Dr. Mitchell has been training in the Biodynamic model of cranial osteopathy since 1999.

Ilysa B. Peak - BOARD MEMBER (TREASURER)
Ilysa B. Peak is owner and CEO of Peaks Party Staffing Service, Inc, full-service party staffing, catering, and personal chef service. She has over 31 years of experience in the restaurant and hospitality industries.

Ilysa has been an active member of several nonprofit organizations where she has been responsible for planning, coordinating, and executing large-scale special events.