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Networks

National Advisory Board

HOPE’s National Advisory Board (NAB) is a group of passionate and diverse leaders who are committed to spreading HOPE. NAB members are highly-regarded and experts from higher education, medicine, advocacy, research, families, and non-profits. Yet, they all share a common purpose of expanding access to positive childhood experiences to children and youth of all backgrounds through ongoing, collaborative partnerships between providers and families. NAB members offer their support and guidance through recommendations and thoughtful discussion about the goals, priorities, mission, and values of HOPE.

Rev. Darrell LaRue Armstrong

Pastor Shiloh Baptist Church

Corey Best

Family Engagement Consultant and Speaker

Renée Boynton-Jarrett

Founding Director, Vital Village Community Engagement Network

Wendy Ellis

Founder and CEO, Resilience Innovation Labs

Baraka Floyd

Clinical Assistant Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine

Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba

Executive Director, Children’s HealthWatch

Ron Ferguson

Founder and President, The Basics

Pradeep Gidwani

Medical Director, Healthy Development Services, American Academy of Pediatrics, California Chapter 3

Elliott Orrin Hinkle

Principle and Founder, Unicorn Solutions

Pat Hunt

Executive Director, FREDLA

Tammy Piazza Hurley

Director, Child Welfare, Trauma & Resilience Initiatives American Academy of Pediatrics

Jennifer Jones

Chief Strategy Officer at Prevent Child Abuse America

Danielle Laraque-Arena

Professor and President Emerita, SUNY Upstate Medical University

Phyllis Niolon

Senior Scientist for Preventing ACEs, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Cailin O’Connor

Senior Associate, Center for the Study of Social Policy

Tamara Vesel, MD

Division Chief of Palliative Care, Department of Medicine, Tufts Medical Center

David Willis

Senior Fellow, Center for the Study of Social Policy

Family and Community Experts Council (FACEs)

Family and Community Experts Council (FACEs) is a group of parents, youth, and other family and community members who share a common purpose of expanding access to positive childhood experiences (PCEs) for families of all backgrounds through the ongoing, collaborative partnerships between providers and families that HOPE promotes. FACEs serves in an advisory capacity, similar to the advisory role of the National Advisory Board, and their recommendations are valued. The goal of meetings is to ensure that every Council member voices their perspective.

Katina R. Allen
Lived Experience Expert

Dee Bonnick
Lived Experience Expert

Elliott Orrin Hinkle
Unicorn Solutions

Pat Hunt
FREDLA

Kimberly Ladd
Aligned Hope

Beth Melton
Centerstone

Tashia Roberson-Wing
Lived Experience Expert

Amber Robinson
Lived Experience Expert

Allison Schild
Lived Experience Expert

April Scott
Lived Experience Expert

Bree Smith
Lived Experience Expert

John Verdejo
Lived Experience Expert

The value of lived expertise

At HOPE, we believe those whose lives have been most impacted by health and social systems hold the deepest wisdom on how to improve them. Their voices are not just valuable—they are essential to our understanding of complex social issues. We are committed to shifting power by ensuring that individuals with lived expertise are shaping policies, programs, and decisions that impact their families’ lives. Working at the intersection of academic knowledge, professional experience, and lived expertise, we can create a more inclusive, effective, and empathetic approach to serving children and families.