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Board of Directors

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OFFICERS

President 2023-Present: Christine Peat, PhD, National Center for Excellence for Eating Disorders (she/her)

Dr. Christine Peat is the Director of the National Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders (NCEED), the nation’s first and only federally-funded technical assistance center dedicated to eating disorders. She completed her undergraduate training in psychology at the University of Arizona and earned her master’s degree and doctorate in clinical psychology at the University of North Dakota. Her internship was in behavioral medicine at West Virginia University, after which she went on to complete her postdoctoral fellowship in eating disorders research at the University of North Carolina.

As the Director of NCEED, Dr. Peat is focused on broadly disseminating education and training on eating disorders to healthcare providers across a variety of disciplines including primary care, generalist mental health providers, and community stakeholders. Dr. Peat is also a licensed psychologist in North Carolina and as such, treats eating disorders across the spectrum.

Vice President 2023-Present: Laura Donahue, The Donahue Foundation and CarMax (she/her)

Laura Donahue the Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility at CarMax. In 2014, Laura’s 15-year-old daughter was hospitalized to treat her anorexia nervosa. Having emerged from this experience with her daughter in recovery, Laura is passionate about building awareness, de-stigmatization, and support for individuals and their families struggling with eating disorders. Her experience with other parents and families and their challenges in finding a path to recovery led her to participate with the EDC during annual advocacy days, action alerts, and to work to build awareness amongst community organizations and school counselors.

Laura is also member of  WithAll’s Board of Directors, a non-profit organization working to reduce the risk of eating disorders through upstream prevention and help people break through practical barriers in pursuing recovery. Laura and her family founded the Donahue Family Foundation, which has focused on eating disorder support, mental health and addiction support, student food insecurity, and support for indigenous communities. Laura received her BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Secretary 2023-Present: Millie Plotkin, MLS, FAED Academy for Eating Disorders (she/her)

Millie Plotkin is known as the "eating disorders librarian." After earning her Masters of Library Science from Catholic University in Washington, DC, Milie worked at the National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health Library. She was informationist (a specialized medical librarian) for Eating Recovery Center from 2013-2023. In 2021, she was recognized as a Mover & Shaker by Library Journal for creating the Eating Disorders Information Gateway. She is now the consulting informationist for ACUTE Denver Health and a medical librarian at MedStar Washington Hospital Center.

Milie has been volunteering in eating disorders advocacy since 2001 when she founded ANAD's annual National Candlelight Vigil. She served as Director of Social and Online Media on the board of the Academy of Eating Disorders and is a Fellow of the AED. She continues to volunteer with committees and task forces for the Academy. In 2023, she raised funds for the Alliance by hiking the tallest peaks in Scotland and Wales. Milie is a founding member of the new Mid-Atlantic Collective for Eating Disorders. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland with two feline research assistants.

Treasurer 2023-Present: Johanna Kandel, National Alliance for Eating Disorders (she/her)

Johanna Kandel is the founder and CEO of the National Alliance for Eating Disorders (formerly Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness) and the author of Life Beyond Your Eating Disorder (Harlequin). She founded the Alliance after a decade long battle with various eating disorders. Since founding The Alliance in October 2000, Johanna has brought information and awareness about eating disorders to hundreds of thousands of individuals nationally and internationally. In addition, she facilitates weekly support groups, assists individuals with eating disorders and their families through their treatment and recovery, and helps hundreds of thousands of people to gain information and find the help they need. As a passionate advocate for mental health and eating disorders, Johanna has spent a lot of time meeting with numerous members of Congress, Food and Drug Administration, National Institute of Mental Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, and US Department of labor. In addition, she was part of the first-ever Eating Disorder Roundtable at the White House.

Johanna is a proud member of the Inter departmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee Meeting under the Department of Health and Human Services, a member of the Board of Directors for the Eating Disorders Coalition, and a member of the Eating Disorders Leadership Summit. She has received many awards for her ongoing outreach and advocacy work, including the Jefferson Award for Public Service©, Academy for Eating Disorders’ Meehan/Hartley Leadership Award for Public Service &/or Advocacy, and Harlequin Enterprises' More Than Words Award. Johanna has appeared on national television programs including NBC Nightly News and The Today Show, and profiled in the New York Times, Cosmopolitan Magazine, and Glamour Magazine.

She lives in West Palm Beach with her husband, Max Zaretsky, daughter Annabelle, dog Teddy, and cats Oliver and Penny.

Immediate Past President: Chase Bannister, MDIV, MSW, LCSW, CEDS, Bannister Consultancy (he/him)

Chase Bannister is Founder of Veritas Collaborative, a specialty healthcare system for the treatment of eating disorders. Chase is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and is credentialed as a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist. Chase is Principal of Bannister Consultancy, a firm committed to thought leadership for healthcare strategy and civic engagement.

Chase's career is marked by achievements in many arenas, including federal legislative initiatives, standards-of-care creation, clinical program innovation, healthcare entrepreneurship, professional education, advocacy, and public awareness campaigns. He appears regularly on the national stage to present on eating disorders, healthcare policy and ethics.

Chase has offered expert guidance on mental health to the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the office of Women’s Health at the US Department of Health and Human Services. Chase has provided testimony to the US Department of labor regarding access to care, and has presented congressional briefings on integrity of care in the context of changing healthcare environments. Chase played a pivotal role in ensuring the inclusion of eating disorders policy within The 21st Century Cures Act–the first acknowledgement of eating disorders illness in the history of the federal statutory law.

Chase has been invited to the White House during multiple administrations to discuss mental health policy from his perspective as a healthcare executive. He continues to develop key relationships on Capitol Hill, serving in a second term as President of the Board of Directors for Eating Disorders Coalition. He is an active member of the REDC Consortium, chairing the Special Investigatory Committee on Ethics.

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Wofford College, Chase was the first to earn concurrent graduate degrees in Clinical Social Work & Divinity from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School and Duke University. He is the recipient of The Arthur B. & Ida Marie Rivers Award for Integrity, Virtue, Gentleness, and Character as well as The L. Harris Chewning Award for Academic Scholarship and Intellectual & Moral Integrity.

DIRECTORS

S. Bryn Austin, ScD, FAED, Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention on Eating Disorders (STRIPED) (she/her)

Dr. Austin is an award-winning researcher, teacher, and mentor. She is the Founding Director of the Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders: A Public Health Incubator (STRIPED), based at the Harvard Chan School and Boston Children’s Hospital. Her program STRIPED is the first research and training program dedicated to eating disorders prevention based at a school of public health and with a specialization in research-to-policy translation. She was also the Founding Director of the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression Health Equity Research Collaborative, based at the Harvard Chan School and Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. Austin is a social epidemiologist and behavioral scientist with a research focus on health inequities, especially those affecting socially and structurally marginalized adolescents, and she has received numerous grants funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and other government, foundation, and philanthropic funders to support her research. She leads two primary research programs: One focuses on environmental influences on eating disorders risk and public health approaches to primary and secondary prevention of eating disorders with an emphasis on policy translation research and advocacy. The second focuses on determinants of sexual orientation and gender identity disparities in a range of health domains, including disordered weight-related behaviors, substance use, bullying victimization, and other health risk indicators.

Dr. Austin is a current Mental Health Policy Fellow with Inseparable, Past President of the Academy for Eating Disorders, and Past President of the Eating Disorders Coalition, the leading community advocacy organization dedicated to U.S. federal policy on eating disorders. She serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Eating Disorders and Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention and as a guest editor for two recent special issues of the Journal of Eating Disorders. A unifying goal of her academic career has been to advance innovations in transdisciplinary science applied to eating disorders prevention and the study of health inequities adversely affecting socially and structurally marginalized youth to inform effective policy change. Across her research and teaching initiatives, her aim is to offer mentorship and opportunities that will help the next generation of talented junior scientists excel in their pursuit of health equity for all.

Molly M. Perlman, MD, MPH, CEDS, Monte Nido and Affiliates (she/her)

Dr. Molly M. Perlman, MD, MPH, CEDS, FAPA is Chief Medical Officer of Monte Nido and Affiliates (MNA), overseeing psychiatric and medical care at over 50 facilities across the nation. She is double board certified in Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine, graduated from Duke University and the University of Miami, and has trained in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. During residency in Psychiatry, Dr. Perlman served as Chief Resident and was awarded the Laughlin Fellowship, which is bestowed annually on 12 elite residents for outstanding leadership and significant achievements in psychiatry. 

Dr. Perlman served as Vice President of the Eating Disorders Coalition Board from 2018 through 2022, and advocates on Capitol Hill regularly for increasing eating disorder education and access to treatment. She is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist, a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honors Society. Dr. Perlman serves as Assistant Professor at Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Coalition Representing Eating Disorder Care (REDC), co-chair of the REDC Standards Committee, and is a member of the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (iaedp) Credentialing Committee. Additionally, she oversees MNA’s IRB-approved research study on clinical outcomes as Co-Principal Investigator and has co-authored several papers in peer-reviewed research journals on PTSD and eating disorders.

Jillian Lampert, PhD, RD, LD, MPH, FAED, Accanto Health (she/her)

Dr. Jillian Lampert is the Chief Strategy Officer of Accanto Health, the parent company of Veritas Collaborative and The Emily Program. Additionally, Dr. Lampert is Co-Founder and President of the REDC, the national consortium representing eating disorders care focused on treatment standards, best practices, access to care, and collaborative research. She is also a Board Member of WithAll, a Minnesota based organization that empowers eating disorder prevention and strengthens support for recovery. She holds an adjunct graduate faculty position in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Lampert completed her doctorate degree in Nutrition and Epidemiology and Master of Public Health degree in Public Health Nutrition at the University of Minnesota. She earned a Master of Science degree in Nutrition at the University of Vermont and completed her dietetic internship at the University of Minnesota Hospital and Clinics. She has an expansive range of policy, clinical, research, education, teaching, and program development experience in the area of eating disorders.

Dr Lampert has served on the Board of Directors of the Academy for Eating Disorders as the Electronic Media Portfolio Director and co-chair of the Academy for Eating Disorders Nutrition Special Interest Group. She is a Fellow of the Academy for Eating Disorders (FAED) and a member of the Academy for Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association), and BHN (Behavioral Health Nutrition) dietetic practice group. Dr. Lampert is the author of numerous book chapters and articles addressing the nutritional treatment of eating disorders, body image, sports participation, adolescent health, and disordered eating and she regularly speaks regionally and nationally on numerous eating disorder-related topics.

One of her primary goals in life is to have the kids in her house (and everywhere!) have confident, loving relationships with their bodies and themselves.

Kim Dennis, MD, SunCloud Health (she/her)

Dr. Kimberly Dennis is the co-founder, CEO and Chief Medical Officer at SunCloud Health, a residential, PHP, IOP and outpatient treatment center for adults and adolescents with complex co-occurring eating disorders, addiction, mood disorders and trauma. Prior to the founding of SunCloud Health, Dr. Dennis served as the CEO and Medical Director at Timberline Knolls. She is a board-certified psychiatrist and certified eating disorder specialist who specializes in treating co-occurring eating disorders and substance use disorders. She combines her medical training with her own experience as a person with two decades of recovery from an eating disorder, addiction and trauma. She heads the newly added specialty Eating Disorders and Addiction Co-Occurring (EDAC) Residential Treatment Unit at SunCloud Health.

Dr. Dennis received her medical degree from the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine, and is a member of the American Medical Association, the Academy for Eating Disorders, the International Association for Eating Disorders Professionals, and the American Society of Addiction Medicine. Dr. Dennis obtained her medical degree from the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine and completed her psychiatry residency training at the University of Chicago Hospitals, where she served as chief resident. During her training, she was part of the multi-disciplinary eating disorders team specializing in treating young people with eating disorders and their families.

She is published in the areas of gender differences in the development of psychopathology, co-occurring eating disorders and self-injury, and the use of medication with family-based therapy for young people with anorexia nervosa. 

Dr. Dennis serves on the NEDA Clinical Advisory Council and co-chairs the Substance Related and Addictive Disorders SIG within the Academy for Eating Disorders. She contributes regularly to news networks and has been featured on Dr. Phil, The Doctors, Discovery Channel’s “My Strange Addiction” and ABC’s “20/20.” Dr. Kim has a regular blog called, “Live Free.”

Denise Hamburger, JD, Founder & Executive Director of BE REAL USA (she/her)

Denise Hamburger is the founder and executive director of Be Real USA, a nonprofit that envisions a world where each and every student can grow up with a healthy relationship to food and their body. In 2019, Denise created a professional development workshop for teachers called Body Confident Schools and has delivered this training to over 2500 US educators. Among over 75 conference, keynote, and school presentations, Denise has presented at STRIPED, the Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders: A Public Health Incubator, based at Harvard School of Public Health and Boston Children’s Hospital to the National Association of School Psychologists; at the Center for Disease Control to their Healthy Schools Division; at the United States Department of Agriculture to their Food and Nutrition Services Group; at the Society for Public Health Education’s Advocacy Summit; and to Amazon’s Body Positive Peers Employee Resource Group.

Denise has also co-developed and co-piloted Be Real's BodyKind high school body image curriculum with a team of international body image academics. BodyKind is the first body image curriculum developed for a diverse cohort of students. She has a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Michigan Law School and was an environmental attorney in her first career. She co-wrote the legal treatise Pollution in the United Kingdom in 1993. She has spent the last 25 years involved in education nonprofits, including Chicago’s After School Matters.

Vanessa Menaged, The Renfrew Center (she/her)

Vanessa oversees the Admissions, Alumni Services, Marketing, Professional Relations, and Program Information Departments at The Renfrew Center. She has been instrumental in the implementation and operations of Renfrew sites throughout the system. Ms. Menaged is a member of The Renfrew Center Clinical Excellence Board.

Vanessa received her Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from The Johns Hopkins University and previously served as the Executive Assistant to Allyson Y. Schwartz, former member of the United States House of Representatives for Pennsylvania’s 13th congressional district.

Akiera Gilbert, Project HEAL (she/her)

Akiera is the CEO of Project HEAL, the leading nonprofit in the U.S. focused on equitable access to eating disorder care. In 2023, Projct HEAL provided access to over $5 million worth of free services, including treatment placement, clinical assessments, cash assistnace, insurance navigation, and meal support.

Previously, Akiera served as the Founder and CEO of Body Reborn, an intersectional community-care organization for Black, Indidenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) who struggled with disordered eating and associated mental health challenges.

Lydia Rudy, MSW, Chief Development Officer, Eating Recovery Center and Pathlight Mood & Anxiety Center (she/her)

Lydia Rudy joined Eating Recovery Center and Pathlight Mood & Anxiety Center in November 2021 as Chief Compliance Officer, bringing a wealth of experience in quality, compliance, and risk management. In October 2023, she was promoted to Chief Development Officer, where she continues to drive initiatives that expand access to high-quality mental health care.

With deep expertise in behavioral health operations, Lydia has a proven track record of enhancing clinical quality and regulatory readiness. Prior to joining ERC Pathlight, she spent several years as an independent consultant, partnering with psychiatric hospitals and outpatient programs to optimize compliance, risk management, and performance improvement. Her approach is rooted in systems analysis, data-driven decision-making, and process efficiency.

Beyond her leadership roles, Lydia has a strong clinical foundation, having worked directly with children, adolescents, and families. Her diverse experience—spanning clinician, supervisor, manager, and executive—gives her a unique perspective on integrating quality, safety, and compliance into patient care. Lydia holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Colorado.

Kezia Reeder, Director of Clinical Operations, Accanto Health (she/her)

Kezia Reeder is the Director of Clinical Operations at Accanto Health (with brands The Emily Program and Gather Behavioral Health), where she leads with compassion and expertise. Kezia became involved in the eating disorder field after struggling with an eating disorder in college. She credits her nearly two decades of recovery largely to being able to access the treatment that she needed. Combining her professional skills with her personal mission, she is a fierce advocate for eating disorders awareness and treatment. As a mother to a young daughter, Kezia is driven by her desire to create a more supportive and inclusive environment for future generations.

Kezia received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Hamline University and attended Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota for their Marriage and Family Therapy Master’s program. Kezia serves as a member on The Emily Program Foundation’s Board of Directors. The Emily Program Foundation supports and provides eating disorders education for providers and the public to help increase awareness and understanding of these illnesses and help get people to the care they need. Kezia is also a board member on The Roseville Area Schools Foundation, having recently finished serving as Board Chair.

Nikia Bergan, President, Equip, (she/her)

Nikia Bergan serves as the President of Equip, reporting to Co-Founder and CEO Kristina Saffran. Nikia has over two decades of healthcare industry expertise and oversees the Company’s growth strategy and business operations in this new role. Nikia joined Get Well in 2018 as its Chief Revenue Officer before becoming its President two years later. Nikia led the commercial and marketing teams responsible for expanding Get Well’s domestic and international footprint, as well as the product development organization. Under her leadership, the company expanded its offerings to launch a series of youth behavioral health programs that use technology and community-based Navigators to connect kids and their families to treatment and resources across various mental health conditions. Before her time at Get Well, Bergan spent nearly two decades at the Advisory Board Company, now part of Optum, where she served as their Senior Vice President of National and Strategic Accounts and worked with the company’s largest and most strategic partners. Nikia previously served on the board of RubiconMD and currently holds an independent board seat for Socially Determined. Nikia earned a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University and is based in Washington, D.C.

DIRECTOR EMERITUS

Kitty Westin, WithAll (she/her) 

Kitty Westin is the founder and former President of the Anna Westin Foundation which is now known as The Emily Program Foundation. The Anna Westin Foundation was started by Anna’s family after Anna died of anorexia in 2000. Kitty is the past president and on the board of The Emily Program Foundation, the Eating Disorders Coalition, and she is a former member of the Minnesota Governor's Advisory Council on Mental Health, the Minnesota Mental Health Legislative Network and numerous other boards and councils.

Since Anna’s death Kitty has spoken to millions of people about eating disorders through personal appearances and the media. She has been invited to tell her story to a variety of groups in Minnesota and across the United States and the world. Kitty has been an outspoken advocate for people who struggle with eating disorders, their families and friends, and professionals who work in the field. She is recognized as an authority on how eating disorders impact the person who suffers, family and friends, and the community. Kitty has contributed to several books about eating disorders and she freely tells her story in order to help others. Her work related to the social and economic impact of eating disorders is well known and she is invited to speak at professional conferences across the United States to help train health care workers, treatment providers, and the families of people affected by eating disorders.

Kitty’s work as an advocate began 15 years ago when she joined the Eating Disorders Coalition. She currently spends time in Washington DC training grass roots activists and meeting with members of Congress to advance the federal recognition of eating disorders as a public health priority. Most recently, Kitty is proud that her daughter’s name is on Federal legislation that will address eating disorders by improving training and clarifying that mental health parity intended to cover eating disorders; The Anna Westin Act of 2015 (HR2515/S.1865).

Kitty has received numerous awards for her advocacy efforts including the EDC Advocacy Award, the Redbook Mothers and Shakers Award, the AED Meehan/Hartley Leadership Award for Public Service and/or Advocacy, the Park Nicollet Community Service Award, National Eating Disorders Association Inspiration Award, and the Advocacy Award from NAMI MN.

Lisa S. Kantor, JD, Kantor & Kantor LLP (she/her)

Lisa Kantor, a Los Angeles lawyer and partner in Kantor & Kantor LLP, represents people denied health benefits for treatment of both physical and mental illnesses. Most recently, Ms. Kantor has focused her efforts litigating insurance company denials of coverage for residential treatment of eating disorders. Kantor & Kantor is one of the few law firms in the country with a distinct eating disorder practice staffed with lawyers and other professionals experienced in the specific needs of people who have been denied benefits for eating disorder treatment.

Ms. Kantor sues health plans that refuse coverage, or agree to pay for treatment for a short period of time, forcing patients to be discharged before their health is restored. In 2007, she won the first published eating disorder decision in California in which the court applied the state’s mental health parity law to beneficiaries who sought treatment outside California. In August 2012, she won the first federal court ruling that determined health plans must pay for all medically necessary treatment for mental illnesses, including residential treatment.

For her achievements, Ms. Kantor was named a Top Woman Lawyer by the Los Angeles Daily Journal and an Attorney of the Year by the San Francisco Recorder. She received a “Special Recognition” award from the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals Foundation and a California Women Lawyers’ Woman of Distinction Award, and has been named a Southern California Super Lawyer continuously since 2009.