Board of Directors

We are proud of our distinguished board members who bring expertise in a myriad of fields that are relevant and critical to the healthy development of boys.

Lisen Stromberg – Chairman

Lisen has over 15 years of business experience in both the nonprofit and for profit sectors. She began her career in the nonprofit field as an Assistant Development Director. She moved to Fidelity Investments as Product Manager for their online trading service. She was a Brand Manager at Nestle and a Vice President at Foote, Cone, Belding -- the seventh largest advertising agency in the world. Most recently, she was founder and President of Durham Marketing Group, working with high technology start-ups on their business and marketing plans.

Lisen sits on the board of the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo. She is also an award-winning writer (www.prismwork.com) and mother of three. Lisen has her B.A. from Dartmouth College and her M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley.

Brian Kleis, M.D. -- Curriculum Co-Chair

Brian received his medical training at McGill University in Montreal and the University of California, Davis Medical Center. Besides his private practice, Brian is also Assistant Clinical Professor at Stanford University. He has been working with children and adolescents with gender and sexual identity issues, as well as their families for over 13 years. He has served on national and regional committees to address the needs of these children in their homes, communities and schools. He has presented workshops to mental health professionals and teachers on these topics and his work has been published in various professional journals.

Brian is the father of two children -- a 7-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son.

Marsha Levick, Esq. -- Secretary
Legal Director,
Juvenile Law Center

Marsha Levick is the Legal Director of the Juvenile Law Center, an organization based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that has been advancing the rights and well-being of children in jeopardy for over 25 years. She co-founded JLC in 1975, and served as its first Executive Director until 1982. In 1982, Marsha left JLC to become the Legal Director of the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York City and, from 1986-1988, she served as Executive Director of NOW LDEF.

After working in private practice, Marsha returned to JLC, where she now manages JLC's litigation and appellate docket. Marsha concentrates on reform of the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. She successfully sued the Pennsylvania Department of Education over its failure to provide basic and special education to pre-trial school-aged youth awaiting trial in county prisons, and is currently involved in litigation concerning the rights of kinship caregivers to receive foster care payments. Nationally, Marsha worked with the American Bar Association's special taskforce to develop standards for the prosecution of juveniles in the adult criminal justice system, and also serves on the management committee of the National Juvenile Defender Center, a joint project of the ABA Juvenile Justice Center, the Juvenile Law Center and the Youth Law Center.

Marsha is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University Beasley School of Law. She is an adjunct faculty member at both the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Temple University Beasley School of Law, where she teaches courses on Juvenile Justice. Marsha is also the mother of two daughters.

William Pollack, Ph.D. -- Curriculum Co-Chair
Harvard Medical School
Director of the Centers for Men and Young Men ,
McLean Hospital

William S. Pollack, Ph.D., is the Director of the Centers for Men and Young Men and the Director of Continuing Education (Psychology) at McLean Hospital; and is Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is the past President of the Massachusetts Psychological Association, a member of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society, a Diplomat in Clinical Psychology (ABPP, Board Certified), and a Founding Member and Fellow of The Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinity, a division of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Pollack has served on the U.S. Presidential Initiative, The National Campaign Against Youth Violence, and is a consultant to the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Secret Service on its collaborative Safe Schools Initiative; most recently a co-author of the newly released: “Threat Assessment in Schools: A Guide to Managing Threatening Situations and to Creating Safe School Climates.”

An internationally recognized authority on boys and men, Bill is Founder and Director of the REAL BOYS™ Educational Programs.

An expert in the areas of: boy's development/education and men's roles (including violence, suicide, and depression), he is also known for his work on fathering, school structure and safety (including bullying prevention), workplace violence, gender studies (boy/girl and male/female relationships), organizational structure, and gender and work/family balance in workplace culture. He is the author of and the contributor to numerous scholarly journal articles and books including, the popular and best-selling volumes, Real Boys--Rescuing Our Sons From The Myths Of Boyhood, Real Boys Voices, and most recently, the Real Boys Workbook. In addition, he is an internationally recognized speaker, and his work has been featured in the popular print and broadcast media throughout the world.

Dr. Pollack (Bill) currently resides in a suburb outside Boston, Massachusetts, with his family, where he also maintains a private practice in consultation in his areas of specialty, as well as psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. He may be reached at: wpollack@williampollack.com or through his website.

Matthew Wesley, Esq. - Treasurer
Managing Director, Estate Law Group

Matt graduated from Stanford Law School in 1988. He practiced as a corporate litigator for five years, but found the practice to be unfulfilling. Desiring to work with individuals and in a practice area that would allow him to focus on interesting legal issues, he began an estate planning practice in 1994.

Matt founded Just Wills to meet the needs of families with young children. While this group still comprises the bulk of his clients, the nature of his practice has evolved to include many families in different circumstances. To reflect the changing client base and the greater complexity of his work, Matt changed the name of the firm to Estate Law Group in 2001. Matt continues to work with Silicon Valley families who have young children. In addition, he does advanced estate planning, particularly in the areas of irrevocable trusts and the creation of family and charitable entities.

Matt's wife, Marcia, is a psychologist. They are the parents of a teenage son and an 8-year-old daughter. His interests include film, Italian cooking, website design and development, travel and education. In addition, Matt serves on several nonprofit boards.

Martha Bronson, Ed.D.
Associate Professor of Developmental and Education Psychology,
Peter Lynch School of Education
Boston College

Martha has extensive experience with educational environments and how they nurture children. She has developed a series of observational tools currently in use at multiple Head Start sites as part of the New England Quality Research Council. She is the author of "Self-Regulation in Children" and "The Right Stuff for Children Birth to 8." Martha has been a teacher of children ages 3 through 5 and the director of a school for this age group. Her research has also taken her into hundreds of early childhood classrooms
(See www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/pubs/bronsonpubs.html for a listing of her published research.)

Martha is proud to be a grandmother to six wonderful children.

Susan Charles
Principal
Ohlone School

Susan Charles is the principal of Ohlone School in Palo Alto and her teachers have been key participants in our BATT pilot programs. Susan has over 20 years of educator experience in the U.S. and the West Indies, including administrative positions at the elementary and secondary school level.

Susan belongs to a number of professional organizations, including the Association of California Administrators, Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, and California Association of School Counselors, among others. She authored the Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA) Handbook in addition to numerous Ohlone publications. And she has received the Gunn High School Service Award and Mid-Peninsula Foundation Community Award for the Advanced Youth Leadership and Mid-Peninsula Youth Theater.

Steve Dow
General Partner
Sevin Rosen Funds

John Geoghegan
General Manager, President
Hilll Holliday Connors Cosmopolis/SF

John Geoghegan is the President and General Manager of Hill Holliday/SF, a nationally renowned branding and advertising company. John has also worked extensively in advertising both in New York and overseas. In addition to his advertising/marketing background, John is an accomplished journalist with a book about fatherhood to his name as well as having written for The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Connecticut Magazine, Upside and Sail magazine. Additionally, John has lectured on advertising and marketing at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, ADWEEK's national seminar, and CAL Berkeley's Haas School of Business. A California native who has also lived in New York, Connecticut, Amsterdam, Chile and Haiti, John is happily settled in San Francisco where he lives with his wife and daughter and where he overseas Hill Holliday's west coast office.

Dian Harrison, M.S.W.

Dian has more than 28 years of progressive experience in the nonprofit sector, serving in leadership positions with high-profile organizations such as the United Way, the Urban League, and Fisk University. Dian received her undergraduate degree in Sociology from California State University, Los Angeles, and a Masters Degree in Social Work Planning and Administration from Western Michigan University. She is the proud mother of one son.

Advisory Board

Jay Hussey
Egon Zehnder International

Lauri Slavitt
Executive Vice President
Winds of Change Foundation