National Staff
Kim Thiboldeaux
President & CEO
Kim Thiboldeaux joined The Wellness Community in the summer of 2000 as President and CEO. Formerly the Director of Patient Relations for Oncology & Transplant at Hoffmann-LaRoche, Inc., she brings to this position a wealth of experience in patient education and national patient advocacy. Kim serves in numerous leadership roles in the cancer and health care communities including Co-Chair of the Patient Education and Communication Committee of the National Clinical Trials Summit, member of the National Advisory Board of the American Psycho-Oncology Society (APOS), and member of the Caregiving in America Advisory Group of the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Human Development. Prior to joining Roche, Kim served as the Director of Corporate Relations at Whitman-Walker Clinic, a Washington, DC-based clinic that provides comprehensive services to people with HIV and AIDS.
Susan Michelson Brown, MBA, MSSW
Chief Operating Officer
Susan Michelson Brown joined The Wellness Community as Chief Operating Officer in February 2007. In this position, Susan oversees all financial, administrative and operating processes for the national headquarters and works closely with the local TWC communities. Susan has more than 25 years in nonprofit management experience, having served in program development, management, marketing, and development capacities for several health, human service and economic development organizations. These have included state, regional and national nonprofits, including the United Way and the American Cancer Society. Susan holds two Masters' degrees, including a Masters in Social Services from the Boston University School of Social Work, and a Masters in Business Administration from the Stern School of Business at New York University.
Mitch Golant, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President, Research & Training
Mitch Golant is a health psychologist and Senior VP Research & Training for The Wellness Community (TWC). He, along with Dr. Harold Benjamin, TWC’s founder, traveled throughout the world introducing TWC’s Patient Active Concept to international thought-leaders and psychosocial oncologists. He has been with TWC for over 22 years where he supervised and trained TWC’s professional clinical staff. He has facilitated over 4,500 support groups for people with cancer and trained over 350 professionals in TWC's Patient Active Support Group model. Dr. Golant is widely recognized as a pioneer in the use of information technology in cancer education and support through the delivery of online support groups. He was central to the launch of the award-winning Virtual Wellness Community in both English and Spanish and Group Loop: Teens. Talk. Cancer. Online. He has presented nationally and internationally on TWC’s Patient Active programs and evidence-based research. He is the contributing editor to the Essentials of Psychosocial Oncology Handbook 2006). In the fall 2005 he, along with two colleagues from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Calvary Hospital/Hospice, were selected to train forty psychologists and psychiatrists from Poland’s National Psychosocial Oncology Society. He has served for the past 4 years on the Board of Directors for the American Psychosocial Oncology Society. He is also the author of six books including What To Do When Someone You Love is Depressed (Holt).
Victoria Kennedy, LCSW
Vice President, Program Development & Quality Assurance
Vicki Kennedy is the Vice President of Program Development & Quality Assurance at The Wellness Community, responsible for the development, management and evaluation of The Wellness Community clinical programs nationwide. A licensed oncology social worker for the past 18 years, Vicki most recently served seven years as Executive Director and co-Founder of The Wellness Community-Central Indiana. Prior to that, Vicki served as a Research Associate at the Walther Cancer Institute and as oncology social worker at the Bone Marrow Transplant/Hematology services at Indiana University Cancer Center. A Past President of the Association of Oncology Social Work, Vicki received her Master's Degree in social work from Indiana University and has received additional training in fund development and non-profit management from the Indiana University Fund Raising School.
Ivy A. Ahmed
Senior Director of Education and Outreach
Ivy Ahmed joined The Wellness Community in early 2008 as the Senior Director of Education and Outreach. In this position she oversees the development, promotion and implementation of national TWC education programs. She also oversees the development of on-line educational materials and national professional outreach related to education programs. Ivy has over 15 years in public health and has worked in both the private and public sectors promoting cancer education. She served as a health educator and case manager with the District of Columbia’s Breast and Cervical Cancer Program and as the health communications manager with Lockheed Martin on a contract to support to the NCI’s Cancer Information Service. Ivy holds two degrees from the George Washington University, a Bachelor in Literature and a Master of Public Health.
Joanne Buzaglo, Ph.D.
Senior Director, Research
Joanne Buzaglo, Ph.D. joined The Wellness Community in August 2008 as Senior Director of Research of the Cancer Survivorship Research and Training Institute. Dr. Buzaglo is a behavioral health researcher and clinical psychologist with extensive experience in the development and evaluation of theoretically guided interventions designed to help patients cope with the complex challenges associated with cancer. Before arriving at TWC, she was the Deputy Director of the Fox Chase Cancer Center’s NCI-funded Behavioral Research Core Facility, whose mission is to provide consultation and training in behavioral principles relating to research design, program evaluation, qualitative and quantitative analysis, intervention development and tailored communications, and the dissemination and delivery of evidence-based research into clinical best practices. She has been a Co-Investigator on a number of NCI- and DoD-funded cancer-related studies that focus on decision-making, health communications, and survivorship with a special focus on enhancing doctor-patient communication, clinical trial participation, patient adherence to medical recommendations, and adaptation to re-entry among women following treatment for breast cancer. Further, Dr. Buzaglo is a licensed clinical psychologist in Pennsylvania and has clinical experience in providing care to individuals coping with cancer and other chronic illnesses. She received her doctorate at Temple University and completed a post-graduate fellowship in Health Services Health Services, Research, & Development at the VA Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA. In addition, she trained at the Center for Cognitive Therapy at the University of Pennsylvania, and at Friends Hospital of Philadelphia
William L. Shaffer
Senior Director, Technology
Prior to joining The Wellness Community in Washington, DC in January of 2008, Bill held several positions in non-profits and associations in which he utilized technology to provide information and connectivity to people around the world. He brings a wealth of experience in the use of internet technologies such as web design, interactive database access, and multi-media creation. Experienced at software and database development, coupled with his internet technology expertise, Bill brings a unique capability of providing the guidance necessary in providing educational and support services provided at local Wellness Community facilities. Bill is a graduate of The Pennsylvania State University.
Mark Meinke
Senior Director of Finance, Administration and Training
Mark Meinke joined the staff of The Wellness Community in October 2002 as the National Administrator. He is currently Director of Finance and Administration of The Wellness Community. Prior to joining The Wellness Community, Mark served as general manager of an Arabic software development and marketing company, Digitek, in the metropolitan Washington, DC area. Previously, Mark served as a foreign service specialist in the US Information Agency and as Treasury Manager and Foreign Exchange Trader at Commercial Bank of Kuwait. Mark lived in the Middle East for 17 years and is currently the chair and founder of the Rainbow History Project, a local historical and archival group in Washington, DC.
Natalie Haskins
Director of Public Education and Awareness
Natalie Haskins joined The Wellness Community in the spring of 2007 as the Patient Education and Awareness Manager. She works on various national public awareness campaigns including The Star Campaign and helps raise awareness of TWC's national patient education programs. She most recently worked for Teach for America, where she taught st graders at a charter school in Washington, DC. She previously was Director of Distribution and Educational Outreach/Producer for Right Quick Productions in Baton Rouge, LA, where she was responsible for the distribution and promotion of a documentary film, Expecting Men, and its educational version, The Youth Documentary Project. Natalie holds a Masters in the Art of Teaching from American University and a Bachelor's Degree in Communication with a minor in African-American Studies from Boston University.
Shannon Pao
Director of Communications and Special Events
Shannon Pao joined The Wellness Community (TWC) national headquarters staff in the summer of 2005 as the Marketing and Events Manager. She formerly worked for The Princeton Review Test Preparation company and managed the Washington, DC local marketing department. Her responsibilities included the organization and implementation of all local and national marketing events, which has given her a strong background in events management. In her current position with TWC, she supports the Director of Marketing and Development by coordinating national events. Shannon graduated from Wesleyan University with a Bachelor’s Degree in American Studies.
Lynn Ryker
Director of Online Initiatives
Lynn Ryker is currently the Director of Online Initiatives at The Wellness Community. From 1997-2002 she served as the National Administrator at TWC. In her present position, she is responsible for administration and management of the national website, The Virtual Wellness Community, Group Loop, and resultsplus! database software. Prior to joining The Wellness Community, Lynn was the Regional Administrator for Jobs for Ohio's Graduates-Southwest, a program devoted to preparing non-college bound, at-risk high school students for the transition from school to work. Lynn is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati.
Dalia Khanafseh
Education and Outreach Manager
Dalia Khanafseh is currently the Manager of Education and Outreach at The Wellness Community. She joined The Wellness Community in June of 2006 as an intern in the Education and Outreach Department. In her present position as Education and Outreach Manager, she supports the Senior Director of Education and Outreach by assisting in program development, scheduling and preparing National workshops, collecting and analyzing data from these workshops, and attending conferences.
Dalia is a recent graduate of the George Washington University’s School of Public Health and Health Services. As an undergraduate Public Health student, she focused on preventive medicine practices, as well as the development, implementation, and evaluation of community health programs.
