President & Founder

Sue is a former public school teacher and communications consultant. Along with her husband, Jerry, she founded B.R.A.I.N. The organization was born out of passion for their own daughter, Kristin, who was misdiagnosed for over 30 years. Kristin slipped through the cracks of the educational, medical, social and even criminal systems and was accurately diagnosed with a brain injury by a brain scan, the cause of the injury being attributed to a rushed forceps delivery at birth. B.R.A.I.N. now assists hundreds of families who have adult family members who suffer with brain injury.

Chief Financial Officer

Joan and her husband owned and operated a successful payroll company for 42 years in Huntington Beach, CA. She works to keep our nonprofit on a solid financial footing as she works with our C.P.A. and the B.R.A.I.N. Board to accomplish the goals set. It is a challenging but rewarding undertaking. Joan is also the Coordinator for the Brain Cells mentoring program, which pairs a volunteer with a brain injury survivor to provide mentoring and friendship with purpose.

Front Office Administrator

Susan has been in the workforce in many different capacities over the years; as a classroom teacher, a special education aide, and an administrative assistant in a large company. She received her B.S. from U.C. Irvine and her teaching credential from C.S.U.L.B. She plays a major part in the B.R.A.I.N. team as she maintains the business end of the office as well as engages with survivors and their families. Her warmth exemplifies the atmosphere that has been created since the beginning here at BRAIN. She lives in Los Alamitos, with her husband Todd and college aged children, Isabella and Luke.

Angela is a licensed, certified and seasoned Speech Language Pathologist with over 30 years of experience, provides speech therapy to those at B.R.A.I.N. and also oversees graduate students in training and clinical fellows. Angela’s areas of specialty include swallowing/dysphagia/motor speech disorders and cognition.

Administrative Assistant

Deborah is excited to join the B.R.A.I.N. family and share her love for helping others. She attended high school locally and then went on to receive her Bachelors of Arts degree in Liberal Studies at Long Beach State University. After college she joined the workforce in many different capacities over the years and this is where she found her passion for helping others. She enjoys meeting B.R.A.I.N. survivors and their families and hearing their success stories. She currently live in Los Alamitos, with her husband Jim and their children, Ruger and Kolt.