Board of Directors
Board of Directors:
Ben Forman is Executive Director for Teens Run DC. He is a clinical psychologist with a strong commitment to community mental health and work with children and families. For the past 25 years, he has worked with adults and children, individuals and families; in addition to his therapy work, he has consulted with professional and paraprofessional staff at community agencies in both Montgomery County and DC Ward 8. For the past twelve years he has chaired the Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Training Program, and for the past 8 years the Community Outreach Program, both at the Washington School of Psychiatry. In 2004, he developed Through My Eyes: the DC Photo Narrative Project, which has run continuously for the past six years. In 2009, he started Teens Run DC. Both these projects/mentoring programs reflect his conviction that positive change and growth occur within the context of caring relationships that emphasize our clients’ strengths and problem-solving abilities to improve their lives. He is himself both a documentary photographer and a runner.
Sandra Boots is a clinical social worker, licensed in the District of Columbia. Her interest in community non-profit work dates back to 1966 when she started a community based cooperative nursery school in Philadelphia, in an area where there were no preschools. More recently she volunteered a half-day a week for 5 years in a DC public school, providing assessment and therapy. She has worked with children, adolescents, adults and families in an outpatient psychiatry clinic, an inpatient psychiatric long-term treatment hospital and in private practice. She has been on the faculty of the Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Program at the Washington School of Psychiatry since 1981.
Lou Durden has over twenty-five years of management and executive management experience. For over fifteen years he worked directly with nonprofit organizations in various aspects of their operation within the Corporate Community Relations department of IBM and many other groups. Additionally, he has over ten years in marketing/sales management and leadership in the information technology field. He has served on the Board of Directors for many organizations over the years including the Greater Washington Boys and Girls Clubs, Leadership Washington (former Chair), Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers (founding member), and the DC Public School Business Alliance (former Chair). Currently he serves on the Board of Directors for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Choral Arts Society of Washington (former Chair), and the Washington School of Psychiatry.
Bob Fleshner is a race director and personal trainer certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Bob directs the American Odyssey Relay (www.americanodysseyrelay.com) a 200 mile relay race from Gettysburg, PA to Washington, DC that is held every April. Additionally, he has coached numerous runners, helping them with everything from running their first race to qualifying for the Boston Marathon. Bob has completed 24 marathons and qualified for Boston three times. In addition, Bob has been a youth sports coach for 18 years and is certified as a high school coach in the state of Maryland. Bob’s earlier positions have included a number of senior corporate roles. Most recently he was the East Region President for a division of United Healthcare. Prior to that, Bob practiced law in private practice and within the corporate legal department of Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey.
Matt Frumin has advised companies, trade associations and governments on issues relating to international trade disputes, arbitration and trade policy. He has substantial experience litigating before the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Commission, United States Court of International Trade, NAFTA panels, and the World Trade Organization. He served as Special Assistant to the Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs in 1998-2000 covering issues relating to democracy, human rights, labor, women and the promotion of the rule of law. He was a candidate for U.S. Congress in 2000 in what was then Michigan’s 11th District. Matt also serves on the local ANC and is Chair of a Board relating to Wilson High School. He has been very active on DCPS issues generally.
Gerry Stevens-Kittnerserves as Beacon House’s Deputy/Development Director. He spent the first 25 years of his career as a lawyer and businessman in the telecommunications field. He became involved with Beacon House as a volunteer and Board member at its inception in 1991. He joined the staff of Beacon House as Development Director in May 2003 and became Deputy Director in May 2005. Gerry is a founding and current Board Member of the DC Alliance of Youth Advocates, a coalition of some 95 youth serving organizations that work for policies that better the lives of children and youth in the District.
Eve Mills has completed 14 marathons and now competes in ultra-marathon races – after taking up running at the age of 41. She founded the Montgomery County, MD chapter of Girls on the Run, a fitness and esteem-building program for girls, which has grown into one of the largest in the country serving over 2,800 girls annually. Eve is also the former Program Director for the national office of the Road Runners Club of America and consults with school-based youth running clubs and events, helping them design programs to promote running as a healthy, lifelong activity. She has presented talks at “Save our Kids: The Obesity Crisis Conference”, the RRCA Convention, Youth Running break-out sessions and is an active member of the Running USA, Youth Running Program Committee. Eve also has a degree in finance from the University of Massachusetts, a Masters in Taxation from George Washington University and a Certificate of Nonprofit Management from Georgetown University. She is also a CPA in the State of Maryland.
Olga Acosta Price is an Associate Research Professor in the Department of Prevention and Community Health at George Washington University. She also serves as director of the School of Public Health’s Center for Health and Health Care in Schools. Prior to joining the faculty in 2006, Professor Price was director of the School Mental Health Program at the Department of Mental Health in Washington, DC. She was also an assistant professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Medicine and served as associate director of the Center for School Mental Health Assistance, a national technical assistance center. In that latter capacity, she helped to promote the development of school-based mental health services across the country. Dr. Price’s primary research activities have been in the area of school mental health, prevention, resilience, community violence, and program development and evaluation. She is currently principal investigator of a SAMHSA-funded outreach program designed to address teen suicide. Dr. Price is a member of the U.S. Senate’s Federal School Mental Health workgroup, co-president of the D.C. Assembly on School-Based Health Care and a consultant to several DC government agencies involved in developing school mental health programs. She is also a member of the Community Advisory Board of the DC-Baltimore Center for the Improvement of Child Health Disparities.
Bruce Sklarew is a psychiatrist and a psychoanalyst. He is a board member of the Washington School of Psychiatry; a consultant and principal investigator of the School-Based Mourning Project at the Wendt Center for Loss and Healing; co-editor of Analysts in the Trenches: Streets, Schools, War Zones; Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Howard University; Chair, Forum for Movies and Mind; and on the Editorial Boards for the Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies and Projections: a Journal for Movies and Mind.