Board of Directors

President

Jim Loken has served on the board since 2019 and as Board Chair since January 2020. His passion is helping organizations align their goals, mission, finances, and activity so each part tells the story well. Jim was introduced to the Trauma Resource institute by his wife, Elizabeth Loken M.D., a psychiatrist in private practice, who uses and is trained in both the CRM and TRM models and is a part of the TRI training team. He has also worked with a TRI-trained therapist and knows firsthand how powerful the TRM model is in helping people.

Jim is affiliated with MassMutual Greater Pacific as a Financial Professional. He was a parish pastor in Southern California from 1982 to 2000. Jim also helped found several non-profits. Most recently, he helped found and served as Board President of NoHo Home Alliance doing work with those experiencing homelessness in the North Hollywood area.

Jim and his wife Elizabeth live in Pasadena, California.

Vice-President

Dr. Deborah Small is a board certified family medicine physician and a member of the faculty at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center. Arrowhead Regional Medical Center is affiliated with UC Irvine School of Medicine. Dr. Small currently serves as Associate Program Director for the Department of Family Medicine's residency program. Dr. Small's work encompasses teaching family medicine residents in the ICU, ambulatory medicine, and labor and delivery. Her interest lies in the care of women and children. She played an integral role in establishing the obstetrics curriculum for the residency program and coordinates the ALSO course, a multi-hospital training program. She has played an active role in her community, volunteering for several organizations. She has been a strong advocate for The Knotts Group Home, a place that cares for "at-risk" pregnant teenagers. In addition, Deborah has lectured alongside Elaine Miller-Karas, introducing the neurophysiology of psychosomatic medicine to other professionals at the National Conference of Teachers of Family Medicine and at the World Congress of Psychosomatic Medicine. She also volunteered as a training facilitator for Trauma Resiliency Model Training in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. She has served on the Board of Directors since 2007.

Secretary

Dr. Brandy N. Chappell-Hill has a strong background in business, government, higher education, and non-profit organization-related work. She provided public service to the state of California and local government while working for City of Los Angeles Council President Pro Tempore Jan C. Perry, Ninth District and Senate Majority Leader Robert M. Hertzberg, SD18. She is a German Marshall Memorial Fund Trans-Atlantic Fellow, National Association of University Women Fellow, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce-Southern California Leadership Network Fellow (SCLN), and former SCLN board member. She is a graduate of the CORO Neighborhood Leadership Program.

Dr. Chappell served in instructional and administrative roles at Mount Saint Mary’s University, Azusa Pacific University, California State University, Northridge, California State University, Dominguez Hills, California State University, Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine USC, USC Price School for Public Policy, and the Master of Science in Criminal Justice program at USC Bovard college. Dr. Chappell received her baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral degrees from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and Price School for Public Policy (USC). She obtained graduate certification in Geographic Information Science and Technology (GIST) from Dornsife College Spatial Sciences Institute (USC). A native Californian, she grew up in the beautiful city of Rancho Cucamonga. She is a small business owner and enjoys hanging out with her husband Robert.

Treasurer

Dr. Ronald Fish is the proud husband of Linda Stone Fish and adoring father of Isaac, Aarlo, Hughie, and Avery. Ron is the former owner of Psychological HealthCare, PLLC, a multispecialty group practice located in Syracuse, New York, recently acquired by Refresh Mental Health. He is especially interested in the effective integration of behavioral and physical healthcare and worked with Family Medicine residents on the psychosocial aspects of the doctor-patient relationship, meeting weekly from 1988 until 2015. Ron is currently on the board of directors of HealtheConnections, a dynamic regional health information organization headquartered in Syracuse. He has encouraged other mental health professionals to become involved in business and leadership, teaching at the graduate level on Organizational Management at the Forest School for Professional Psychology. He has presented numerous invited papers at professional conferences on stress management, fibromyalgia, depression, marital enhancement, caring for the caregiver, and behavioral and physical healthcare integration. For many years he translated concepts embedded in the martial arts into a life skills program for parents and children. In recent years Ron has focused his energies on working with first responders and is a psychologist on the Peer Support Team for Syracuse Police Department. Ron is energized and enthusiastic about his involvement with TRI as a CRM/TRM Master Trainer.

Member-at-Large

Cynthia Costas Cohen is a licensed psychotherapist in Beverly Hills, California. She earned her Masters’ degree in Clinical Psychology at Antioch University Los Angeles during which time she interned at a community mental health clinic and a juvenile detention center.

Cynthia served on the board of The Robert McCormick Boys and Girls Club of Chicago for many years where she worked in fundraising and orchestrating events. She is currently on the board of the My Hero Project, a not-for-profit educational organization that provides children all over the world with an opportunity to use media and video technology to share their stories of the people in their lives that have impacted them. Cynthia assists in the bi-annual film festivals, event planning, and fundraising.

Cynthia is known for her expertise in trauma, utilizing many modalities. She studied hypnosis under the tutelage of renowned hypnotherapists Dr. Michael Yapko and Dr. Jeffrey Zeig. She is certified by The American Society of Clinical Hypnosis as well as a certified EMDR practitioner. Cynthia also co-facilitates trainings for The Trauma Resource Institute which utilizes an integrative mind-body intervention based on somatic therapies.

Her friendship and professional association with lifestyle and fitness expert Jim Karas led to the creation of their book, The 7-Day Energy Surge, a New York Times bestseller. Cynthia has also co-authored the book, "The Glass Encloser - Psychodynamic Exploration through Guided Imagery" with her mentor, Dr. David S. Gordon.

Member-at-Large

Dr. Margie J. Wheeler is the Executive Strategist and Board Liaison for The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. An employee of Metropolitan for over 25 years, she has held various positions in Water Planning, Public Affairs, and the Executive Office. Margie earned a Doctor of Policy, Planning and Development from the University of Southern California, a Master of Science degree in Advanced Management from the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management at the Claremont Graduate University, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of La Verne. 

She is a graduate of Southern California Leadership Network’s Leadership Los Angeles, Leadership Southern California, and California Connections programs. She served as Board Chair of Southern California Leadership Network and Board President of Leadership California. She was recognized as the Southern California Leadership Network Alumnae of the Year and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce’s Volunteer of the Year. A native Californian; she currently lives in La Verne with her husband and cherished American Bulldog Lillie.

Member-At-Large

April Tam is an events and fundraising professional with more than a decade of experience working for companies including the University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, and Southern California Leadership Network (SCLN). She creates exciting event experiences to increase engagement for the more than 97,000 alumni at the USC Marshall School of Business. She also helped raise more than $4 million for the university’s historic $6 billion campaign.

She currently serves as the Director of Stewardship and Donor Relations for the USC Marshall School of Business. In this role, she oversees the scholarship program. Her portfolio includes over 300+ scholarships for undergraduate and graduate programs. Prior to this role, she served as the Associate Director of Corporate Relations where she interfaced with corporate companies to create a customized approach to advance the initiatives of corporate companies that align with key priorities of the Marshall School. This includes creating cutting-edge programs, bringing expertise and leaders in the field into the classroom, sponsoring events/conferences, and hiring and recruiting students. 

Her life's work and passion include helping others. She has served on a variety of nonprofit boards including the Holliston Foundation, USC Marshall Partners, and the Lymphoma Research Foundation. April earned her bachelor’s in Television Radio at Ithaca College, her Master’s in Social Entrepreneurship from the Marshall School of Business at USC, and an Executive Master’s of Leadership at the USC Price School of Public Policy.

She lives in Glendora, California with her husband and two corgis (Piper and Sutton).