Board Members | Financials

Christine Ackerson has worked with corporates, government, and non-profit organizations to design and implement environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives for sustainable and transformational change. With a career spanning nearly 20 years, Christine has experience across a broad range of topics including climate change, environmental stewardship, human rights, supply chain responsibility, product sustainability, environmental, health & safety, social impact, and corporate giving. 

Christine is currently head of ESG for Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Americas Division. In her former role, as head of Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility at LG Electronics North America, Christine helped to launch the company’s first signature cause program working with experts in social emotional learning to deliver life-long happiness skills and mental wellness curriculum to more than 5 million youth across the U.S. 

Christine has served on the Responsible Minerals Initiative Steering Committee, the Responsible Business Alliance Strategic Roadmap Advisory Committee, and the UN Global Compact’s Caring for Climate Steering Committee and Poverty Footprint Advisory Group.  She holds two master’s degrees in earth science and public policy, and is trained in sustainable business strategy, ESG reporting, and project management

Cheryl Ambrose is the Vice President of Enterprise Risk Management at the National Roofing Contractors Association where she has served since 2021. With nearly 30 years of experience in construction safety and health, she has held leadership roles ranging from project safety manager to corporate and national safety director. Prior to NRCA, she was the National Health, Safety, and Environmental Administrator for the United Association, representing skilled plumbing and mechanical trades across the U.S. and Canada.

Cheryl holds a bachelor’s degree in occupational safety and health and an associate degree in business management. She is certified as a Construction Health and Safety Technician (CHST) and Occupational Health and Safety Technician (OHST) through the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. A longtime member of the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), she actively represents NRCA on national committees, including the NIOSH NORA Construction Sector Council and ANSI A10 Construction Standards Committee.

Beyond traditional safety, Cheryl is a strong advocate for mental health in the construction industry, recognizing the critical need to address issues such as substance use, suicide prevention, and overall worker well-being. She has played a key role in advancing mental health initiatives at NRCA, as well as serving on the Education Committee of the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention and her selection in 2018 to serve on North America’s Building Trades Unions’ Opioid Task Force. She has also worked with national organizations to develop training programs that integrate mental health considerations into workplace safety culture.

Dr. Francine Baugh-Stewart is a Teaching and Learning Director in the Broward County Public School’s Central Regional Office supporting middle schools. She is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Research Methodology at Florida Atlantic University, where she also received her doctorate in Educational Leadership. Her research interests include teacher recruitment and retention, high-poverty and high-minority schools, leadership development, and school improvement. She is a contributing author of an educational leadership and school improvement book, Bridging Leadership and School Improvement. She actively participates in various work groups and committees for her school district. Dr. Baugh-Stewart is the 2014 City of Deerfield Beach Hometown Hero Honoree, 2018 Barbara Jackson Scholar Recipient, and the 2022 City of Tamarac Black History Month Honoree. Although Dr. Baugh-Stewart is committed to her work as an educator, she considers being a mother to fraternal twins Ricardo and Star the most paramount.

Patrick Chapman is the HCA Florida Associate Vice President for Behavioral Health. In his current role he oversees the operations and business development for 15 behavioral units across 3 divisions in Florida from Pensacola to Miami consisting of almost 800 adult and youth inpatient beds, as well as outpatient programs.

Patrick began his career began as Assistant Administrator with HCA back in 2009 as part of the West Florida Division. Since then, he has served in a variety of progressive professional roles and most recently as Chief Operating Officer at HCA Florida JFK North Hospital for the last 5 years. During Patrick’s tenure at JFK North he has had responsibility for several departments that included oversight of the pavilion day to day operations, social workers and activity therapists. Most recently, he oversaw the 36 bed expansion of the Pavilion growing their capacity from 88 to 123 beds unit, that cares for patients ages 5-through the life span as well as outpatient mental wellness programs.

Patrick holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Stetson University, and Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration from University of Central Florida and a Master’s of Management from University of Florida. Patrick is also certified in Total Quality Management.

Patrick and his wife, Lara, have been married for over 16 years and they have three sons; Nathan, Benjamin, and Luke. He is a native of Florida, born and raised in Gainesville, and is a former Naval Officer having served on active duty 2005-2009 deploying in support of the Global War on Terror with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the USS Nassau.

Mikey Dobin lives in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. with his four children Merrick, Asher, Aera, and Mavan. Dobin is the CEO of a family business called Valley Forge Fabrics. His parents started the company in 1977 selling velvet to movie theaters, and today, they are the largest supplier of decorative fabrics for hotels – think drapery, sheer, upholstery, and bedding. Closing their first acquisition late 2017, and now in addition to fabrics, they sell fully fabricated window treatments, and provide measure and installation services to hotels.

Dobin is a kid trapped in a CEO’s body – he does all he can to squeeze every ounce of juice out of life. The work of Be Strong is deeply meaningful and personal for Dobin and simultaneously supports his personal purpose “To spread happiness and joy to others.”

Dr. Sameer Hinduja is Co-Director of the Cyberbullying Research Center (cyberbullying.org) and Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida Atlantic University. He is recognized internationally for his groundbreaking work on the subjects of cyberbullying and safe social media use, concerns that have paralleled the exponential growth in online communication by young people. He works with the U.S. Department of Education and many state departments of education to improve their policies and programming related to the prevention and response of teen technology misuse. He has written seven books, the most recent being “Bullying Today: Bullet Points and Best Practices” and the award-winning “Bullying beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding to Cyberbullying.” His newest co-authored book specifically written for teens is entitled “Words Wound: Delete Cyberbullying and Make Kindness Go Viral.” According to Google Scholar, Dr. Hinduja’s articles have been cited almost 8,500 times in the fields of Computer Science, Management Information Systems, Educational Psychology, Pediatrics, Social Psychology, Sociology, Business Administration, Ethics, Developmental Psychology, Communications, Psychiatry, Counselor Education, Special Education, Educational Technology, Criminology, and Pediatrics.

Outside of research and evaluation expertise, Dr. Hinduja provides training to schools, youth organizations, parents, and teens on how to avoid online victimization and its real-world consequences. He is frequently asked to provide expert commentary by news organizations, and his work has been featured in venues that include CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” NPR’s “All Things Considered,” the BBC and The New York Times. He has also been interviewed and cited by hundreds of online and print media outlets. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. in Criminal Justice from Michigan State University (focus area: cybercrime) and his B.S. in Criminal Justice (minor in legal studies) from the University of Central Florida Honors College. Recently, he received Auburn University’s Global Anti-Bullying Hero Award, won Florida Atlantic University’s Researcher of the Year award, and presented on cyberbullying at a Congressional Briefing on Capitol Hill. He is currently serving at Dublin City University’s Anti-Bullying Centre on a Fulbright Specialist award, one of only five awarded worldwide each year.

In the last year, Dr. Sameer Hinduja received Auburn University’s Global Anti-Bullying Hero Award, won Florida Atlantic University’s Researcher of the Year award, and presented on cyberbullying at a Congressional Briefing on Capitol Hill.

Elias is the founder and CEO of Squeeze.com, which is an InsureTech platform that allows consumers to comparison shop for insurance while protecting them from spam. Elias is also the managing partner of Abiding Ventures, a private investment company which invests in early stage technology companies, as well as real estate development.

Prior to Squeeze, Elias founded the disruptive healthcare technology company MobileHelp, which allowed seniors to get help nationwide, increasing the quality of life though peace-of-mind and independence. With its innovative gsm/gps technology, MobileHelp quickly became the service of choice for hundreds of thousands of seniors. Elias is also the Chairman of ReachLink, a talk therapy mental health platform.

Elias, who holds several communication patents and was the 2006 SBDC & Benjamin Franklin Technology Partners grand-prize winner of the Big Idea business plan contest for his Alzheimer’s tracking system concept. MobileHelp was a 2012, 2014, and 2018 Frost & Sullivan award winner; 2014 and 2015 INC.500 award winner; and, 2014 Grow Florida growth award and company to watch. MobileHelp was also #90 on Deloitte’s Fast 500, the 500 fastest growing technology companies in America.

Elias currently serves on the board of The George Snow Scholarship Fund, and resides in Boca Raton, Florida.

Michael is an innovative food entrepreneur and chef, dynamic in approach to food solutions, and is incredibly passionate about working with kids and millennials to fulfill a vision to drive healthy and sustainable change in the food industry.

Born and raised in Long Island, New York, Michael is a two-time alumnus of Johnson & Wales University (JWU), having completed degrees in Culinary Arts & Food Service Management and Entrepreneurship. Currently holding over 20 different food safety certifications, he has continued honing his expertise through education in food safety and regulatory compliance, food sustainability, commercial food brand development and marketing, and enterprise software solutions for commercial food organizations.

While completing his education at JWU, Michael founded Global Food Solutions, which develops food products and brands for the foodservice and school foodservice industries, and LineCor Distribution Solutions, which provides scalable third-party logistics and distribution services.

Michael’s expertise in developing food products to meet and exceed rigorous United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation standards have led him to work with some of North America’s largest food manufacturers and agricultural providers. His work focuses on developing healthy, sustainable food products for the foodservice industry aimed at supporting local producers to maintain fresh, nutritious foods; while also remaining dedicated to community-building through local business and school support in regions his companies operate.

Through this work, Michael has developed and launched over seven category-specific brands and more than 400 products in the foodservice and school food service industries. Michael’s companies products span the fresh, frozen, shelf-stable, and packaged goods categories. The result is feeding tens of millions of students in schools per year while also providing meals to those in need through government assistance programs, healthcare operations, and the United States Military. 

Michael is an outspoken supporter of providing meals to school kids across the United States and is actively involved with various childhood hunger organizations, supporting No Kid Hungry and BE STRONG, a national nonprofit aimed at bullying resiliency.

Michael was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the Food and Drink category and was also one of thirty distinguished chefs and food experts invited to the National Peanut Council’s Millennial Food Summit and the National Peanut Council’s Harvest Summit. His company, Global Food Solutions, was also named to the Inc 5000 list for fastest-growing private companies in America.

Jeffrey Levy has been in the Fire Rescue service since the mid 1990’s. Jeff is the Deputy Fire Chief for the Lauderhill Fire Rescue Department. Prior to his career with Lauderhill, he was a Fire Explorer, as well as a Volunteer Firefighter. Jeff has been with the Lauderhill Fire Rescue Department since April 1999. He has held the rank of Firefighter/Paramedic, Driver Engineer, Acting Lieutenant, Lieutenant, Captain, Battalion Chief, Division Chief of Training, Division Chief of Operations, Assistant Fire Chief and currently holds the rank of Deputy Fire Chief. He is also one of the fire department’s Public Information Officers.

Improved education and communication are two things Jeff values most. In 2001, he started the Lauderhill Fire Explorer program, in the hopes of inspiring others to choose Fire Rescue as a career path. Jeff is a State of Florida Certified Fire Instructor, as well as Advanced Life Support and Basic Life Support Instructor. In addition to teaching others, Jeff has continued his own education. He has two Associates Degrees from Broward Community College, one in Emergency Medical Services and the other in Fire Science. He also has a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Sciences from Nova Southeastern University.

Jeff is also committed to working with other Fire Rescue professionals. He is the committee Chair for the Fire Chiefs Association of Broward County Mutual Aid & Communications sub-committee. Jeff is also a member of the Broward County Operational Review Team for Regional Communications. Jeff also volunteers his time as the EMS Director, for Hatzalah South Florida Emergency Medical Services, where he leads over 300 volunteer EMT’s and Paramedics who respond to emergency calls across the State of Florida. His efforts have been recognized by others in his field. Jeff has been awarded the Fire Chiefs ’ Association of Broward County Fire Chiefs’ President Award on two separate occasions, in 2014 and 2020. He was also named Public Information Officer of the Year by the Florida Fire Chiefs Association in 2012.

Ambrosia Long serves as the Head of Strategy for Global Brand Partnerships at TED Conferences, a role she has excelled in since 2024. With over a decade of expertise in partnerships, marketing, and impact, Ambrosia has made significant contributions across various domains, including consumer experiential marketing, executive thought leadership, and social impact partnerships.

Before joining TED, Ambrosia led Corporate Education Partnership Activations at Discovery Education, where she developed innovative programs to advance K-12 education in collaboration with leading brands.

Ambrosia holds a Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations and Organizational Psychology from DePaul University. She has also expanded her expertise through coursework in Integrated Marketing Communications at Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies.

Passionate about equitable representation across industries, Ambrosia actively participates in local mentorship and professional development initiatives, demonstrating her commitment to community engagement and empowerment.

Nicole serves as Vice President of Programming for BrandStar. In this role she has brand oversight of national, original show properties including The Balancing Act, Military Makeover, Designing Spaces, Access Health and Inside The Blueprint.

Wanting to change people’s lives for the better, Nicole traded a career on Wall Street to pursue her passion in television. She followed her North Star, to create programming with a purpose that would help women to live their best and fullest lives. Nicole was a part of the creative development and launch team on our flagship series, The Balancing Act more than 20 years ago which gave her an outlet to drive the dialogue to help women balance their lives, to share stories and provide solutions that help make a positive impact in every facet of their lives.

Nicole is co-founder of BrandStar Cares C.A.R.E.S (Community, Action, Responsibility, Empathy and Service) our service committee formed to serve as the company’s citizenship and community engagement arm. As the nucleus of our BrandStar gem, BrandStar Cares mission is to positively impact people’s lives in the communities in which we live, work and play by playing an active role to support local non-profits by enhancing their respective impact in South Florida communities.

Nicole has spent the last 20+ years working with small-midsize, national and international brands to connect them with our audience through our unique, educational and entertaining show properties. She has been a driving force behind the branded entertainment industry, helping to build brands and creative cultures by working alongside Fortune 500 brand partners, non-profit organizations, advocacy groups and industry experts to educate and empower people.

Jenny Peluso grew up in New Jersey as the oldest of six children and attended college as a first-generation college student. After completing her Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology at Emory University (Atlanta, GA), Jenny pursued an academic career studying the interplay between cognition and emotion. In addition to teaching, advising, and mentoring postsecondary students, she has developed curricula, guided institutional student success efforts, established programs to assess the effectiveness of teaching and learning strategies, co-authored successful grant proposals, and administered professional development programs for faculty and staff. Jenny has also served in key leadership roles to strengthen cross-divisional collaboration on university-wide initiatives, enhance institutional climate, and institutionalize community engagement (e.g., both university outreach and community “in-reach”). Jenny is a servant leader and works through relationship. As a “connector,” she enjoys using collective impact methods with diverse stakeholders to identify shared goals and strategies, build partnerships, and develop programs that are authentic, sustainable, mutually-beneficial, and impactful.

Jenny previously served on the faculty at Mercer University (Macon, GA) and as a faculty member and administrator at Florida Atlantic University (Boca Raton, FL). She currently works as Chairperson for Psychology Programs in the Graduate School at Keiser University in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Outside of her teaching and scholarship, Jenny helped establish and continues to volunteer with Achieve Palm Beach County (a county-wide effort to establish a Local College Access Network), and the Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida. Jenny lives in Boynton Beach, FL with her husband, Paul Peluso, and their two daughters.

Dr. Pamela Morris-Perez is a Professor of Applied Psychology at the NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development and an Affiliated Professor at the NYU School of Global Public Health.  An interdisciplinary scholar, Morris-Perez conducts research at the intersection of developmental psychology, suicidology, education, and policy. In her two-decades long career, she has secured more than $75M in funding and has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, and policy reports. Her current early childhood work includes a $4M IES-funded partnership with NYCs Department of Education to support their historic expansion of Universal Pre-k and a $10M NIH-funded randomized trial of a tiered primary/secondary parenting intervention within pediatric primary care. Morris-Perez’s newest research, borne from the loss of her 17-year-old daughter to suicide in 2019, addresses adolescent suicide from a developmentally-informed, population-health perspective as part of a newly launched center entitled ARCADIA (A Research Center for Adolescent Interconnected Approaches) for Suicide Prevention. A former William T. Grant scholar, Morris-Perez served as lead editor of the Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness and a member of the National Academy of Science’s Board on Children, Youth, and Families. She received a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a doctorate in Developmental Psychology from Cornell University.

Hannah Raskin lives in Incline Village, Nevada with her husband Hank and dog Hippo. She has spent most of her career working at a bank in lending. She received her MBA from Berkeley Haas in California, completed her undergraduate studies at Amherst College in Massachusetts, and grew up in Maryland. 

Hannah connected with Be Strong through her work on her brother’s memorial fund, the Tommy Raskin Memorial Fund for People & Animals, when she was leading an Acts of Kindness campaign to honor her brother’s legacy.  She loves the concept of recruiting kids and teens to care for their peers and is inspired by Be Strong’s Student Representative Program.

For over 20 years, Dr. Mike Rozenblum has been committed to helping people find a better way.  As a speaker, consultant and leader in the Chiropractic profession, he has a passion for seeing people be better. He believes “everyone deserves to feel great”. His primary area of specialty is the health care sector but over the past decade he has focused on the well-being of people, families and communities.  Married to the love of his life and father to an amazing foursome, Mike now resides in South Florida, after spending more than 20 years in the Southwest.  He enjoys baseball and backyard barbecues.

Assistant Superintendent, Montgomery County Educational Service Center (retired)
Executive Director, Dayton Regional STEM Center (retired)

Margy has led numerous local, state, and national efforts, producing awards from the U.S. Department of Education, the Ohio Department of Education, the Alliance in Education, and others. To further awareness about critical issues affecting students, she has presented at numerous state and national conferences and published educational research focused on improving student achievement and closing achievement gaps.

She also served as an education liaison to Air Force Research Laboratories and STEM consultant/advocate for Pre-K through 12 teachers and school districts, higher education institutions throughout Ohio, and regional workforce development agencies. Currently, she is an educational consultant with schools in Kentucky, including Bellarmine University.

Margy splits her time between Kentucky and the Oregon Coast to be near family, which happily includes a grandson in each location!

Amy Stevenson is a highly accomplished Senior Marketing Executive, CMO and transformation leader with an extensive background in marketing strategy, loyalty, digital marketing including social, innovation, and marketing analytics. She is passionate about brand storytelling and OBSESSED with the retail customer experience particularly the engagement and retention of high value customers. 

Amy has been the CMO and SVP at both Designer Shoe Warehouse and Victoria’s Secret where she led the overall marketing strategy, digital marketing, customer insights, social, creative, customer marketing, offer strategy, and marketing analytics.  She is currently the SVP Omnichannel Marketing and Ecommerce at Under Armour.  She received an undergraduate degree from Wittenberg University and MBA from The Ohio State University.

William is a Michigan native who currently residing in South Florida.  He is a corporate and compliance counsel, with a history of representing digital media, ad tech and martech companies.  In a typical day he finds himself counseling clients on state and federal privacy statutes, data protection rules, and marketing standards (FTC Act, COPPA, CalOPPA, FCRA, CAN-SPAM, TCPA, ECPA).

William attended University of North Carolina at Greensboro where he earned his Bachelors of Science as well as his Masters in Business Administration in International Business / Marketing.  He attended law school and earned his J.D. from St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida, and later earned an L.L.M. in taxation from Thomas Jefferson University in San Diego, California.

William lives with his wife and daughter in the small beach town of Surfside, Florida.  When not working, he enjoys working out, riding bikes, working on classic cars and traveling with his family.