Leadership

Emily Derecktor (she/her) is passionate about blending humanistic design, lived experience, and evidence-based frameworks to address unmet mental health needs in meaningful ways. As a certified behavioral health coach and health systems consultant, she draws from Acceptance and Commitment Coaching, human-centered design, public health and her own lived experience to create practical, consumer-driven support for navigating persistent mental health challenges. Emily holds Master’s degrees in Medical Science and Population Medicine from Brown University, shaping her commitment to addressing the broader contexts that influence mental health. Inspired by her own journey with persistent mental health challenges, she founded Cereal for Dinner to develop authentic resources  that go beyond symptom management, with a focus on supporting self-determination, purpose and belonging. Outside of CFD, you’ll find her snuggling her floofy cat, Noodle, belting out show tunes in her car, or tending to her community creativity cabinet, the Art & Poetree.

Becca Fritz (they/she) Has a lifetime of lived experience managing chronic illness with a specialty in navigating the mountains of associated paperwork. Currently studying filmmaking at UMass Amherst, Becca is looking to add authentic disability representation both in front of and behind the camera. A good way to sum Becca up is one time they successfully drove a 16’ boat around a lake after watching nothing but an instructional YouTube video.

Rachel Morgan (she/her) is a Content Specialist and Principal Advisor at Cereal for Dinner with nearly two decades of lived experience. She’s an experienced support group facilitator at the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) as well as the founder of Mindful Cheat Codes (MCC), a site that empowers people to create their own mental health plans and reduce suicidal ideation. When not nerding out on psychology and neuroscience, Rachel enjoys singing karaoke, playing trivia, and spending time at home in San Francisco with her partner Holden, dog Anchovy, and cat Helo.

Izabelle Donahue (she/her) is a mom of two young kids and an advocate for mental health awareness, drawing on her own experiences since high school. As a proud chef, she focuses on nourishing the body to support overall well-being. She’s passionate about promoting accessibility and community support in the mental health system, helping others navigate their journeys toward resilience and empowerment.

Jameson Tuneberg (he/him) is a mental health advocate with a deep understanding of the system as both a consumer and a professional. He has over a decade of experience studying and researching the mental health system, in addition to his vast knowledge gained from living with persistent mental health challenges. Recently, he served as a content consultant and skills instructor for DBT-based education and support groups at a national mental health nonprofit. He’s a simple guy - he loves his family, the Chicago Bears, and a good cup of coffee.

Regina Renaye (she/her), an award-winning mental health advocate and status quo disruptor, is the founder of Mindful + Melanated, a peer-led mental wellness community for Black women. She is passionate about sharing her journey of living with depression while navigating the mental health system through: her podcast, support group, and her annual Strong Black Woman Redefined Conference.

Lisa St. Denis (she/her) is a strength and conditioning coach with 17 years of experience and a deep passion for mental health advocacy. She believes in the power of the mind-body connection and that movement, while challenging, can be a meaningful component of overall wellbeing. Lisa creates a supportive, judgment-free space where clients can explore movement in ways that feel good to them, reminding everyone that just showing up is a victory worth celebrating. When not training, you can find Lisa with her zoo of animals (2 dogs, 5 cats, a turtle, and more to come), hiking, or rescuing sea turtles in the Virgin Islands.

Lisa conducts in-person and online training through her business, P.E. Fit.

Kiki (they/she) is a licensed psychologist, author, and Linehan-board-certified expert in Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Specializing in borderline personality disorder, trauma/PTSD, self-harm, and LGBTQ+ mental health, Kiki is passionate about making evidence-based mental healthcare as accessible as possible. Few things make her happier than eating a great chocolate chip cookie, seeing a bird she's never seen before, or dancing with friends.

Hi! Enjoying this website? I sure hope so! My name is Caol (kowl) and I’m a creative Brand Identity & Website Designer.
I worked directly with Emily and her team to build a website capable of showing their amazing content in exciting and easy to navigate ways.
It’s my greatest pleasure to work with businesses and organizations like Cereal for Dinner to develop good strategy, intuitive UX, accessible UI, and great branding!

Amanda Magee, MBA (she/her) has over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurial companies, managing finance, and directing & managing operational improvements, and setting & executing strategic directions. She has served as the C.F.O of four successful companies, including TracRac, Fabrico Inc., and her current position as the C.F.O. of Curtis Industries.

Amanda has significant experience educating and improving the discipline of organizations to ensure accurate transactions and improve accuracy of financials. She has implemented company- wide metrics to align the organization with its mission and drive performance, and well as led monthly management reviews to evaluate the organization's performance against its key metrics.

Amanda is also skilled at working with start-up companies, having built financial systems from scratch and educated employees on importance of following procedures. She has also worked with HR departments to promote consistency in management behavior, increase supervisor skills through regular trainings, and promoting a culture of learning and teaching.

Dr. William Alexander (he/his) served as the Executive Director of Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at the University of Pennsylvania for nearly a decade, where he managed a staff of almost 50 clinical mental health professionals, and oversaw several programs to improve access and quality of services offered to the student body. Multiculturalism, social justice and mental health issues impacting young adults have been a major focus of his professional work. He has worked as a psychologist in a variety of settings throughout New Jersey.

He has taught in the Graduate School at Temple University and began his work in higher education by serving as the Dean of Students at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ.

He earned his Masters and Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Temple University. Dr. Alexander lives with his wife, also mental health professional, in Pennington, NJ, where they enjoy biking, golf, and other outdoor activities.

Sandy, MS, CPS, (she/her) is a mental health advocate with a BA in Psychology and a Master's in Mental Health Counseling. Initially, she worked as a therapist but shifted her focus and became a Certified Peer Specialist. She has been a NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) presenter at inpatient facilities since 2019.

Sandy is also a blogger, web content writer, and ghostwriter who draws from her lived history, professional experience, and education. She has several published articles and blogs through NAMI, The Mighty, the Australian platform Talked, and various other websites and mental health agencies.

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Dr. Dorothy Borresen (she/her) is a clinical psychologist, and a family psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. She is Professor Emerita at Rutgers University after twenty-five years as an Assistant Clinical Professor and Director of Behavioral Science at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health.

Dr. Borresen has been in private practice for more than thirty years where she practices both psychotherapy and psychopharmacology. She completed a doctorate in clinical psychology from Temple University and a Master’s in psychiatric nursing from University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Borresen has held leadership positions in nursing and healthcare, ranging from the past president of the Society of Psychiatric Advanced Practice Nurses (SPAPN) to the executive board of APN-New Jersey, a grassroots organization that advocates for quality and access to healthcare in New Jersey.

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Paloma Suárez (she/her) was most recently the Director of Wellness and Care Navigation for Boston Community Pediatrics and is an incoming PhD student at Cornell University studying community nutrition. Before immigrating to the US, Paloma's experience growing up in the Dominican Republic illuminated the way extreme disparities between social classes, particularly regarding access to healthy foods, can lead to higher incidences of disease. After graduating with a Bachelor’s in Nutrition & Dietetics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Paloma worked as the Senior Nutritionist and Breastfeeding Coordinator at Berkshire South’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. Recognizing similar health disparities in the US, Paloma received her master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Upon completing her dietetic internship, she received the 2019 New Hampshire Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Outstanding Dietetic Student Award, given to students in recognition of their emerging leadership and achievements in dietetics. She currently holds many positions on boards throughout MA. Paloma’s service in response to screening for social determinants of health during the COVID- 19 pandemic was recently featured on WBUR/NPR; later, Paloma received the State and National Excellence in AmeriCorps Innovative Service Award.

Eran Magen, Ph.D. (he/his), is the founder and CEO of Early Alert, a service for preventing crisis among students and employees. Dr. Magen received his M.A. in education and Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University, and served as the research director for the department of Counseling and Psychological Services at the University of Pennsylvania. In his free time, Dr. Magen teaches parents how to build strong, supportive relationships with their children through the Parenting For Humans initiative.

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