BOARD MEMBERS
Mara James
Founder & CEO
Mara was born and raised in Long Island, a suburb of New York City. She attended the University of Rochester, graduating with double majors in Psychology and Economics. Mara has worked for Drexel Burnham Lambert, Swiss Bank Corporation and Credit Suisse First Boston where she was Vice President of Foreign Exchange Operations.
Mara has organized extracurricular activities and several fundraisers for her children’s school. She is a past board member for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation in New York where she co-chaired the Foundation’s annual Neiman Marcus sponsored luncheon two years in a row.
Mara has written a book called “The Power of Piggie Bear” to help children identify and manage their emotions in a fun and mindful way. The book teaches children to love themselves and empowers them by letting them know that they are truly amazing just the way they are.
Mara has organized extracurricular activities and several fundraisers for her children’s school. She is a past board member for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation in New York where she co-chaired the Foundation’s annual Neiman Marcus sponsored luncheon two years in a row.
Mara has written a book called “The Power of Piggie Bear” to help children identify and manage their emotions in a fun and mindful way. The book teaches children to love themselves and empowers them by letting them know that they are truly amazing just the way they are.
Rachel Popplewell
Vice Chairman
Rachel has a Bachelor’s degree in graphic and communication design, a Masters in packaging and over 30 years branding experience, mainly in the fashion accessories sector. Rachel is passionate about using her skills to propel ELF to the forefront of a movement to redefine mental health and bring greater understanding to some of today’s most misunderstood diseases.
The mother of three children, Rachel’s oldest child has struggled with depression and anxiety. Her oldest brother is schizophrenic and her youngest brother died at age 30 after self medicating with heroin to escape his own mental health issues. Rachel is committed to ELF’s mission to find better solutions while children are still young, before they turn to drugs and alcohol.
The mother of three children, Rachel’s oldest child has struggled with depression and anxiety. Her oldest brother is schizophrenic and her youngest brother died at age 30 after self medicating with heroin to escape his own mental health issues. Rachel is committed to ELF’s mission to find better solutions while children are still young, before they turn to drugs and alcohol.
Carrie Cesario
Secretary
Carrie was born and raised in Southern California. Though she lived abroad and in Los Angeles for several years, she’s primarily lived in Orange County where she has been raising her two children for the past 10 years. Carrie became involved in working with women after the birth of her first child, when she quickly realized she was being called to empower women by teaching them the powerful hypnosis techniques she used for her birth experience. She began serving woman as a certified Hypno-doula and then as a Hypnobabies Childbirth Hypnosis® Instructor. Her passion for hypnosis and for women’s wellness and healing expanded to include hypnotherapy work, when she become a Certified Hypnotist with the National Guild of Hypnotists, and then a certified Transpersonal Hypnotherapist, to continue her deep, transformational healing work for the mind/body/soul. Carrie believes that when you heal women, you heal the world, and this is never more so than the mothers of the world, as they are gifted with raising the next generation. Carrie is equally as passionate about raising children consciously and peacefully, as honoring the child as a unique human affords them more security to realize and manifest the gifts they each hold within themselves that the world needs.
Beatrice Yee
Treasurer
Bea brings 15 years’ experience as an accountant, having worked for an engineering firm, a home builder, and presently, a real estate investment company. Bea was primarily raised in Manila, Philippines before her family moved to the United States when she was a teen. She spent almost 20 years living in the Washington, D.C. metro area, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from George Mason University. She is highly seasoned in handling day-to-day operational accounting, cash management, financial statement preparation, sales reporting and project tracking. Bea has always had family and friends who suffer from various mental health conditions, but it was in her early 20s when she personally had her first battles with depression and anxiety. She realized that there is not enough compassion and support for these issues even though many people struggle every day. Adding to the struggle is that there seems to be shame felt in discussing mental health, and there is not enough awareness and belief that it is important. Bea is very excited to work with ELF in educating others about mental wellness, promoting healing, and offering therapeutic tools and resources to those who need it most.
Amy Betonte
Board Member
Amy is a retired attorney and obtained her Juris Doctorate from Case Western University School of Law. Amy spent many years utilizing her trial advocacy skills in Ohio courtrooms working to improve the lives of children and families in crisis before ultimately relocating to California. She was one of the original contributing members to Teen Court in Canton, Ohio which provides first time youth offenders with a restorative justice alternative to court in order to remove the stigma of conviction through early intervention and creative sentencing for first time offenders. Amy has one son, Jake and two foster sons, Jack and Evan and although Amy no longer actively practices law, she has continued her efforts working with children to enrich their lives and has spent the past 20 years volunteering in our local Laguna Niguel and Dana Point Schools and Communities. Amy has been volunteering with the Extraordinary Lives Foundation for nearly three years and is grateful to have been given the opportunity to take on a greater role with the Board. She looks forward to being part of ELF’s future.
Lauren Perry McVicker
Board Member
Lauren is an experienced event and conferences manager, having had the opportunity to lead events, marketing and conferences as a Freelancer and for the Americas region of an International Bank. Her ability to visualize and analyze each project’s needs has supported her in important successes and resulted in significant revenues with key clients. She has a strong understanding of how to provide dedicated personable relationships. Lauren feels very passionately about the Extraordinary Lives Foundation and its vision. She was raised by a family of therapists; a psychiatrist and a clinical social worker. Along her journey of performing, working for television and the commercial industry, she found a program that fulfilled her soul as a Brennan Healing Science Practitioner. Brennan Healing Science® (BHS) is a gentle yet powerful holistic method of balancing and restoring health to your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual bodies. It combines hands-on energy healing techniques with spiritual and psychological awareness to deepen your self-discovery process. After completion of this four year training program, Lauren decided to focus on helping clients with mental health healing. In addition to her private practice, she is currently assisting her husband in their Lido Marina Village insurance office with their boat show events, conferences and customer relationships.
Seagal Hagege
Board Member
Seagal’s first career out of college was in healthcare at 2 top NYC hospitals. Seagal always wanted to be a teacher and in 2001, she was accepted into the New York City Teaching Fellows. Seagal spent the next 12 years teaching children and then teachers in New York’s most challenging neighborhoods. Through this program, Seagal completed a Masters in Elementary Education and School Leadership. Seagal successfully created classrooms where children felt safe and thrived educationally and most importantly, emotionally. Seagal wanted to empower children in ways that she was not. Seagal is excited to serve on the ELF board to continue serving her favorite people in the world, our children.
Dr. Kevin Alexander DBH, LPCC
Doctor of Behavior Health & Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor
Kevin Alexander is a Doctor of Behavioral Health program and Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor with more than two decades of experience in the treatment of behavioral health concerns. He has worked in diverse clinical settings, providing care for individuals and families presenting with mild to severe emotional and psychological distress. Dr. Alexander is an expert in the assessment and treatment of acute and chronic behavioral health and addiction concerns, and specializes in managing an integrated, holistic approach to patient care.
Dr. Alexander has developed and managed several successful community-based treatment programs, served as Chief Clinical Officer for one of Arizona’s largest crisis response agencies, and developed innovative treatment protocols to better meet the needs of patients managing addiction and behavioral health issues. In his roles as a director, clinical manager, supervisor and professor, Dr. Alexander has mentored, supervised, taught and trained hundreds of behavioral health clinicians. Dr. Alexander currently works as a Service Chief with the Orange County Health Care Agency, overseeing programs that support the behavioral health needs of Orange County Veterans and their families.
Kevin is a driven and caring clinician, passionate about his work, and is recognized as a highly skilled and innovative therapist, helping to support the needs of individuals and families struggling with emotional distress and behavioral health concerns.
Dr. Alexander has developed and managed several successful community-based treatment programs, served as Chief Clinical Officer for one of Arizona’s largest crisis response agencies, and developed innovative treatment protocols to better meet the needs of patients managing addiction and behavioral health issues. In his roles as a director, clinical manager, supervisor and professor, Dr. Alexander has mentored, supervised, taught and trained hundreds of behavioral health clinicians. Dr. Alexander currently works as a Service Chief with the Orange County Health Care Agency, overseeing programs that support the behavioral health needs of Orange County Veterans and their families.
Kevin is a driven and caring clinician, passionate about his work, and is recognized as a highly skilled and innovative therapist, helping to support the needs of individuals and families struggling with emotional distress and behavioral health concerns.
Damion Young
Attorney & Advocate
Damion is an Orange County native who was born in Anaheim and raised in Aliso Viejo. He is passionate about service and giving back to the community. Damion credits his social worker wife (who is a walking DSM) for instilling in him a profound interest in mental health awareness. In his professional life, Damion is an attorney at Buchalter law firm who practices in the area of products liability litigation. Damion received his Juris Doctor degree cum laude from Chapman University Fowler School of Law, and his bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice with distinction from San Diego State University. Prior to his legal career, Damion served as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Specialist in the United States Army. He was responsible for executing vital missions in support of U.S. Secret Service Presidential Protection (TSD), Civil Support, and various law enforcement agencies. He is a graduate of the elite Naval School of Explosive Ordnance Disposal. Damion strives to use his experience as a litigator, service member, and human to further ELF’s mission to create awareness about childhood mental health.
Luz Gonzalez
Associate Clinical Social Worker
Luz was born in Mexico and moved to California at the age of five. Luz has made her life’s passion her mission, which is to work with underserved and underprivileged communities. Luz has worked as a social worker throughout Orange County and the Inland Empire for more than 25 years.
Luz is an Associate Clinical Social Worker. She attended CSULB and received a Bachelors and Masters degree in Social Work with a concentration in children and families. Luz attended Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara, Mexico where she perfected her Spanish language skills and immersed herself in the country’s culture. Luz is bi-lingual, bi-literate and bi-cultural in Spanish.
Over the past 25+ years, Luz has served in numerous leadership capacities including: Medical Outreach Manager, Nephrology Social Worker, Therapist, and District Program Coordinator.Luz has a track record of cultivating and nurturing relationships with a wide range of stakeholders to improve access to services and quality of life for children and families.
Luz has been married for 25 years and has two sons. Luz is convinced that none of us are exempt from being impacted by a mental health disorder, whether our own or a loved one. Luz’s eldest son is on the autism spectrum, however, her family never treated him any differently. They acknowledge that he sees and interacts with the world differently and they made modifications without judgement. They celebrate his ability to connect with the world in a more profound way than many others will ever be able to connect. They focus on his strengths and support them. Luz is passionate about working with ELF because she believes that everyone deserves and has a right to pursue life without any stigma. Luz looks forward to working together to ensure that every child can grow into the beautiful human being they are meant to be without judgement.
Luz is an Associate Clinical Social Worker. She attended CSULB and received a Bachelors and Masters degree in Social Work with a concentration in children and families. Luz attended Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara, Mexico where she perfected her Spanish language skills and immersed herself in the country’s culture. Luz is bi-lingual, bi-literate and bi-cultural in Spanish.
Over the past 25+ years, Luz has served in numerous leadership capacities including: Medical Outreach Manager, Nephrology Social Worker, Therapist, and District Program Coordinator.Luz has a track record of cultivating and nurturing relationships with a wide range of stakeholders to improve access to services and quality of life for children and families.
Luz has been married for 25 years and has two sons. Luz is convinced that none of us are exempt from being impacted by a mental health disorder, whether our own or a loved one. Luz’s eldest son is on the autism spectrum, however, her family never treated him any differently. They acknowledge that he sees and interacts with the world differently and they made modifications without judgement. They celebrate his ability to connect with the world in a more profound way than many others will ever be able to connect. They focus on his strengths and support them. Luz is passionate about working with ELF because she believes that everyone deserves and has a right to pursue life without any stigma. Luz looks forward to working together to ensure that every child can grow into the beautiful human being they are meant to be without judgement.
