In 7th grade, Lisa took a chance and shared her family secrets with a school counselor. It didn’t end well. When the system failed to protect her, she left home. She had no clue what horrors awaited a 12-year-old girl on the streets, homeless and alone. She had become trapped in a predatory world of trauma and addiction where tragedy became so commonplace that she never thought she’d live to grow up, yet she survived. 

She tried to hide her past and pain behind a facade of normalcy and was married with two kids and a mortgage by age 21. Suffering from PTSD, she cycled through years of dysfunctional relationships ruled by anxiety, depression, and addiction. 

In 2001 she found a path of trauma and addiction recovery that would change everything. As she healed, she learned to empower others and founded The Center For Emotional Freedom.

As a Certified EFT practitioner, transformational coach, and speaker, she has taught thousands of people how to move beyond survival using trauma-informed proven strategies. Science meets spirituality in a framework grounded in neuroscience, supported by the kind of empathy and compassion that come from lived experience.

Lisa’a Empowering SHIFTS process is a practical guide to navigating real life and creating rapid, powerful, and lasting changes. Empoweringshifts.com

Dan is a serial entrepreneur with over 45 years of solid business experience. His passion is helping entrepreneurs strengthen their companies by complementing their knowledge with his insights. 

Dan brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this space and a high-level view of companies as well as non-profits. He has held many C-level positions. 

Dan has founded eight companies, has been a founding member of three others, and has taken over 20 products from inception to market. His wide range of exposure and experience adds another level of expertise to the product and market knowledge of his clients.
 

James Boomhower, BS, FP-C, NR-P, C- NPT, CCISM has been involved in EMS for over 15 years in a variety of health systems throughout New England.

He currently functions in the role of Critical Care Transport Specialist-Paramedic/ Lead Peer Support Director with Boston Medflight of Bedford, Massachusetts and Crisis and Peer supporter for the ECHO FAST team and the state of RI CISM team.

James is most recently evolving his crisis counseling to individuals in and out of the first responder and healthcare community through volunteering as a crisis counselor with the “Crisis Text Line”.

His desire to bring mental health awareness to the EMS arena has spurred him to create the Stay Fit for Duty platform as well as work to implement a peer support program in his workplace.

James is working to realize his goal of promoting recognition, management and acceptance of acute stress in EMS providers throughout the world. Most recently James is further advancing his passion for mental health and wellness as he works to obtain a Masters degree in psychology, eventually becoming a counselor for first responders and healthcare providers.

In 2020, Deana founded the Realize Foundation which is dedicated to reducing the statistics of suicide by normalizing the conversation. As a suicide survivor herself, she stayed silent for 23 years because of the shame and stigma. Her personal experience yielded the mission of using conversation, community and personal story in order for human connection to save lives. The first time Deana met another suicide survivor, she no longer felt alone. 

Deana Mitchell is an entrepreneur, mental health advocate and best selling author.

She started her entrepreneurial journey at the age of 14. 

Deana holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Louisiana State University and has enjoyed a three-decade career in the hospitality/event industry. 

As the President of Genius & Sanity, her mission is to help entrepreneurs and business owners to reach their potential and thrive personally as well as professionally. The focus is to find the balance in career success and whole self-health.