Neuro Assistance Foundation
About Us
OUR MISSION
Neuro Assistance Foundation is dedicated to assisting spinal cord injured and disabled individuals in the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area to achieve self-sufficiency and mobility through assistive vehicles, equipment, technology and home modifications.
OUR VISION
NAF will strive to ensure that every spinal cord injured or disabled person in our community has the equipment necessary to be mobile and independent.
Take a moment to watch
"Neuro Assistance Foundation - Our Mission"
click on the address below to watch the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8y8uu7CDfk
NAF Board Members & Officers
Michelle Behm - Incoming Board Member (2011)
Rich Behm - Incoming Board Member (2011)
Kimberly Booker - Board Chair
Bruce E. Carter, Sr. - Board Member
Cynthia Cooperman – Board Member, President and Co-Founder
Renata Knight - Board Member
Beverly Olson – Vice-President Operations and Co-Founder
Keith Tansey, M.D., PhD – Board Member
Biographies
Bruce E. Carter, Sr. (Board Member)
Bruce E. Carter, Sr. has an impressive history of domestic and international human resource management experience obtained in Fortune 200 companies and the public sector. Most recently Bruce was Director of Operations and Diversity for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. Prior to joining Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, Bruce held the position of Vice President Human Resources at Cox Communications, the leader in providing cable, internet and telephone services and as Vice President Human Resources for National Distributing Company (NDC), the nation’s third-largest wine and spirits distributor.
Bruce also spent time at US West and Ryder Systems in senior HR leadership positions. While at US West in Denver, Colorado, Bruce was on the cover and featured in an article of the inaugural issue of “In the Black,” Denver’s African-American Business Journal. Bruce has developed leadership selection and succession planning programs, which have been recognized by Human Resources Executive magazine as best practices. He also was featured in the 2002/2003 edition of “Who’s Who in Black Atlanta”. Bruce was profiled recently in the “Eclipse Magazine” article Texas Executives Achieve Success.
Active on local, state and national levels, Bruce has provided consistent civic leadership by serving on several boards. He has served on the boards of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) Dallas and the Campaign Cabinet for the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. He is involved in several professional organizations including the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources (NAAAHR), Human Resources Planning Society (HRPS), Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), and the National Black MBA Association. He is a former board Member of the Valley of The Sun United Way, Maricopa County Workforce Commission, Atlanta Business League, Communities in Schools of Atlanta, HR Outlook, Dallas and Houston Urban Leagues the Dallas County Historical Commission.
Bruce received his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in Industrial Relations from the University of Minnesota.
Cynthia Cooperman (Board Member & President)
Cynthia Cooperman is a co-founder, Board Member and President of the Neuro Assistance Foundation.
Cindi has sixteen years experience in the airline and travel industry both in customer service and management. Her management experience extends to purchasing, quality assurance and competitive analysis. While working for a major airline, she was instrumental in the creation of several new departments and was responsible for their quantitative results.
In 2007, Cindi met Bev Olson and her life was profoundly changed by their friendship. Through Bev, she learned that the spinal cord injured community was doing without basic equipment, which in turn, made the simplest aspects of daily life significantly more complicated. Through this friendship, the Neuro Assistance Foundation was born.
Cindi is a member of the Greater Keller Women's Club and has been active in various communities by volunteering her time in the St. Louis Community School District and the Keller Independent School District. Cindi also serves on the Community Partner Advisory Committee at the University of Texas at Arlington and gives her time to sports programs at the high school level. When she isn't volunteering her time at the schools or working for NAF, she is spending time with her husband, Jerry, and their four sons.
Renata Knight (Board Member)
Bio pending - please check back
Beverly Olson (Vice-President Operations)
Beverly Olson is a co-founder of the Neuro Assistance Foundation and has been on the board and staff since April, 2008. She is currently Vice-President- Operations.
Bev has spent the last twenty years in the airline industry in various capacities from customer service to management. During her career, she had the oppotunity to assist many individuals with disabilities and was committed to ensuring their needs were met both on and off the aircraft.
In 1997, Bev was involved in a motor vehicle accident which left her a T4-5 spinal cord injured paraplegic. She did her rehabilitation at Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation in Dallas. Since leaving rehab, she has had multiple back surgeries but continues to dedicate herself as a part-time volunteer with other non-profit organizations and as a mentor to recently injured individuals at UT Southwestern in Dallas.
For the past twelve years, Bev has seen the insurance industry and the government deny equipment that people need to live a productive and independent life after injury. With the Neuro Assistance Foundation, Bev works toward her hope and dream that every individual with a neurological disorder will have the equipment needed to live the quality of life they experienced prior to their illness or injury. Her passion is invaluable to NAF. In addition to her work with NAF, Bev is also a member of the Greater Keller Women's Club.
Kimberly Booker (Board Chair)
Kim joined the board of Neuro Assistance Foundation in April, 2008. She recently owned The Rayburn Agency of Nationwide Insurance in Ft. Worth and has previous experience in corporate marketing with AT&T and Proctor & Gamble.
In addition to her business activities Kim is very active volunteering in her community. She is on the board of the local YMCA and teaches for Junior Achievement of the Chisholm Trail. In addition to her duties with the above organizations, she also volunteers numerous hours to the Keller Independent School District in other capacities.
Kim is a graduate of Texas State University and lives in Keller, Texas with her husband, Scott, and their three sons.
Keith Tansey, M.D., PhD (Board Member)
Director, Spinal Cord Injury Research Shepard Center
Research Faculty
Departments of Neurology and Physiology
Emory University School of Medicine
Attending Physician
Spinal Cord Injury Clinic
Atlanta VA Medical Center
Dr. Tansey joined the board of the Neuro Assistance Foundation in September, 2008. He is currently Director of Spinal Cord Injury Research at the Shepherd Center and directs the Departments of Neurology and Physiology at Emory University School of Medicine as well as being on staff at the Spinal Cord Injury Clinic at the Atlanta VA Medical Center.
Dr. Tansey completed his B.S. and M.S. in Biology and Biomechanics at Stanford University and then completed his M.D. and PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where his dissertation research focused on spinal cord physiology. He completed his residency training in neurology at Washington University in St. Louis and then fellowships in spinal cord injury research and neurorehabilitation at Washington University and at the University of California Los Angeles. He returned to UT Southwestern and directed the Spinal Cord Injury Program there before he moved to Shepherd Center.
Dr. Tansey is board certified in Neurology and Spinal Cord Injury Medicine. He has won several teaching and research awards including one from the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) and he has presented his research work to the National Neurotrauma Society, the American Society for Neurorehabilitation, the Society for Neuroscience and at several international scientific meetings. Dr. Tansey also served as a Research Consortium Associate for the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation.
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