Board Members

Ryan received a BBA in Finance from Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia, where he currently serves on the Entrepreneurship Board and Emeritus Board of Trustees. After spending over 15 years in the education finance space, serving as CEO of Goal Financial for more than 10 years, Ryan opened the door to a new chapter in 2011. Ryan founded and is the Managing Partner of Route 66 Ventures, an investment platform focused on providing venture capital, private equity, and venture debt to early stage technology companies. His passion is to leverage his experience and resources to help mentor and build organizations that are focused on solving real problems and making a difference in people’s lives. Ryan and his wife, Amy, are both graduates of the Hoffman Process, Q2, and Couples Workshop and live in Alexandria, VA with their four children.

Joel attended Claremont McKenna College, worked at the Quaker Oats Company for 8 years and then founded Orange Glo International, marketers of Orange Glo, OxiClean, and Kaboom cleaners with his parents. In 2006, they sold it to Church & Dwight/Arm & Hammer. Joel then started Launch Pad LLC, a marketing company that backs and runs consumer products companies. Joel teaches Entrepreneurship at CU Denver, loves the outdoors, and has tremendous passion for personal and spiritual growth.

Michelle Barmazel is an education consultant for families with highly and profoundly gifted children. A former management consultant at McKinsey and Co., she sits on several non-profit and for-profit boards including NFTE and Ascent Leadership Networks, Stanford and Harvard alumni (Harvard Alumni for Education). Michelle regularly performs teacher trainings and speaks on Gifted Education and 2E. Michelle has an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School, an MBA from Stanford Business School and a BA from UCLA in linguistics/computer science. While at Harvard, Michelle gave her talk at the TEDxHGSE conference “Why Gifted May Not Be What You Think.” She attributes her successes in life to having done the Hoffman Process in her 20s.

Weston, MA

Joan received her BS in Child Development at Cornell and Masters in Education from Wheelock College. Joan taught in both the New York City and Boston Public School Systems.  She is an ADL Executive Committee Member, an Advisory Board Member for Grow Clinic for Children at Boston Medical Center, and a Parent Advisor for the Weston Public Schools. Joan is the recipient of many awards for her community service, volunteerism, and philanthropy.

Steve received his BS in Industrial Engineering from Cornell and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. He is the Chairman and Founder of Trans National Group, a direct-response marketing and investment company. Steve is currently a National Commissioner and Honorary Life Member of the ADL, on the Board of Overseers of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and a Trustee of the Sports Museum of New England. Steve has received several awards and recognition for his community service, volunteerism, and philanthropy.

Scott is the managing director of Long Grove Capital, an investment firm that invests in a broad array of businesses. He is the retired Chairman and CEO of the Brickman Group, the nation’s largest landscape services company, which, under his leadership, grew from a handful of regional branches to 170 branches throughout the country and employing over 12,000 associates. Scott is chairman of LandCare, and also serves as a senior advisor to Blue Marlin Partners, Kohlberg and Co., and the Conscious Leader Group. Active in philanthropy with a focus on poverty, homelessness, and education, Scott sits on the board of Catholic Charities, the Don Bosco Cristo Rey School, Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, and is a member of Venture Philanthropy Partners.

Susan Budinger is a founding director of The Rodel Foundations, a group of private and public philanthropies dedicated to helping improve primary and secondary public education in the U.S. Before the formation of the Foundations, Susan worked for Rodel, Inc, a manufacturer of textiles and chemistries used in the production of semiconductors. In 2008 Arizona Governor Napolitano appointed her to the Arizona P – 20 Council. Susan is the mother of two children and has an M.A. in developmental psychology from Arizona State University and a B.A. in mathematics and economics from Hamilton College.

Christy Foley is a marketing and business development veteran having spent many years immersed in the technology and media industries. She is a connector and producer of unique events that facilitate bringing together like-minded people, companies, and brands to manifest a common purpose. Christy consults and supports projects that foster consciousness, social justice, community building, and philanthropy. She is also a board member of Honoring The Path of the Warrior, and an active member of The Philanthropy Workshop network, Threshold Foundation and Social Venture Network.

Liza is the CEO of the Hoffman Institute Foundation. She received her BA in Developmental Psychology from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1974. Throughout her career, she has held executive positions in national seminar companies with responsibilities for both enrollment and alumni participation. She has been with the Hoffman Institute since 1990.

Raz is the founder of the Hoffman Institute Foundation, emeritus president, a Hoffman Process teacher, and chairman of the board of Hoffman Institute International. Raz received a BA from the University of California, Berkeley in 1970 and has a lifelong commitment to transformational learning, whereby people discover personal freedom, inner knowledge and wisdom. A friend of Bob Hoffman (the creator of the Hoffman Process) since 1973, Raz collaborated with Bob for eight years until his death in 1997.

Felipe Jain, M.D., is Director of Healthy Aging Studies at the Depression Clinical Research Program of the Massachusetts General Hospital, and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.  He teaches psychiatry trainees in the number one ranked psychiatry residency program in the USA, supervising outpatient psychotherapy and psychopharmacology clinics.  Dr. Jain maintains a research lab focused on guided imagery, mindfulness, neuroimaging and depression biomarkers, funded by the National Institutes of Health and private foundations.  He serves as a member of the MD Advisory Board of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.

Dianne is the owner of Effective Action Consulting in the Bay Area. She has been working with business leaders to transform their companies and lives for over 25 years.

Melinda has a passion for philanthropy with a keen interest in mental health, women and children, social justice, and the environment. She is involved with several global and local philanthropic organizations.
She’s a member of Save the Children’s 100 Strong and serves on the board of the Yellowstone Club Community Foundation.
After Melinda took the Process in March 2017, her life was transformed immediately and she believes in the impact it has on everyone around us.
Melinda is a San Francisco-Bay Area native and a retired elementary school teacher. She has two sons.

Jake is a Managing Director at Kinetic Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm. He received his BA from Roanoke College, and his MBA from Harvard Business School. He serves as the Board Chair of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, one of the largest meditation communities in the country. Jake and his wife, Carrington, are both Hoffman graduates and live with their three children in Washington, DC. Both he and his wife have several siblings and friends who have also done the Process.