Meet our Board Members
The National Menopause Foundation is grateful to the following individuals serving as Board Members for shaping the vision of the organization and supporting its mission.
Claire Gill
Claire Gill founded and launched the National Menopause Foundation (NMF) in September 2019 to bring about a positive change in how women perceive and experience health at midlife. In May 2020, she assumed the role of CEO of the Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation (BHOF), formerly the National Osteoporosis Foundation, which she joined in January 2013. Prior to joining BHOF, she had a 20+ year career in Public Relations and Marketing for national nonprofit organizations and public relations firms with Fortune 500 clients.
Claire Gill
President & Founder
Chief Executive Officer
Bone Health & Osteoporosis Foundation (BHOF)
Susan Randall, MSN, FNP-BC
Susan Randall, MSN, FNP-BC, is a retired Family Nurse Practitioner. She spent the last 17+years of her career with the Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation (formerly the National Osteoporosis Foundation) as Senior Clinical Advisor and Senior Director of Science and Education. Prior to BHOF, Susan held various positions with Inova Health Systems and VNA of Northern Virginia. She received her RN at Hahnemann Hospital School of Nursing, her MSNF, FNP at the University of Alabama.
Susan Randall, MSN, FNP-BC
Secretary
Retired
Family Nurse Practitioner
Walter Arenzon, MD
Walter Arenzon, MD, is a Partner/Strategy and Creative Development Health and Wellness Digital Communications at Farmacopea, Inc., an independent, minority-owned and women-owned agency that consults with clients on healthcare advertising and communications to target Spanish-speaking patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals. Dr. Arenzon has 20+ years of Latin America and North America expertise in areas such as: doctor-patient dialogue digital tools; cross-cultural patient/caregiver intelligence; and culturally competent communication solutions. Dr. Arenzon is a member of the Ambassadors Leadership Council for Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation (BHOF), a member of the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities, and a health communications consultant CDC/HHS vaccination campaign.
Walter Arenzon, MD
Treasurer
Partner / Digital Strategy and Creative Development at Farmacopea, Inc.
Silvia Baldini
Silvia Baldini is a best-selling author, a classically trained Italian-born chef, a Chopped Champion on Food Network, and a culinary entrepreneur. She is knowledgeable and passionate about sustainable food, and she holds the belief that wholesome ingredients and traditional wisdom combined with technology will be the key to living a happy and healthy life. Silvia is an exceptional and passionate speaker, storyteller, educator, a vibrant creator, product developer, food entrepreneur and a women’s rights advocate.
Silvia established her creative food group, Strawberry and Sage, and she appears on TV including Food Network. She works with global food companies interested in thinking outside the box and developing AI, educational and culinary platforms. Silvia collaborated with LG to advance the development of smart recipes with artificial intelligence technology.
Her newest cookbook, “Les Dames d’Escoffier New York Cookbook. Stirring the Pot.”, which features 76 family recipes from the most accomplished women in the culinary world, was released on September 18, 2023 and it’s one of the #1 cookbooks on Amazon. She is also the author of the e-book, “Room at the Table; Recipes from the Heart”. Her recipes have been published in Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, Parents Magazine, Saveur, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and La Cucina Italiana. She is featured in Forbes, Tech Crunch and Entrepreneurial Chef.
She held positions at Michelin-starred kitchens, and she worked as a cook and a chef in London, NYC and CT restaurants, including the Ritz and Ottolenghi for 5 years. Silvia is also the chef behind Grace Farms Foods’ socially conscious chocolate chip cookies. She collaborated with Grace Farms to create and produce their first Fairtrade America chocolate chip cookie.
She is a proud member of Les Dames Escoffier, NY, a Founding Advisory Board Member at Grace Farms Foods, a member of the Board of Advisors and the Scientific Director at Tasteitalian!, a brand that supports and grow the excellence of Made in Italy internationally.
Upon graduating, she moved to New York to work in advertising, where she had a distinguished and award-winning career as an art director on Madison Avenue in NYC and in Chicago, IL. Born and raised in Turin, Silvia, Silvia’s formative years in Italy instilled in her a passion for the culinary arts, which led her to pursue culinary training.
Silvia received her Bachelor of Arts in advertising, branding and design from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. She trained at the International Culinary Center (ICC) in New York City, Received her Master of Management Hospitality (MMH) from Cornell University, and her savory culinary degree in grand cuisine, culinary arts from Le Cordon Bleu in London, UK.
Silvia Baldini
Director-at-Large
Author, classically trained Italian-born chef, and culinary entrepreneur
Heidi Brown
Heidi Brown launched Brilliance by Brown in late 2019, as a response to the lack of skin wellness insights, minimal menopausal skin health information, and the underserved marketing of skin care products for all women over the age of forty.
Heidi is a seasoned executive, marketer, connector, and wellness strategist. Prior to founding Brilliance by Brown, Heidi was Chief Marketing Officer at Brand Intellisys, Inc. She also previously served as Executive VP of Marketing for T2 Computing Inc., Managing Director at The Wooden Hub, VP of Global Marketing at the International Institute for Learning, VP of Marketing at CCN, Inc. Heidi served as Board member, Board of Influencers of Digital Diversity Networks.
Heidi is a graduate of the University of California – Berkeley and completed her MBA at Columbia Business School.
Heidi Brown
Director-at-Large
CEO and Editor-in-Chief
Brilliance by Brown, Inc.
Omisade Burney-Scott
Omisade Burney-Scott is a seventh-generation Black Southern feminist, storyteller, and social justice advocate. She is also the creator/curator of The Black Girls’ Guide to Surviving Menopause (BGG2SM), a multidisciplinary culture shift project focused on normalizing menopause and aging through the centering of the stories of Black women, transgender and gender-expansive people. She has been featured in numerous outlets including Oprah Daily, Forbes, VOGUE, Prevention, The Washington Post and The New York Times. Over the past 25 years, Omisade’s work has been grounded in social justice movement spaces focused on the liberation of marginalized people, beginning with her own community. She has worked in the nonprofit sector around social justice since 1995 and has been an organizational development and capacity-building consultant for 16 years for nonprofit and philanthropic organizations.
She is a member of the 1999-2001 class of the William C. Friday Fellows for Human Relations, a 2003 Southeastern Council on Foundation’s Hull Fellow and founding member NGAAP, the Next Generation of African American Philanthropy. She has served on various nonprofit boards, including Fund for Southern Communities, Spirithouse NC, Village of Wisdom, Working Films and The Beautiful Project. She currently serves on the wisdom circle for the Acorn Center for Restoration and Freedom. Omisade completed her Bachelor of Arts in Communications Studies from UNC-Chapel Hill. Omisade currently resides in North Carolina and is the mother of two sons.
Omisade Burney-Scott
Director-at-Large
Creator/Curator
The Black Girls’ Guide to Surviving Menopause (BGG2SM)
María Antonieta Collins
María Antonieta Collins is an internationally-known veteran television reporter, journalist, TV host and best-selling author of 7 books. She has won 4 Emmy Awards, and the Edward Murrow Award. She has covered Major League Baseball and is widely known as both a Mexican-American and international journalist.
She became known to viewers in her native Mexico as a reporter of “Televisa 24 horas”, Noticiero con Jacobo Zabludovsky. In 1979, Collins was sent by Televisa as their first correspondent in California where she began as a general assignment journalist also covering baseball in the Major Leagues with the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers, job she did until 1986. Later that year, she was transferred to Spanish International Network the network later named Univision. In her 18 years at Univision Network, she was well known for her job as a Mexico Correspondent, Texas Correspondent, and International Correspondent. In 1993, she was appointed as the successor of María Celeste Arrarás as the weekend anchor of Noticiero Univision, covering Jorge Ramos and María Elena Salinas while they were out. In 2000, she was named Senior Correspondent for the news magazine “Aqui y Ahora” position that with Noticiero Univision fin de semana hold it until she left the network in August 2005.
María Antonieta Collins
Director-at-Large
Journalist, television host and author
Debra DeShong
Debra DeShong is an advocacy/communications expert with more than two decades of experience in public policy, communications and international relations. She is currently the Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications for Qcells, a global clean energy provider. She previously served as the Executive Vice President of Public Affairs for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). Prior to joining PhRMA, Ms. DeShong was Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Communications and Industry Affairs for MGM Resorts International where she oversaw both external and internal communications as well as the development of messaging strategies for issues impacting the Company around the world. She previously was an Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Public Affairs at Subject Matter, a public relations and communications firm in Washington, DC. Her prior experience also includes serving as Chief of Staff to U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy, working as a founder and executive at Washington public affairs firms Point Blank and Five by Five and holding top communications positions with the United Nations Foundation, U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli, the Democratic National Committee and the John Kerry for President campaign. Ms. DeShong has a master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in English from Fairfield University.
Debra DeShong
Director-at-Large
Advocacy / Communications expert
Danielle Ezell
Danielle Ezell is a Partner at The Mettise Group. She has owned several businesses, served on the executive team of a multi-national corporation and headed a non-profit.S he spent the early part of her career focused on business-to-business marketing and public relations. After working for several companies, she founded an award-winning strategic communications consulting firm. Her insatiable curiosity coupled with a dislike of routine resulted in her working with clients ranging from startups to the federal government.
In 2008, she agreed to lead the technology marketing team for Teleflora, a former consulting client. Danielle was quickly promoted at the online flower retailer and in 2011 was named Vice President of Administration. A member of the executive team, she led the company’s human resources functions, technology marketing and key enterprise-wide operations projects.
A trusted advisor, Danielle has worked at every level of an organization. She has extensive experience managing cross-functional, enterprise-wide initiatives including quality programs, leadership development and succession planning efforts, compensation programs and product launches.
Danielle is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources and has her Accreditation in Public Relations. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Public Relations from Syracuse University and her MBA from Oklahoma City University.
Danielle Ezell
Director-at-Large
Partner at The Mettise Group
Bonnie Tandy Leblang
Bonnie Tandy Leblang, a registered dietitian with degrees in food science and nutrition, is a blogger on Bite of the Best. She has run restaurants and airport kitchens, worked for a food distributor, hosted a food radio show, taught food service management at Brooklyn College and University of New Haven and cooking at The Cooking School in New Haven, CT, and implemented a computer system into a hospital food service in the 70s (when computers were the size of a small room).
Bonnie has been a newspaper food editor, co-author of six cookbooks, had columns in Better Homes & Gardens Diet, Better Homes & Gardens Heart Healthy Living, Caring Today, Fitness, House Beautiful, and Lamaze Family magazines and written for many other media outlets including Associated Press, American Health, Cooks, Connecticut, Family Circle, Los Angeles Times, McCall’s, Parade, TV Guide, Woman’s Day, Working Mother, Yankee, and The New York Times. Her recipe column, Express Lane Cooking®, is the world’s first daily syndicated food column (also with Universal Press), and at its height, was seen from Dubai (UAE) to cities in California. Bonnie has presented at many conferences and events, either as a keynoter, facilitator, workshop leader or panel moderator.
Bonnie Tandy Leblang
Director-at-Large
Blogger, Bite of the Best
Contributor, Around the World (Radio)
Lyerka D. Miller, PhD, CCMEP
Lyerka Miller, PhD, CCMEP is President of Miller Medical Communications, LLC, a New York City-based company that develops Continuing Medical Education (CME) programs designed to inform and educate health care professionals. Miller Medical Communications has partnered with organizations such as Elsevier, Pri-Med, Practicing Clinicians Exchange, the American College of Physicians, the American Osteopathic Association, and other acclaimed academic institutions in medicine worldwide.
Lyerka has over 30 years of health care experience in the areas of medical education and advocacy development. Before starting Miller Medical Communications in 2009, she was a founding partner of MK Medical Communications, LLC. Prior to that, she served as Managing Director of Health Management Solutions, a medical communications company in Westport, CT.
Lyerka has extensive experience in women’s health programs. Before leading the educational team at Health Management Solutions, at the Yale University School of Medicine’s Women’s Health Initiative clinical program and was also a faculty development lead for the TIME/LIFE Medical educational series, including topics on women’s health. Prior to that role, she was an Assistant Professor, Harvard University in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures and an Acting Instructor at Yale University in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.
Lyerka received both her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in general linguistics, classics from the University of Zagreb in Zagreb, Croatia, and her PhD in Slavic languages and literature from Yale University. Lyerka is a Certified Continuing Medical Education (CME) Professional (CCMEP).
Lyerka D. Miller, PhD, CCMEP
Director-at-Large
President of Miller Medical Communications, LLC
Victoria Noble
Victoria (Vic) Noble is an award-winning visionary health and wellness commercial leader known for activating human-inspired brand experiences at scale. She has been at the forefront of disease education for women with the mission of democratizing access to care and empowering women to have real conversations with their healthcare providers.
Vic previously served as the Head of Customer Experience at Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd., the Interim Chief Marketing Office of Canadian Cannabis Start-up. In addition, Vic spent 11 years at Shire where she held several positions including VP/Global Head of Brand Value, VP/Head of Marketing, Ophthalmics. After decades of disrupting the health landscape with industry-recognized work for global health brands, she now focuses her energy on the biggest determinant of health and happiness in our time: social connectivity.
She has been recognized as a top 50 Healthcare Influencer by Medical Marketing & Media (MM&M) and PRWeek, PharmaVoice100, the MM&M Hall of Femme and DTC Hall of Fame. She is a Founding Member of Chief, a private global network dedicated to drive more women into positions of power and influence, and keeping them there. Ms. Noble holds an BA in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Victoria Noble
Director-at-Large
Fractional Chief Marketing Officer
Robin Sodaro
Robin Sodaro, an Executive Creative Director with over two decades of experience in media and marketing, is a visionary known for pushing creative boundaries. She has led award-winning campaigns throughout her career, seamlessly integrating emerging technologies into her work. Beyond her professional achievements, Robin is known for her commitment to mentorship and fostering the next generation of creative minds. She believes in the power of collaboration and diversity, recognizing the strength that comes from a team with varied perspectives.
Robin has recently directed her expertise towards a compelling mission — raising awareness and destigmatizing menopause. Leveraging her storytelling and branding skills, she is on a mission to challenge stereotypes and empower women navigating this natural phase of life. Robin’s strategic acumen uniquely positions her to craft campaigns that initiate meaningful conversations and reshape societal perceptions. Her dedication to her craft and her passion for advocating change make her not just an industry luminary but a transformative force using her skills to make a lasting impact.
Robin received her Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design from Montclair State University.
Robin Sodaro
Director-at-Large
Creative Strategist, Visionary Leader, Brand Builder