President - Aisha Pope

Aisha Pope is a Certified Positive Discipline Lead Trainer from California, USA. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at the San Diego Center for Children specializing in serving marginalized communities including Black and Indigenous People of Color, LGBTQ+ Families, foster families, youth birth to 5 and their caregivers, and those who have trauma or behavioral health challenges. Aisha is passionate about Social Justice and using Adlerian and PD principles to support social justice work. She is one of the authors of the upcoming PD Tools for Kids Social Emotional Learning. Aisha is married to Don and is the proud mom of Jayden and Maya.

Vice President - Nicole Kahny

Nicole L. Kahny is a global human resources executive with more than 26 years of cross-functional experience leading organizational transformation and growth as a C-level executive. Over the course of her career, Nicole has gained extensive cross-industry experience in global organizations of varying sizes and complexity, including multiple roles with Fortune 100 companies. Nicole has undergraduate degrees in both Business and Instructional Design and she is currently nearing completion of her Masters in Organizational Development from the University of Pennsylvania. She has been involved with a number of non-profit organizations both as a board member and/or as a volunteer over the course of her career. Nicole resides in Pennsylvania and is the wildly proud mom of two adult children, ages 21 and 27, whom are her greatest accomplishments in life.

Officer: Secretary - Madison Salmon

Madison Salmon is the Director of Operations at Project Return, where she supports program development and organizational growth within a community mental health setting. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Occupational Therapy at Nova Southeastern University, with a focus on mental health and community-based practice. Madison is passionate about promoting participation, independence, and access to meaningful daily activities through collaborative and person-centered approaches.

Officer: Comptroller - Suzie Bohm

Suzie Bohm is a financial consultant residing in Atlanta, Georgia. Suzie has practiced accounting for over twenty years, working with companies of all sizes from start-ups to global enterprises.  She graduated from the University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce. 

Director - Stephanie Maurice Beason

Stephanie Maurice Beason has dedicated her career to helping impact organizations grow, build sustainability, and thrive.

She is currently Director of Relationships at Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology, where she leads fundraising, grantmaking, and member relations while serving on the organizational leadership team. Previously, Stephanie held fundraising and marketing management positions at Focus: HOPE, Hospice of Michigan, and Mariners Inn.

Stephanie completed her MSW (Nonprofit Management) at Loyola University Chicago and is a Certified Fund Raising Executive.

Director -  Ashish Kumar

Bete P.Ashish Kumar is a global development leader and nonprofit governance expert with 26+ years of experience across 150+ countries. As CEO of KIS Foundation, he has led organisations, delivered 100+ projects, and built the capacity of 20,000+ professionals worldwide — from government and nonprofits to youth and board members. A researcher on nonprofit sustainability and a champion of governance reform, Ashish brings deep expertise and an unwavering commitment to child/young and community well-being to the PDA Board.

Treasurer - Weina Wu

Weina Wu is a Certified Positive Discipline Trainer in Toronto, Canada. After working in the business sector as an auditor and financial planner for over 10 years, Weina started her Positive Discipline journey in 2015 in Beijing, China. She earned a Master’s Degree in Applied Psychology in Beijing Normal University and worked as a parent educator and personal coach focused on emotion management. During the past few years, Weina has facilitated, co-facilitated, and interpreted 130 Positive Discipline lectures, parenting workshops, and core workshops. She is also the co-translator of the Chinese version of Empowering People in Workplace Manual. She is a loving mother to a teenage girl.

PDA Member, Consultant (representing founders) - Brad Ainge

Brad Ainge is the CEO of Empowering People, Inc. (DBA Positive Discipline). As a full-time single dad he gained a wealth of experience that he shared on his blog called Single Dad Brad. During his time as a single parent he became an expert on laundry, dish washing, animal control, taxi service, and referee for the occasional “He started it!” “No, she started it!” debate. Those experiences later became a book published with Penguin Random House, Positive Discipline Parenting Tools, which he co-authored with his mom, Dr. Jane Nelsen and his sister, Mary Nelsen Tamborski.

Now that his kids are grown his goal is to someday move to a remote Scottish village and spend his days playing golf.

BOARD ADVISORS

Advisor to the Board - Dr. Bill Curlette

William Curlette, Ph.D., is a Professor Emeritus from Georgia State University where he was a faculty member in the Research, Measurement, and Statistics Section of the Department of Educational Policy Studies. Over many years, he worked with faculty in the Department of Counseling and Psychological Services and held a faculty appointment as Professor in that Department. Dr. Curlette is a Diplomate in Adlerian Psychology and for nineteen years was Co-Editor of The Journal of Individual Psychology. During his forty-five years at Georgia State University in the College of Education, he was Department Chair of Educational Policy Studies; Interim Associate Dean for Research, Scholarship, and Graduate Studies; Director of the Center for Educational Research; Director of Research; Director of Graduate Studies; and Director of the Graduate Certificate in Program Evaluation. He has worked with school systems, foundations, and on grants.

Advisor to the Board - LaTysa Flowers

LaTysa Flowers is a Certified Positive Discipline Trainer Candidate from California, USA. She is a Family Support Specialist and a graduate of the California Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities program. LaTysa is a member of the Association of Black Psychologists and the Founder of Parents Empowerment Services that  provides educational advocacy, consultation, and coaching for the parents and caregivers of children with academic, developmental, and social-emotional challenges. She is a facilitator of Empowering People in the Workplace providing leadership and organizational development on anti-racism, cultural responsiveness, and quality inclusive practices to professionals, non-profits, and public serving systems. LaTysa is a Positive Discipline Educator for parents, early childhood, and the classroom. Her life’s work consists of efforts to reduce inequities and bias in learning environments by bringing awareness and training to educators and caregivers. Her most rewarding roles are being the mother to four adult children and "GiGi" to her two grandsons.

Advisor to the Board - Yogi Patel

Yogi Patel is a Certified Montessori Teacher with training from the Association Montessori Internationale and a Certified Positive Discipline Trainer. She founded two Montessori Schools in 2001 in San Diego retiring in 2018. Now, she focuses her passion on a company she founded in 2018, Heartfelt Parenting. Through it, she offers PD seminars and educational training to teachers, parents, and children of all ages in addition to being a consultant. Yogi volunteers as an early childhood advocate at the state level in California. In her advisor role with the PDA, she is focused on Global Community Outreach in high need areas and is interested in diversity, equity, and inclusion. Yogi is passionate and feels fulfilled when helping children and the elderly to obtain and maintain a sense of belonging and significance. She lives in San Diego with her husband and two daughters. 

Foundation Fundraising - Lisa Krausz 

Lisa Krausz is a parent and couples educator and coach who works with couples raising kids together to up their family EQ. Certified in both Parenting the Positive Discipline Way and in Keeping the Joy in Relationships, her practice, MAPWisdom.com, provides parents with the tools they need to show up for their kids and each other in the best way possible. With a M.S.Ed in gifted education, she also helps parents discern the vital role they play in supporting both their child’s social & emotional growth as well as their academic trajectory. Lisa has a background in grant writing and fund raising and is excited to assist the Positive Discipline Association in cultivating foundation support.