Founded in 1999, TEA currently has over 1,200 members residing in 17 countries. TEA was created, and is still operated, by volunteers including our Officers and the members of the Board of Directors.
Current Board of Directors:
Beth Coimbra, President
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Beth Coimbra has been a TEA Board member since 2001 and is the President and Treasurer of TEA. Beth lives in Pennsylvania, with her husband and 2 sons. She is a licensed CPA with extensive nonprofit financial management and auditing experience. Beth is the Audit Committee Chairperson on the board of the National Organization of Rare Disorders. Beth became involved on TEA's Board shortly after her EM symptoms began. She has taken on greater responsibility at TEA with the hope to continue and expand the organization's outreach and support to those with EM - those who feel they are suffering alone! |
Isabelle Davis, Vice President
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Isabelle Davis joined the TEA Board in 2003. Currently Isabelle is the Vice-President and editor of all TEA publications and media relations. She worked full-time in Public Relations for more than 14 years at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pennsylvania. Since moving to southeastern Michigan ten years ago, she has worked as a freelance writer. Her EM is secondary to relatively benign multiple sclerosis, which she, and a number of physicians she consulted over many years, assumed was the cause of her EM symptoms. She believes she can draw on her work experience at an academic medical center, knowledge of public relations, writing skills, and life experience to help TEA increase awareness about EM in the medical community and raise funds for research.
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Deborah Mosarski, Secretary
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Deborah Mosarski has been a board member since 2003 and lives in South Carolina. She developed EM in 1994 and can no longer work as flight attendant which she did for twelve years. Activities she enjoyed before EM were running, traveling, painting and ballroom dancing. Her EM is severe and affects her feet, hands, and face. She is married but has no children due to her illness.
Deborah has been involved in medical Internet support groups and has researched EM and her symptoms for years. She feels that the best way to help oneself and others with this illness is through education. She has found few physicians are well-informed about EM and believes that a physician’s knowledge is the first step towards advancements in research and awareness about this debilitating condition. Her hope is that with research progress can be made that will help identify, treat and possibly even prevent or heal EM.
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Gayla Kanaster, Director
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Gayla Kanaster joined the TEA Board in 2002, and is the Networking Program Administrator. She was born with EM. After the birth of her daughter, studies done by the University of Alabama and the Mayo Clinic revealed that EM runs in her family and has affected generations. Over the years, her EM symptoms decreased slightly and she developed Raynaud's Syndrome. However, her daughter's case has become worse. She is the main reason that Gayla was eager to become involved in TEA. Gayla was a flight attendant for 2 1/2 years (was caught changing into flat open shoes in flight) and a travel agent for twenty. She hopes her background as president of another large non-profit organization in Los Angeles will help her contribute to TEA in some way. She and her husband moved to Tacoma, WA to be near her daughter's family.
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Nicki Greer, Director
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Nicki has been a Board member since 2007. She considers herself very lucky, as she has a mild case of EM, and after much trial & error, is able to control her symptoms with medications. Because she feels so strongly about "paying it forward" in life, she wanted to help TEA in any way possible, and eventually to her delight, was asked to be on the Board. Nicki is retired and loves to travel, especially to CA to visit her children, and three grandchildren. She spends her time volunteering for different organizations, but especially loves her time at Rescue Village, which is a non-profit, “no kill” shelter for animals. She has been married to Dwight for fourteen years, and looks forward to spending winters in CA after he retires, along with their rescue dog, Kobi. |
Meriwether Jones, Director
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Meriwether Jones is an independent consultant specializing in program design, program evaluation and the design and facilitation of "peer learning" retreats for organizations and groups of organizations engaged in philanthropy and/or community economic development. Meri brings much experience in service to our board with many past board positions, Executive Director of the Community Strategies Group (CSG) of The Aspen Institute, Vice-President of the Aspen Institute, Manager of Venture Development & Finance for the State of South Carolina, and The Corporation for Enterprise Development. Meri has a B.A. in economics and an MBA, and a true motivation to finding solutions to living with EM. Meri's wife has had EM for several years. |
Cindy Hockaday, Director
Danielle Ravetti, Junior Director
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I was born in Stockton, California in 1993. At the age of 4 I started competitive roller skating. Roller skating was my life until I was 12. I was ranked number 1 in the Western Region for two years in a row and qualified for Nationals. I decided to take a break and try basketball and volleyball. Let’s just say skating was the only thing that came natural to me.
At the end of seventh grade I began experiencing pain in my feet. The pain was so bad I developed a horrible gait and stopped walking. After being misdiagnosed several times I was diagnosed with EM.
I enjoy hanging out with friends, going to movies, playing catch with my puppy, and going on Facebook. I hope to attend a four year university and becoming a child pain psychologist. I would like to extend my experiences in helping other children with this rare disorder. My email address is danielleravetti@hotmail.com. Feel free to contact me anytime!
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