Cristine Frieze -- Treasurer

has over 25 years of successful financial management. Working with development stage companies through maturity, she is able to develop and implement sound accounting systems and processes working with technology to create seamless financial environments. Christine’s client base runs the gamut from a not-for-profit health awareness organization, a SaaS systems company, a music festival production company to retail and industrial manufacturing. Most recently, she is the CFO of Enviro Ambient, an emissions control technology firm, which was preceded by her position as Director of Financial operations and Accounting for Meridian Companies, LLC, a leading provider of tax credit equity financing. While at Meridian, she provided financial advice and guidance for over ten different companies and interacted with FINRA and the SEC on a number of related regulatory matters.

Mikele Rauch LMFT -- Clinical Director/Founder

has worked both in Los Angeles and Boston, with men and women survivors of trauma, physical, incest, sexual assault and rape, religious and ritual violence, utilizing art, music, EMDR, bodywork and mindfulness practices to the work of recovery since 1983. She currently facilitates mixed gender groups for survivors of military, familial, religious and sexual trauma who struggle with addiction. In 2001, she co-founded and is currently on the clinical staff of the International MaleSurvivor Weekend of Recovery Team for male survivors of sexual abuse (www.malesurvivor.org.) She is the Chair and founder of TakingBackOurselves, a Weekend of Recovery program for women survivors of sexual abuse. She has written for Paradigm, Cross Currents, National Catholic Reporter magazines, Sober World, and Big Voice Productions, author ofHealing the Soul after Religious Abuse: the Dark Heaven of Recovery, Praeger Publications, “Words on the Ground” for Trauma and Countertrauma, Resilience and Counterresilience: Insights from Psychoanalysts and Trauma Experts, edited by Dr. Richard Gartner.

Emily Abrams -- Board Chair

is principal of Abrams Advising, a firm specializing in helping multigenerational family enterprises develop next generation family leaders, effective business boards, and family governance processes aligned with the values and legacy of the family. Prior to launching her advisory firm, Emily served on the Leadership Team at Narva & Company for more than two decades, fine-tuning her intuitive approach to board recruiting and developing a passion for mentoring next generation leaders in Family Governance. Early in her career, after graduating from Simmons University with a degree in English and Art History, she taught elementary school and later, developed a nationally recognized program to integrate art museum education into her community’s public school curricula. Emily has served on the Taking Back Ourselves Board of Directors since its inception. In addition, she is an active member of The Boston Club, a community of executives and professionals invested in connecting, supporting, and elevating women to leadership positions, where she serves on the Rising Generation Committee and as a new member Ambassador. In 2001, she helped found the Michael C. Rothberg September 11th Scholarship Committee to honor the memory of her nephew, whose extraordinary life was cut short by the 9/11 World Trade Center Tragedy.

Tiger Bye

is a Master Instructor for the breath training company, Oxygen Advantage®. She is the co-owner of Better Yoga, a digital platform that teaches people to do yoga better so that they feel better. She has previously co-founded the men's mindfulness company, Manscending, that teaches mindfulness based leadership and emotional literacy to US fraternities. Tiger holds a B.A. in Political Theory from New York University and a M.S. in Health and the Public Interest from Georgetown University. Tiger has experience working for national political campaigns, voter education non-profits, and public radio. Tiger is committed to serving survivors of trauma through her mission to democratize health and wellbeing by building sustainable community. Pronouns: she, her, hers.

Peter Bottéas LMHC was a founding member of the TBO facilitation team and served for several years as clinical liaison between the team and the Board. He is a multilingual and multicultural therapist, now in retirement, after several years in private practice, specializing in trauma recovery. He was previously a counselor, therapist, and victim advocate in the Violence Recovery Program at Fenway Health in Boston—a program that focuses on recovery from traumatic events such as sexual abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence, and bias crimes in the LGBTQ community. He frequently trained clinicians, students, and community volunteers, has spoken at various conferences in the U.S. and Canada, and has been an adjunct faculty member in the Counseling Psychology program at Lesley University. He is a certified EMDR clinician certified with advanced training in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy.

Larry Ruhl is the author of Breaking the Ruhls, a memoir about recovering from childhood sexual abuse and complex trauma. He is a registered speaker with the RAINN network (Rape Abuse Incest National Network). He previously served as a board member at Male Survivor. He also spoke at colleges and retreats to increase awareness of sexual abuse against men and boys. Today he shares his story publicly to spread awareness and to help others shed the shame and stigma associated with sexual abuse. He graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), with a degree in Display & Exhibit Design.

Dr. Purnima Mane, Phd is an internationally recognized expert on gender, AIDS, and sexual and reproductive health. Dr. Mane has served as UN Assistant-Secretary-General, United Nations and Deputy Executive Director (Programme) of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). In late summer 2016, Dr. Mane was a Policy Fellow Resident at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center in Italy. She has served in leadership positions in several international organizations such as Pathfinder International, UNAIDS, World Health Organization, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the Population Council. Before launching into an international career, Ms. Mane worked for over a decade and a half in India on public health and gender-related issues, while serving as Associate Professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. Dr. Mane holds a doctoral degree from TISS in women's studies. She has co-authored several papers, co- edited 3 books, and is a founding editor of the journal, Culture, Health and Sexuality. She was recipient of the Fulbright-IIE Global Change Maker Award in September 2016. She is a Board member of the International Development Research Center, Bay Area Global Health Alliance, Frontline AIDS and Hesperian Health Guides.

Shari Narva, MSW is Senior Clinical Advisor at Narva & Company. Shari has worked for over 30 years with families as an advisor, consultant, and psychotherapist. She helps families create a coherent family narrative that incorporates the past and honors the legacy of the family into the future. She specializes in helping families engage in the difficult conversations that prevent progress and success. By interviewing all relevant family members, including spouses, she ascertains the family dynamics, communications patterns, and disruptions to the business family issues may cause. Creating a safe and effective forum for family dialogue, a practice in which Shari has deep experience, can often be a key intervention where family discord or resistance exists. Shari has presented to many university based family business programs, foundations, law firms and other professional firms on these subjects. Her previous professional experience includes private practice in psychotherapy, teaching and clinical supervision. She spent many years working as a social worker in child protective services, developing and managing state and federally funded programs for youth in the juvenile justice system as well as serving as an expert witness in judicial proceedings. Shari received a B.S. from Cornell University in Human Development and Family Studies and earned an MSW at the Smith College School for Social Work. Shari speaks Spanish and volunteers in a number of Boston-based programs for children and families. She is also known as “Sparkle” in her role as a hospital clown.