California BrainWaves
"Making a Splash in the Neuro Community!"
Meet Our Team!
California BrainWaves has a Board of Directors, Operations Advisory Board, Neuroscience Advisory Board, Program Leaders, Volunteers.
Some, not all, are featured below:
Kiera Rain, Founder of Bay Area Professional Organizer, specializing in Neurodivergent Clients
Founder, President of the Board of Directors, Executive Director at California BrainWaves
Kiera Rain founded California BrainWaves after seeing a huge disparity in services for her young son, who is diagnosed with Autism and mental illness. She wanted to ensure supports for her even-younger daughter as well, who has suffered a lot of trauma due to the lack of support, services, and safety during her brother's episodes. The family brainstormed a live/work/learn/play therapeutic resort for Special Needs Families, and started taking action to making it a reality as a nonprofit. California BrainWaves was officially formed in 2022.
Kiera Rain has been self-employed for over 20 years, specializing in the mental and emotional health aspects of disorganization through her business, Bay Area Professional Organizer Co.
Dr. Morgan Hough, graduated University of Oxford, Founder of Center17.org, Co-Founder of Neurofedora, Chapter Lead for NeuroTechX SF, Member of Orthogonal Research and Education Laboratory, Current Lab Member of Cellsius focused on computational biology and cerebral organoids
Neuroscience Advisory Board at California BrainWaves
I am a student (always hopefully) with previous experience in behavioral neurobiology, biophysics, cognitive neuroscience, developmental psychology, machine learning, medical imaging and physics-based medical imaging device development with a focus solely on neuropsychiatric applications of artificial intelligence in biophysics.
I am American but grew up in Edinburgh and London. I can understand French and with practice speak it again. I should be working on my Mandarin.
Dr. Leighton Hinkley, PhD, Sr Scientist in Biomagnetic Imaging Lab at UCSF, Neuroscientist who studies Neurodevelopmental Disabilities, Teacher of a Research Design Class at Department of Psych at USF
Neuroscience Advisory Board at California BrainWaves
Dr. Hinkley completed his Ph.D. in Psychology at UC Davis, with a background in multi-modal non-invasive neuroimaging, specifically, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) to identify the neurophysiological bases of behavior.
He is currently a senior scientist in the Biomagnetic Imaging Lab in the Department of Radiology at UC San Francisco, implementing neuroimaging approaches as a means to understand the neurobiological basis of multiple conditions, including neurodevelopmental disorders. He currently applies multiple imaging techniques (specifically MEG, but also MRI, MRSI, fMRI and TMS) to advance the diagnosis and treatment of multiple neurological and psychiatric disorders. These techniques are often combined with neuromodulation methods (including TMS and DBS) to rehabilitate neurocognitive outcome. He has a deep passion for public education (podcasts, Mythbusters) on neuroscience and how it can be applied to our understanding of conditions like autism spectrum disorders, psychosis and dementia.
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bil.ucsf.edu (Leighton's Lab)
Dr. Patricia L. Gently (formerly Williams), MSMHC, PhD, Co-Founder of Bright Insight Support Network, Specializing in 2E Individuals, Trauma Therapist who specializes in EMDR, Neurodiversity Affirmative Dialectic Therapy (NDA-DT), and Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Neuroscience Advisory Board at California BrainWaves
Through Bright Insight, Dr. Patty honors the whole person(s) while working to counsel, coach, and advocate for gifted, twice-exceptional (2e), and neurodivergent (ND) persons along with other marginalized populations. Her unique involvement with this community gives her a platform through which Dr. Patty writes, presents, and educates others. As a 2e adult, Dr. Patty is no stranger to topics impacting gifted, 2e, and neurodivergent persons and makes it her mission to connect with others, authentically.
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Outside of her work as a therapist and advocate, Dr. Patty teaches at various universities as an associate professor of psychology. In 2023 she published her research and initial findings about Identity Development (Gear) Theory and her book, Intersection of Intensity: Exploring Giftedness and Trauma will be released on August 13, 2024. She is also a state chapter leader for Free Mom Hugs, a group of allies supporting the LGBTQIA+ community.
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https://www.brightinsight.support/
Buy her book here on Amazon!
Dr. Douglas L. Major, O.D., Professional Advocate for Incarcerated Youth and Adults with Special Needs
Family Re-Entry Program at California BrainWaves
Doug Major received his Doctor of Optometry from the Southern California College of Optometry in 1985 after completing his undergraduate work at Brigham Young University. While in professional school, he received numerous national awards for his research in the areas of computer-assisted visual skills and visual problems associated with juvenile delinquency. He also authored several published professional articles and lectured before the American Academy of Optometry and many local parent and teacher groups. Dr. Major has a special interest in the area of incarcerated youth and adults with brain and developmental disabilities.
Ruth Miller, Retired Comcast HR Professional with emphasis on employees with disabilities, Former HS Special Education Teacher, Current Nonprofit Volunteer
Ruth Miller, Retired Comcast HR Professional with emphasis on employees with disabilities, Former HS Special Education Teacher, Current Nonprofit Volunteer
Operations Advisory Board at California BrainWaves
After more than 25 years in the Human Resources profession, Ruth retired and has since utilized her knowledge and business skills to assist nonprofit organizations. As well as volunteering with California BrainWaves on the Operations Advisory Board, Ruth supports career seekers at the Career Resource Center in Lake Forest, IL by providing assistance with resume writing, interviewing skills, and guidance in choosing the next career path. Ruth also tutors first and second graders at a charter school in North Chicago, IL through Reading Power. The program enhances reading strategies mixed with the joy of reading to enable youth to read at grade level and beyond.
Ruth began her career as a special education teacher, working with high school children with multiple emotional and behavioral issues. She moved into business and led branch offices for a staffing organization. For 21 years, Ruth worked as an HR Business Partner supporting various teams for Comcast in the Greater Chicago area. While at Comcast, Ruth had the opportunity to be active in the Chicago's Employee Resources Groups. She was the program co-chair for the MyAbilities ERG and organized as well as hosted virtual lunch and learns on various topics that impacted employees with disabilities.
Lauri Moffet-Fehlberg, AIA, LEED AP, Senior Principal at Dahlin Group
Lauri Moffet-Fehlberg, AIA, LEED AP, Senior Principal at Dahlin Group
Design Team at California BrainWaves
DAHLIN's integrated planning and architecture practice has been developed by over 40 years of shaping communities globally, starting in California. We design each project with an intimate understanding of its context and respond to today's issues of resource conservation and sustainability. Our designs are innovative, real and achievable.
Expertise:
Community Planning: Master Planning, Urban Design, Entitlement
Community Places: Institutional + Municipal, Education, Community Amenities, Golf Clubhouses
Place to Live: Multifamily Residential + Mixed-use, Neighborhood Residential, Apartments, Affordable Housing, Senior Living, Private Residences
Work & Play: Hospitality + Fitness, Commercial + Retail, Office, Healthcare, Interiors
Dane Bunton + Nas Mousavi, Founders of Studio BANAA, Principal Architects, RAs
Dane Bunton + Nas Mousavi, Founders of Studio BANAA, Principal Architects, RAs
Design Team at California BrainWaves
Here at Studio BANAA, we always consider the broadest context—what do the cities, people, businesses need? And then we dive in on the human view. The one that holds identity. Perspectives. Stories. Like homes made out of abandoned masonic temples, restaurants with the owner’s culture literally etched into the walls, or a brandy experience that takes you back to the Californian gold rush.
Because rare and authentic spaces do wonders for the heart and soul of a city.
Two sides of the big picture. United in the detail.
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Studio BANAA is run by Dane and Nas. Dane, a San Francisco local by birth, and Nastaran, a Northern Iranian expat who grew up surrounded by mountains and the Caspian Sea. They met in architecture school and bonded over a shared love of everything in their right brains: art, design, craft. It was at this point the pair—with two different life journeys, and many different perspectives—united as architects and designers. They still hold some common interests: staring at buildings, absorbing art, being in nature, meeting new clients, throwing dinner parties full of Persian food. But their differences are what keep things interesting.
Dane—who studied business and economics before moving into the world of architecture—likes pondering future cities, the business of architecture (or the business of anything, really), and the craft of architectural drawing. Whereas Nas can more often be found delving into the study of villages and micro communities, resilient structures and materials, biomimicry and ecological architecture.
While their right brains are aligned, their left brains are always thinking differently. So when they come together, they can question, inspire and challenge each other to think deeper. To collaborate. And to explore new ground.
Dane's dad owns and operates Bay Area senior living facilities, and his grandfather passed away from complications related to a traumatic brain injury.
Jeff Barrett, Founder of Jeff Barrett Studio, Architect, LEED AP
Jeff Barrett, Founder of Jeff Barrett Studio, Architect, LEED AP
Design Team at California BrainWaves
Registered Architect – California Lic.# C-37499
NCARB Certificate # 99043
Leed Accredited Professional
Jeff is the founding principal and owner of Jeff Barrett Studio. His innovative and forward-looking approach to design is unique in his pursuit to connect the outside natural environment with the building structures which has distinguished him as a leading Architect today. His design insight stems from a passion related to progressing the interconnection of people and places through ecological and technological solutions.
Jeff and the Studio’s design process is centered on collaboration inside and outside traditional design fields and has been developed through a variety of current and previous experiences which has resulted in a diverse body of work.
Notable project experience includes:
Netflix Corporate Campus
VMware Corporate Campus
Palo Alto Mitchell Park Library and Community Center – LEED Platinum
West Sacramento Community Center – LEED Gold
Walnut Creek Library – LEED Gold
San Leandro Senior Center – LEED Gold
Monterey Bay Aquarium
San Francisco Eco Center at Herons Head Park
Jeff's young daughter has seizures. His aunt has severe Autism and has been in RTPs most of her life.
Brian Copeland, Actor, Author, Broadcaster, Comedian, Playwright, TV & Radio Show Host
Talk Show Host at California BrainWaves
Brian Copeland is an award-winning actor, comedian, author, playwright, television and radio talk show host based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He began his career in standup at the tender age of 18 performing in comedy venues in San Francisco. Soon he was traveling the country opening for such legendary performers as Smokey Robinson, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Ray Charles, The Temptations, Natalie Cole, Julio Iglesias, Ringo Starr and Gladys Knight. Copeland performed his brand of biting, cutting edge social commentary in venues including the Universal Amphitheater and Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.
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In 2004, Copeland debuted his first one-man play, “Not a Genuine Black Man,” at the Marsh in San Francisco. The play explored his childhood experiences as a member of one of the only African American families living in the then 94% white suburb of San Leandro, California. His tale of laughter, tears, and sociology went on to become the longest-running solo show in San Francisco theatrical history with over 1,000 performances. The show has been performed in over 30 cities, including a critically acclaimed run Off-Broadway. The play is currently in television series development. In 2006, Copeland published a best-selling book based on “Genuine” that is now required reading in several high schools and colleges across the country. The book was the 2009 pick for Silicon Valley Reads, a library-based program in which all of Santa Clara County reads the same book simultaneously.
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To date, he has written and performed three subsequent critically acclaimed solo plays including “The Waiting Period” (2015 Theater Bay Area Award for Outstanding Production of a Solo Play), the hit Christmas show “The Jewelry Box,” and “The Scion” (PBS affiliate KQED’s Best New Play of 2014). In 2019, Copeland partnered with legendary solo performer Charlie Varon (“Rush Limbaugh in Night School”) to create “The Great American Sh*t Show”: monologues on the age of Trump. The show played to sold-out houses until the onset of the Covid pandemic, and received effusive praise from critics and audiences alike. His latest play, “Grandma & Me: An Ode to Single Parents,” debuted in 2022.
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In addition to his stage work, Copeland is a fixture in Bay Area broadcasting, where he has hosted programs on just about every television station, including KTVU (a five-year stint as cohost of “Mornings on 2”), ABC7 (host of the Emmy award-winning “7Live”) and KNTV (the hit 2015 late night special “Now Brian Copeland”). He has also performed on MTV, A&E, NBC, VH1 and Comedy Central.
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In 2006, Director Rob Reiner (a fan of “Genuine”) cast Copeland as Lee Chambers, the youngest son of Morgan Freeman, in the instant classic, “The Bucket List.” In 2020, Copeland won the supporting role as a reporter in the Sony/Marvel superhero sequel “Venom/Let There Be Carnage.” He can soon be seen on the big screen in Rob Reiner’s upcoming sequel to the legendary film, “This Is Spinal Tap.”
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His first crime fiction novel, Outraged, was released in 2024, featuring the socio-political issues surrounding police murdering unarmed people of color and mentally disabled people.
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Rebecca Hall Gruyter, Founder and CEO of RHG Media Productions, Creator of the Speaker Talent Search, Radio and Podcast Show Host, Publisher, #1 International Best Selling Author
Rebecca Hall Gruyter, Founder and CEO of RHG Media Productions, Creator of the Speaker Talent Search, Radio and Podcast Show Host, Publisher, #1 International Best Selling Author
Book Club Talk Show Host at California BrainWaves
Experienced entrepreneur with a demonstrated history of working in the media production industry. Skilled in management, business development, social media, and major media visibility,. In-demand radio show host, featured on the Influencer Channel of VoiceAmerica, and syndicated on 9 international networks. The publishing arm of our business has helped launch over 1,000 Best Selling authors, 40+ individual best-selling books, and specializes in helping you make an impact...be seen, heard, and powerfully positioned to reach all those you are called to reach.
Noah Nuer, President of Nuer Foundation (Nonprofit), Chairman/CEO/Master Trainer at Learning as Leadership, Co-Founder and CEO of Baleine Sous Caillou Productions
Noah Nuer, President of Nuer Foundation (Nonprofit), Chairman/CEO/Master Trainer at Learning as Leadership, Co-Founder and CEO of Baleine Sous Caillou Productions
Videographer at California BrainWaves
I am the President of Nuer Foundation, a 24-year-old Nonprofit with the mission to empower people to make a positive difference for the future of humanity through supporting existing projects, efforts, and providing the tools to accomplish new ideas.
I currently serve as Chairman, CEO, master trainer at Learning as Leadership,www.learnaslead.com. LaL is a thirty-five-year-old leadership development and culture change firm that works with senior executives at large organizations across the US and abroad. For the past 20 years, I've run the company, facilitated programs, co-developed seminars, and coached management teams in the private sector (Shell Oil, M&T Bank, Fairchild Semiconductor) as well as the public sector (NASA, Sandia National Laboratories). I even had the opportunity to train parliament members and ministers of the Republic of Georgia.
I have lectured at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, University of Michigan, and Stanford University. I’ve published articles in Psychological Inquiry and Psychological Bulletin, a journal of the American Psychological Association.
In addition, I am an award-winning film writer-director with over 12 fictions, documentaries and a web series. In 1996, I co-founded Baleine Sous Caillou Productions, www.bscprod.com., a French film production company that creates short movies, features and series for TV and cinema, both in France and the US. I remain CEO to this day. I will be working on the TV show(s) for California BrainWaves, a Nonprofit for Neurodiversity.
Sam Fehr, Founder of Sam Fehr Productions
YouTube Shows' Lighting and Production at California BrainWaves
My passion for live events and theater runs deep, stemming from a lifelong fascination with the transformative power of storytelling and the magic of performance. From the moment I first stepped backstage during my sister's musical in 3rd grade, I was captivated by the energy pulsating behind the scenes and the collaborative spirit that brings a production to life.
Since then, my love for this industry has only grown stronger with each passing year. I find immense fulfillment in the creative process, from brainstorming innovative ideas to seeing them come to fruition on stage. The thrill of orchestrating lighting designs that elevate emotions and evoke reactions from audiences fuels my drive.
Being part of this vibrant community of like-minded individuals ignites my enthusiasm and fuels my commitment to excellence. Whether it's exchanging ideas with fellow creatives, mentoring aspiring talents, or supporting local theater initiatives, I am deeply invested in nurturing and contributing to the growth of the artistic ecosystem that I hold dear.
Driven by my love for bringing stories to life, I'm dedicated to creating unforgettable experiences through live events and theater. Together, let us continue to illuminate the world with the magic of live events and theater, one unforgettable performance at a time.
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Chef Mallyon, Owner of The Chill Factory
Chef Mallyon, Owner of The Chill Factory
Event Caterer at California BrainWaves
Chef Mallyon delights guests with yummy soulful treats. 5 Stars on Yelp for: large portions, fresh ingredients. creative menu, great value! Follow his ever-changing menu on Instagram!
For California BrainWaves, Chef Mallyon is preparing a select menu for neuro-diet needs, Sensory Processing Disorder issues, plant-based meals.