Smith Center for Healing and the Arts relies upon the work of a network of faculty, staff, and volunteers from a wide variety of disciplines. We welcome inquiries, applications, involvement and/or support from anyone engaged or interested in this work.
Medical Director
Michael Hawkins, MD
Michael Hawkins, MD, a medical oncologist, is Medical Director of Smith Center and conducts clinical research in Oncology at Gilead Sciences in Foster City, CA. Formally, Dr. Hawkins was the Chief Medical Officer at Abraxis BioScience and was instrumental in obtaining FDA approval of Abraxane for women with metastatic breast cancer (2002-2007); an Associate Director of the Washington Cancer Institute at the Washington Hospital Center (1999-2002); the Director of the Clinical Research and Developmental Therapeutics Program at the Lombardi Cancer Center (1992-1999); and the Chief of the Investigational Drug Branch while at the National Cancer Institute (1984-1992). He was the chairman of the Cancer Advisory Panel to the NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine from 2000-2002. In his oncology practice he encouraged patients to pursue inner healing while being treated for their cancer.
Board of Directors
Michael Lerner - Chair
Michael Lerner, PhD is President-Emeritus, Senior Advisor, and co-founder of Smith Center for Healing and the Arts and of Commonweal, a health and environmental research institute in Bolinas, California. He is also co-founder of a dozen major initiatives including the Cancer Help Program, Health Care Without Harm, the Collaborative on Health and the Environment and The New School at Commonweal. He is the recipient of a MacArthur Prize Fellowship and the author of "Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Cancer Therapies." He has co-led 170 week-long Cancer Help Programs at Commonweal and Smith over the past 25 years.
Jeremy Waletzky - Vice Chair
Jeremy Waletzky, MD is Distinguished Life Fellow, American Psychiatric Association, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, The George Washington University, Trustee, Vice-Chairman, Smith Center for Healing and the Arts, Trustee, Public Conversations Project, Member, Rockefeller Family Fund Investment Committee, and Member, Fetzer Institute Investment Committee.
Steven Bookoff - Treasurer
Steven Bookoff has over 30 years of financial and management experience and has been the CFO of ORGANIC INDIA since 2002. Steven also volunteers as an officer and director of the Bet Lev Foundation, a Private Foundation in the USA, and serves as a Director to Insight Intensive, a therapeutic residential program for young men. Steven had testicular cancer in 1989. He has been completely free of Cancer for over 20 years and he lives a very active, healthy, and vibrant life. In his spare time he enjoys spending time with his family, swimming, practicing Yoga, running on trails, or exploring the outdoors.
Myrtis Bedolla
Myrtis Bedolla is the founding director of Galerie Myrtis, a contemporary fine art gallery located in Baltimore, Maryland. As cultural liaison for the embassies of Ghana, Haiti, Mali, Republic of Georgia and Zimbabwe; Ms. Bedolla uses art to encourage cultural exchange and awareness. Among the highlights of her career was her research and documentation of the utilitarian and ceremonial art forms created by women of the eight ethnic groups in Niger. The objects collected were featured in the exhibition: The World of Women of Niger mounted at the National Museum of Niger in 2005. She currently serves on several boards, including the Art Advisory Board, University of Maryland University College, College Park Maryland, as well as the Station North Arts and Entertainment District, Baltimore, Maryland. Additionally, Ms. Bedolla is a contributing writer to The International Review of African American Art and Valentine Magazine; online newsletters: ARTINFO and IRAAA (International Review of African American Art). She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Maryland, University College, and received her curatorial training at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland.
Susan Braun
Susan Braun has more than 20 years of health care and oncology experience. She currently serves as the CEO of The V Foundation. Prior to this, she was Executive Director of Commonweal, Executive Director of the ASCO Cancer Foundation and also served as President and CEO of CURE Media Group, which publishes the award-winning direct-to-patient cancer publication, CURE magazine. In addition, she served as President and CEO of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (now Komen for the Cure). Prior to joining the Komen Foundation, Ms. Braun worked in the Oncology/Immunology Division at Bristol Myers-Squibb, where she was involved in patient advocacy, strategic planning, public policy, and health care economics and finance.
Robert Hisaoka
Robert Hisaoka is President of RRR, LLC and is the Founder and Event Chairman of the Joan Hisaoka "Make A Difference" Gala Assisting Those Living with Cancer. Bob is an investor in Venture Philanthropy Partners, a philanthropic investment organization that helps community-based nonprofit organizations maximize their impact. Other local and national charities Bob supports include CharityWorks, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Michael Weiss Foundation, Chuck Norris's KICKSTART, KEEN, San Jose State University, Salvation Army and Greater Washington Sports Alliance.
Jackie Ogg
Jackie has an MSW and has worked for the past 30 years in the field of social services bridging direct service, philanthropy, and community engagement. She is currently with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington where she serves as Director of Outreach and Community Relations. In 2010 Jackie and her husband Clay lost their 20-year-old son, Brendan, to brain cancer. Brendan was an emerging writer and took part in a poetry workshop at Smith Center for Healing and the Arts. The work he created is included in Brendan's book of poetry, Summer Becomes Absurd, and became the inspiration for a number of community art works including Encircled, exhibited at the Joan Hisaoka Art Gallery.
Web Coleman - Member, Emeritus
Web Coleman was a staff member at CHP's Hallowood weeklong cancer retreats for over 15 years. He led orientation and trail walks, plus Sugarloaf Mountain trips and climbs. He aided his wife Barbara Smith [Coleman] in researching and founding Smith Center. Web's early experiences included camping, scouting, outdoor activities and sports. Careers included teaching, advertising, nationwide corporate consulting: employee communications, technical writing, supervisory training, management development. Web was a lifetime sailor. In retirement, he took up horses and 100 mile competitive trail riding. He knew Barbara for many years, and when both were widowed, married in 1994 at the original Smith Farm on Maryland's Eastern Shore.
Staff
Shanti Norris – Co-Founder and Executive Director/CEO
Ms. Norris serves as Executive Director of Smith Center for Healing and the Arts. She initiated the Smith Center hospital Artist-in-Residence program and Healing Arts Gallery. She runs the weeklong retreats for people with cancer, and oversees new initiatives, including the Faith-based Community Navigation project at Smith Center. Former Vice President of Kent Homeopathic Associates, she has an extensive background in complementary medicine and mind-body approaches to healing. She has taught meditation, yoga philosophy and stress reduction for over 35 years and underwent a formal ten-year mentorship with a renowned yoga master. She is a three-term member of CARRA, the patient advocacy program at the National Cancer Institute and a graduate of Project LEAD from the National Breast Cancer Coalition. She is a graduate of the Georgetown University Non-profit Leadership certificate course and the James P. Shannon Leadership Institute in Minneapolis/St Paul. She is a former board member of the Society for the Arts in Healthcare and Chaired their Annual Conference in 2004. She is a founding board member of The Art Connection in the Capital Region and a founding member of Arts in Healthcare Advocates (AHA.) She is a frequent speaker on the healing power of the arts. Her formal art training began at New York University and The Cooper Union in New York City and includes running the fine art studio of artist Peter Max. She is a member of ArtTable, the mother of three adult children, and is a painter and sculptor.
Michelle Clermont – Deputy Director
Ms. Clermont manages the finances, operations, administration, and human resources of Smith Center. She has worked in the integrative health and nonprofit industry for over eighteen years. She has broad experience in all aspects of operations including: strategic planning, team building, contract negotiations, event management, and budget development. Prior to Smith Center, she helped to integrate and manage two DC metro area healthcare clinics and managed an international nonprofit, that worked to integrate healthcare by empowering and educating healthcare providers in mind-body medicine, integrative cancer care, and nutrition. Michelle has studied dance for over thirty-seven years and pilates for over fifteen years. She also has extensive experience with yogic philosophy, energy medicine, and nutrition and is passionate about creating great-tasting, healthy, allergen free, vegan foods.
Brooke Seidelmann - Gallery Director
Brooke serves as the Director for The Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery, coordinating exhibitions, interfacing with curators, engaging collectors, and is constantly in search of stimulating and inspirational work to share with the Smith Center community. Prior to working in the arts, Brooke served as a researcher at the University of Maryland’s Center for Integrative Medicine, editing papers on acupuncture and homeopathy. Later, she received her Masters Degree in Art History and the Market at Christies’ Auction House, and has worked in galleries in New York City and Charleston, SC.
Carole O'Toole - Director, Integrative Navigation
Carole developed the Patient Navigation Program for Smith Center in 2006, introducing integrative navigation to Howard University Cancer Center, and developing faith-based community navigation services for African-Americans and African immigrants that operate from four churches in underserved areas and the community at large. She has also designed a training model for integrative cancer care navigation that is offered to navigators nationwide through Smith Center. Prior to her work at Smith Center, Carole was a Patient Navigator at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, MD, and ran a private integrative cancer care navigation practice. She also has over fifteen years’ professional experience in environmental consulting.
In addition to her navigation work at Smith Center, Carole also staffs the weeklong retreats, coaches individuals on integrative cancer care decision-making and complementary resources, and leads Smith Center's “Living Well With Cancer” one-day workshops. Carole frequently represents Smith Center at national and local conferences and other public forums. She is the author of two books on integrative cancer care: “Cancer Community Healing Network”, and “Healing Outside the Margins”, and holds a Masters degree in Medical Anthropology and Health Policy. Carole has been a survivor of advanced cancer since 1994, enjoys biking and rowing on the Potomac with a survivor crew team, and is a wife and mother.
Meredith Anderson - Program Director
Meredith joined Smith Center in 2008. She is a Washington, DC native and is deeply grateful to be a part of the work of Smith Center. She is the mother of a preschooler and in her (limited) spare time enjoys reading nonfiction and poetry and making cards.
Alaina Sadick - Communications Director
Alaina came to Smith Center for Healing and the Arts with a background in nonprofit and arts marketing, most recently serving as Director of Marketing at Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts. As a yoga teacher and the daughter of a cancer survivor, she has a deep appreciation for the integrative and life-enhancing approach of Smith Center's work. She loves concerts and exploring new music, cooking healthy food, and spending as much time as possible in the sunshine.
Erin Price - Development Assistant
Erin serves as Smith Center's Development Assistant and has a solid background in Direct Marketing fundraising for nonprofit organizations. During her years as a fundraising consultant she did work for a variety of causes from women’s organizations and animal welfare groups, to health and environmental nonprofits. Receiving numerous awards for her work over the years, she was most recently honored as the 2011 Rising Star by the Direct Marketing Association of Washington. After Erin’s diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer in 2011, she decided to devote her time toward cancer support organizations and found her place at Smith Center for Healing and the Arts. She graduated from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA, and holds a B.S. in business administration. Outside of work, Erin continues to enjoy creative outlets: dance, cooking, painting and pottery. She can also be found volunteering for various breast cancer organizations in the Washington, DC area.
Tanya Batalska - Finance Director
Tanya Batalska has experience in Non-Profit Finance and Operations Management and Hospitality Management. After moving to the Washington, DC area and before joining our team she worked for Women’s Campaign Fund and She Should Run. Her experience spans multiple non-profit organizational structures, like 501(c)3 (foundation), 501(c)4 (membership), and PAC (political action committee). She believes in the importance of the work non-profit organizations do in our world and she dreams of a world and government where non-profits will no longer be needed. She believes in the importance of coexistence and balance, and enjoys greatly the programs offered at Smith Center and learning more about integrative wellness.
Adrienne Dern - Program Director
As an alum of a Smith Center weeklong cancer retreat and numerous other programs, Adrienne is delighted to be part of the Smith Center team, serving as Program Director. Adrienne holds a graduate certificate in gerontology and worked in the field of aging before transitioning to health care, most recently at the Pulmonary Hypertension Association. As Smith Center's Program Director, Adrienne aims to offer a wide array of programs in the areas of stress reduction, creative expression, and cooking & nutrition for those affected by cancer and the community at-large. Adrienne practices Insight/Vipassana meditation and participates in classes and retreats at the Insight Meditation Community of Washington. As a "culture vulture" and nature lover, Adrienne finds the DC area a wonderful place to live.
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Anthony Palliparambil, Jr. - Gallery Assistant
Art lover, fashion enthusiast, budding health-food nut, and a DC local since birth — Anthony Palliparambil, Jr., is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park where he majored in Studio Art and minored in Art History. Post graduation, after a brief stint at Washington Project for the Arts, he joined the Smith Center family as the social media administrator for the 9/11 Arts Project. Eventually, he made his way to the Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery, where he's been ever since! In his spare time, Anthony enjoys painting, singing loudly in his car, watching classic movies, and flipping through a stack of fashion magazines.
Alison Decker - Program Coordinator
Ali serves as the Program Coordinator for Smith Center, working with each of our departments to manage logistics and communications for classes, workshops, trainings, and retreats. She approaches her work at Smith Center with degrees in Music/Anthropology and Ethnomusicology and experience working at performing arts non-profits. Before she relocated to DC, Ali enjoyed performing in a Sundanese Gamelan, teaching world music, and researching the sounds of kundalini yoga. She fully believes in the deep healing power that is inherent in music and art-making.