Board Members

Ryan received a BBA in Finance from Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia, where he currently serves on the Entrepreneurship Board and Emeritus Board of Trustees. After spending over 15 years in the education finance space, serving as CEO of Goal Financial for more than 10 years, Ryan opened the door to a new chapter in 2011. Ryan founded and is the Managing Partner of Route 66 Ventures, an investment platform focused on providing venture capital, private equity, and venture debt to early stage technology companies. His passion is to leverage his experience and resources to help mentor and build organizations that are focused on solving real problems and making a difference in people’s lives. Ryan and his wife, Amy, are both graduates of the Hoffman Process, Q2, and Couples Workshop and live in Alexandria, VA with their four children.

Joel attended Claremont McKenna College, worked at the Quaker Oats Company for 8 years and then founded Orange Glo International, marketers of Orange Glo, OxiClean, and Kaboom cleaners with his parents. In 2006, they sold it to Church & Dwight/Arm & Hammer. Joel then started Launch Pad LLC, a marketing company that backs and runs consumer products companies. Joel teaches Entrepreneurship at CU Denver, loves the outdoors, and has tremendous passion for personal and spiritual growth.

Michelle Barmazel is an education consultant for families with highly and profoundly gifted children. A former management consultant at McKinsey and Co., she sits on several non-profit and for-profit boards including NFTE and Ascent Leadership Networks, Stanford and Harvard alumni (Harvard Alumni for Education). Michelle regularly performs teacher trainings and speaks on Gifted Education and 2E. Michelle has an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School, an MBA from Stanford Business School and a BA from UCLA in linguistics/computer science. While at Harvard, Michelle gave her talk at the TEDxHGSE conference “Why Gifted May Not Be What You Think.” She attributes her successes in life to having done the Hoffman Process in her 20s.

Weston, MA

Joan received her BS in Child Development at Cornell and Masters in Education from Wheelock College. Joan taught in both the New York City and Boston Public School Systems.  She is an ADL Executive Committee Member, an Advisory Board Member for Grow Clinic for Children at Boston Medical Center, and a Parent Advisor for the Weston Public Schools. Joan is the recipient of many awards for her community service, volunteerism, and philanthropy.

Steve received his BS in Industrial Engineering from Cornell and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. He is the Chairman and Founder of Trans National Group, a direct-response marketing and investment company. Steve is currently a National Commissioner and Honorary Life Member of the ADL, on the Board of Overseers of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and a Trustee of the Sports Museum of New England. Steve has received several awards and recognition for his community service, volunteerism, and philanthropy.

Matt Brannagan is the Chief Executive Officer of the Hoffman Institute Foundation; he joined the Institute in 2007 and has previously held the roles of Chief Operating Officer and Director of Faculty, in addition to Teacher and Coach. Matt is a retired veteran and former Master Resilience Trainer for the U.S. Army; he is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology as a doctoral candidate and holds both a B.A. in Sociology and an M.A. in Transpersonal Psychology.

Committed to guiding Hoffman’s evolution, Matt is focused on ensuring sustainable long-term growth. Extensive leadership training allows Matt’s work as a Hoffman faculty member to be grounded in clarity, compassion and accountability, led by the belief that organizational culture is strengthened when people feel empowered, supported and connected to purpose.

Andy Fishman holds a bachelor’s in computer science from Dartmouth College, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar. With over 20 years in private equity, Andy most recently held the title of Managing Director at Vector Capital, sitting on the Investment and Management Committees; Vector is a technology focused, middle market private equity firm focused on deep-value turnarounds. Andy’s professional history also includes Silver Lake Partners and Goldman Sachs, focusing on technology private equity and technology investment banking, respectively.

Liza is the CEO Emeritus and co-founder of the Hoffman Institute Foundation. She received her BA in Developmental Psychology from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1974. Throughout her career, she has held executive positions in national seminar companies with responsibilities for both enrollment and alumni participation. She has been with the Hoffman Institute since 1990.

Felipe Jain, M.D., is Director of Healthy Aging Studies at the Depression Clinical Research Program of the Massachusetts General Hospital, and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.  He teaches psychiatry trainees in the number one ranked psychiatry residency program in the USA, supervising outpatient psychotherapy and psychopharmacology clinics.  Dr. Jain maintains a research lab focused on guided imagery, mindfulness, neuroimaging and depression biomarkers, funded by the National Institutes of Health and private foundations.  He serves as a member of the MD Advisory Board of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.

Dianne is the owner of Effective Action Consulting in the Bay Area. She has been working with business leaders to transform their companies and lives for over 25 years.

Amy Pooser is an executive coach and authority on conscious leadership & organizational culture. With a career spanning operating roles from VP of People and Process at athenahealth to COO/President of Convene and CEO/Founder of boutique human capital firm New Fashioned, Amy has worked at the intersection of high-performance and human potential for nearly three decades. As a coach, she partners with leaders and organizations in transition, working to build cultures that drive meaningful and lasting change.

Amy holds a Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude from Amherst College, where she studied Political Science, Women’s and Gender Studies and Buddhist theory. This early expression of her lifelong commitment to understanding what it means to be fully human now extends into every facet of her life as a doula, transcendental meditator, and long-term participant in the women’s spirituality movement.

Jake is a Managing Director at Kinetic Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm. He received his BA from Roanoke College, and his MBA from Harvard Business School. He serves as the Board Chair of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, one of the largest meditation communities in the country. Jake and his wife, Carrington, are both Hoffman graduates and live with their three children in Washington, DC. Both he and his wife have several siblings and friends who have also done the Process.