About Headstrong
Headstrong is dedicated to serving the dyslexic community by providing information about dyslexia, self-advocacy and new technologies in multimedia formats. Headstrong is building an online community where dyslexic individuals can post open, honest information about their unique experiences. Headstrong is a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation, Federal Tax ID 47-0925290.
Mission
Headstrong’s mission is to give people with dyslexia access to hope and self-respect. Our goals are to reduce dropout rates, ease underemployment and end the isolation of the world’s largest disability group. We help the 30 million people in the US and those worldwide who are dyslexic by:
- Providing information about dyslexia in multimedia formats.
- Teaching dyslexic individuals how to become self advocates.
- Promoting useful tools such as screen reader software and other audio based technologies.
- Building a supportive online community of dyslexic individuals.
The Team
Ben Foss, President
Ben founded Headstrong in 2003. He is dyslexic and was in special education throughout elementary school. Ben holds a JD/MBA from Stanford University and works at Intel Corporation as the Head Researcher for Assistive Technology in the Digital Health Group. There he develops information technology systems to help people with disabilities gain independence. Before graduate school, Ben worked for the White House National Economic Council and for the Children’s Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. after attending Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. He was recently engaged to Alexis Filippini, an Assistant Professor at San Francisco State in, appropriately, special education.
Chloe Sladden, Director of Documentary Film Projects
Chloe has advised CEOs of leading media companies and worked with pioneering new media start-ups, but she’d much rather be making documentary films. Luckily, she’s found a happy medium at Current, where she extends the television network’s innovative programming model into new subject areas and across multiple platforms as VP, Special Programming Projects. Previously, Chloe was a management consultant in Booz Allen Hamilton’s media and entertainment practice, working with major film studios, book publishers, TV networks and record companies. She holds an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. Chloe first fell in love with the art and craft of documentaries while completing a Master’s degree in Cultural Anthropology, also at Stanford.
The Film Crew
Several talented documentary filmmakers partnered with Headstrong to produce films. Key folks include:
Steven Schecter, Co-Director, Co-Producer
Steven Schecter, President of Schecter Films, Inc. is an independent producer and director, free-lance cinematographer, editor and writer. His nationally broadcast documentaries include over a dozen works that have been televised on the Discovery Channel, the National Geographic Channels, PBS and Turner Broadcasting, as well as award-winning feature films and short films for fund-raising purposes. In 2003, he completed Passion & Discipline: Don Quixote’s Lessons for Leadership. The feature documentary is an unconventional look at leadership through great works of literature, completed for the Stanford Graduate School of Business with Professor Emeritus James G. March and was broadcast this spring on PBS.
Thomas Burns, Cinematographer
Thomas Burns is an Austin-based cinematographer best known for his work in the nonfiction film world. His documentary credits include Train, The Village and Revolutions Per Minute, which won a Student Academy Award in 2002. Most recently, he worked as the Director of Photography for the forthcoming documentary The Making of McSweeney’s No. 14, which explores the behind-the-scenes process of publishing one of the nation’s leading literary quarterlies (national DVD release in July 2003). Thomas holds an MA from the Stanford Graduate Program in Documentary Film and Video. In 2002 he was nominated for the American Society of Cinematographers’ John Seitz Heritage Award for outstanding work.
Legal and Finance Advisors
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
The law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, performs legal work for Headstrong on a pro bono basis. The firm handles elements related to corporate affairs, taxes, liability and releases for filming and other not-for-profit legal strategy.
Michele Takei, CPA, MBA, Asst. Treasurer
Michele has over 25 years of tax and treasury experience and serves as Headstrong’s Assistant Treasurer. Before founding an independent financial process consultancy based in Portola Valley, California, she worked for sixteen years in various financial process rolls for Sun Microsystems and, before that, for a large accounting firm.
The Headstrong Board of Directors
In addition to Ben Foss, President, the Headstrong Board includes:
Stacey Abrams, Director and Treasurer
Stacey serves as a Representative in the Georgia State House. Previously, she was Deputy City Attorney of the City of Atlanta. Previous to that she was Special Counsel for the law firm of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan in Atlanta. She is a graduate of Yale Law School, the LBJ School of Public Affairs and Spellman College, and a former Truman scholar. She also currently serves as Executive Director and founder of Third Sector Development Inc., a nonprofit management consulting firm for other nonprofits. Stacey has published articles on issues of taxation, nonprofit organizations and public policy including pieces with the Yale Law and Policy Review, The Christian Science Monitor and the Environmental Protection Agency.
On the side, she writes best-selling romantic espionage novels under the pen name of “Selena Montgomery.” Her titles include Rules of Engagement (May 2001), The Art of Desire (January 2002) and Power of Persuasion (November 2002).
Brooks Burdette, Director and Secretary
Brooks is a partner at the law firm of Schulte Roth and Zabel, LLP. He is a seasoned corporate litigator with expertise regarding the legal issues facing non-profits. His professional associations include his role as Co-chair of the Trial Evidence Committee for the American Bar Association and membership in the Federal Bar Council. He is a Trustee of the Harvard Law School Alumni Association of New York City and former President of the Truman Scholars Association, as well as a Vice President for the Brainstorm Afterschool not-for-profit Program.