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The ScreamFree Institute Team

Hal Edward Runkel, President and Chief Visionary Officer

Hal Edward Runkel, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Relationship Coach, Teacher, Seminar leader, and Author of the ScreamFree Living book series, has been leading students, teachers, parents and families in his ScreamFree Relationship methods since the very early years of his training.

Hal has taken the Bowen Systems approach and through thousands of hours of family and child therapy created the ScreamFree Living methodology. It revitalizes relationships and brings a renewed sense of joy, love and caring to families. Hal now presents ScreamFree relationship programs to audiences nationwide through teleconferences, web seminars, newsletters, training classes, and through the ScreamFree Living book series. Hal and his wife, Jenny enjoy screamfree parenting their two wonderful children: Hannah (13) and Brandon (11).

Jon Kaplan, Vice President, Program Services

After 15+ years in the software world, Jon discovered ScreamFree in 2004 and loved its mission of calming the world through family relationships. Jon came on board part-time with ScreamFree late that year. In 2006, he took over as full time Chief Operating Officer and moved into his current role when the ScreamFree Institute was founded. Jon brings a background of sales, business development, marketing and technology to the company. He is principally responsible for the day to day operations of the organization and his passion for helping people find peace in their lives drives his work every day.

Prior to ScreamFree, Jon spent five years at Progress Software, managing relationships with its key billion-dollar customers in the Southeast. Before that, Jon worked at two startups, acting once as CEO for an e-commerce company and once as VP Sales for a Sports Technology company, and for ten years with an Atlanta-based Business Intelligence Company heading up its SAP and International Sales Divisions. Jon and his wife of 17 years, Tasha, have two children, Breanna age 8 and Brendan, age 5.

Jenny Runkel, Director of Content

As the cofounder of ScreamFree, Jenny has worked side-by-side with Hal in creating and refining the ScreamFree approach to relationships. Jenny has been working with families for over 10 years in her role as a high school English teacher and has a passion for bridging the gap between teens and their parents. When she is not teaching AP English at Greater Atlanta Christian School, she joins Hal in writing, developing, and delivering the life-changing material to audiences nationwide.

Neil McNerney, Director of Leadership Development

Neil's background includes eight years as an elementary school counselor and 16 years in private practice working with kids, couples, and families. He loves being able to help parents navigate the waters of parenthood. He's a strong believer that parenting is "the toughest job you'll ever love." In addition to his private practice, Neil is an adjunct faculty member at the Virginia Tech Graduate School, where he teaches counseling skills with children and families.

Neil is very excited about his involvement in ScreamFree. He will be providing leadership in our training and leadership development areas of ScreamFree, where we will be training counselors, teachers, ministers, and other helpers in the ScreamFree approach. Neil and his wife, Colleen, have two children, Max 12 and Shannon 10.

SFI Board of Directors

Ken Shumard, Chairman

As the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Medical Doctor Associates, Inc. since 1987, Ken Shumard currently serves MDA as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Ken grew up in southwestern Ohio on a dairy farm. He put himself through college selling books door-to-door, graduating from David Lipscomb
University with a degree in Accounting. Living first in Endwell, NY, and then in Milford, OH, Ken and his family moved to Atlanta in 1980, where he and his wife, Joyce, founded MDA in 1987.

Married for over forty years, Ken and Joyce have three married children and eight grandchildren. They serve on the Boards of several organizations and are active in their church.

Gary G. Chamblee

Mr. Chamblee, a 1974 graduate of Harding University, started his career as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). Chamblee served as general manager, chief financial officer, or chief executive officer for successful companies
in Georgia, Alabama, and Texas.

He first entered the fund-raising profession as a Special Representative for Harding University in 1982, charged with raising support toward their $60 million endowment campaign. In 1996, he returned to nonprofit development as Vice President for Advancement at Christian Care Centers, in the Dallas
metroplex. He led their largest and most successful funding campaign. In 2000, Chamblee joined Phillips Consulting as a senior partner and opened an office in Atlanta, GA. He has managed several successful stewardship campaigns for Churches, schools and nonprofit ministries.

Gary is a gifted Bible class teacher and serves as an Elder and on the missions committee of the North Atlanta Church of Christ. He has traveled extensively visiting and working with missions around the world. He was
named outstanding Alumnus of the year for the School of Business at Harding University. He and his wife, Karen, have three grown children.

Fernando Nasmyth

Mr. Nasmyth currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of The Hanover Company, a multifamily development company headquartered in Houston, TX. Prior to joining The Hanover Company, he served as Senior Portfolio Manager with BlackRock Realty and its predecessor entities, SSR Realty Advisors and GE Capital Investment Advisors, where he was responsible for managing separate account real estate portfolios on behalf of pension fund clients of these firms. He also spent the early part of his professional career in various leadership roles at GE Capital in its Legal Operation and Real Estate Departments.

Mr. Nasmyth has an extensive record of service with non-profit organizations and other charitable organizations; he currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Greater Atlanta Christian Schools and
previously served on the Board of Phoenix Alliance, Inc., an organization which served homeless addicts in recovery in Atlanta. He also is active in leadership roles at his congregation in Atlanta -The North Atlanta Church of Christ.

Mr. Nasmyth is a graduate of Cornell University, where he earned a B.A in Government and a J.D. from Cornell Law School. He has also successfully completed the Certificate Program in Conflict Resolution offered at Abilene
Christian University. He and his wife Donna have three grown children and two beautiful granddaughters.

Louie Werderich, Treasurer

Louie Werderich is the former President of Answering Specialists, Inc. a technology based call center located in Houston, Texas. The company began with one office and a small staff. Via 12 acquisitions and extensive organic growth, Mr. Werderich grew the company to include three offices in two states with over 80 US employees and 10 international agents in Bolivia and the Philippines. Mr. Werderich's career began as a Commercial Lender for Chase Bank after his graduation from the University of Houston with a MBA in
Finance and International business.

Mr. Werderich has consulted with and assisted ScreamFree in organizing their phone communications and currently serves as the board treasurer. His business acumen is only paralleled by his love of the ScreamFree mission. He and his wife Robin reside in Houston and have two teenage daughters.

Tim Pownall

Timothy Pownall is the Assistant Director of the Straus Institute, the Director of the PACIS PROJECT in Faith Based Diplomacy and Adjunct Professor at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at the Pepperdine University School of Law. The Straus Institute has been rated the #1 program in the country by US News and World Report for the last six years. Timothy is also the Executive Director and member of the Board of Directors of the Center for Conflict Resolution, a Los Angeles based non-profit NGO, and the largest provider of pro bono, Small Claims mediations for the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Timothy formerly held senior executive positions with Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services, Inc. (JAMS), the Follett Corporation (Chicago) and Barnes & Noble, Inc. (New York). He started and grew a successful national facilities management company before selling his interest in the company and joining the Straus Institute team in 1994. Timothy manages a successful private mediation practice since 1996, and has conducted more than one hundred mediation and reconciliation interventions with faith-based clients. Timothy is a bishop/shepherd in his own faith community and a recognized spiritual counselor and mentor.

He and his wife Peggy enjoy the fabulous weather of Southern California and have two children and four grandchildren.

Kirk Brand Coburn

Kirk Coburn is proud to call himself a 7th Generation Texan and is officially a member of the Old Three Hundred. He graduated from The University of Texas in 1994 with a degree in Marketing and went on to receive his MBA from University of Texas Evening Program. He has a passion for endurance running, open water swimming, and golf. Pursuing that last pleasure led him to create the PGA TOUR Network (Sirius XM Ch. 209).

Kirk founded Blush Marketing, a sports & event marketing agency that has worked with leading brands including: the PGA TOUR, NFL, MLB, Sirius XM, KangarooTV, American Express, and Nascar. He currently works with Chief Marketing Outsider and is a member of the board for Entrepreneur Organization.

He and his wife Jan live in (you guessed it) Austin, Tx with their two young daughters.