Mrs. Bracha Goetz, M.A.  is the author of eight children's books (including The Happiness Box, The Invisible Book,and What Do You See At Home?), an editor of books for women, and the Mentoring Coordinator at Jewish Community Services in Baltimore, Maryland. She is a frequent contributor to many Orthodox publications such as The Jewish Press, The Jewish Observer and Chabad.org.  Mrs. Goetz gives workshops and presentations on a variety of topics for children, teens and women. She graduated from Harvard University with honors, attended the Medical College of Virginia, and Ohr Somayach Women's Division in Jerusalem, Israel.

Moshe Fessel, Esq.is the owner and moderator of Five Towns Shuls (FTS) and Five Towns Jewish Community (FTJC) Yahoo groups which boast 15,000 subscribers.  Mr. Fessel created the sponsorship program for FTS/FTJC, raising thousands of dollars for Rofeh Cholim Cancer Society.  He is a graduate of Columbia Law School, and has worked as an attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell, LLP from 2001 through 2008.  

Maury Kelman, Esq. received rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.He is the former Assistant Rabbi at The Jewish Center, West 86thStreet, in Manhattan; and the former Rabbi and founder of Kehillat Morah in Jerusalem.He is the Chairman of Kedma, a Jewish student organization in Israel and the United States; and he oversees an adult education program at Congregation Ohab Zedek, Manhattan.He has worked as an attorney at a prominent Manhattan law firm.He currently works for an investment firm.

 Dr. Nachum Klafter, M.D., is Director of Psychotherapy Training at the University of Cincinnati Psychiatry Residency Training Program.  Dr. Klafter received his M.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo.  He completed his specialty training in psychiatry at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, where he also served as Chief Resident.  Dr. Klafter maintains a private practice in psychoanalytic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis.  He is the Vice President of the Cincinnati Hebrew Day School Board.  He is an active member of the Nefesh International network of Orthodox Jewish Mental Health Professionals.  Dr. Klafer’s interest in child advocacy comes from his experiences as a psychotherapist and psychoanalyst, through which he has learned in intimate detail the tragic long-term impact of child sexual abuse on its victims.  He resides in Cincinnati, Ohio with his wife and four daughters.

Rabbi Perry Schafler LCSW-R is a licensed clinical and certified school social worker, and a certified chaplain. He is a graduate of The University of Chicago (BA), Yeshiva Universityʼs Wurzweiler School of Social Work (MSW), Hebrew College (MA) and C.W. Post Long Island University (P.D., School Administration). H e has Semicha from Rabbi Dr. Moshe Tendler at Yeshiva University. He also holds state certification in school and district supervision, and served as principal of a specialized yeshiva high school for teens with substance abuse addictions. He is a past Director of the Hillel Foundation at the University of Wisconsin, former Rabbi of Congregation Bachurei Chemed of Long Beach, and of the American Congregation of Austrian Jews in Manhattan. He is an active member of the Yeshiva Counseling Network, and one of the founding members of the OU / BJE Safe Schools Committee, where was involved in developing uniform substance abuse education, prevention, and intervention policies and procedures for the recently formed Safe Schools Yeshiva Network.  He currently provides school social work services in Yeshiva High School settings including HALB / DRS Yeshiva High School for Boys, Rambam Mesivta High School and HANC High School; and maintains a private practice in Long Beach and Hewlett. He lives in Long Beach with his wife and four children.

Chaim Shapiro, M.Ed., holds a Master’s degree in Education from Loyola University, Chicago, and finished all but his dissertation in the Institutional Leadership and Policy Studies Ph.D. program at the University of California, Riverside Graduate School of Education.  He has 14 years of progressive experience in Jewish education and administration.  He resides with his wife and children in Lawrence, Long Island, N.Y.

Dr. Vivian Skolnick, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice for thirty years, specializing in psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, and marital therapy.  In her early practice, she was head of the withdrawal program of the State of Illinois Drug Program (co-sponsored by the University of Chicago).  She is a board member of Nefesh International, the network of orthodox Jewish mental health professionals.  Dr. Skolnick is a faculty member of the Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis, and has additionally served on its Program Committee.  Her papers have been published in professional journals, and she is the author of a soon-to-be published book, Biblical Path to Psychological Maturity – Psychological Insights Into The Weekly Torah Readings”.  Dr. Skolnick has been deeply involved in child abuse prevention in Illinois and nationally.