Board of Directors

Ryan Lavalley
PhD, OTR/L

Chair

Ryan Lavalley, PhD, OTR/L is the Chair of COTAD and also functions as Chair of the COTAD Operations Committee.

Dr. Ryan Lavalley (he/him/his) is a community occupational therapist and assistant professor in the Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Ryan Lavalley is also the founder and primary lead of the Community Practice Lab. He has been a part of COTAD leadership since 2020 and prior to stepping into the Interim Chair position, acted as the Chair of Operations for COTAD. As a practitioner, he has worked as a community occupational therapist since 2014, providing and developing programming most often related to aging, dementia, and housing. His research and publications focus on social relationships and community living, particularly constructed by occupation and everyday living. Ryan is originally from West Virginia, unapologetically queer, and committed to anti-racism and anti-oppression. Ryan earned his PhD at UNC-CH in Occupational Science and completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH focusing on occupational therapy, social justice, and peace studies.


Jabari Hoyte
OTD, OTR/L

Board Member at Large

Jabari Hoyte (he/him/his) joined COTAD in 2017 as a student member at West Coast University, Los Angeles campus.

During that time, he progressed to COTAD chapter co-chair organizing and hosting on campus events, and presented at the 2019 AOTA conference on the relevancy of nationwide COTAD chapters, how to start a chapter, and the importance of furthering the conversation of diversity and inclusion. Passionate about serving his community, he completed his capstone project in the inner city of East Orange, NJ on the occupational effects of gentrification in an underserved community and how occupational therapy can play a role in urban renewal, and presented his research at East Orange's city hall.


Upon graduation, Dr. Hoyte remained in Northern New Jersey, providing home care services to post acute patients during the global pandemic in the inner city before transitioning to an outpatient setting with a focus in orthopedics. Dr. Hoyte continued to advocate for diversity and inclusion, co-presenting on his lived experience as a Black male occupational therapist, and co-creating a safe space for other Black male occupational therapist practitioners and students to connect via social media platforms. Dr. Hoyte has furthered his role within the COTAD organization as a member of the COTAD Chapter Overview Committee before being elected onto the COTAD Board of Directors as Secretary in 2021. In his new role he has been instrumental in acting as a liaison between COTAD leadership and the various branches of COTAD National, as well as those who are interested in learning more about and spreading the message of COTAD. Dr. Hoyte continues to strive to be a mentor to the next generation of diverse occupational therapists, and be an agent of change within the evolving world of occupational therapy!



Stacy Wilson
MS, OTR/L

Co-Founder, Board Member at Large

Stacy Wilson (he/him/his) is a founding member of COTAD (2014) and currently serves as the Treasurer.

He earned his BA in Psychology (2007) and MS in Occupational Therapy (2010) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). His professional experience includes work in a variety of adult rehabilitation settings. He is currently the Supervisor of Acute Rehabilitation Services at WakeMed Cary Hospital in the Raleigh-Durham area of NC. Mr. Wilson is an AOTA Emerging Leader (2012), and he is passionate about investing in and increasing recruitment and retention of diverse students/practitioners to the profession. In order to accomplish this, he established a scholarship at UNC-CH to increase diversity in occupational science and occupational therapy that has provided financial support to multiple students since its inception.

Additionally, Mr. Wilson has published multiple articles around the topic of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, is an active member of the Diversity council at his current employer, has presented locally and nationally, and collaborated with students from Kunming University in Southwest China to create the country’s first Student Occupational Therapy Association. Mr. Wilson’s work at the local, national, and international levels demonstrates his passion for increasing awareness of occupational therapy and recruiting and retaining more OT students of diverse backgrounds.


Nadine Signe
MBA, MS, OTR/L

Co-Founder, Business Development and Partnerships Officer

Nadine Signe (she/her/hers) is a founding member of COTAD (2014) and earned her Masters of Business Administration from Cornell University and Masters of Science in Occupational Therapy from Towson University where she graduated with departmental honors. She has served as Professional Action Chair for the National Black Occupational Therapy Caucus, Alternate Representative for the State of Maryland in the AOTA Representative Assembly, and is a graduate of AOTA’s 2014 cohort of the Emerging Leaders Program. Mrs. Signe received recognition from Cornell University as a Forte Fellow for her academic and leadership achievements. Mrs. Signe has held clinical leadership positions and has worked in diverse healthcare settings: Intensive care, acute care, sub-acute, polytrauma, oncology, skilled nursing, maternity, emergency department, ambulatory surgery, assisted living, outpatient, and home health. She has also presented in national and international conferences. She is passionate about the field of occupational therapy catalyzing diversity AND inclusion from a PEO (person, environment, and occupation) perspective. Her goal is to apply her knowledge, expertise, and diverse experiences to further COTAD’s mission. Mrs. Signe currently works as a healthcare executive and resides in Washington DC.

Whitney Harris, MS, OTR/L is a pediatric occupational therapist of 6 years. She obtained her masters in occupational therapy at West Coast University (WCU) in 2018. She currently resides in St. Paul, Minnesota where she works in an early intervention program of a suburban school setting. She has a passion for working with families to help them gain confidence in supporting their child and their needs. Whitney has been a long time volunteer with COTAD, starting her work with COTAD as a graduate student at WCU in 2017. She has been involved in program creation for the organization including COTAD Chapters and COTAD Book+ Club. Whitney completed a poster board presentation at the AOTA conference in 2019 about the importance of COTAD chapters in occupational therapy programs across the country.


Dr. Diamond Rashad (she/her), is a neurodivergent pediatric occupational therapist, disability advocate, and perinatal support coordinator who resides in Georgia. She has worked as an occupational therapist for eight years and has experience working from a trauma-informed lens with children, adolescents, and young adults with differences in sensory integration, and supporting Autistic clients and their families.

As the creator of "A Dime of OT", she is passionate about supporting birthing parents, diversity and inclusion in allied health settings, neurodiversity, and advocacy for culturally responsive, equitable care.


Dr. Khalilah R. Johnson (she/her),

is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and owner and operator of Slaying Academia, LLC.  She also serves as an affiliate research faculty member at the Virginia Commonwealth University Center for Cultural Experiences in Prevention in Richmond, Virginia.  Broadly, Dr. Johnson's research focuses on health services access and participation with racially minoritized adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as developing culturally affirming interventions that support their community engagement.  Additionally, she is involved in research aimed to address pathways to occupational therapy education for African American students and racial equity in occupational science and occupational therapy curricula.  Her work is informed by 16 years of experience spanning Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. 
 

​Dr. Johnson serves on the boards of the Society for the Study of Occupation: USA (SSO:USA) and the Coalition of Occupational Therapy Advocates for Diversity (COTAD), and is the immediate past Advocacy and Policy Coordinator for the Developmental Disabilities Special Interest Section of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA).  In addition to her memberships with SSO:USA, COTAD, and AOTA, Dr. Johnson is a member of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists, the National Black Occupational Therapy Caucus, the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, the Brenau University Heritage Society, the Carolina Black Caucus, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.  She also serves on the American Journal of Occupational Therapy and Autism in Adulthood editorial boards, and a host of other advisory boards and scholarly committees. Dr. Johnson is a 2021 inductee of the Brenau Women's College Alumni Hall of Fame, as well as recipient of the 2021 UNC Unsung Hero Award, the 2022 Hortense McClinton Outstanding Faculty Staff Award, and the 2022 Journal of Occupational Science Article Impact Award. 

Whitney Harris
MS, OTR/L

Secretary

Diamond Rashad
OTD, OTR/L

Board Member at Large

Khalilah R. Johnson
PhD, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA

Board Member at Large

Committee Chairpersons

John Paul Bonadonna
OTD, OTR/L, LSVT BIG

Chapters Co-Chair

Audi Santos

OTD, OTR/L

Engage Co-Chair

Eliza Kendall
OTD, OTR/L

Chapters Co-Chair

Shanteria Watson

OTD, OTR/L

Engage Co-Chair

Kristen Nxumalo

OTD, OT/L, CLT

Educators' Co-Chair

Sarahi Lerma

OTD, OTR/L

Practitioners Chair

Colton Sayers

OTR, OTR/L, CNS

Practitioners Co-Chair

Dejaney Clark
OTD, OTR/L

Communications Co-Chair

Sarah Vines

OTD, OTR/L

Communications Co- Chair

Tesla Knight

MS, OTR/L

Operations Chair

COTAD Founders

  • Arameh Anvarizadeh, OTD, OTR/L, FAOTA

  • De'Andre Holland, OTD, OTR/L

  • Catherine R. Hoyt, PhD, OTD, OTR/L, FAOTA

  • Cristina Reyes Smith, OTD, OTR/L

  • Nadine Signe, MBA, MS, OTR/L

  • Stacy Wilson, MS, OTR/L