Heather E. Connell is the founder of Safe Haven. The Executive producer and director of Displaced Yankee Productions, a documentary film company dedicated to raising social awareness and encouraging social activism through media, she became involved in the issues facing children in Cambodia while making her award wining film “Small Voices: The Stories Of Cambodia’s Children.” Her work with the street and garbage dump children led to meeting John Whaley, one of CFI’s Executive Directors.

While in Siem Reap giving a seminar on using media to raise awareness to CFI, Heather met 4 year old Sum Namg, an orphan afflicted with CP and became involved in his care. After discovering he would have to leave the orphanage and be returned to his village at age 6, despite the fact his parents were dead, she began searching for another option for his care. The idea for Safe Haven was born out of that fruitless search and the subsequent revelation that severely handicap children in Cambodia faced hardship, lack of access to education and health care and discrimination.

Heather was born and raised in Massachusetts and now resides in Southern California.

Dr. Desmond Brown – Director Of Pediatric Orthopaedics at Boston Medical Center: Desmond attended Tulane Medical School in New Orleans and completed an orthopaedic surgery residency at Tulane. He completed a fellowship in Pediatric Orthopaedics at the Alfred I. DuPont Institute in Wilmington, Delaware. He went on to practiced pediatric orthopaedics in Pensacola, Florida, from 1990 until 2001 before leaving to do a Fellowship in Outcomes Research at Dartmouth College. Since 2003 he has been on the faculty of Boston University School of Medicine and Director of Pediatric Orthopaedics at Boston Medical Center.

His current practice includes pediatric orthopaedics and the management of orthopaedic problems related to neurologic conditions in children and adults. In addition, he handles adult trauma call at Boston Medical Center, a level 1 trauma center. His research interests include using administrative databases for orthopaedic research; injury prevention counseling; the economics of scoliosis surgery; orthopaedic problems in the developing world; child abuse; and the influence of obesity on orthopaedic conditions. He has served yearly as a volunteer at the Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap, Cambodia, since 2005

Heather Wilkinson-McNeal has worked with disadvantaged and developmentally disabled children for more than 15 years. As a child welfare and education specialist, her expertise includes Special Education and Curriculum Development; Behavior Modification; Learning Disabilities; Applied Behavioral Analysis; Autism and Therapeutic Crisis Intervention. She earned her Bachelors degree from Fitchburg State College with double-majors in Special Education and Psychology.

Heather served as a Special Education teacher and Educational Administrator for seven years at the renowned Robert F Kennedy Children’s Action Corps, where she supervised the educational and psychological case management for the school’s population of special-needs elementary and middle school students. She has also worked for The Perkins School for the Blind, and participated in ground-breaking work in the areas of Interpersonal Effectiveness for the Department of Psychology at Fitchburg State College.

Dr. Casey McNeal, MBA, PhD is an expert in behavioral psychology, business development, technology, education, instructional design, and social evolution. His diverse professional background includes more than 25 years of executive level leadership, consulting, and training experience in the areas of psychology and human development; finance and socioeconomic development; healthcare; and technology. Casey’s education includes a PhD in Psychology, a Masters Degree in Business Administration, and post-graduate certifications in Systems Engineering and Law. He has authored numerous books and multi-media training programs in the areas of interpersonal development and leadership, including “Building Relationships,” and “Life Choices.”

He has served as a consultant to NASA, the US Department of Immigration, the US House of Representatives, the US Chamber of Commerce; the US Department of Education and the National Federation of Teachers; the National Institute of Health and Center for Disease Control, Boston Children’s Hospital, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. He is a frequent guest lecturer at Harvard University, University of California Berkley, Johns Hopkins University and Hospital, and the Mayo Clinic.

Dr. McNeal is certified by the Association for Psychology Type, and a member of the American Psychological Association.

In addition to being interviewed frequently for popular magazines and industry periodicals, he has been featured regularly on television and radio, including National Public Radio, and the NBC Nightly News.

Dr. Sarah Jade Stevens is a psychologist and experienced family therapist with a preference for strength-based, post-modern therapies. She has helped many families achieve more harmonious relationships while recognizing the individual strengths and needs of each member. She has extensively studied non-traditional families, including non-biological families, and authored Characteristics of Stepfamilies That Lead to Successful Parent-Child Relationships. She is currently working on a series of children's therapy books and treating children, adolescents and adults in private practice in Beverly Hills, California, USA.

Jennifer O'Brien Meizels is a lifelong educator. At Raven's Rest Canoe Base in Kipawa, Quebec she taught canoeing and camping to girls from around the United States in preparation for two week trips into the Canadian backcountry. After college at the University of Vermont, she worked for four years at Nature's Classroom, an environmental education program in New England. During these years she worked with hundreds of schools and thousands of children with a goal of helping kids reach their full potential in alternative educational settings. After getting a Master's in elementary education from Eastern Connecticut State University, she taught third and fourth grade for ten years in a rural public school in Connecticut. Currently, Jen is an intervention specialist working with students aged 5-12 with academic and social struggles.