Applications for APF's 2025 Program Year Open November 2024!

About Us

Meet the Team

Our team is built of hardworking professionals dedicated to maintaining high levels of expertise and excellence in pursuit of APF’s mission.

APF Team

Michelle Quist Ryder, PhD (She/Her)

CEO

Faith Anderson (She/Her)

Managing Director, Head of Philanthropy

Rebecca M. Pasillas, PhD (She/Her/Ella)

Program Officer

Bethany Giblin, DES (She/Her)

Communications Officer

Jani Zhu (She/Her)

Senior Finance Manager

Shalonta Bowman, MBA (She/Her)

Philanthropy Manager

Jolie Chaleff (She/Her)

Communications Coordinator

Bunyakiat Petri, PhD (Gemma) (She/Her)

Program Coordinator

Nicol Hudson (She/Her)

Database Administrator

Claire Porzeinski, MBA (She/Her)

Administrative Assistant

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Learn More About APF

Michelle Quist Ryder, PhD (She/Her)

CEO

Michelle Quist Ryder, PhD, is a seasoned executive and research professional with over 18+ years of experience across the social psychology, clinical/counseling, and educational sectors. Serving as the CEO of APF since February of 2023, Dr. Quist Ryder brings an extensive background in cross-functional project management, multifaceted field research, program development, and various human-centric functions in both nonprofit and academic settings. Applying this as a liaison between psychology and social good initiatives, Dr. Quist Ryder focuses on leveraging psychology to solve critical issues and doing so in such a way that enables both present-day society and future generations to mutually benefit.

Prior to APF and with research specializations in motivation, Dr. Quist Ryder built a large inventory of experiences spanning the clinical/counseling, technology, bookkeeping, education, and publishing spaces. During this time, some notable roles included working as the Director of Marketing & Communications for a tourism nonprofit, as an Assistant Teaching Professor (focusing on cognitive and behavioral interventions) at Penn State. Prior to her appointment as CEO, Dr. Quist Ryder joined APF as the Program Director. In this role, she was responsible for the department’s budget, conducting DEI analysis, forming strong donor connections, and overseeing a portfolio of 75+ scholarships, grants, and awards.

Dr. Quist Ryder firmly believes that strong servant leadership leads to strong success; she respects the integrity of people and actionable research, and every effort that she makes in this space rests on her passion for continuous community growth and life quality progression.

Faith Anderson (She/Her)

Managing Director, Head of Philanthropy

Faith Anderson joins us from another mental health foundation. She brings over eight years of experience in non-profit development, event management, fundraising, marketing and more. Faith has prior experience working with mental health, government relations, financial, health and events related associations, where she raised millions of dollars, organized events, managed volunteers and engaged with members. Faith is a wife, mother and dog mom as well as a native Northern Virginian and a proud alumna of The College of William & Mary.

Rebecca M. Pasillas, PhD (She/Her/Ella)

Program Officer

Rebecca M. Pasillas joined APF in December 2023 as the Program Officer responsible for managing more than 90 award, fellowship, grant, lecture, prize, and scholarship programs. Prior to joining APF, Rebecca worked at the Department of Veterans Affairs training providers and mental health program leaders in the delivery of Social Skills Training for Serious Mental Illness for English and Spanish-speaking Veterans. She managed the training program’s comprehensive evaluation plan and related datasets for the program’s leaders to make data-driven decisions to improve the training program. Rebecca was also a faculty member at a health sciences center where she established a psychology internship training program as part of an APA-accredited internship consortium and a post-doctoral psychology fellowship program. Rebecca is a licensed psychologist based in El Paso, Texas, and she received her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Nevada, Reno.

Bethany Giblin, DES (She/Her)

Communications Officer

Bethany Giblin joined APF in April of 2022 as the Communications Associate. Prior to joining APF, Bethany served as Director of Membership & Marketing for an international membership association of mental health professionals. Bethany is a graduate of Gonzaga University with a BA in Political Science and holds a Digital Event Strategist Certification from the Professional Convention Management Association. While starting her professional career in politics, Bethany’s true passion lies in advocacy and public health with a particular focus on the mental health field.

Jani Zhu (She/Her)

Senior Finance Manager

Jani Zhu joined the APF team in February 2022 as the finance manager to manage all of APF’s accounting and financial activities. Prior to joining APF, Jani had over 15 years of accounting and finance experiences in profit and non-profit organizations. Jani has demonstrated extraordinary capability of effectively dealing and managing accounting and auditing tasks, providing guidance on investments and financial statements, analyzing and distilling large amounts of information with relevant statistics. Her previous position was director of Finance and Internal Operation in Leadership Montgomery. Jani holds an undergraduate degree in international business and a master’s degree in accounting.

Shalonta Bowman, MBA (She/Her)

Philanthropy Manager

Shalonta Bowman joined APF in June 2019 as the development coordinator. The development coordinator oversees operational fundraising activities and works to build and maintain relationships with donors. Shalonta is a graduate of the illustrious Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD, with a B.S. in psychology. Shalonta earned her Master’s degree in Business Administration at Howard University in 2023.

Jolie Chaleff (She/Her)

Communications Coordinator

Jolie Chaleff joined the American Psychological Foundation (APF) in the summer of 2021 as an intern and has since taken on roles in the Development, Program, and Communications departments. Now serving as the Communications Coordinator, her diverse experiences have helped her develop expertise in digital communications, grant and program management, and donor relations. She holds a Digital Event Strategist (DES) certification, specializing in virtual and hybrid event planning. Jolie is a proud alumna of the University of Maryland with a strong background in social and developmental psychology research. Outside of her professional work, she is deeply passionate about mental health, dogs, and advocating for the LGBTQIA+ community.

Bunyakiat Petri, PhD (Gemma) (She/Her)

Program Coordinator

Gemma became Program Coordinator at APF in Spring 2024. With a decade of experience in program management, stakeholder engagement, and communication for international development and policy formation, she brings valuable expertise and a passion for promoting research activities. Gemma holds a master's degree in communication and a doctoral degree in science and technology studies. Currently serving as a Program Coordinator at the American Psychological Foundation and a Science Diplomacy Fellow with the National Science Policy Network, she is committed to driving impactful research, particularly in psychology.

Nicol Hudson (She/Her)

Database Administrator

Nicol joined APF in the summer of 2023. Prior to joining APF Nicol has spent the last 20 years in nonprofit Advancement operations overseeing and collaborating in database management, gift administration, donor relations and integrity, as well as program and project management. Nicol holds a bachelors degree in Business Administration.

Claire Porzeinski, MBA (She/Her)

Administrative Assistant

Claire Porzeinski joined APF in April 2024 as an Administrative Assistant, providing administrative support across the Foundation. Claire comes to us with experience in behavioral therapy, social media management, human resources, event and travel management, research, and more. She recognized early on a passion for helping others and strives to make that the forefront of her work. Claire is a graduate from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University with a B.S. in sociology and criminology as well as from Purdue Global University with a master's in business administration. She enjoys all things outdoors as well as painting, reading, and spending time with friends and family.