Board of Directors
Lamis Jabri, MD
Dr. Jabri is a Board Certified Psychiatrist, mother, and the founder and director of 2e4Me Academy Inc. Dr. Jabri is the parent of a gifted and twice-exceptional son, and her journey with him led to the founding of 2e4Me Academy. Dr Jabri centers her approach on Dr. Ross Greene's Collaborative and Proactive Solutions model, and also employs the Bridges Academy's dual differentiation and talent development model. The Academy’s approach emphasizes self-acceptance, authentic communication, emotional wellness, trauma recovery, and more.
In addition to directing the 2e4Me Academy programs, Dr Jabri runs a private practice in
Newport Beach California, with a special focus on helping neurodivergent individuals and their families thrive across the lifespan. Dr Jabri offers Screening and Assessment, Second Opinion, Parent/Family Counseling, and Individual and Group Counseling. She is dedicated to helping individuals and families understand neurodevelopment and twice exceptionality.
Gayle Bentley
Gayle Bentley is the Academic Director at 2e4Me Academy. Gayle is the developer of The Launch Lab, one of the principal learning strategies used by the 2e4Me Academy. She is the founder of The Bentley Center, whose mission is to cultivate the strengths and talents of gifted and twice exceptional students and to support parents through education and counseling. Gayle also consults with schools and school districts on
programs to strengthen educational approaches to neurodivergent students.
Gayle has been an educator for over 23 years and is obtaining her doctorate in May 2024 from the Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education. In the past year, she has presented at a number of conferences about teaching gifted and twice- exceptional students, including SENG, the Arizona Association for Gifted and Talented,
the California Association for the Gifted, and the 2e Conference at William & Mary College. Gayle lives the experience of 2e students as the mother of three neurodivergent sons.
Lin Lim, PhD
Dr. Lin Lim has a Ph.D. in human development psychology from Boston University, an Academic Graduate Certificate in twice-exceptional education from Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education, and an Academic Graduate Certificate in Mind, Brain, and Education from Johns Hopkins University Graduate School of Education. Being a first-generation immigrant raising second-generation Asian American teens, she has a special interest in sustainable well-being and complex outlier
lifespan development through a relational cultural dynamic systems perspective.
Dr. Lim volunteers for gifted-related non-profits, currently serving on the board of Gifted Homeschoolers Forum (GHF), the PECAB advisory for the National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC), PGRetreat, and has been the president of Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG) since 2022. She is currently a Dean at Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education, pursuing an MBA at UCLA, and founder of Quark Collaboration Institute Inc. She is an international presenter, author, and creator of NEST!® Visit her website at zenliving.com and contact her through linkedin.com/in/linlimgoh
Michael Burke
Michael Burke is a lawyer and business strategist and has advised clients in national and international matters, including marina and airport development projects; hotel projects; and technology transfers and logistics with the US Department of Defense and State Department. He represents corporate clients in shareholder and partnership disputes, white collar and regulatory compliance cases, and trade secret matters. Previously, Michael was an attorney at
the international law firm of Morrison & Foerster; a judicial law clerk for the US District Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal; and a policy consultant at the RAND Corporation, a global nonpartisan think tank. Michael studied law at UCLA School of Law, business strategy at Cornell University’s Graduate School of Management, and has undergraduate degrees in cognitive science, psychology, and political science.
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On the personal front, Michael is married and is the father of two extraordinary girls with special needs, including a daughter that is a student at 2e4Me Academy. He is a passionate advocate for those on the autism spectrum and with other learning challenges. He serves on boards and committees of some of the leading organizations in this field, including UCLA’s Center for Autism Research and Treatment (CART); UC-Irvine’s Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders (CAND); and the In STEPPS Academy (a non-profit school for autistic children). He has also advised school districts on effective delivery of programs and services to their students with special needs. Michael has been honored by the United States Congress for his contributions in these fields.
Jana Speaker
​Jana Speaker is a Parent Navigator that helps guide parents through the complex web of services for their neurodivergent children. She is the mother of two wonderful girls with different learning challenges. She has studied with and been mentored by some of the leading practitioners of behavioral therapies and emotional regulation. Identified as twice exceptional herself, Jana has a student that is thriving at 2e4Me Academy.
Hillary Murphy
Hillary is a dynamic entrepreneur, an interior designer and property manager. She owns
Lovely Nest Interiors and serves on the Boards of 2e4Me Academy Inc. in Newport
Beach, and Helping the Behaviorally Challenging Child in Tustin. Hillary has a flair for
networking, a piercing eye for detail, an unwavering determination to help others, and
unlimited resourcefulness. Hillary holds an AA and BA in Interior Design from Interior Designers Institute. She is the parent of a student at 2ed4Me Academy.
Daina Cantwell
Daina is a seasoned professional in the financial industry, bringing two decades of experience from hedge funds and investment bank. She is currently a Director of Business Development at Nephila Advisors, where she is responsible for business development for the firm's APAC, Austrasia and West Coast markets. Before that she worked in a similar capacity in other asset management firms. Daina was born and raised in China, and lived in Hong Kong and New York before putting down roots in California. She brings valuable business acument, financial discipline and fresh perspectives to organizations. Daina holds BA in Actuarial Science from Macaulay Honors College in New York.
Advisory Board
Debra Ann Afarian
President, Founder and CEO of Helping the Behaviorally Challenging Child (HBCC)
Debra Ann Afarian is the founder of the non-profit Helping the Behaviorally Challenging Child (HBCC) in Tustin, California. As the mother of a challenging and twice-exceptional child, she has made it her mission to make sure that adult/child power struggles are understood in a whole new way to break the cycle of misunderstanding challenging, difficult-to-manage behaviors.
She has developed a program to help parents, caregivers and educators understand that challenging behaviors are the result of deficits in key skill areas like frustration tolerance, flexibility and communication of needs/thoughts. Debra Ann has been certified in Collaborative Problem Solving since 2003, a model developed by Dr. Stuart Ablon and Dr. Ross Greene. Debra Ann trains parents and educators in Collaborative
Problem Solving under the direction of the Think:Kids Program in the Department of
Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Kim Vargas, PhD
Admissions Director, Bridges Academy Online and Bridges Graduate School
Kim Vargas is the Director of Admissions at the Bridges Graduate School and Bridges Academy Online. She has professional history in the education of twice exceptional students. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Southern California, Kim obtained her Master’s Degree in Special Education for the
Gifted and Talented from California State University at Los Angeles, where she studied under noted Gifted and Talented expert, Dr. Barbara Clark. She recently returned to Cal Poly University, Pomona to acquire a special education teaching credential for mild to moderate learning disabilities.
Kim taught in the South Pasadena Unified School District as the visiting teacher for students requiring in-home educational services. Over the years, Kim provided differentiated high school courses to accommodate the unique needs of her students,
which ensured their academic success and satisfied credit requirements. She is the parent of a twice exceptional son and graduate from the Bridges Academy.
Dr. Crystal Lo
Director of Behavior Services, Beacon Day School
Dr. Crystal Lo currently serves as the Director of Behavior Services at the Beacon Day School, a nationally acclaimed non-public school that serves students with autism and related disorders. She is both a certified special education teacher and a doctoral-level board certified behavior analyst (BCBA-D) and has been working extensively in special education for more than 15 years. She champions the “student is always right” approach to teaching and believes that it is the teacher’s responsibility to modify instructional procedures until the student demonstrates success. Dr. Lo has vast experience in training teachers, paraprofessionals, and other district professionals in how to apply behavior analysis to education, including individualized program design, classroom management, staff training and how to best implement evidence-based pedagogical practices to support the development of language and learning capabilities of students with autism and other developmental disabilities.
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Dr. Lo received her Ph.D. in Applied Behavior Analysis from Columbia University, has both a Master of Philosophy and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Cognitive Science from the University of California-Irvine.