Adrianne Simeone, Executive Director
Contact: info@themamabeareffect.org
Adrianne founded the Mama Bear Effect in the fall of 2012. She is a resident of Massachusetts, with her husband, John, and their four children. A graduate of Babson College of Business, Adrianne spent most of her professional career working for her father’s business in marketing and sales. After the birth of their first child, she decided to take a break from working full time. It was after reading one too many stories about a child being sexually abused, that Adrianne felt a calling to utilize her professional skills and make a positive contribution. She believes that with the power of social media and a down-to-earth approach, The Mama Bear Effect can create change and encourage people to protect children from being sexually abused. The information is out there – people just need to hear it and make an active choice to be responsible and proactive.
After completing hours of research, and completing various training courses, The Mama Bear Effect Facebook page and website were launched in September of 2012. Adrianne connected with good friend, Laura Messing, Commander-in-Chief of Design Invasion, an in-demand graphic design firm, to create a Mama Bear Effect logo. Laura Messing came up with the concept of a Mama and Papa Bear embracing a young cub. Even though the term “mama bear” has a feminine connotation, The Mama Bear Effect is just as much about the many caring men out there who know what is happening to these children is wrong and who want to help stop it from continuing.
Adrianne believes that all good people wish to help protect children, but that too many are afraid or uncomfortable to talk about the issues of child sexual abuse. Furthermore too many are unaware of how prevalent and devastating child sexual abuse can be for a person, family, community, and our nation. Her goal for The Mama Bear Effect is to tear down those obstacles and make people feel good about educating themselves, their children, and their communities. If we could all truthfully and wholeheartedly say that we are committed to protecting children, then we will no longer be afraid or wish to deny the reality. We will no longer allow ourselves and our communities to be ignorant of this devastation of youth.
Jenna Lloyd, Local Community Relations
Jenna has served on the board for The Mama Bear Effect since 2016. As the community relations coordinator, she organizes local outreach efforts within the state of Massachusetts to maximize the impact of our mission in our direct area.
Natalie Moon, Research Specialist & Partnerships Coordinator
Contact: natalie@themamabeareffect.org
Natalie Moon holds a Masters in Criminal Justice with an emphasis in Criminal Behavior from Tiffin University. She has focused her studies and research on female sex offenders and works to educate the public on this topic so that victims can feel more courage to come forward and perpetrators can be held accountable. Natalie has received “best research” award at Tiffin University’s research conference where she presented her study on female and male sex offender recidivism rates in Ohio and Louisiana. Natalie has worked in different capacities with adolescents and has seen the direct impact of adverse childhood experiences on their development and self esteem. She works to help youth overcome their struggles by educating the public on different issues such as child sexual abuse and how to prevent it.
Officers
- President– Adrianne Simeone
Board of Directors
- Zarah Axelrod
- Jenna Lloyd
- Delbar Mamedzade
- Laura Messing
- Joe Parillo
- Nick Priest
- Adrianne Simeone
Advisors
Feather Berkower, MSW
Berkower is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and holds a Master’s of Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley. She conducts media interviews, workshops, and private consultations throughout the United States regarding issues of child sexual abuse and safety. Her highly-regarded workshop, Parenting Safe Children, empowers adults to keep children safe from sexual abuse.
Anne Marie Browne, Det
Detective Browne served for the Burlington MA police department for 32 years as a detective for domestic violence and sexual assault cases.
Ricky Greenwald, PsyD
Dr Greenwald is the founder and executive director of the Trauma Institute & Child Trauma Institute, affiliate professor at the SUNY University at Buffalo School of Social Work, and a fellow of the American Psychological Association. He was previously on the faculty at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Dr. Greenwald is the author of numerous professional articles as well as several books, including EMDR in Child & Adolescent Psychotherapy (1999), Trauma and Juvenile Delinquency (editor; 2002), Child Trauma Handbook (2005), EMDR Within a Phase Model of Trauma-Informed Treatment (2007), Treating Problem Behaviors (2009), and Progressive Counting (2013). His work has been translated into over a dozen languages.
Dr Marie Seiler, MD, FAAP
Dr Seiler is an American Academy of Pediatrics fellow and practices at PriMed Springboro Pediatrics in Dayton Ohio. She is passionate about sexual abuse prevention and promoting body safety with the children and families she cares for.
Phyllis Walta, J.D.
Walta is an attorney from Hennessey, Oklahoma with over 30 years of experience in education law. Walta is the mother of a daughter who revealed years of secret childhood sex abuse by a teacher and coach who was a close family friend. As a result of her family’s experience with the criminal justice system, Walta authored and presented a continuing legal education segment for the Oklahoma Bar Association on victims’ rights in Oklahoma. Walta and her daughter have also appeared on local public television to speak about their experiences in an effort to raise public awareness about what schools can do to detect and prevent sex abuse of students. Walta is currently writing policies on child sex abuse prevention and detection for Oklahoma schools.
