elizabeth Benninger

Elizabeth Benninger is the founder and CEO of HMHC Consulting who specializes in Community and Health Psychology. She obtained a Masters in Psychology (Applied Community Psychology) from Antioch University, Los Angeles and a Bachelor’s degree in Social and Community Development and Doctoral degree in Psychology from the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa. Her research interests include the study of children’s well-being, health disparities, participatory research approaches, and community health promotion. Her work additionally focuses on national and international collaborations with a number of non-profit and nongovernmental organizations which specifically focus on improving the well-being of children and families within communities experiencing high levels of poverty and violence. She currently serves as a postdoctoral research fellow for the Cleveland Alliance for Education Research, a research-practice partnership between Cleveland Metropolitan School District and Cleveland State University. She is additionally an active member of the International Society of Child Indicators Research (ISCI), the Society for Community Research and Action, the Society for Prevention Research, and the International Surf Therapy Organization (ISTO).

Megan Schmidt-Sane

Megan Schmidt-Sane is a community-engaged researcher with training in public health and anthropology. She received a Masters in Public Health from Columbia University (New York) and a PhD in medical anthropology from Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland). Her research interests include the study of health inequalities and health equity, social determinants of health, and youth. She regularly engages with national and international collaborators, including from community-based organizations in Uganda, India, and the urban United States. Born and raised in Northeast Ohio, she is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Development Studies in Brighton, UK.

Diane Mastnardo

Diane Mastnardo has been a licensed massage therapist since 1999 and opened her practice, Mastnardo Massage Therapies, in 2001. She approaches wellness holistically, utilizing education and self-awareness through the specificity of touch, to maintain a healthier pain-free life.

In 2014, Diane became the founding director of Massage Northern Ohio (MNO-PBRN), a massage therapy practice-based research network. She worked in partnership with MetroHealth’s Center for Reducing Health Disparities and Case Western Reserve Practice-based Research Network Shared Resources to develop an avenue for clinical massage therapists to collaborate. The goal of MNO-PBRN is to support the generation of evidence-based knowledge on effective and consistent massage therapy treatments and to develop pathways for the integration of the practice of massage therapy into conventional health care.

Over the years, Diane realized the need to educate people on body awareness using their senses. In 2018, she collaborated with a certified aromatherapist/yoga instructor to develop a technique to engage four neurological inputs: Breathing, Acupressure, Aromatherapy, and Movement, or BAAM! The BAAM technique provides emotional and social tools at our fingertips that directly affects symptoms of anxiety and stress. These tools can also be used to increase focus, regulate emotions, heart rate, and muscle tension.

Marchelle Robinson

Marchelle Robinson is the Youth Engagement Consultant for HMHC. She graduated from Campus International High School in Cleveland, OH, in 2022 and is currently studying Business at Cuyahoga Community College. She has been actively involved in several youth leadership initiatives in the city of Cleveland, including being a part of the Resilient Youth program through St. Vincent Charity, engagement with Youth Opportunities Unlimited, and has served for three years on the youth participatory action research leadership team for Cleveland YPAR.

Marchelle has additionally volunteered for many community projects and initiatives, such as helping to develop a mural and community garden in the Central neighborhood, making blankets for the women’s homeless shelter, and packaging medical supplies for people in need.