Mary Ellen Copeland, PhD, developed Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) with a group of people with lived experience who were attending a mental health recovery workshop in 1997. She is the original author of the WRAP Red Book, as well as dozens of other WRAP books and materials. She has dedicated the last 30 years of her life to learning from people who have mental health issues; discovering the simple, safe, non-invasive ways they get well, stay well, and move forward in their lives; and then sharing what she has learned with others through keynote addresses, trainings, and the development of books, curriculums, and other resources. Now that she is retired, and that, as she intended, others are continuing to share what she has learned, she continues to learn from those who have mental health issues and those who support them. She is a frequent contributor to this site.

Dr. Akua is an Empowerment Speaker, Lead Advanced Level WRAP Facilitator, Life Strategist, and current ISI Fellow with Fielding Graduate University, conducting research to explore supports for Black women’s wellness in the workplace.

Her work will also be featured in an upcoming Fielding Graduate University monograph, offering a call to leaders to move beyond statements of solidarity and take responsibility for cultivating workplaces through daily practices of equity, trust, and repair.

With a deep commitment to wellness, equity, and leadership development, her work focuses on helping individuals and organizations cultivate emotionally intelligent, healing-centered practices that support authentic growth.

She holds a Ph.D. in Human Development with a concentration in Traumatology Counseling, two master’s degrees, and multiple coaching certifications.

Through her writing, master classes, research, and thought leadership Dr. Akua continues to create spaces where people are invited to reclaim wellness, challenge harmful norms, and lead with intention.

Dr. Rachel Boehm is an organizational behavior expert with decades of experience in individual, team, and organizational change. Her firm, RB Strategies, is a modern change management firm helping leaders not just survive or manage change but lead it, turning it into the business’s strategic advantage.
Leveraging Science-Backed, People-Proven™ strategies, Dr. Rachel transforms the way people naturally respond to change—fear, anxiety, guilt, nostalgia, resistance, sabotage, infighting, unfocused excitement—which otherwise lead to dysfunction, burnout, and failed business goals.
Through RB Strategies, Dr. Rachel is helping leaders change chaos when they are experiencing the chaos of change.