Meet The Board

LB is an individual in long term recovery. They are from Morgantown, West Virginia and currently resides in Northern California. Their alma mater is West Virginia University (WVU), where they started their journey in collegiate recovery. 

LB is passionate about advocating for individuals with substance use disorder and breaking the stigma of addiction by sharing their story. Outside of their personal recovery, they have been involved in Collegiate Recovery, Oxford House, speaking to youth about the cycle of addiction with Arise & Flourish, The Chris Atwood Foundation.

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They are thrilled to be a part of the Diversity in Recovery Board and continue their efforts to lead individuals into recovery and create safer, loving support for all those with substance use disorder. LB is especially dedicated to creating safer spaces for marginalized groups, such as the BIPOC and TGNC communities.

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For fun, LB loves sending snail mail, thrifting, being around creatives, and hitting up local black & queer owned businesses! OH! And don’t forget… hitting up every coffee shop there is in town.

The intersectionality of my life experiences include: Black Woman; Mother of Black Children; Wife of a Black Husband; Parent to a Black Trans Adult;
Graduate of an HBCU; Registered Voter and School Psychologist formerly assigned to an urban school district.

In retirement, I have been proud to advocate for families and give voice to parents who wish for a level playing field for their children. I facilitated a high school GSA (Gender and Sexualities Alliance), witnessing firsthand the negative impact of a non-affirming learning environment. In 2014, I joined the non-profit parent organization, “He, She, Ze, and We,” and was appointed the position of Richmond Outreach Coordinator. This position enabled me to
engage more effectively with families of transgender and non-gender conforming individuals in the Richmond area with focus on BIPOC and other marginalized communities. 

Charley Burton is a native of Charlotteville VA.

He is the National Program Director for Black Transmen Inc. Black Transmen Inc. is the first and only national organization solely for Black Transmen.

Charley is a board member of CVILLE Pride, PFLAG of the Blue Ridge, as well as Equality VA. Charley was also one of the founding board members of Black Transmen Inc. and has been nominated by Governor Northam for the LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee.

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Charley was awarded the Outstanding Virginian by Equality VA, and has also been recognized for a United Way of Greater Charlottesville for the Caring for the Community for Above and Beyond Voice for Equity.

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Charley is certified as a Safe Space and Transgender 101 trainer to train businesses and organizations to better understand diversity and inclusion in the workplace. He is currently completing a degree in public administration at Morehouse College.

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Charley has been in recovery for 15 years and continues to stay active in his recovery community. 

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Matthew Carter has been active in statewide electoral politics since 2016, and is grateful to have been chosen for the inaugural class of New Leaders Council Virginia. Guided by a  lifelong love of words and languages he has come to believe that the metaphors we choose to describe our illness, wellness, addiction, and recovery have real power.   

Matthew is queer, physically disabled, musical, and religious.  AA not only saved his life, it also opened his heart to the suffering and oppressedness of people everywhere.  Born in Charlottesville and raised in Richmond, he is full of hope for Virginia's future and full of faith in the power of intergenerational community organizing.

Emmanuelle (they/them/theirs) is a student at Virginia Commonwealth University pursuing their Masters in Social Work. Emmanuelle’s focus is in health equity for the trans community. Emmanuelle started their own recovery in February of 2020. They began advocating for the rights of the trans community after experiencing barriers to care in their own medical transition.

Emmanuelle is currently an intern at Nationz Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit serving the Richmond LGBTQIA+ community, and currently sits on the Emerging Leaders Council for Health Brigade in Richmond, VA. 

Kameryn J. Lee, MD, MSPH, FACOG (she/her) is an inaugural fellow in the newly-established American Medical Association/Satcher Health Leadership Institute Medical Justice in Advocacy Fellowship. She is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist, and is recognized as a key opinion leader in minimally invasive surgical device design. In addition to surgical and technological prowess, Dr. Lee also has expertise in public health and transgender medicine, and is particularly passionate about racial, health, LGBQ+, and transgender/gender non-binary community equity.

Dr. Lee previously served as the Vice President for Medical Affairs and Health Equity for Folx Health, a queer/trans-focused telehealth organization. As the company’s lone Black woman of trans experience, she was, and remains, a powerful voice for all gender-diverse people - especially Black, brown, and indigenous trans and gender non-binary individuals, most of whom are systematically forced to live and survive at the societal edges. Dr. Lee is a frequent lecturer and requested panel participant in both academic and community settings.

I am a Licensed School Psychologist coming from a background in the diagnosis & treatment of a range of learning and emotional problems in the schools.

I recently started working as a full time private practitioner with Aligned Clinical & Educational Services (offices in Crozet and Richmond).

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I have been committed to Transgender Non-Binary health since I started working with teens back in 2011.  I am currently going through the 

WPATH Certification program to learn the highest standards of care for this community.

Tristan has worked in varying capacities within academia, international medical research, social work, and education serving a broad cross-section of communities and individuals, both domestically and internationally. As an anthropologist by training, Tristan has an inquisitive spirit which has led him to 5 continents and 41 states seeking the common threads of what beckons contentment and richness in our lives; his curiosity about how we foster connection, honor the vivacity of all beings, and his resolute desire for developing empathy are in large part a direct result of his journey in recovery from addiction and the care of his own mental health. As a queer man, he is honored to play a part in Diversity in Recovery's mission to create a gentle and welcoming space for all folx desiring support in their journey.

Elke Jones Zschaebitz,  DNP, ARPN, FNP-BC (she, her, hers) is an Assistant Professor in the Educator

Track in the Department of Advanced Practice Nursing at Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies. She has been an educator, advocate and program coordinator/community organizer for a number of years.

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In 2014, Dr. Zschaebitz began working with LBTQIA+ patients and co-founded a grass-roots organization

in her local community--the Transgender Health Alliance of Central Virginia (THACVA), addressing the

void in medical knowledge in the community about gender-affirming hormone therapy and the complex

needs of individuals in transition. Additionally, Dr. Zschaebitz’s THACVA initiatives led to the

establishment of the first transgender clinic within the UVA Student Health Department from 2014-2019.

For this work, she was a co-recipient of the University of Virginia’s V. Shamim Sisson Ally of the Year

award in 2016.