National Team

Terra Ziporyn Snider, PhD

Executive Director, Co-Founder
Terra Ziporyn Snider is an award-winning author of numerous popular health and medical books including The New Harvard Guide to Women's Health, The Women's Concise Guide to Emotional Well-Being, Alternative Medicine for Dummies, and Nameless Diseases. A Yale graduate and a Searle Fellow at the University of Chicago, Terra earned a doctorate in the history of science and medicine while conducting research in biopsychology. A former associate editor at The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Terra has also written extensively on a wide range of health and medical issues for both popular and professional audiences and has been awarded science-writing fellowships by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Chemical Society, and the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole. She was the 2022 recipient of the Sleep Research Society's Public Service Award.

Maribel Cabrera Ibrahim, MSEM

Operations Director, Co-Founder
Maribel Cabrera Ibrahim is the Facilities Director for the Anne Arundel County Public Library and head of the Maintenance and Delivery Department. Her expertise in logistics, team building and process development has been used to manage the collaborative efforts of Start School Later, including website development, newsletter publication, membership, communications and project management. Maribel was recognized by her library peers with the 2015 Team Achievement Award for the Severna Park Library renovation, the 2023 Team Achievement Award for six library refreshes that year and was nominated for the Individual Achievement Award in 2018. Previously, Maribel served as a Project Engineer for FedEx Express and as an Industrial Engineer for General Motors. During a nine year hiatus to raise her three young children, she also held various leadership positions with other community support groups, including Mocha Moms, MOMS Club® and MOPS before embarking on Start School Later.

Kari Oakes, PA

Sleep 101/Let's Sleep! Project Manager
Kari Oakes is a regulatory and medical editor and analyst who has also practiced as a physician assistant in primary care, neurology, and emergency medicine. The mother of two young adult children, Kari has been active in education and community development issues for many years, with a decade of involvement in Start School Later. Current service roles include membership on the community development authority of Middleton, Wisc., and chairing the city’s perpetual endowment.

Phyllis Payne, MPH

Implementation Director
Phyllis Payne is a public health educator and science writer with extensive experience in community health education and outreach. A co-founder of SLEEP in Fairfax, the advocacy group that successfully ushered in healthy school start times in Fairfax County, VA. she has developed strategic plans for various organizations and built coalitions to support those plans, including designing and facilitating interactive workshops, conferences, and focus group discussions. A specialist in turning science into plain language and policy. Phyllis has created materials for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases aimed at patients, caregivers, and health professionals about topics including sleep; kidney disease; diabetes; physical activity; heart, lung, and blood disorders; lupus; HIV, and school health policy.

Elinore Boeke

Communications Director
Elinore Boeke is a communications consultant with a focus on health information technology. Previously she managed public affairs activities in the healthcare, maritime and recreation industries. Still not a morning person, and now with three teens in the house, she’s long been an advocate for Start School Later’s mission to educate all community stakeholders on the medical and scientific need for later school start times for adolescents.

Andra Williams Broadwater

Chapter Director
Andra Williams Broadwater is an award winning education advocate, and became interested in school start times when she saw dazed local high school students on the bus at about dawn as a new mother. In 2014, she launched the Baltimore County chapter of Start School Later, and has worked on state level legislation in Maryland. Andra serves on the Baltimore County PTA Council and is an active volunteer in her kids' schools and her church. She has published resources under contracts with the U.S. Department of Education and received publication awards from AERA. Andra's background is in education policy and data, and is excited to lend her expertise to helping others effect local change to school start times.

Katherine Nitz

Media Relations
As a podcast host of The Matriarchy and small business owner, Kath is committed to uplifting the voices of women, encouraging engagement, and protecting our democracy. She is also the media relations coordinator for Michigan Education Justice Coalition, organizing for education justice for K-12 students. Kath strongly believes in the power of community and worked as a regional organizer for Red, Wine & Blue where she was trained in how to combat disinformation. Combining her passion for healthy school start times and her background in communications and production, Kath began her advocacy on behalf of schools and students when she founded Start School Later, Rochester MI in 2017. She expanded her efforts by starting Start School Later Michigan with chapter leaders from across the state. As the mother of four, she has long served in the PTA and as a community volunteer. She is also fluent in Spanish, having spent a portion of her childhood in northern Spain.

Brendan Duffy, CCSH, RPSGT

Athletic Liaison
Brendan Duffy is a Registered Sleep Technologist and Certified Sleep Educator with over 20 years of experience in clinical sleep medicine. He is the coordinator of a six-bed sleep center at St Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson, NY and has authored several articles and spoken nationally about the relationship between sleep and athletic performance.

Joy Wake

Policy and Advocacy Director
Joy Wake has spent nearly 20 years – in classrooms, boardrooms, living rooms, and the California State Capitol – organizing her community to improve the lives of school children through meaningful, data driven, parent engagement, and advocacy. Most recently, she led outreach and advocacy for Start School Later California, which co-sponsored groundbreaking public health legislation that resulted in the passage of the first ever statewide law limiting how early classes can start at California public schools. Joy is a past president of the American Marketing Association, Sacramento Valley Chapter; the Planning Committee Chair and co-founder of the San Juan Education Foundation; founder of the High School Parent Engagement Group; and recipient of the 2014 Spirit of San Juan Award for outstanding community volunteer.

Sahil Kancherla

Student Advocacy Coordinator
Sahil is a Junior in high school in the Houston area. He is passionate about creating change on this issue and would love to connect with others who share the same commitment.

Julie Totten

Development Director
Julie's extensive fundraising expertise spans over two decades, during which she has consistently delivered exceptional results. She also founded and led a mental health nonprofit organization dedicated to educating family caregivers to help their loved ones with mood disorders get well. Julie is dedicated to supporting Start School Later's mission to help teens improve academic performance, prevent car crashes and sports injuries, and enhance physical and emotional wellbeing.

Inaugural Petition Delivery aka "Wake Up Wednesday", March 7, 2012
(L-R) Mary King, Heather Macintosh, Gioia Mapp, Terra Snider, Deniz Cribs, Maribel Ibrahim