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Board of Directors
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About the Board
The Board of Directors of Nevus Outreach establishes governance policy and long-range vision for the organization and has oversight of the staff. The members of the board are all donors to Nevus Outreach, and share a major responsibility for both ongoing fundraising efforts and significant volunteer requirements.

Wiatt attended the first Nevus Outreach conference in Orlando in 1998, and is honored to now be serving on the board.
Wiatt Bowers | Chair
Jacksonville, FL
Wiatt Bowers is an urban planner with over 25 years of experience. He has worked in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Tallahassee, Tampa, and Jacksonville.
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A nevus owner, Wiatt grew up in the Baltimore-Washington area. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Communications from Temple University in 1993 and a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Florida State University on 1996.
Wiatt attended the first Nevus Outreach conference in Orlando in 1998, and is honored to now be serving on the board. In addition to NOI, he is involved in the following organizations:
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Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association – President Elect
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Health Planning Council of Northeast Florida
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Congregation Ahavath Chesed
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Florida State University Hillel Foundation
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Lisa is excited for her new roll ad Vice-Board Chair of Directors and wants to give back to other families in the way that they received support when they first learned of Nevus Outreach.
Lisa O'Bryan | Vice Chair
Olathe, KS
Lisa O’Bryan is an HR Executive working in the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction industry. She lives in Olathe,KS her husband, Shane, and daughters Rylee and Madelyn, and their Shih Tzu, Cooper. Lisa was born and raised in Kansas and received her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Emporia State University and her Master’s in Management from Baker University.The O’Bryan family loves spending time at the lake and traveling. Rylee, their BTN owner, recently completed Nursing school in Florida and is starting her first RN job in OR back home in Overland Park, Kansas. She pursued this career path due to her experience with CMN and removal. I believe that experience contributed to her compassionate nature and she wants to be able to have the same impact on patients that the wonderful nurses over the years had on her. Nevus Outreach linked the O’Bryan family to other Nevus families when Rylee was 7 and they have been conference attendees and supporters ever since.

"I've seen first hand what this organization and this community does to support those affected, and I am excited to be a small part of that mission"
Oliver Holmes | Secretary
Charlotte, NC
Oliver Holmes, a native of North Carolina, is the new treasurer of the Nevus Outreach Board of Directors. He holds an MBA from Kennesaw State University and spent 10 years in commercial banking and in 2016 co-founded a private equity firm. He and his wife Trish live in North Carolina and their daughter, August Rose, age 2, has a nevus on her skull. "I've seen first hand what this organization and this community does to support those affected, and I am excited to be a small part of that mission," he says. Oliver will chair the finance committee and serve as Treasurer of the Board. We are excited to welcome Oliver to this role!

Cara and her family are grateful that they found Nevus Outreach soon after Winnie was born as the organization has been such an incredible source of support.
Cara Dolchin | Treasurer
Philadelphia, PA
Cara Dolchin is a Certified Public Accountant having received her bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Maryland. She works at KPMG in the Accounting Advisory Services (AAS) practice specializing in business divestments and the related implications. In her role, she helps clients address various complex accounting matters.
Cara grew up in South Jersey and recently moved back after residing in Philadelphia for over a decade. She lives with her husband Zach, their two kids, Winnie and Asher, and their bernadoodle, Galaxy. Winnie was born in 2021 with a bathing trunk nevus and satellites. Cara and her family are grateful that they found Nevus Outreach soon after Winnie was born as the organization has been such an incredible source of support. Cara currently serves on the Finance Committee and is looking forward to working with the other amazing Board Members to help carry out the mission of this wonderful organization.

Cristy and her family attended the 2016 and 2018 Nevus Outreach conferences and she is deeply grateful to the organization for the advice and support it has provided.
Cristy Irvin Phillips
Brooklyn, NY
Cristy Irvin Phillips lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband Jackson and two children, including a four-year-old nevus owner. Originally from Tampa, Florida, she attended college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and law school at NYU University School of Law. After spending almost a decade at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, Cristy recently became Deputy General Counsel for 1/0 Capital, a venture capital fund and start-up incubator, where she provides legal advice to fintech start-up companies in a variety of industries, including healthcare. Cristy and her family attended the 2016 and 2018 Nevus Outreach conferences and she is deeply grateful to the organization for the advice and support it has provided. She looks forward to advancing the mission and goals of Nevus Outreach through her service on the board.

Matthew is proud to be on the Board of Directors for Nevus Outreach and intends to serve the organization as a nevus owner and advocate for its mission of Awareness, Support and Research.
Matthew Rogers
Kansas City, KS
Matthew Rogers currently lives in Kansas City and works as an Engineer for Kiewit, a large contractor. Matthew is originally from Fort Worth, Texas and attended the University of Tulsa where he graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. In his free time, Matthew plays soccer, runs marathons, enjoys backpacking and camping trips, and volunteers at his childhood church camp with his cousin and roommate.
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Matthew was born with a cape nevus and has many satellites and larger nevi covering his body. One of the things he is most grateful for is that his parents found Nevus Outreach early on – he attended the first conference in 1998 and has been to all conferences since.
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Being a part of the larger Nevus Outreach family as a child helped both Matthew and his family adapt to the challenges of living with CMN; connections made through Nevus Outreach have built in him a positive outlook on life and given him the confidence to pursue his dreams. Nevus Outreach has also given him lifelong friends that continue to provide comfort, joy, and support as he has grown. Matthew values the moments where he has shared his experiences with others while learning from their stories as well; his hope is to create opportunities for kids who are growing up in similar circumstances to help them navigate their young lives.

Andrea is thrilled to join the Board of Directors, help Nevus Outreach carry out its mission, and continue to give back to the community.
Andrea Bischoff
Dayton, OH
Andrea Bischoff is a clinical psychologist practicing in Dayton, Ohio. She earned her Doctorate of Psychology from Wright State University and has spent most of her career practicing in primary care. She resides in Waynesville, Ohio with her husband, Kyle Behymer, and their three children, James, Audrey, and Evelyn. Evelyn was born in 2014 with a bathing trunk nevus. Andrea was connected with Nevus Outreach shortly after Evelyn's birth and experienced the organization as a place of valuable information, social support, and most importantly hope. Andrea is thrilled to join the Board of Directors, help Nevus Outreach carry out its mission, and continue to give back to the community.

The Gregorys have learned so much from Nevus Outreach and want to give back in any way they can.
Erik Gregory
Los Angeles, CA
Erik Gregory is a data scientist, currently a senior staff data scientist at Meta, with experience working in both very small and very large organizations. In 2020, Erik and his lovely wife Amira became parents to a daughter born with GCMN. Within a few hours of their daughter's birth, they found Nevus Outreach. The community showed the new parents there is support available to understand how to help their daughter deal with a few challenges that might arise with her condition. The Gregorys have learned so much from Nevus Outreach and want to give back in any way they can. Erik is excited to apply his skills and learn more as a board member for Nevus Outreach.

Merilee has volunteered in many parts of the organization such as all areas of the conference, helping launch the Regional Groups, and serving on several committees.
Merilee Vance
Whittier, CA
Merilee was born and raised in Southern California and is happy to be back to the sunny California weather after doing a quick 25-year stint in central Montana. She lives with her husband, Dustin, and three daughters, Cali, Brooklyn, and Macy. Merilee received her ASN and BSN from Montana State University - Northern in Registered Nursing and has recently graduated with her Masters in Nurse-Midwifery from Frontier Nursing University. She loves anything that has to do with Disneyland, the Dodgers, and traveling. She has a passion for Nevus Outreach, as her daughter, Brooklyn, was born with a nevus. She served on the Board of Directors from 2014-2020 and recently joined again in 2023. She has volunteered in many parts of the organization such as all areas of the conference, helping launch the Regional Groups, and serving on several committees. She is currently the Conference Committee Chair and is so excited to serve Nevus Outreach and all it’s wonderful members.

Amann has volunteered as a member of the awarness committees for a number of years and is excited for the evolution of his roll on that commitee and with the board of directors.
Amann Islam
Austin, TX
Amann Islam, a Texan now living in Austin, Texas, joins the board as a committee member. He holds a Master's Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from University of Illinois of Urbana-Champaign and spent 5 years at Cisco Systems in Cloud Systems. Outside of education and work, you can find him spending time with his friends, traveling the world while taking in the sights and local foods, and spending time with family. Amann was born with a large chest nevus and satellites covering his entire body and discovered Nevus Outreach in 2006. Since then, he has developed a community, lifelong friends, and strong desire to give back to those who gave to him.

Sarah is a well respected member of the medical community and excited to help Nevus Outreach move CMN and related condition research forward.
Dr. Sarah Nelson-Taylor
Denver, CO
Sarah was born into a military family and lived her early years bouncing around various western states and England before her family settled in Tucson, Arizona. She studied Biochemistry at the University of Arizona before moving to Denver, Colorado where she pursued her MD/PhD at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, with her graduate studies focused on cancer biology and the use of targeted therapeutics in lung cancer. She continued at the Children’s Hospital of Colorado for pediatrics residency and pediatric nephrology fellowship and is excited to (finally) be joining the faculty at CHCO as a pediatric nephrologist with a special focus on genetics and precision medicine.
Sarah and her husband, Dan, are fully immersed in the chaos of parenting three girls, the youngest of whom, Norah, was born in 2024 with a giant bathing trunk nevus and neurocutaneous melanocytosis. After attending the Nevus Outreach conference for the first time when Norah was 6 months old, Sarah has found a calling using her experience as a pediatric physician-scientist to advocate for all nevus owners and accelerate research into CMN-related conditions.