Board of Directors

Sabrina Ruelle – Board Member 

Sabrina Ruelle is a dynamic Marketing Director and artist who specializes in helping small med-tech companies build transformative strategies that support growth and innovation. She has marketed for numerous organizations advocating and educating on solutions for severe and chronic ailments. With over 10 years of industry experience, Sabrina has worked alongside C-level executives, helping build creative business development solutions that promote brand identity and fiscal success. She is a highly trained professional with multiple certificates in business strategy and marketing, a Master’s in Leadership from Boston University, a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts from Salem State University, her yoga teaching certification, and a personal mentorship from SANUWAVE’s CEO & Board Chairman. 

Sabrina previously experienced the non-profit world as the co-founder of the Wormhole Gallery, a non-profit popup art gallery that successfully operated in downtown Salem Massachusetts for 2 years; the gallery’s mission was to create a safe, and collaborative space that provided financial support to local artists while simultaneously making free art engagement opportunities accessible to community members, particularly children and teens, who otherwise may not have been able to afford them. While the gallery is no longer standing Sabrina continues to offer free art and yoga lessons. 

Driven by a difficult upbringing in the foster care system, Sabrina is no stranger to the many hurdles young women with big dreams must face to achieve their own version of success. Despite facing many socio-economic disadvantages, Sabrina’s kind heart and insatiable drive have helped her build a reputable name for herself within her industry. With an established career, Sabrina has reached a point where advocacy has become a leading driver; she hopes to use her business acumen and life experiences to help other women and girls find the light on their individual journeys.

 

Sonia Rodrigues – Board Member 

Sonia Rodrigues-Marto is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT), a Licensed Drug and Alcohol Counselor (LCADC), a National Certified Counselor (NCC) and an Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS). She is the Director of School and Community Based Programs at Rutgers Health -University Behavioral Health Care which provides professional development and intensive mental health programs to youth and families in public, private and out of district school settings. She is also co-owner of the Center for Intrapersonal Wellness, LLC and has served as an Adjunct Faculty member at Monmouth University and at Middlesex County College. She has presented on a variety of workshops on topics related to stress and anxiety among teens, integrating mindfulness practices in schools, completing suicide risk assessments, non-suicidal self-injury, supporting youth in schools and the community in a post-Covid world and on treating survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. Her clinical and research interests are within the areas of acculturation among Latino populations, multicultural factors in counseling, working with teens and young adults on life transitions and career exploration, self-injurious behavior and risk assessments, sexual and domestic abuse, trauma and factors related to resiliency. She serves on several boards and aims to support agencies and schools in an effort to promote overall wellness and health for women, children and families.

Sharyn J. Gallatin, Esq. is currently the Director of Development, North America for Optometry Giving Sight, a non-profit organization whose mission is to end preventable blindness and vision impairment in underserved populations around the world. Sharyn has almost 25 years of fundraising and development experience in the non-profit arena including direct solicitations, grant writing, planned giving and foundation and governmental fund acquisition. She has raised millions of dollars for the organizations to whom she has lent her talents.

Prior to entering the development field as a professional, Sharyn maintained her own law practice for over fifteen years, specializing in special needs advocacy and estate planning. Sharyn has held numerous volunteer board positions in her more than twenty-year volunteer career for such organizations as Jewish federations in Michigan, New Jersey and New York, Jewish Family Services in Metro Detroit, several women’s advocacy organizations, the Detroit Children’s Choir and is now honored to be joining the Board of Directors of Embrace Her Legacy.

Sharyn was born and raised in northern New Jersey. She is the proud mother of Joshua and Rose. She currently resides in Commerce Township, Michigan.

Christina Sakelarakis – Board Member 

Christina is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist who specializes in virtual learning. She currently provides teletherapy and assessment services through Presence and is an educational consultant for Pearson. In addition to her work in education, Christina supports young women undergoing career transitions to overcome anxiety and build confidence through individualized coaching and creating video-based coaching sessions for the Aspyn Coaching app. Christina is a two-year AmeriCorps alum who served in Connecticut through the Jumpstart for Young Children program and Massachusetts through Literations (formally Generations Incorporated). Christina created a literacy program for underserved communities and placed AARP volunteers in elementary classrooms to help close the literacy achievement gap.

As a first-generation college graduate, Christina strives to promote equity within the educational domain and beyond. Christina is determined to support and empower young women and girls to build confidence, find their purpose, and take on leadership roles.

Autumn Hargett – Junior Board Member 

Autumn Hargett, CFLE – P is a graduate from the State University of New York, College at Oneonta where she received her bachelor’s of science in Human Development and Family Studies and dual minor in Educational Psychology and Women and Gender Studies. Currently, Autumn works for Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy enriching the youth in their academic, social, and personal endeavors.  She is a proud sister of Omega Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated and serves on the sorority’s National Council of Officers as the Regional Administrative Coordinator for Region 3: Western New York where she oversees 9 collegiate chapters and 2 graduate chapters. She also serves as the executive assistant secretary on the Board of Directors for the Castle Hill Resource Center, a non-profit whose mission is to support, advocate, and provide resources to address the diverse needs of their community. Through her emerging post-graduate career, Autumn has received certifications as a Family Life Educator and facilitator for Prepare/Enrich, the #1 premarital and marriage assessment tool, using evidence-based skills and insights to foster healthy relationships. 

Autumn is a young  woman on the borderline of facing the challenges of both millennial women and Generation Z girls’ experiences which makes her passion for Embrace Her Legacy’s mission even stronger. She is always looking for ways to better serve and educate her hometown community in the Boogie Down Bronx.  Her heart, compassion, and soul is what drives her to advocate and speak out for the women and youth around her today.