Board of Directors
Joyce Licht Sang
Founder Director and President
Joyce is Ryan's mother and has dedicated her life to helping millions see a brighter day in his memory. Over the past thirty years, Joyce has had leadership roles in many non-profit organizations or their activities, including: Bascom Palmer Eye Institute (University of Miami), Children's Home Society (Palm Beach), Florida House (Washington, DC), Planned Parenthood of Palm Beach & Treasure Coast, Red Cross - The Greater Palm Beach Area and HCUND of the United Nations (New York). She was named a Woman of Distinction by Palm Beach Atlantic University in 2012. She is a member of the Massachusetts General Hospital Leadership Council for Psychiatry.
With her husband, she has been the recipient of the People of Vision Award from the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, the Hermes Humanitarian Award, the Community Service Award from the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce, the 2009 Mogens Schou Award for Public Service from The International Society for Bipolar Disorders and the 2017 Sallie Province Mink Community Education Award from Johns Hopkins.
Sarah L. Myers
Secretary/Treasurer
California
Vice President, Global Operations and Sales, RÓEN BEAUTY, Los Angeles, CA; formerly Director of Operations, EDWARD BESS, New York, NY.
Sarah has extensive experience in national and international project management with oversight and execution of strategic and financial planning.
Clive M. Baumgarten, Ph.D.
Virginia
Distinguished Career Professor Emeritus & Past Interim Chair, Department of Physiology and Biophysics; Past Associate Director, MD-PhD Program, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Jaynee Licht Luntz
Founder Director
Florida
With over thirty years of experience in retail management in the fields of children's apparel, jewelry, high fashion and special gift accessories, Jaynee brings a special understanding of people and their families to the Foundation. Throughout her career, she has worked with and been a strong supporter of non-profit organizations, including: American Heart Association, Hospice, American Red Cross, Planned Parenthood and March of Dimes.
Dusty Sang
Founder Director
Dusty is Ryan’s father and like his wife, Joyce, has dedicated his life to changing the course of Bipolar Disorder so that other children and their families can have better lives through the discovery of an empirical, biomarker test for Bipolar Disorder and through the breaking of the stigma that surrounds this serious illness of the brain.
Dusty is the President of Stay Thirsty Media, Inc., A News and Entertainment Company, and the Publisher of Stay Thirsty Magazine. He is a member of the Massachusetts General Hospital Leadership Council for Psychiatry.
With his wife, he has been the recipient of the People of Vision Award from the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, the Hermes Humanitarian Award, the Community Service Award from the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce, the 2009 Mogens Schou Award for Public Service from The International Society for Bipolar Disorders and the 2017 Sallie Province Mink Community Education Award from Johns Hopkins.
Life Trustees
Abby McCormick O'Neil
Illinois & New Zealand
Abby McCormick O’Neil lost her brother Mark to Bipolar Disorder in 1993. A lifelong advocate for mental health issues, Abby demonstrates her commitment in both her professional life and her personal life every day.
Her interest in mental health coalesced in the 1980s with a certificate in Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counseling from Marymount Manhattan College coupled with onsite work with patients at the Payne Whitney Clinic in New York City under the supervision of Dr. Barbara Mason, currently the Co-Director of the Pearson Center for Alcoholism and Addiction Research at the Scripps Research Institute.
She has broad non-profit experience having served on a variety of cultural, educational and social service boards in Chicago. Abby has chaired the Harris Theater for Music and Dance’s Board of Trustees and is a current Board Member, she is a Life Trustee of Rush University’s Medical Center and is on the Committee for European Painting and Sculpture at the Art Institute in Chicago.
Abby has attended the Foundation’s Pediatric Bipolar Disorder Conference at Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has been a Co-Chairman of the Chicago Medical Briefing Luncheon and one of the hosts for the Foundation’s Dinner, held the evening before the Luncheon, since its inception. In 2014, she received the Foundation’s highest honor, the Shining Star Award, and in 2018, she was named the Foundation’s first Life Trustee.
Amy Morro
Michigan
Amy Morro was one of the first people to attend the Foundation’s Early-Onset Bipolar Disorder Medical Briefing Luncheon in Chicago. She had a reason to learn more about this medical illness of the brain and was proactive in seeking knowledge and information that could benefit her family. Over the years, Amy’s commitment to the mission and goals of the Foundation grew and her participation became more vigorous. Even in the early days, Amy was fearless in standing up for the cause by taking a leadership role in Co-Chairing countless Chicago Medical Briefing Luncheons, in being a Co-Underwriter of the annual Chicago Dinner in Honor of the Panelists, in being an Honorary Co-Chair of the Chicago Medical Briefing Luncheons, in representing the Foundation at a National Institute of Mental Health committee meeting in Bethesda, Maryland, in attending the Pediatric Bipolar Disorder Conference the Foundation co-sponsored with Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by being a speaker with her husband Bill at one of dinners in honor of the Panelists and revealing their family’s story, by being a family-member Panelist at the Palm Beach Bipolar Medical Briefing Luncheon and by always being available to help stuff, stamp, write notes and seal the invitations to Foundation Luncheons in both Chicago and Palm Beach for years and years and years. In 2014, she was one of the inaugural recipients in Chicago of the Foundation’s Shining Star Award.
Amy Morro has devoted her life to her family, her career and her community and in the process has traveled the world. Born in New Hampshire, she received her BA from McGill University in Montreal. After college, she and her husband, William (Bill) Morro, moved to Chicago and soon thereafter began globetrotting. First Amy and Bill lived in Brazil while Bill worked on the Jari Project. From there, they moved to Sydney, Australia, then to San Francisco, and finally back to Chicago to raise their three children, Anna, James and Will. As her children grew up, she was a dedicated volunteer at their schools that included Chicago City Day, Francis Parker, Latin School, Middlesex and served as President of the Cardigan Parent Association. An avid and competitive sportswoman who skis, plays tennis and swims, she began a career in real estate after her children were in college and is a broker with Baird & Warner.
Amy is a highly accomplished, caring and thoughtful wife, mother, business woman and supporter of community organizations and causes. She is a quiet force whose can-do spirit and selflessness make difficult things come true with ease and grace. In May 2019, Amy was named the Foundation’s second Life Trustee.
