Original Board Members

Naomi Tapia

(she/ella) is a bilingual, first-generation MFT. She graduated with her Master of Science in Counseling, with an emphasis in clinical mental health and marriage and family therapy. Naomi is passionate about self-compassion, self-acceptance, body image, and the Latinx community. Her thesis focused on treatment approaches for Latinx Mujeres with negative body image, disordered eating, eating disorders, and low self-esteem. She has presented on self-love and self-worth in her lecture You Are Worth It (Increasing Self-Esteem), most recently at the Hermanas Unidas Inc. 2019 conference. Naomi is also a published contributor. Her writings can be found in books such as the American Counseling Association’s Counselor Self-Care book.

Rachael Mark

is a licensed social worker. She provides therapy to adults with a speciality in eating disorders/disorder eating, especially for people who live in larger bodies per American beauty standards. When she is not providing therapy services you can find her spending time with husband, friends, family or fur babies (Ronnie, Stewie, Sammy, and Frannie). She loves swimming, traveling & trying new local restaurants.

Maryann Bavisotto

she/hers/her is a social worker offering counseling in the Amherst/Buffalo, NY area. As a Health at Every Size (HAES) therapist, she celebrates size diversity and rejects the assumption that body size is a reflection of our health. She is passionate about helping her clients heal from disordered eating, addiction, and trauma, with a special focus on members of the LGBT/Queer community and women. Her own journey of recovery from disordered eating, self-destructive behavior, and body-hatred was transformed when she began to understand the impact of fatphobia and diet culture on her body, family, and community. Maryann believes we all deserve to have our physical, emotional, and spiritual needs met in ways that do not harm our bodies and limit our potential. She is dedicated to building safe and validating relationships with her clients that embody the principles of HAES.

Julia Stevens

is a single mom and community organizer in Niagara Falls, NY. In 2020 her cousin Mariah Wilson was murdered in her home, her slumlord had refused to make repairs that could have saved her life, which led to someone entering and violently killing her. This devastating loss led Julia to organizing and introduced her to communities that shared similar struggles. Mariah’s loss has brought her on a path to liberation through directly combatting the systems built by white supremacy and capitalism intended to oppress marginalized persons of all kinds. Julia's participation with Body liberated Buffalo is an extension of this fight as fat-phobia is rooted in white supremacy and anti-blackness.

Dr. Jeffry J. Iovannone

is a historian from Buffalo, New York, who specializes in LGBTQ history of the United States and gender and sexuality studies. He is a Lecturer in History and Coordinator of the Women's and Gender Studies Program at SUNY at Fredonia. Jeff is particularly interested in the historical intersections of LGBTQ identity, Western diet culture, and white supremacy, and using historical analysis to better understand and address the prevalence of eating disorders and body image issues within the modern LGBTQ community, particularly among gay/queer men. He frequently blogs on issues related to diet culture and body liberation on Medium and has appeared on a variety of podcasts such as Food Psych, Think Queerly, and Strange Fruit.

Carolyn Nelson

she/her is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist. She holds a BS in Exercise Science and MS in Nutrition from the University at Buffalo, where she also completed her Dietetic Internship. She currently works at Personalized Health Nutrition, PLLC where she provides one-on-one nutrition counseling, diabetes education, and diabetes device training and management. 

Michael Guerin

is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and therapist specializing in trauma-focused care for individuals with chronic health conditions and Serious Mental Illness. His interest in HAES (Health at Every Size) was initially sparked by personal experience of existing in a larger body from an early age, which over time, resulted in gaining more knowledge with thin privilege and grief and loss issues regarding changes in body size. Parallel to his experiences, he also witnessed many of his clients to be fearful of obtaining necessary access to healthcare due to stigma, phobia, and mistreatment by medical providers. Michael’s continued interest focuses on advocacy for those that exist in larger bodies to receive proper comprehensive medical treatment. He hopes to have an impact in the much needed change towards diet culture, and helping the community at large to unlearn fat-phobia. In addition, Michael is a part of the Queer Community, and remains passionate to shed light on the many unmet needs within LGBTQIA. Currently, he is in process of establishing his private practice and works in coordinating care for suicide-prevention in the greater Buffalo Area. You can find him trying new recipes, relaxing with his fur baby Mooka, or listening to Mariah Carey albums on repeat in his spare time!