Team

SENIOR STAFF

President & CEO

Karen Basha Egozi is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Epilepsy Alliance Florida and has been working on behalf of patients with epilepsy and their families since 2005. As the organization’s chief executive, Karen manages the efforts of a team of over 35 employees in seven offices throughout the state who provide direct services to citizens in 36 of Florida’s 67 counties, with statewide responsibility for all 426,000 Floridians with epilepsy.

From 2018 to the present, Karen has served as Treasurer for the national Epilepsy Alliance America. From 2013-to 2015, Karen served as a director on the board of Josh Provides, an organization dedicated to helping patients with epilepsy.

Before joining Epilepsy Alliance Florida, Karen managed a $129 million budget as the Vice President of Administration for the Early Learning Coalition Miami-Dade/Monroe. As Chief Executive Officer of the Voices for Children Foundation, a fundraising organization dedicated to championing the Guardian Ad Litem Program of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit. Karen has served as Board Chair of Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center and as the federally appointed Housing Committee Chair for the Federal Home Bank of Atlanta from 2003 to 2006. Other leadership positions have included board members of Guardian Ad Litem Florida State Association and Trustee of the Endowment Committee Chair for Voices for Children. She is a graduate of Florida State University.

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CFO & COO

Monica Rodriguez is the CFO & COO and joined Epilepsy Alliance Florida in 2017 after over 15 years of experience in the public and for-profit sectors. As Chief Financial Officer, she oversees all financial and accounting aspects of the organization, including internal and external financial reporting, tax returns, the annual financial statement audit, and financial grant compliance. In 2019 Rodriguez also assumed the role of Chief Operations Officer. Since that time, Monica has earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Florida International University in 2001. She is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of CPAs.

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Vice President of Business Development

Mary Gomez has been working on behalf of patients with epilepsy and their families since 2003. From 2005 to 2010 Mary was the program contract monitor for the State of Florida through the Florida Department of Health epilepsy program. She then served as Executive Director from 2010-to 2016 and most recently was promoted to Vice President of Business Development. In her current role, she manages a development team throughout the state of Florida. Before joining Epilepsy Alliance Florida, Mary managed over 100 employees as the General Manager for Rahn Hotels International on Fort Lauderdale beach. As the Manager on duty for the Best Western Hotels in Ft. Lauderdale, a 300-room resort. Mary served as a Board committee member on the Air and Sea Show committee and was instrumental in hosting the first Air and Sea show in 1999 on Ft Lauderdale beach which is still in existence. Mary’s passion shifted to the non-profit sector after her nephew was re-diagnosed with epilepsy in 2002. She continues to advocate for the rights of those living with epilepsy and their families.

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Marketing Director

Marchet Eaddy is the Marketing Director. Currently, she is responsible for the organization in a variety of marketing, social media, and development-related capacities including overseeing the implementation of public relations, marketing, and promotional initiatives. Marchet has been in the marketing industry for 16 years. She has worked with various national and international companies. She has had the privilege of working with various clients from celebrities, motivational speakers, global brands, and thought leaders. She has spearheaded campaigns for VOGA Italia, Women’s International Film & Arts Festival, DOCS, Gemma Di Luna, UBER, and much more.

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Vice President of Programs 

Kent D. Dettlo is the Vice President of Programs at Epilepsy Alliance Florida. He currently oversees the agencies administration programs, social services, medical services, telemedicine, psychology department and the healthcare navigation program. Before joining Epilepsy Alliance Florida, Kent managed a $10 million dollar budget as the Director of Residential Services for individuals with Developmental Disabilities and Special Needs at Pillar Care Continuum in East Hanover, NJ. Kent comes to Epilepsy Alliance Florida with over 25 years of residential and outreach services in the non-profit sector. He holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from Marywood University and a Bachelor of Arts and Humanities degree from Florida Atlantic University.

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Senior Director of Programs Services

Roxana Galera is the Senior Director of Program Services at Epilepsy Alliance Florida, where she oversees its social services department.  Roxana holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Florida International University and has over 20 years of experience in social services/case management. Roxana joined Epilepsy Alliance Florida in 1997 as an entry-level social services/case manager. What started as a transitional job to gain experience in the field turned into a rewarding professional journey helping individuals and their families touched by epilepsy.

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Psychologist

Dr. Judith Siskind has been a staff psychologist of Epilepsy Alliance Florida for nearly 35 years. In that role, she provides psychological evaluations to help the agency’s clients know more about their strengths and challenges and get needed benefits or accommodations (whether in school, during their citizenship application interviews, or during the disability benefits appeal process).  She also provides individual, parent, and family counseling to our clients. She serves (informally) as a consultant to neurologists, teachers, and other professionals concerned with the client’s quality of life.

Since Dr. Siskind is reasonably bilingual in English and Spanish, she does evaluation and counseling in Spanish for those clients who speak only Spanish or are more comfortable speaking personal matters in their native language.

Before moving from part-time to full-time at our organization twenty years ago, Dr. Siskind also worked as a clinical psychologist with Sunset Mental Health Associates in South Miami. Before moving to Miami, she was educated and worked in Boston and Baltimore.  In Boston, Dr. Siskind was an instructor in Psychology at Boston University and a child psychologist in that school’s Child Psychiatry Department for five years. After receiving her doctorate in clinical psychology in Baltimore, Dr. Siskind was a post-doctoral fellow at Shepard and Enoch Pratt Hospital in Towson, Maryland, and subsequently a staff member at that psychiatric hospital for two years.

Dr. Siskind received her bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College in Massachusetts, a Master of Education degree from Harvard University, and her Ph.D. degree from the University of Maryland in College Park.

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