Our Dedicated Board

Phil Elberg is a retired New Jersey lawyer. For many years he was managing partner at the Newark litigation firm, Medvin and Elberg, where he worked extensively in litigation involving there presentation of youth abused in institutional settings. That work caused him to become an activist for issues associated with abuses at “behavior modification” and “tough love” facilities, including a New Jersey facility where he exposed horrific abuse of New Jersey adolescents.

He has consulted with numerous lawyers around the country on adolescent abuse issues and with investigators from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in the Congressional investigation of Residential Treatment Programs for Troubled Youth.

With several other activists, he formed a website called ASTARTFORTEENS.ORG.

He was a founder and served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Newark Public Radio (WBGO), Newark Essex Legal Services, and the International Cultic Studies Association.

He lives in Montclair, New Jersey.

Polly Thomas is a California attorney, retired from a long career of service in various Legal Aid programs and as an Administrative Law Judge.

Having survived her own involvement with a political cult, she has long been interested in the process of healing from coercive and abusive relationships.

As an advocate for change, she believes that the potentially dangerous effects of coercive persuasion used by some individuals over others need to be widely accepted by the legal system. She was previously on the Advisory Board of Survivors of Institutional Abuse.

She currently lives in Monrovia, California.

Dr. Natalie Fabert is a licensed psychologist and university lecturer. Her degrees include a B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara; a Master’s of Education from Arizona State University (ASU) in Counselor Education; and a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology, also from ASU. She completed a post-doctoral residency in psychology at the University of California, Davis. Dr. Fabert teaches at Arizona State University, where she created and launched the popular undergraduate special topics course, “The Social Psychology of Cults.” She also teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in social psychology, psychopathology, the treatment of addiction, and professional psychology issues.

An active clinician, specializing in abuse and trauma recovery, health psychology, and anxiety and adjustment disorders, Dr. Fabert has worked in private practice for the past six years and has previous clinical experience in university counseling centers and integrated primary health care settings.

Born and raised in rural southeastern Idaho in a town founded by his Mormon ancestors, Adam Kunz spent the first 25 years of his life living in the heart of “Mormondom.” After a life of deep, zealous commitment to Mormonism, he left his small hometown for law school in Washington, D.C., and was airdropped into a world starkly different from the one he had been raised in. This prompted a decade-long shift in his perspective on faith, society, and the treatment of others.
Today, Adam is an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where he teaches political philosophy and constitutional law. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis, and a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School. He writes and teaches on tolerance, the limits of freedom of religion, and theories of justice. He lives in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, with his wife, son, and two dogs. When he is not writing or teaching, he’s playing Dungeons & Dragons or working on his pollinator habit.
He has consulted with numerous lawyers around the country on adolescent abuse issues and with investigators from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in the Congressional investigation of Residential Treatment Programs for Troubled Youth.
With several other activists, he formed a website called ASTARTFORTEENS.ORG.
He was a founder and served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Newark Public Radio (WBGO), Newark Essex Legal Services, and the International Cultic Studies Association.
He lives in Montclair, New Jersey.