Bill Gerlach

Co-Founder

On July 17th, 2023 the unthinkable happened. Our co-founder Bill Gerlach, passed away unexpectedly. Our HereNOW Help family is deeply touched by the outpouring of love and support from our clients, investors and business associates. With Bill’s passing, we are dedicated more than ever to seeing his dream become a reality. If you know anyone is who is struggling with their mental health, please reach out.

Bryan Gray

CEO & Co-Founder

Bryan has 20+ years’ experience as a counselor, business consultant, Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Executive Officer in technology startups including co-founding Swoonbox, Inc. He specializes in leadership development, building strengths-based teams and producing exponential growth through innovative and disruptive marketing strategies.

Bryan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Carnegie Mellon University.

Bryan is equally passionate about his family, basketball, golf, art, reading and traveling.

Lester Leong

CTO & Co-Founder

Lester is the Co-founder and Chief Technical Officer at Swoonbox, an event-based dating app that leverages events to bring individuals together outside of their smart-phone screens. He began writing software at age 12, and now has 10 years’ experience building full-stack scalable systems for large and small companies.

Lester holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Biology.

Lester’s passion is for culture and technology and the ways in which they interact.

Nancy French-Gerlach

CFO & Co-Founder

Nancy is the former Chief Operating Officer of the Indirect Tax practice and Marketing Director of Americas Tax practice of a “Big Four” accounting firm, and the Operational Excellence Director of a global manufacturing company. Also, as an Executive Coach she helps executives become culturally competent and inclusive leaders.

Nancy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting.

Since the loss of her son to drug addiction, Nancy has dedicated her life to eliminating the shame of addiction and mental illness.

Shannon Green

Director of Customer Support

Shannon has 7+ years' experience managing customer support and sales for a global technology company. She prides herself on building and maintaining relationships, problem solving, product knowledge, patience, and taking a proactive approach when it comes to training clients.

Shannon holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication and Journalism.

Shannon loves spending time with her family, experimenting in the kitchen, yoga, and all Wisconsin sports. She has many family members who have struggled with addiction and tragically lost her mom in 2017. HereNOW Help is a true passion project that she knows will save lives.

Pasha Dashtgard

Director of Counselor Training

Pasha has 12 years’ experience providing mental health and drug and alcohol counseling services. He also has experience recruiting and training phone volunteers in crisis counseling.

Pasha holds a master’s degrees in mental health counseling and a master’s in education from Columbia University. He is currently completing his doctoral dissertation in psychological science at the University of California Irvine.

While at the University of Amsterdam, Pasha published research on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and resiliency. For the State of California’s Public Health Department, he researched treatment of mental illness within the criminal justice system.

Dr. Sarah French Brennan

Director of Client Research

An anthropologist, Sarah has researched, reported and presented at professional conferences worldwide on LGBTQ and immigrant issues. These include the challenges these populations experience in seeking help for mental health, addiction, social and family problems.

Sarah holds a PhD degree from Columbia University.

Having recently experienced the personal loss of a cousin to drug addiction, Sarah is dedicated to applying her research and writing skills to better understanding and treating the addiction epidemic.

Mary Anne French

Director, Human Resources

Mary Anne brings 36 years of experience in Public Health, including more than 12 years as a Program Manager of a two million dollar a year federally funded program. She also has direct experience counseling pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women.

Mary Anne holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition and Masters degree in Health Education from Florida State University.

Due to the loss of her nephew to drug addiction, she is dedicated to focusing a light on the opioid addiction crisis in our communities.

Dr. John N. Brennan

Board Member, Advisor

As a licensed psychotherapist, John provided individual and family therapy to the families of emotionally disturbed children for 10 years. During this time, he conducted research that proved the effectiveness of his innovative approach to counselor training.

John holds an Ed.D. degree from the University of Rochester.

After completing his doctorate, John went on to found and manage a multi-million-dollar international sales training company. Clients included Volvo, Kodak, Gannett, the Prudential and Microsoft.

John is active in Alcoholics Anonymous and has 27 years of sobriety. He also provides emotional support to his brother, who has struggles with schizophrenia.

Tyler Greener

Content Manager & Sales Representative

Tyler has a desire to help others find the right path in life and looks to blossom his young career with meaningful work in the mental health field everyday.

Tyler holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English. With a focus on Creative Writing, Communications, and Marketing during his time at Saint Joseph’s University, Tyler seeks to convey powerful, unique messages on a mass scale - and make HereNow Help the gold standard for mental health apps. At the end of the day, Tyler is looking to make a positive impact on those trying to achieve a positive mental state and those suffering from addiction.

He draws inspiration from his passions and hobbies - which include hikes through nature, listening to music, watching and cheering on all Philadelphia sports teams, and creative expression of any kind (namely filmmaking and writing).

John C Riley

Software & Graphics Designer

John is a retired Navy veteran with over 7 years of service, including combat experience in Operation Iraqi Freedom. John sought help from the VA after his service. They helped with recovery, his mental health and education support, significantly improving the quality of his life.

John graduated with BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Massachusetts with Magna Cum Laude honors.