The United States Tai Chi Community Board of Directors is composed of volunteers who share a passion for supporting tai chi practitioners and instructors in the United States. New Board members are elected by the current Board to two-year terms and are eligible to serve a maximum of three consecutive terms. The Board is responsible for realizing the four-part mission of USTCC.ORG, and engages in a diverse range of activities.
Board of Directors
Johnny Packard
President
Lake Geneva, WI
Lake Geneva, WI
Johnny graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with degrees in Secondary Education and the Humanities. He has owned a landscaping business for twenty five years. Johnny’s Tai Chi journey began as a means to repair his knees at a Y-TCA class in 2008. He was certified to teach Tai Chi for Health programs in 2011, and founded Tai Chi Lake Geneva in 2012. In addition to weekly classes on Zoom, Johnny leads Tai Chi by Geneva Lake, and has volunteered as an instructor at Make Arthritis Stop Hurting Youth Camp and the Walworth County Jail. Johnny is humbled and honored to serve as the Community’s President. His goals as a volunteer with the Community are to grow as a tai chi leader, and to create opportunities for sharing the healing art of tai chi with others. Johnny has been married for thirty two years and has five children, aged thirty to seven!
Denise Murray, ST
Vice President, Scholarship Fundraising Chair, Professional Development Chair
Lake Orion, MI
Lake Orion, MI
Denise Murray, USTCC Vice President, TCHI Sr. Trainer, ACSM Certified Personal Trainer and Exercise Physiologist. USTCC Professional Development and Scholarship Fundraising Chair. Serving on the USTCC Board has given me a sense of community and my way of giving back to an organization I highly value. As someone that has been a Tai Chi for Health and fitness enthusiast for over 15 years. I take pride in helping others learn to love tai chi and value its health benefits. When instructing tai chi to individuals, groups, in-person, or virtually it is important to me that they leave the tai chi session with a sense of accomplishment – feeling that they have engaged in a meaningful activity.
Donnie Poling, ST
Treasurer
Tucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Donnie’s tai chi journey began after an accident significantly affected his balance. He had trained in martial arts as a teen and throughout his military career, and believed tai chi may offer a solution when other forms of exercise had not.
After realizing tai chi practice helped regain balance, improve range of motion, and reduce his arthritic pain, Donnie became an instructor in 2015. Since then, Donnie acquired several certifications to hone technique and teaching skills. Donnie reluctantly reduced his teaching schedule in 2020. Until he resumes a full class schedule, he continues to mentor other instructors. Donnie wants all classes to be safe and fun and he sincerely believes smiles and laughter are medication for not only the heart, but the body as well.
It isn’t necessarily the quick learner that motivates Donnie; it is those who struggle and take extra mentoring that do. Their hard earned success and the smiles that success brings is his ultimate payback.
After realizing tai chi practice helped regain balance, improve range of motion, and reduce his arthritic pain, Donnie became an instructor in 2015. Since then, Donnie acquired several certifications to hone technique and teaching skills. Donnie reluctantly reduced his teaching schedule in 2020. Until he resumes a full class schedule, he continues to mentor other instructors. Donnie wants all classes to be safe and fun and he sincerely believes smiles and laughter are medication for not only the heart, but the body as well.
It isn’t necessarily the quick learner that motivates Donnie; it is those who struggle and take extra mentoring that do. Their hard earned success and the smiles that success brings is his ultimate payback.
Toni Dixon
Secretary, Member Communication
Dickson, TN
Dickson, TN
Toni has been a Tai Chi for Health instructor since 2017 and serves on the MemberCare and Scholarship Fundraising Committees on the USTCC.ORG Board. She has been an Information Technology contract Project Manager in the Oil & Gas Industry, the Department of Defense, and the US Army in Anchorage, Alaska and for the United States Army at the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. Now retired, Toni teaches Tai Chi at the Dickson, TN Senior Center and YMCA. Toni fell in love with Tai Chi in 1974 but didn’t have an opportunity to study until 1996 when she discovered the Eight Brocades and other Qigong forms preparing her path to Tai Chi. She finds interacting with her participants to create a community to be the most valuable part of practicing and teaching tai chi.
Sheila Bassoppo-Moyo
Professional Development
St. Louis, MO
St. Louis, MO
Sheila has been a chair yoga instructor since 2008 in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, and later beginning in 2013 in St. Louis, MO. She started her tai chi journey in 2016 with instructor certification in Tai Chi for Arthritis and Fall Prevention. She is currently the Healthcare Coordinator for the St. Louis Area Agency on Aging where some of her responsibilities include teaching free tai chi and chair yoga classes to seniors. Sheila is originally from St. Louis and has lived in Harare, Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1990. She has a doctorate degree in Higher and Adult Education from the University of Memphis and has taught graduate education courses to the United States military based in Okinawa and Seoul beginning in 2002 for 3 years where she also practiced yoga and witnessed the healing benefits of tai chi among the Okinawans who have the highest number of centenarians in the world.
Terry Crews
Member Communication Chair
Lake Havasu City, AZ
Lake Havasu City, AZ
Terry’s career in Telecommunications included everything from answering phones to repairing equipment. Her Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Information Systems added opportunities for analyzing, designing, programming, and auditing computer systems and their processes.
She discovered tai chi and began teaching the Tai Chi for Arthritis program in 2011. She is a Tai Chi for Health Institute (TCHI) Certified Instructor and Senior Trainer.
Terry offers TCHI programs, Yang 24 and Sun 73 classes through her local Senior Center and Community College as well as online via Zoom. She has also volunteered with the Livermore, CA Veterans Administration in the Polytrauma recovery clinic to hold tai chi classes for Veterans suffering from traumatic brain injuries often resulting in anger management and/or chronic pain issues.
As a California girl transplanted to Arizona, outdoors is Terry’s favorite place to be. Spare time finds her gardening, photographing nature, sewing, and jigsaw puzzling.
She discovered tai chi and began teaching the Tai Chi for Arthritis program in 2011. She is a Tai Chi for Health Institute (TCHI) Certified Instructor and Senior Trainer.
Terry offers TCHI programs, Yang 24 and Sun 73 classes through her local Senior Center and Community College as well as online via Zoom. She has also volunteered with the Livermore, CA Veterans Administration in the Polytrauma recovery clinic to hold tai chi classes for Veterans suffering from traumatic brain injuries often resulting in anger management and/or chronic pain issues.
As a California girl transplanted to Arizona, outdoors is Terry’s favorite place to be. Spare time finds her gardening, photographing nature, sewing, and jigsaw puzzling.
Kate McKee
Scholarship Co-Chair
Albany, NY
Albany, NY
Kate holds an MS in Rehabilitation Psychology and a PhD in Counseling Psychology, and has taught undergraduates and graduate students. Her career included working with autistic adults, oversight work for the care provided for persons with developmental and psychiatric diagnoses in NYS, and as Director of Labor Relations & Training for NYS Parks. Semi-retired, Kate has expanded her tai chi related activities and teaches several weekly classes. She began her journey in search of a way to be physically active despite an aggressive onset of rheumatoid arthritis. She has practiced tai chi for 15+ years, and is a TCHI Senior Trainer. Kate has been a member of the Scholarship Committee for five years, and has co-chaired that Committee with MT Julie Oberhaus for three years. She is honored to serve on the Board of Directors with a special interest in finding ways for the USTCC to be a valuable resource for members.
Julie Oberhaus, MT
Scholarship Co-Chair
Hudson, NH
Hudson, NH
Julie graduated with honors from Bowling Green State University with a Bachelor of Science in Modern Dance Education and a minor in psychology. She has over 15 years experience teaching movement and over 10 years experience teaching tai chi. She is an active United States Tai Chi Community member and a Master Trainer with the Tai Chi for Health Institute. Over the years she has been working to create a strong Tai Chi for Health family in her local and extended New England community while developing her own business, Dancing Crane Tai Chi. Julie enjoys sharing the wonderful benefits of tai chi with people of all ages in New England.
Nina Zeldin
Professional Development
Ellsworth, ME
Ellsworth, ME
Nina graduated summa cum laude from the University of Maine at Augusta with a Bachelor of Science in Mental Health and Human Services. She has been a TCHI instructor since 2014, and a TCHI Senior Trainer since 2018.
Nina is Community Outreach Coordinator for Healthy Acadia, a non-profit health coalition serving Downeast Maine. Motivated by the health benefits she realizes from regular tai chi practice and her passion to help others help themselves, she launched Healthy Acadia’s Tai Chi for Health program in 2014. To date, over 3,000 people have participated in the program’s free community classes. Nina is honored to be able to help build the tai chi for health community, and to serve as a newly elected board member of the USTCC.