Judy Rogg, MSW: Founder, President, Director
Judy Rogg is both a psychiatric social worker and a human resources expert. She graduated from Columbia University in New York and received her Masters in Social Work from the University of California. Her diverse experience spans both the profit and non-profit sectors and includes community integration, substance abuse prevention/rehabilitation, and employee relations navigation and negotiations in prestigious organizations such as Jewish Family Service, Promises Treatment Centers, Excellent Education Development and the RAND Corporation.
Judy co-created Erik’s Cause after her 12-year-old son, Erik Robinson, died from this challenge (then commonly called the Choking Game) in April 2010. Together with Stephanie Small, LMFT, they developed an innovative and highly effective skills-based curriculum to educate students, parents and communities about the dangers of the choking game without the use of explicit material. She is a passionate advocate to stem the tide of injuries and deaths from this very preventable “activity.” She has appeared on local Los Angeles television as well as ABC’s Nightline, and was a primary resource for a 2018 Time magazine feature article, a 2021 Fox Online article and an extensive 2022 Bloomberg exposé about the extensive dangers of social media. She addresses schools, parents and law enforcement on this issue both locally, nationally and internationally and in 2021 addressed Federal Senators and Congresspeople along with a group of parents who lost their children to various social media harms. She sees parents, students, law enforcement and educational professionals respond positively to the Erik’s Cause training module and it motivates her to continue her advocacy efforts.
Nedda Nikzad: Secretary
Having been as close to Erik and Judy, his death was a very devastating experience. As she learned about these challenges being the cause of Erik’s death, she has become very passionate along with Judy’s advocacy to bring awareness and education to the forefront. She is very relational and can articulate in a lay way the severity of this epidemic, how it can impact families, positive ways parents and mentors can learn and do something about it. She wants to be involved in order to help save lives, which was Erik’s desire in life and her doing so honors his appetite for life. With respect to her interpersonal and management skills, she brings these strong skills to the philanthropic aspect of what Erik's Cause intends to do, i.e., fundraising, organizing events, outreach to potential donors, etc. as well as attending events to promote awareness.
Cynthia Jussen: Treasurer
Cynthia lives in Southern California with her husband and three children. Her oldest son was one of Erik’s closest friends for many years and Erik was akin to a fourth child in her home. Erik’s death left a permanent hold in her family’s life which will never be completely healed. Erik’s death has changed her life and that of her family and she has become a passionate advocate to spread awareness as much as she can. Cynthia has worked in the legal field for 14+ years and works with a diverse client base. Her experience brings organizational skills to effectuate projects to Erik’s Cause. She is also very connected with community activities such as PTA and childrens’ sports leagues as well as her church activities. She is tireless in wanting to bring awareness to as many communities as possible.
Eleanor B. “Neecy” Jarman: Vice-President
Neecy brings her own passion to end the choking game after losing her 13-year-old son, Joshua Taylor Boyer to the deadly this challenge in June 2011. Neecy brings valuable experience as an accountant and in-depth work in contracts and grants with the University of Missouri’s Thompson Center for Autism. She also has knowledge and contact that can help lead Erik’s Cause in its efforts to stop these challengegs and save other children from the same fate. She is also well-versed at social media networking and in enrolling others towards volunteering and fundraising.
Barbara A. Dibbon: Vice-President
Barb is Neecy’s cousin and was equally affected when Josh died from the choking game. She decided to devote herself to educating others and saving our youth from this silent epidemic. She brings strong social media skills to the Cause and anticipates utilizing her skills in this area to help organize fundraising, bringing celebrities on-board and arranging for venues to promote awareness thru the media. She also works with children who have high risk behaviors and advocates choking game awareness in school districts.