Quienes somos
We are a passionate group of people trying to make the world a better place for people suffering from ALS and their families.
The Foundation for Holistic Well-Being – ALS Wellness Center is a non-profit institution registered in the USA and Colombia whose focus is to raise awareness about ALS and provide short to and long-term residential care as well as provide updated information about care and alternative approaches that help bring about a more stable and harmonious approaches to those dealing with ALS, their families, and caregivers.
Board of DIRECTORS
Martin Münzer
Founder
Martin was born in Bogota Colombia to immigrant parents and moved to the USA at age nine. He later moved to Germany at age 17, where he graduated High School from the International School in Oberursel, Germany. Attended the University of Mainz to study law, but later graduated with a master’s in engineering from the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. In 1981 he returned to the US and founded Solway, Inc. – 1981-1996 – a company that marketed high tech telecommunications equipment and later manufactured a full line of Medical Devices & Surgical Instruments. He joined CyGene Laboratories, Inc. as President & CEO from 1997-2010 taking the company public in 2003. At CyGene he helped develop dozens of biotech patents and the company became a pioneer in the direct to consumer genetic testing industry. He is the Founder & CEO of Evolutionary Leap Technologies Corp. 2011-Present and is chief formulator of the nutritional supplements the company manufactures. He established the Foundation for Holistic Wellbeing in the USA and Colombia 2021-Present.
William Richard Münzer
Co-FoundeR
Born in Bogota Colombia to immigrant parents; William’s early career included managerial and executive positions in the Biomedical, pharmaceutical, and metallurgical industries both in Europe and South America. Recently, he’s been working different projects involving the indigenous tribes in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia. He is a linguist mastering fluency in 4 languages. He has also had extensive training in, and is a Meditation and breathing technique teacher, and has carried out studies in the field of Vedic Traditions specifically in Vastu Shastra (Indian Feng Shui) and Jyotisha (Vedic Astrology). He has been integrating ancient Indian knowledge with traditional Indigenous rituals and knowledge to help people benefit from these ancient crafts. William contributes to the ALS Wellness Center through his managerial and language skills, knowledge of mindset elevating techniques as well as his knowledge and relationships with the indigenous people of Colombia.
Patricia Tamowski
Director
Patricia has a wealth of experience as production manager, lead interviewer, researcher, sales manager, customer service coordinator, economic consultant, software engineer and as a certified Project Management Professional. For the last 15 years, she has been studying health and wellness and has interviewed dozens of people who have reversed Alzheimer’s, Dementia, ALS, Parkinson’s, Diabetes, Cancer, Arthritis, Depression, Panic Attacks, Autism, and other diseases by eliminating toxins from their bodies, reducing incoming toxins, and supporting their bodies innate healing ability through natural means. Tish is co-founder of Healing ALS and travels the country with her husband Scott Douglas interviewing reversals. She is producer and principle researcher for Healing ALS, an upcoming documentary film series, and co-editor of Healing ALS, an upcoming book. As co-founder of Healing Advocates, she is committed to educating the public about the true cause of disease and how to reverse it.
Mark Manchester
Director
Mark was diagnosed with ALS in 2011. He was in a wheelchair by the end of 2012 and by 2015 he was immobile, dependent on a feeding tube and ventilator. Beginning in 2017 thru 2018 and 2019, Mark began to improve. After over three years in a wheelchair, having a feeding tube and on a ventilator to help him breath 24/7, Mark improved enough that he had the feeding tube and trache removed. He was able to walk on his own with assistance of a walker.
Dr. Richard Bedlack, MD, PhD from Duke University documents ALS reversals to confirm that they have ALS and they have clinically reversed the disease. This process generally takes several years. Mark Manchester is Duke University’s 41st documented ALS Reversal. There is currently no cure for ALS and Mark has made some remarkable improvements but he continues to battle ALS. Marks’s wife Lisa was instrumental in his recovery! They stress that just doing a few things to overcome the disease is not enough, that an individualized comprehensive holistic approach is necessary to recover from ALS. “Never Surrender” is his Motto.
Tabyta Teixeira
Director
Tabyta is a tenacious young Brazilian woman who found her calling when her father Pedro was diagnosed with ALS in early 2019. Not willing to accept her father’s death sentence, Tabyta sharpened her research skills to learn everything she could about the disease. At a young age she learned Spanish and English on her own, and later was able to use those language skills when she focused her efforts and skills to better understand ALS.
Like many family members of people with ALS, she put her life on hold to move back home to help with her father’s increasing need for care. In her continuous research she came across the Healing ALS foundation and started as a volunteer. Today she Heads the Brazilian HealingALS efforts supporting more than 200 ALS sufferers. She has also established a network of medical professionals that she collaborates with on matters related to ALS in Latin America. Tabyta works for the Foundation and is directly involved in the organizational efforts related to the establishment of the ALS Wellness Center in Colombia.
Alan scott douglas
Director
Alan is Co-Founder of HealingALS.org and Director of Healing ALS, the upcoming documentary film series. Scott is an Emmy Award nominee with 30 years experience at NBC, CBS and ABC as a journalist and photographer. His work has appeared on PBS, Today Show, 48 Hours, and NBC Nightly News, and includes interviews with the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev.
“Scott,” also being the co-founder of Healing Advocates and has worked close with the Healing ALS Community which he’s the host along with Patricia Tamowski every Sunday on the Healing ALS Sunday Community Meetings through the HealingALS.org website. Scott is honored to be working with the ALS Wellness Center in Colombia South America and has also created the Healing Advocates youtube channel with over 50 videos that has well over 4,000 subscribers.
Board of Advisors
Lisa Manchester
Advisor on all matters als
Lisa Manchester is a self-taught caregiver, learning all that was needed to know to care for her husband Mark. He was diagnosed with ALS in 2011 and progressed into being immobile, was on a trachea ventilator to help him breathe, and had a feeding tube. Lisa researched tirelessly to find anything that could help. Ultimately, she succeeded in helping him to reverse his ALS. She still does her own research to see what else is out there to help Mark and other pALS.
Lisa became a CE (certified esthetician), CNHP (Certified Natural Health Professional), LMT (Licensed Massage Therapist), Reflexologist, studied QT (Quantum Touch) and a few other therapy modalities. Studying for these certifications over the years has been helpful in this ALS journey. For the past few years she has been a beacon to the ALS community supporting pALS, cALS, and families that come her way. She spends most of the time on the phone or answering emails to those in need of advice.
Ana Ilba Torres Torres
Legal & Indigenous Affairs Advisor
Ana is an attorney Specializing in International Human Rights law. She is president and founder of the Chipiri Foundation a non-profit organization dedicated to social work in the defense of the rights and the autonomy of the Arhuaco indigenous peoples from Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia.
Ana is also a member of the Latin-American Observatory of Human Rights and Constitutional Law for the Universidad Externado de Colombia. She is a leader and promoter for the conservation of the eco systems in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, and was nominated for an International Iberoamerican Prize, “Nevado solidario de Oro 2019” for her work in the defense of Indigenous women’s rights and her participation in the Peace reconstruction process within the Indigenous Territories of Colombia.
Deborah Wotherspoon
Scientific & Research Advisor
Deborah became a member of the ALS community when her sister was diagnosed in 2015. She holds degrees in chemistry from Simon Fraser University and education from the University of British Columbia, and while at university she was at the top of her class in human biology. Deborah lost her sister to ALS in November 2017, but has remained active in reviewing ALS research, including looking at early health issues that pALS talk about in social media groups. There are two things that she would say that ALS has taught her about health, “you are what you eat doesn’t apply if your gut microbes are consuming nutrients you need from food and not making the nutrients you need from them”, and “you cannot look at the motor neurons without considering how the gut, muscles and bone interact with them, nor can you expect to fix motor neurons without appreciating that relationship.”
Deborah Davis
Advisor on Disability Design & Travel
Deborah is a Speaker, Disability Inclusion Consultant, Entrepreneur, Writer, and Business Owner of Wheelchair Lifestyle Enterprise PUSHLiving Inc.
PUSHLiving Network, consists of an online magazine, disability-inclusive stock image library, accessible travel agent/ tour operator, educator/training service, business/marketing expert, and professional speaker service with the mission to elevate disability culture beyond charity and inspiration, to one of real inclusion and opportunity. PUSHLiving provides valuable resources, information, and services to people with mobility disabilities and those who care about including them in our society.
She was a Former Dancer, Accident Survivor (C 6-7 Spinal Cord Injury resulting in incomplete Quadriplegia 1985), College grad (BBA Finance 1991 U of Miami), with a background in Sales and Marketing and Non-Profit Development and Management. Deborah has been speaking on accessibility in the world and inclusion in the media since 1991. She’s given countless keynotes and presentations and has conducted hundreds of training. Deborah specializes in all aspects of disability and inclusion, as well as offering hope and inspiration. She’s a consultant on accessible design, inclusive travel/tourism, disability awareness, employment, marketing, and advertising.
Tanya walker
Holistic Life Coach & Practitioner of Emotional Healing
Tanya is a holistic life coach and hands-on practitioner for emotional healing by providing body stress release sessions. Her methodology incorporates the key elements of healing the mental, physical and spiritual body because it encompasses the entirety in each of us. Using a variety of transformational tools, she has learned how to shift mindsets, offer healthy coping mechanisms and educate her clients how to confront and rid anxiety, stress, depression and emotional blockages.
With years of experience as a certified Pilates Instructor and physical therapist assistant focusing on chronic pain and rehabilitation, Tanya takes an osteopathic approach to her hands on body-work. After working with an Indigenous mentor from the Sacred Valley of Peru, Tanya practices and teaches breath-work to move dense energy and trauma out of the body, a fundamental approach to healing from the inside out.
Tanya’s belief is that healing, transformation and manifestation cannot take place unless the element of love is present.
Hans Lak
Influencer & Social Activist for Humanitarian Causes
Hans is an accelerator and activist for many social causes and is focused on promoting Impact Development. He champions solutions to some of the world’s most complex problems. He’s a Social Media Influencer who’s passionate about real Health Care, not the Disease Care being practiced today where only 3% of health Budgets are spent on prevention.
Hans is an Ambassador for SevenSenses’ who’s aim is to empower people worldwide to tackle complex issues together and co-create the world they want to live in. SevenSenses’ work -conducting Participatory Action Research worldwide- is focused on facilitating local people and involved stakeholders in co-discovering and developing sustainable solutions to tackle complex issues, using local talent, manpower, materials and abundance. As such, entire communities work together on co-designed, cost-efficient solutions and innovations which truly fit their context and needs!