About Us
Meet the Founders and Advisory Council of the Viktor E. Frankl Institute of America.
Founders
Alexander Vesely-Frankl
Alexander Vesely-Frankl, M.S., Dr. h.c., is a documentary filmmaker, a licensed psychotherapist and co-founder of the Viktor Frankl Institute of America. In addition to his role, he passionately imparts knowledge as a Logotherapy teacher at the Online Academy for Logotherapy in Bamberg, Germany. Furthermore, Vesely-Frankl holds the position of head of the Viktor Frankl Media Archives in Vienna. Together with Pam Roy, he developed a course called Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy: The Discovery of Meaning (offered on the VFIA website and Udemy).
The intersection of psychology and cinema has been a constant theme in Vesley-Frankl’s career. Initially entering the field of TV and film, he later pursued studies in psychology, becoming a tutor at the University of Vienna and a guest lecturer at the Hochschule fuer Fernsehen und Film (HFF) in Munich, Germany.
Vesely-Frankl traverses the world as a speaker, addressing audiences on Logotherapy, the meaning-centered school of psychotherapy founded by his grandfather, Viktor Frankl, author of “Man’s Search for Meaning.”
Over the course of five years, Vesely-Frankl collaborated with dramaturg Christian Mikunda at CommEnt Production Group. Subsequently, he co-founded the production company Clipwerk and continued his impactful work with Noetic Films and StraightUp Entertainment in Los Angeles, California. His 2010 documentary “Viktor & I“ has won several awards.
Pam Roy
Pam Roy is a writer, filmmaker, investor, and philanthropist with a mission to provide community-based support for youth and families. Inspired by the meaning-oriented philosophy of Viktor Frankl, she is involved in film and book projects related to bringing his ideas to a new generation. Pam co-founded the Viktor E. Frankl Institute of America (VFIA) with Frankl’s grandson, Alexander Vesely-Frankl, and Moira Hummel. It provides resources related to meaning-centered theory and philosophy. She co-authored Viktor E. Frankl and The Search for Meaning: 21 Reflections On Living Life With Purpose with Moira and developed a course with Alexander called Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy: The Discovery of Meaning (offered on the VFIA website and Udemy). She is an executive producer of the forthcoming feature film adapted from the international best-selling book Man’s Search for Meaning.
Pam is also the co-founder of Straight Up Impact (a women-owned production company focused on social change) and B-Unbound (an initiative with Big Picture Learning that connects youth with community-based mentors who share their interests). She is the author of Parenting From The Passenger Seat: How Our Children Develop Capabilities, Connections, and Meaningful Lives, which supports parents in helping children navigate their own way.
In addition, Pam serves on the Advisory Board of the Friendship Bench. She is producing the feature film The Friendship Bench inspired by Dixon Chibanda’s TED talk about training grandmothers to treat depression and was an executive producer of a documentary about the program. Her volunteer involvement with foster youth and survivors of human trafficking expresses her deep commitment to community service. Lastly, Pam is co-owner of Vaca Restaurant with Ahmed Labbate and Chef Amar Santana.
Moira Hummel
Moira Hummel’s career began as a civil litigation attorney specializing in research and writing. In 2015, she shifted her focus to pursuing her dream of working with children and young adults in foster care. For over a decade, Moira worked with several nonprofits assisting foster youth at sibling reunification camps and in life-skills training programs. She continues to act as a mentor for individual foster youth and to support organizations serving this community. For the last
twenty years, she has been a volunteer and board member of Brothers’ Helpers, a nonprofit that
feeds the poor and the homeless in Los Angeles County. More recently, she has started
working with churches and other non-profits to create places for people to find and build
Community.
Moira read Man’s Search for Meaning and became convinced that Frankl’s life philosophy has the potential to transform lives. For several years she was the content editor for Pam Roy Blog – a blog that incorporated Viktor Frankl’s teachings and life philosophy into its insights and advice on education and parenting issues. Moira co-founded the Viktor Frankl Institute of America with Pam Roy and Alex Vesely-Frankl. She is involved with helping to build programs that will incorporate Viktor Frankl’s teachings and life philosophy into community-based organizations and nonprofits.
Advisory Council
Kate Cohen
Kate launched Straight Up Films with partner Marisa Polvino in 2008, where her resourcefulness, exceptional sales skills, and knack for uniting creative talents laid the foundation for a thriving business in one of the most challenging economies in decades. Their recent film releases include Transcendence, directed by Academy Award Winner, Wally Pfister, starring Johnny Depp, Morgan Freeman and Rebecca Hall; Jane Got a Gun, directed by Gavin O’Connor, starring Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton and Ewan McGregor; and Shot! The Psycho-Spiritual Mantra of Rock, produced with Vice Media. Among their upcoming films is Man’s Search for Meaning, an adaption of Viktor Frankl’s best-selling memoir. They are also producing a series of short films called Meaning in Madness, which look at the systemic issues affecting student health and well-being. Forging her career in New York, Kate found her exceptional ability to build relationships integral to her early success working in freelance PR for high-end brands, and subsequently in raising significant financing for films. With this latter endeavor, Kate found the perfect home for her creative passion, persistence, and business savvy, as a feature film producer.
Margarita Capella Solazzo
Margarita’s initial connection with the work of Viktor Frankl was through her cousin Sebastian Tabernero, who founded the Viktor Frankl Association in Valencia, Spain. Inspired by Sebastian, Margarita became a follower of Dr. Frankl’s work and a close friend of Alex Vesely. In 1992, Margarita founded Capella + Solazzo, Inc, a design and advertising agency in Dana Point, California where she served as President and developed the branding for many commercial and residential real estate developments throughout California. As a volunteer, Margarita donated her time and marketing expertise to support many charities and not-for-profit institutions in her local community and abroad. Margarita has served on many nonprofit boards, including her role as Board Chair of the Mission Hospital Foundation in Mission Viejo, California, part of the Providence hospital network.
For over 10 years, Margarita dedicated her time and passion for funding health and wellness initiatives for her community. She served on the Executive Committee and chaired multiple annual fundraising events to raise funds for the building of the Leonard Cancer Center as well as supported Mental Health and Wellness initiatives at Mission Hospital and Mission Laguna in Southern California. Margarita is currently involved with Be Well OC, working with leaders in the community to help define and implement a next-generation set of initiatives to assist with the mental health crisis in Orange County. Born in Spain and emigrating to the United States as a child, Margarita brings a world-view and a compassionate heart to assist organizations who help those in need. She and her husband, Tom, have two grown daughters.
Stefan E. Schulenberg, Ph.D.
Stefan E. Schulenberg received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, with a specialization in Clinical-Disaster Psychology, from the University of South Dakota in 2001. He is a licensed psychologist in the state of Mississippi, a Professor in the University of Mississippi’s Psychology Department, and a Logotherapy Diplomate. Dr. Schulenberg is the Director of the University of Mississippi’s Clinical-Disaster Research Center (UM-CDRC), an integrated research, teaching, and training center with emphases in disaster mental health and positive psychology.
Dr. Schulenberg has authored/co-authored over 80 peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters in scholarly texts. He is the editor of Positive Psychological Approaches to Disaster: Meaning, Resilience, and Posttraumatic Growth (2020) and Clarifying and Furthering Existential Psychotherapy (2016), and he is the co-editor of Clinical Perspectives on Meaning: Positive and Existential Psychotherapy (2016.
Dr. Schulenberg’s research interests include clinical-disaster psychology, positive psychology, and logotherapy, concepts such as perceived meaning, purpose, resilience, posttraumatic stress, and posttraumatic growth. He offers workshops and provides training on disaster preparedness, psychological first aid, disaster response, meaning and purpose in life, resilience, and posttraumatic growth.
Dr. Schulenberg has served as a disaster mental health volunteer and supervisor in the American Red Cross, and has worked previously with various other volunteer organizations, such as the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Sabine Indinger
Sabine Indinger is the administrator of the public Facebook Group, Viktor E. Frankl – Logotherapy & Existential Analysis (link at the bottom of this website). Over 5,000 members share and discuss their viewpoints related to the work of Viktor Frankl. Sabine has a background in business administration and organizational psychology. She completed her studies in logotherapy with Elisabeth Lukas in 2008 and received an Academic Associate Credential in Logotherapy in 2009 and finished her Diplomate Educator credential in 2020 with Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy (Abilene, TX, USA). She works as a human resource & business consultant. Additionally, Sabine is a work-life coach and trainer/educator, finding ways of applying Viktor Frankl’s ideas to the workplace.