MUSIC FOR AUTISM - Key Persons

Akila Raman

Job Titles:

Vice President in Corporate Derivatives Within the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs

Akila is a vice president in Corporate Derivatives within the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs in New York City. Akila joined Goldman Sachs in 2004 as an analyst in Corporate Derivatives, was promoted to associate in 2007 and became a vice president in 2009. Throughout her career with the firm, she has worked with a number of clients across industries on interest rates and foreign currency risk management transactions, and is currently providing primary coverage for the Investment Grade Natural Resources Derivatives effort. Akila serves on the Board of Trustees for the Cap & Gown Club, a Princeton University organization established in 1891, and is on the alumnae Board of Trustees of the Princeton University Tigressions, the all-female a cappella singing group. Akila earned an A.B. in Politics and a Certificate in Finance from Princeton University in 2004.

Alexandra Levin

Job Titles:

Member of the Junior Board of Directors

Alexandra Levin graduated in 2016, Cum Lade from Syracuse University, with a Bachelor of Science in Child and Family Studies with a focus on Developmental/Mental Health Disabilities. Growing up in New York City, Alexandra has always had a passion to work with individuals with Autism. Over the past two summers, she has worked as a one-on-counselor at a special needs camp through the 92nd Street Y. Recently, Alexandra has started a career in the field, working seven days a week as an one-on-one aid for an individual with Autism. Alexandra will be pursuing her Masters degree and looks forward to a long and fulfilling career within the Autism community.

Alexandra Sacks

Alexandra Sacks, M.D., is a psychiatry resident at New York Presbyterian Hospital - Weil Cornell. Her academic focus is in Women's Mental Health, Psycho-oncology, and the History of Psychiatry. Alexandra has co-authored three book chapters, one for the lay-press, and two academic articles in these subspecialties. She currently is the Benjamin Rush Scholar in the History of Psychiatry at Cornell. A 2008 graduate of Mount Sinai School of Medicine via its Humanities and Medicine program, Alexandra is a former Klingenstein Fellow in child and adolescent psychiatry, which remains a strong clinical interest. Before entering the medical field, she worked in journalism for the New York Times as well as the "Charlie Rose Show," and continues to write creatively, and in medical journalism/narrative medicine endeavors. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor's in English from Amherst College in 2003.

Alexandra Snyder

Alexandra is currently in residency in Internal Medicine at the Mount Sinai Hospital and will subsequently do Fellowship in Hematology and Oncology. She hopes to ultimately become a physician scientist. In college, Alex played cello in the Princeton University Orchestra; she has played since she was smaller than her cello. Alex graduated summa cum laude in History with minors in Latin American Studies and Musical Performance from Princeton University in 2003. Alex's daughter Ella has participated in M4A concerts as the charity's youngest volunteer.

Alice Shih LaCour

Alice Shih LaCour serves as a law clerk on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Previously, she served as a law clerk on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Prior to moving to Houston, Alice worked as an empirical researcher for Professor Ian Ayres at Yale in law and economics where she assisted in publications covering a wide range of topics including racial profiling, gun control, energy conservation, retirement investment strategies and the New York Times Freakonomics blog. Alice received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 2012. She graduated summa cum laude from Washington and Lee University in 2008 with honors in Economics and a certificate in Poverty and Human Capabilities.

Alisa Thorne

Job Titles:

Member of the Board of Directors

Alisa Thorne was born in New York City and grew up in Westchester County. She attended Yale College followed by Harvard Medical School. She completed her residency in Anesthesiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and joined the Anesthesiology Department at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the faculty of the Cornell University Medical College in 1986. She has been the Inaugural Medical Director of Ambulatory Anesthesiology at Memorial for 25 years and is Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology at Cornell. Her past board directorships have included: Peer Health Exchange, TheatreworksUSA, and The Grenfell Association of America. Alisa is married to Charles Thorne, MD, a Plastic Surgeon in New York. Her interests include: karate (black belt), tennis, theatre and music, especially Bluegrass. The Doctors Thorne have a daughter, Wells Thorne, who is a senior at Yale.

Andre Watts

Job Titles:

Member of the Honorary Board

Angela Diaz

Job Titles:

Director of the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center
President of the Children 's Aid Society Board of Trustees
White House Fellow

Angela is the Jean C. and James W. Crystal Professor of Pediatrics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Director of the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center. After earning her medical degree in 1981 at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, she completed her post-doctoral training at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 1985 and subsequently received a Master in Public Health from Harvard University. Angela has been providing direct medical services to children and adolescents for more than 25 years. Angela is the Director of the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center, a unique program that provides comprehensive, integrated, interdisciplinary primary care, reproductive health, mental health and health education services to teens. Under her leadership, the Adolescent Health Center has become the largest adolescent health center in the U.S., caring for thousands of teens every year. Any teenager who comes through the Center's doors is provided the best care available - at no cost. Angela is President of The Children's Aid Society Board of Trustees. She has served on the Board of Trustees of The Children's Aid Society for 13 years, including serving for eight years as Vice President. Angela has published numerous articles on topics including child and adolescent sexual abuse, adolescents' access to health care, and health services for immigrants. Among her many accomplishments, Angela has been a White House Fellow, has been named numerous times as one of the Best Doctors in New York by New York Magazine, and is listed in America's Top Doctors and the Guide to America's Top Pediatricians. She was also awarded the American Academy of Pediatrics Founders of Adolescent Health Award in 2001. Angela received the Alexander Richman Commemorative Award for Ethics and Humanism in Medicine from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Dr. Sidney Grossman Humanitarian Award from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine Alumni Association. She is a member of the Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) Pediatric Advisory Committee as well as the New York City Board of Health; she served with the National Institutes of Health (N.I.H.) State of the Science Conference on Preventing Violence and Related Health Risk Social Behaviors in Adolescents; and she chaired the National Advisory Committee on Children and Terrorism.

Annalee Bloomfield

Annalee Bloomfield, a transplanted Tarheel, graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2009 as a Robertson Scholar, double-majoring in Chinese language and Economics. She moved to NYC shortly after graduation, working as a research analyst in Global Investment Research at Goldman Sachs. In her spare time, Annalee enjoys photographing, running, enjoying the city, and watching Carolina basketball.

Benjamin Levy

Benjamin, a double-bassist, was born in Cooperstown, New York, in 1980 and grew up in Pennsylvania and Colorado. While in high school he studied with David Potter, and spent two summers studying with Stuart Sankey at the Aspen Music Festival. Benjamin is an active chamber music performer and has collaborated with various artists including soprano Dawn Upshaw, The Borromeo String Quartet, The Hawthorne String Quartet, Collage New Music and Boston Musica Viva. In 2002, while a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, Benjamin was the recipient of the Maurice Schwartz Prize and was reviewed in the New York Times for his performance of Jacob Druckman's "Valentine" for solo double-bass. A recent graduate of New England Conservatory and recipient of the Chadwick Medal, Benjamin joined the bass section of the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the start of the 2003 Tanglewood Season and in the fall of 2007 will assume the Boston Symphony Orchestra's third chair double-bass position. Currently on faculty at The Boston Conservatory, Benjamin's teachers have included David Potter, Todd Seeber, Timothy Pitts, Paul Ellison, and Stuart Sankey.

Betty Buckley

Job Titles:

Member of the Honorary Board

Brad Ellis

Job Titles:

Member of the Honorary Board

Brandon Dewji

Brandon grew up in a small town outside of Boston, where he developed a passion for music playing in high school rock bands. He later attended the Schulich School of Business at York University, worked in Credit Research at Goldman Sachs in Salt Lake City and New York City, and now works at Aptigon Capital in New York City. Brandon found out about Music for Autism from his manager at Goldman Sachs and wanted to get involved. In his spare time, he still likes to play guitar in addition to snowboarding, eating different cuisines, and enjoying nature.

Bruce Darrow

Job Titles:

Assistant Professor

Bruce is Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology at Mount Sinai and Director of Telemetry Services. Bruce graduated summa cum laude from Yale University and received his M.D. and Ph.D. (in Molecular and Cellular Biology) from Washington University in St. Louis. As an academic physician, he has been recognized for excellence in medical education and teaching at every level of his training. During his medical residency at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, his peers awarded him the Dr. Joseph N. Muschel Housestaff Award for combining clinical skills with empathetic and compassionate care, and he was twice nominated for the Outstanding Teaching Resident Award. As a Fellow at Mount Sinai, he received a Teaching Fellow Award, and his research into basic mechanisms of electrical conduction in the heart earned him a Pfizer Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cardiovascular Medicine. When he became a faculty member, Mount Sinai's Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Adult Development named him "Consultant of the Year" for 2005. Bruce's career interests include clinical and preventive cardiology, including geriatric cardiology, and he is board certified in Nuclear Cardiology. He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and a member of the American Heart Association and the Society of Geriatric Cardiology. At Mount Sinai, Bruce serves on the Cardiology Quality Assurance Review Committee and directs fellow and resident training as a core attending in the Coronary Care Unit and coordinator for the Cardiothoracic Surgery rotation. Bruce is the parent of a child with autism.

C. Robert Quint - Treasurer

Job Titles:

Treasurer
Treasurer of the Board of Directors
Radian As Controller and Vice President of Administration

As chief financial officer, Bob Quint was responsible for all financial functions, including internal audit, investor relations, tax, and treasury at Radian Group Inc. Mr. Quint joined Radian as controller and vice president of administration in 1990, where he subsequently played a major role in its 1992 initial public offering. In 1996, he was promoted to chief financial officer and three years later was named executive vice president. Previously, Mr. Quint served as assistant controller for Reliance Development Group, a commercial real estate developer in New York City. He also worked in the corporate accounting department of Reliance Group Holdings. Prior to that, he was a staff accountant at Anchin, Block and Anchin, a New York-based accounting firm. Mr. Quint earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

Caroline Blackman-Coakley

Caroline was born in the USVI and has a twin brother. She grew up in Manhattan where she attended The Horace Mann School. As an undergraduate at Tufts University, she realized her passion was to understand and heal the mind. While at Tufts, she obtained her BA in Clinical Psychology and graduated cum laude, earning the Joanne Mary Sullivan Prize for Excellence and Promise in the Field of Psychology. Caroline then worked in the Pfaff Lab at The Rockefeller University and also volunteered at MSK before attending Medical School at Memorial University Faculty of Medicine in Canada. While in Medical School she earned The Prize in Pediatrics, awarded to the Most Outstanding Student in the Field of Pediatrics. She came back to NYC and completed her internship and residency in Psychiatry at Beth Israel/Mt Sinai Hospital. She was inducted into the Leo M. Davidoff Society of The Albert Einstein College of Medicine for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Medical Students. She was also appointed Chief Resident during her fourth year at Beth Israel and moonlighted at The Realization Center, doing work in Addiction Psychiatry and Buprenorphine maintenance. After graduation she was awarded the 2010 Top 40 Under 40 by The Feminist Press at CUNY. She became The Coordinator of Resident and Medical Student Education in the CPEP at Beth Israel/Mt Sinai in Manhattan as well as being a member of the Medical Board there. She also began her own private practice as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist. In that time she completed a one year certificate in Eating Disorders Addictions and Compulsions at The William Alanson White Institute. Caroline was also named as one of New York Super Doctor's Risings Stars in both 2013 and 2014. She now works exclusively in her Manhattan based private practice and resides in Manhattan with her husband, young daughter, and two rambunctious Coton de Tulear Dogs.

Chesa Boudin

Chesa Boudin In 2011 Chesa completed his J.D. at Yale Law School. A Rhodes Scholar, he earned two master's degrees from Oxford University in 2006 and 2004. In 2003 he graduated summa cum laude from Yale College. Chesa has translated, edited, and authored several books. His most recent book, Gringo: A Coming of Age in Latin America, was published by Scribner in 2009. His scholarly law articles cover a range of topics including such as direct democracy, immigration, institution building, and criminal law. Chesa currently works as a San Francisco public defender on a Liman fellowship.

Chris Shapiro

Job Titles:

Member of the Junior Board of Directors

Christen Kidd

Christen Kidd, MD, was born and raised in New York City. She attended The Brearley School, and then studied Political Theory at Princeton University, graduating Magna Cum Laude in Politics and with a certificate in Russian Studies. After college, she worked at The New Yorker magazine, as an assistant editor in the Talk of the Town department and the Books department, publishing reviews in the "Briefly Noted" book column as well. She then chose to continue pursuit of her interest in life narratives in the field of medicine instead of publishing, graduating from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 2011. She is currently a resident in Psychiatry at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill-Cornell.

Christine de Michele

Job Titles:

Member of the Junior Board of Directors

Daisy Glazebrook

Daisy Glazebrook graduated Cum Laude from Cornell University with a degree in Communications. At Cornell, she was a member of the women's rowing team and played guitar and sang in a band. Currently, Daisy works in marketing at Ralph Lauren where she manages the wholesale seasonal marketing for Mens' brands.

Dame Evelyn Glennie

Job Titles:

Member of the Honorary Board

Dame Felicity Lott

Job Titles:

Member of the Honorary Board

Daniel Fishman

Job Titles:

Managing Director With Goldman Sachs

Dan is a Managing Director with Goldman Sachs in New York, and Treasurer of Goldman Sachs Bank USA. Dan served as the founding Treasurer of the Junior Board of Directors and as the Treasurer of the Board of Directors of Music for Autism. He now serves on the Finance Subcommittee of the Board. Dan graduated cum laude in Mathematics from Princeton University in 2004. Born and raised in Montreal, Canada, Dan now lives with his wife and two sons in New Jersey.

Deborah Hurwitz

A career artist, Deborah has written, conducted and performed music for over 300 broadcast and theatrical productions, including Jersey Boys and Miss Saigon on Broadway, Cirque du Soleil's IRIS in Hollywood, TV shows Sesame Street and Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, and national commercial campaigns for Old Navy, Capital One and Geico. She has toured sixty cities with Cyndi Lauper and sixty weeks with Mamma Mia! and released two solo albums as singer/songwriter Deborah Marlowe, reaching #25 on the Billboard Hot Singles Sales Charts with her pop anthem Mirror. As part of these productions, Deborah has performed on The Tonight Show, The Late Show, the Tony Awards, The Today Show, and twice at The White House. She is an award-winning speaker, a former Associate Professor at the Berklee College of Music, and a cum laude graduate of Princeton University.

Didi Conn

Job Titles:

Member of the Honorary Board

Divya Harikesh

Job Titles:

Junior Board Members Emeritus
Vice President in Global Investment Research at Goldman Sachs

Divya is a Vice President in Global investment Research at Goldman Sachs, New York where she covers the US Large cap Pharmaceuticals and generics sector. Divya joined Goldman Sachs in London in 2011 as an analyst on the European Pharmaceuticals team before moving to New York in 2014. She grew up in India where she earned her undergraduate degree in Mathematics (Hons) at Delhi University before going to the University of Cambridge to complete her Masters in Economics. Divya is professionally trained in a Classical Indian dance form known as Bharatnatyam. She remains passionate about dance and pursues it as a hobby, and also enjoys watching ballets and musicals on Broadway. Divya learnt about Music for Autism through a friend - the purpose of the organization and benefit it provided children immediately resonated with her, motivating her to get more involved.

Donald Perl

Donald graduated from Bernard M. Baruch College of the City University of New York in 1974 with a Bachelors of Business Administration (B.B.A.). He became a Certified Public Accountant (C.P.A.) in 1979. After working for a number of public accounting firms and becoming a partner at Gersten, Slater, and Perl Certified Public Accountants P.C., in 1988 he co-founded Perl & Asch Certified Public Accountants P.C. Donald works closely with his clients, advising them on tax, financial and business related matters. He is a member of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. His firm is a registered member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. Donald is married with two children and lives in New Rochelle, New York. He is an avid golfer, a member of the Executive Board and the Board of Governors, and serves as Treasurer for the Hampshire Country Club, Mamaroneck, New York.

Douglas Carter Beane

Job Titles:

Member of the Honorary Board

Dr. Barbara Firestone

Job Titles:

Member of the Board of Directors
President, CEO and Founder of the Help Group

Dr. Barbara Firestone is the President, CEO and Founder of The Help Group. Widely recognized for her vision and innovation, she has dedicated her life's work to helping children with special needs realize their fullest potential. With an impressive list of accomplishments, contributions to the field and honors, Dr. Firestone has created brighter futures for countless young people.

Dr. Cecelia McCarton

Job Titles:

Founder and Executive Director of the McCarton Center for Developmental Pediatrics

Dr. Cecelia McCarton is the founder and executive director of the McCarton Center for Developmental Pediatrics (1998), the McCarton School (2002) and the McCarton Foundation for Developmental Disabilities (2002). Prior to undertaking these projects, she served as director of the L.I.F.E. Program (Low Birth Weight Follow-Up and Evaluation) and clinical pediatric director of the Center for Communicative Disorders at the Rose F. Kennedy Center at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. McCarton received her MD from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University (AECOM) and completed her residency in pediatrics at Bronx Municipal Hospital Center. Dr. McCarton also received two post-doctoral fellowships from the department of psychiatry at AECOM and the Rose F. Kennedy Center for Research in Mental Retardation and Human Development. Dr. McCarton has taught pediatrics for more than 30 years and is a clinical professor of pediatrics at AECOM.

Dr. Frances Wills

Dr. Frances Wills retired in June, 2010 as Superintendent of Schools in Briarcliff Manor, New York, where she served for 16 years. The community recognized her contributions by naming the auditorium in her honor. Frances was formerly Superintendent in Belfast, Maine, for five years. Previously, she served for 20 years as director of curriculum and instruction, middle school principal, assistant high school principal, guidance counselor, and middle and high school English teacher in Maine and Massachusetts. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Hunter College, Frances holds a M.A. from Cornell University and a M.Ed. from University of Maine, Orono. From 1987 to1988, Frances was granted a sabbatical to pursue her doctorate at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and was awarded her Ph.D. in 1990. Frances has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Maine, Orono and Fordham University. Frances has authored numerous articles on educational issues and co-authored a chapter in a text on the superintendency published by SUNY Press. She has received numerous educational honors and awards and belongs to many organizations including the Rotary Club, Council of School Administrators, Lower Hudson Council of Administrative Women in Education and the Tri-State Consortium. Under Frances' guidance, the Briarcliff School District has become one of Westchester's finest, and has grown significantly with nearly $40 million in new facilities. Currently, Frances is writing articles on educational issues, working as a consultant for a regional educational services organization in Westchester County (P/NW BOCES), and presenting at area conferences.

Ed Davisson

Ed is a software engineer at Google in San Francisco, where he works on Google Cloud Datastore. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Ed has worked at Google since 2007. Ed graduated cum laude from Princeton University in 2006. He holds a degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a certificate in Applications of Computing. While at Princeton, he worked on sets, lighting and graphics design for Theatre Intime and the Triangle Club. He also performed in the Juggling Club's annual show for four years. Ed served as Music for Autism's webmaster from 2007 to 2015. He enjoys backpacking, running, and cooking.

Emily Young

Job Titles:

Specialist

Emily is a music specialist for children with autism in a Title I public school in New York City. After graduating from NYU in 2013 with a Bachelor's in clinical psychology and music, she went on to earn her Master's degree in Education. She is a member of the 24th cohort of New York City Teaching Fellows, an organization dedicated to closing the achievement gap for low-income students in New York City. In her free time, Emily studies vocal performance and pedagogy at The Juilliard School in Lincoln Center. She loves to travel and see new places, but always returns to the Big Apple!

Erik Zwicker

Job Titles:

Associate in Wiggin

Erik is an associate in Wiggin and Dana's litigation department. Before joining Wiggin and Dana, Erik represented the office of the Governor of South Carolina in connection with impeachment proceedings initiated against Gov. Mark Sanford. Erik participated in a brief on behalf of the Office of the Governor that was referenced in the House Judiciary Subcommittee's panel decision not to impeach Governor Sanford. Erik also served as an assistant attorney general for the office of the Connecticut Attorney General, working in both the special litigation department and the antitrust department. At the Attorney General's office, Erik defended numerous state officials and state entities, including the office of the Governor and the Connecticut Judiciary, from civil suit in both federal court and state court. In addition, he conducted investigations of Fortune 500 companies relating to potential violations of antitrust laws and the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA). Erik formerly worked at the United States Department of Justice in the national criminal enforcement section of the antitrust division. He is the founder of Change America, LLC, a company dedicated to bringing investment services to middle- and low-income Americans. Erik graduated Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude, from Princeton University with an undergraduate degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Erik was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Australia, where he received a MA in Bioethics, graduating with highest distinction from Monash University in Melbourne. Erik received his JD, cum laude, from Harvard Law School. Erik is admitted to practice in Connecticut and before the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Hetanshi Naik

Job Titles:

Counselor at the Icahn School of Medicine

Hetanshi Naik is a genetic counselor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she manages a national rare disease consortium, coordinates clinical research for rare diseases, and teaches genetic counseling students.

Jaclinn Tanney

Job Titles:

Director of Annual Giving at Per Scholas

Jaclinn Tanney, director of Annual Giving at Per Scholas, raises funds to connect underserved populations with technology. Before joining Per Scholas, Jaclinn worked at the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center where she helped organize concerts for Music for Autism.

Jaime Madell

Job Titles:

Member of the Board of Directors

Mr. Madell is a Partner in the derivatives practice at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in New York. Mr. Madell received his B.A. in Music from Columbia University in 2006, his M.M. in Music from Northwestern University School of Music in 2007 and his J.D. from New York University in 2011. Prior to joining Kirkland, he was a Managing Director and Head of Derivatives Legal at Guggenheim Partners. A native of New York City, he lives in Manhattan with his wife and daughter. He is a published researcher in the field of music cognition and an avid pianist and composer, having performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.

James Kirk

Job Titles:

Vice President With Corsair Capital Partners

James Kirk is a Vice President with Corsair Capital Partners, where he focuses on private equity buyouts of financial institutions. He began his career in investment banking at JPMorgan where he worked on mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt transactions across a range of industries including healthcare, consumer and retail. In college James sang baritone with the Princeton Tigertones and has performed in musicals throughout his life. Raised in Tokyo, James continues his interest in Japanese culture and the arts through the 333 Club, the young patrons division of the Japan Society. James graduated cum laude in Economics with a minor in East Asian Studies from Princeton University in 2003.

James W. Crystal

Job Titles:

Director of the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center
Professor of Pediatrics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Jamie Pagliaro

Jamie Pagliaro has spent the past decade improving the lives of individuals with autism and other related disabilities, and is currently Executive Vice President of Business Development for Rethink Autism. He completed his Bachelor of Arts with honors in psychology at Wesleyan University, and earned a Master in Business Administration from Villanova University. Before joining Rethink Autism, Jamie was Executive Director of the New York Center for Autism Charter School. In that role, he launched New York's first charter school for children with autism. The program has received national recognition from both the media and professional publications as a model for children with autism in the public school system. Throughout his career, Jamie has also worked directly with individuals with disabilities in all stages of life, in their homes, clinic settings and a residential school. Jamie lives in Montclair, New Jersey with his wife and son.

Jarrod Emick

Job Titles:

Member of the Honorary Board

Jen Nguyen

Job Titles:

Analyst at Warby Parker

Jen Nguyen is an analyst at Warby Parker in New York City. In her role, she serves as the analytics lead for the Customer Experience Team, owning service level performance metrics, channeling customer feedback to relevant business owners, and projecting departmental hiring needs. Jen is also a graduate of GE's Financial Management Program, during which she rotated through different roles in Atlanta, GA and Schenectady, NY. These days, she likes to spend her time keeping in touch with old friends, leafing through non-fiction books at the Strand, and searching for the best cup of coffee in NYC. Jen graduated with honors from the College of the Holy Cross in 2011.

Joe Kucevich

Job Titles:

Member of the Junior Board of Directors

Joe Scattergood

Joe graduated from Brown University in 2004 with an AB in Psychology and Hispanic Studies. During his senior year he taught at The Groden Center, a day school for children along the autism spectrum. After college, Joe worked first as a research assistant at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and then as a management consultant with IMS Consulting Group, focused on pharmaceutical pricing and market access. Joe graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 2011 with an MBA in Healthcare Management and Marketing and then worked in oncology marketing at Pfizer and Abbvie. Today. Joe serves as the Chief of Staff at Loxo Oncology at Lilly, the oncology development arm of Eli Lilly. In his spare time, Joe enjoys playing tennis, traveling, and singing with The Choral Society, a 150-voice ensemble in Greenwich Village.

John Arthur Greene

Job Titles:

Member of the Honorary Board

John DiGiovanni

Job Titles:

Member of the Board of Directors

John DiGiovanni is an Investment Partner in the healthcare investment team at Arsenal Capital Partners, a leading private equity firm that specializes in investments in middle- market healthcare companies. Mr. DiGiovanni focuses on investments in provider services, healthcare technology, and direct care provision. He serves as a Board Director at Accumen, a technology-enabled provider of performance optimization for health systems, as well as Hopebridge, a leading provider of autism therapy services designed to meet the needs of children requiring behavioral diagnosis and applied behavioral analysis (ABA), occupational, feeding, and speech treatments in both home and school settings. Previously, Mr. DiGiovanni spent ten years serving as a Principal for Baird Capital, working in Chicago, IL and London, UK, where he focused on investments into digital, software, and data-driven businesses in the healthcare industry. While at Baird, he served as a Board Director for several healthcare portfolio companies, including ReMed (traumatic brain injury rehabilitation), Prescient Healthcare Group (biopharmaceutical consultancy) and MERGE (digital marketing agency). Prior to Baird, Mr. DiGiovanni worked in investment banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and equity and debt offerings. Mr. DiGiovanni currently serves as a Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors at Gilda's Club, a New York City-based non-profit which offers free comprehensive cancer programs including support groups, educational lectures and workshops for those impacted by cancer. He has previously served as a Board Director for The Chicago Children's Museum and The Cara Program, and also served as an Education Pioneers Fellow. Mr. DiGiovanni holds graduate education degrees from Harvard University and Northwestern University, and a BA with Honors from Michigan State University.

John Lill

Job Titles:

Member of the Honorary Board

John O'Neil

Job Titles:

Editor and Writer at the New York Times

John O'Neil has been an editor and writer at The New York Times since 1989. He currently is overseeing the development of Topic pages, an online encyclopedia of Times and other content. In 2004 he wrote an essay about his son's autism as part of a series that was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. He is also the president of SingSOS!/Songs of the Spectrum, a nonprofit group that is enlisting well-known artists to perform songs about autism to raise awareness about the disorder.

Jordan E. Yarett

Job Titles:

Member of the Board of Directors

Joseph Sprung

Job Titles:

Member of the Board of Directors

Kari Paludan

Job Titles:

Maryland Program Coordinator

An "outstanding voice," according to the Washington Post, soprano, Karin Paludan works in opera, recital, cabaret and musical theater, and also works extensively in educational and community outreach through Washington Performing Arts, the National Symphony Orchestra and Music For Autism. Performing as a soloist in opera and recital and as one half of The Paludan Sisters, she has performed throughout the United States with such companies as Community Concerts, New York City Opera, the Utah Festival Opera and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, at The Kennedy Center, The Library of Congress, The National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian. Recent performances include the premier of "Music of the Mind", (a collaborative cabaret created by The Paludan Sisters), at the Lied Center of Kansas, "Close Your Eyes, Now Open Your Ears" and "2 Divas and A Bear" with NSO Education at the Kennedy Center's Family Theater, concerts with pianist Wes McCune and an appearance with the McLean Symphony. Current and future performances include tours of "The Music of the Mind" with The Paludan Sisters, "2 Divas and A Bear" with violinist, Marissa Regni, at the Kennedy Center, "George, Ira and Friends" and "For Art For Love" with Mr. McCune, and recitals with pianist, Nikola Paskalov, and their newly formed vocal-piano duo, Paludan Paskalov. An artist committed to connecting communities through the power of music, she believes we all have the potential to raise our voices and change the world.