Meet the SPAN Staff
We Live What We Do!
SPAN’s staff members don’t just work here—about 70% of our employees first received support for their children through SPAN workshops, trainings, conferences, and other events before coming to work with us. Many started as SPAN Resource Parent (SRP) volunteers before becoming part- or full-time employees. So when families call on SPAN for help, they can know they are working with people who not only care, but who have “been there” and have the desire to help others as they were once helped themselves.
Diana Autin
Executive Director
Diana is an attorney who has used her legal knowledge to help train and support parents and parent leaders as advocates for their children and families as they navigate the education, health, mental health, child welfare, and other systems. Diana brings the voices of parents, families, and communities to the table on a number of state and national advisory committees on health and education. Diana is a graduate of University of Michigan Law School and studied economic development and management/ organizational leadership at Columbia University as a Revson Fellow. Diana has participated in several national leadership programs including serving as an Advocacy Institute Senior Leadership Fellow. She is the adoptive mother of four children, from diverse cultures, and also a proud grandmother. A Cajun and Native American, Diana is deeply committed to cultural reciprocity and language access.
Danielle Green
Chief Operating Officer
Management Team
Carolyn Hayer
Senior Program Director, National/Regional Projects
Peg Kinsell
Director of SPAN Public Policy
Jeanne McMahon
Senior Program Director, State Projects
Roy Maynard
Director of Finance
Al Pelham
Director of Human Resources
Support Team
Ayo Bajomo
Executive Assistant
Melvina Baskerville
Intake Coordinator
Ivor Knight
Fiscal Coordinator
Rosslin Mensah-Boateng
Administrative Assistant
Maria Rodriguez
Administrative Assistant
Joyce Sykes
Office Assistant
Danielle Qureshi
Grants and Contracts Manage
Family Resource Specialists
Lauren Agoratus
Family Voices NJ Coordinator/Regional Family-to-Family (F2F) Coordinator
Brenda L. Figueroa
Director, Family to Family Health Information Center/Parent to Parent of NJ (Bilingual-Spanish)
Jaya George
Family Resource Specialist,
Family WRAP: Morris, Somerset, Sussex, Hunterdon, Warren Counties
FASD
Garima Jain
Multilingual Family Resource Specialist,
Family WRAP: Burlington, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean Counties
Health & Family Support
Kasey Dudley
Project Director, Parents as Champions for Healthy Schools
Arelis Martinez
Co-Director /Supervisor, Sister to Sister Community Doulas of Essex County
Patricia Paraskevacos
Director of Family WRAP
Nicole Pratt
Senior Trainer, Empowering Women Project Director; Diverse Parent Engagement & TA Specialist
Rachel Ruel
Co-Director /Supervisor, Sister to Sister Community Doulas of Essex County
Early Childhood & Education
Including Special Education and Bilingual Education
Myriam Alizo
Resource & Product Coordinator
Stefanie Babits
Parent Group Specialist-Middlesex, Monmouth, Union, Ocean
Josie Badger
Co-Director, National RAISE Center
Denise Bouyer-Hargrove
Director of NJ Inclusive Child Care Project
Tatsiana DaGrosa
Co-Director of START-EPSD–Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland
Kathy Demarco
Early Childhood Inclusion Coordinator-Middle
Maria Docherty
Director of Technical Assistance
Monique Dujue
Parent Group Specialist-Essex, Hunterdon, Mercer, Morris, Somerset, Warren
Debbie Esposito
Co-Director of START-EPSD–Camden, Gloucester, Salem
Nicole Harris
Early Childhood Inclusion Coordinator, NJ Inclusive Child Care Project
Jamirah Heyward
Early Childhood Inclusion Coordinator, NJ Inclusive Child Care Project
Jeannette Mejias
Director, Special Education Volunteer Advocates (SEVA)
Sharon Melahn
Program Coordinator-NJLEND
Dawn Monaco
Project Director, REAL Transition Partners
Fanny Ochoa
Parent Group Specialist-Bergen, Essex, Sussex
Kim Rivers
Technical Information Specialist/Essex Family Resource Specialist
Erin Seigh
Transition Coordinator
Deepa Srinivasavaradan
Early Childhood Screening Initiatives
Michele Tyler
Parent Group Specialist & Literacy Coordinator
Communications
Advocacy and Empowerment
Meet Our Board Members
OFFICERS
John Pennett
Board President
Partner
EisnerAmper LLP
John Morel
Board Secretary-Treasurer
Vice President, Strategic Business Development
Berkley Life Sciences, a Berkley Company
Barbara Glazewski
Board Vice President
Former Professor
Kean University
Former Coordinator
Graduate Speech Pathology Program
BOARD MEMBERS
Kaleena Katea Berryman
Director, Abbott Leadership Institute
Rutgers University–Newark
Nekia Lewis
Program Manager, Global Health and Wellness Strategy
Verizon
Nancy Romanyshyn
Director, Talent & Rewards (HR)
Willis, Towers, Watson
Dara Baldwin
Director of Public Policy, Center for Disability Rights
Alia Suqi
Owner
Next Wave Web Graphics/Printing
Elizabeth Shea, Esq.
Of Counsel
Porzio, Bromberg & Newman PC
Diana Autin
Executive Director
SPAN Parent Advocacy Network
Libby Stone-Sterling
Director, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation,
Maine Department of Labor