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 someone who not only cares, but who has “been there” and has the desire to help others as they were once helped themselves.
Management Team
Diana Autin
Executive Co-Director
Debra Jennings
Executive Co-Director
Carolyn Hayer
Director of Parent & Professional Partners
Peg Kinsell
Director of SPAN Public Policy
Roy Maynard
Fiscal Manager
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
Family Resource Specialists
Cathy Waldron Balto
Family Resource Specialist-Monmouth County
Heroina Beras
Family Resource Specialist-Spanish
Wendy Broadbent
Family Resource Specialist-Bergen County
Garima Jain
Family Resource Specialist-Middlesex County
Janet Martinez
Family Resource Specialist-Camden County
Sharon Melahn
Family Resource Specialist-FASD Prevention
Donna Milanowycz
Family Resource Specialist-Ocean County
Ewelina Szram
Family Resource Specialist-Burlington County
Henry Tejada
Bilingual Family Resource Specialist
Michele Tyler
Family Resource Specialist-Mercer County
Health & Family Support
Jeanne McMahon
Director of Health & Family Support Programs
Pamela Aasen
Director of EHDI Mentoring & Family Engagement
Lauren Agoratus
State Coordinator of Family Voices NJ
Joanne Aidala
Co-Director of NJDOH Whole School/Community/Child
Connor Ames
Snapshots Deaf Mentor Coordinator
Alyssa Buchholz
NJ Deaf Mentor Program Coordinator
Kasey Dudley
Regional Coordinator, Family to Family Health Information Center
Rachel Jean
Community Doula Liaison
Shirley Johnson
Northern Project Coordinator-Essex Family WRAP
Arelis Martinez
Community Doula Project Assistant
Patricia Paraskevacos
Director of Family WRAP
Michele Puzio
Northwest Regional Associate, Parent to Parent
Mercedes Rosa
Director of Family-to-Family Health Information Center
Rachel Ruel
Director, Sister to Sister Community Doulas of Essex County
Deepa Srinivasavaradan
Southern Regoinal Coordinator, Family-to-Family Health Information Center
Special Education & Early 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
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
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
Co-Director, REACH for Transition
Fanny Ochoa
Parent Group Specialist-Bergen, Essex, Sussex
Nicole Pratt
Coordinator, FASD Project/Trainer
Kim Rivers
Technical Information Specialist/Essex Family Resource Specialist
Erin Seigh
Transition Coordinator
Michele Tyler
Parent Group Specialist & Literacy Coordinator
Jessica Wilson
Director of Communication & Dissemination