Board Chair

Leah Battillo is a special education teacher and board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA) supervisor. She studied elementary education and linguistics and concentrated in special education and English as a second language at Gordon College. She was given the Presidential Award in 2014 for making significant contributions to the college and the community. She was the founder and director of Gordon College’s Beyond Disabilities Week, a 7-day event focusing on the topic of disabilities, which included Temple Grandin as the keynote speaker.

Leah was also the project coordinator and is a current team member on the internationally recognized Accessible Icon Project. Currently, over 40 states and 25 countries use the Accessible Icon symbol. In addition to this, she is the vice president of Mom of Multiples (a mom’s group that offers support to twin moms in the Lehigh Valley).

In 2017, Leah received a master’s degree in applied behavior analysis with an emphasis in autism from Ball State University where she received her BCBA license. Since then, she has been providing in-home supervision and training for parents and behavior technicians.

Before her move to Pennsylvania, Leah was a special needs consultant in her community and church, as well as an Outreach Coordinator, providing community relief during COVID-19 through events, food drives, volunteer opportunities, and local partnerships. In 2019, she became a Funds for Teacher Fellow, allowing her to travel to Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, and Holland with a Holocaust survivor from NJ’s Commission on Holocaust/Genocide Education. In addition, she manages a website and an Instagram page (@ParentTools) that supports parents who have children with behavioral needs.

Read more about Leah’s experience in her LinkedIn profile here.

Board Member

Christine Allen has an MBA from MIT Sloan and is passionate about helping vulnerable children experience the fullest life possible. She is currently a Senior Program Manager in the Digital Transformation Office at Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Read more about Christine’s experience in her LinkedIn profile here.

Vice Chair

Jeff holds a Master of Divinity degree and currently serves as the Disability Services Director at JVS Boston. Jeff has committed his career to increasing workforce engagement and community access for people with disabilities. Over the past decade Jeff and his teams have equipped over 1,000 transition age youth and adults with disabilities to secure employment in the community. In recent years, Jeff has led a number of workforce development initiatives that have connected people in Greater Boston to the industry recognized credentials (i.e., ServSafe Food Handler and Certified Nursing Assistant certifications) that they need to participate in growth industries like hospitality and allied health.

In past years, Jeff has participated in innovative initiatives like IMPACT:Ability, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation supported initiative that empowered organizations and individuals with disabilities to prevent abuse, and Empowering People for Inclusive Communities, an organization that empowers transition age youth with disabilities to develop their leadership skills through community service.

As Kupenda’s Vice Board Chair, Jeff is responsible for overseeing Kupenda’s board and executive committee meetings. He works in partnership with the executive director to ensure Board resolutions are carried out and calls special meetings preparing board meetings agendas, organizing board evaluations of staff, and recruiting new board members.

Read more about Jeff’s experience in his LinkedIn profile here.

Secretary

Keita Rone Wilson is a native of Detroit, Michigan and has worked in the field of special education over 20 years as a speech pathologist, special education teacher, educational consultant. Keita has both a MS and PhD in special education and is currently an Assistant Professor of Special Education at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She has taught courses that address inclusion and diversity. In addition to her work in teacher preparation programs, Keita is passionate about her research interest which includes studying how other cultures perceived and experienced disabilities. Keita is excited about working towards improving the lives of children with disabilities and their families through the mission and vision of Kupenda for the Children. In her role as Board Secretary, Keita records meetings minutes and ensures their accuracy, safety and availability.

Read more about Keita’s experience in her LinkedIn profile here.

Treasurer

Patty holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology/Pre-Med and a Master’s degree in Public Health. She has worked with several non-profits over the past 20 years, both in the U.S. and abroad, in multiple roles. In addition to her public health and research background, Patty has worked in corporate marketing, psychiatric program management, and as an area director for Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. She has served on 11 different boards and actively volunteers within her community and abroad. Near and dear to her heart is her family’s work with the Chadalawada School (Pure Religion in Action [PRIA] Ministries) in India. Her experience in community and international development, as well as faith-based leadership, is a valuable resource for Kupenda.

As Kupenda’s Board Treasurer, Patricia manages the review of and action related to the board’s financial responsibilities. She also works with the executive director to ensure that appropriate financial reports are made available to the board on a timely basis.

Read more about Patricia’s experience in her LinkedIn profile here. 

Board Member

Daniel Huss has a B.A. in history from Gordon College in Massachusetts. He volunteered for a year in Khartoum, Sudan, working with a team doing relief work in North Darfur. He has worked for Bridgewell, a non-profit in the Boston area that works with adults who have intellectual disabilities. He is currently a carpenter in the Boston area.

Read more about Daniel’s experience in his LinkedIn profile here.

Board Member

Caroline Kamau is a mother and domestic violence advocate from the Great Rift Valley, Kenya. She joined Miss Kenya USA in 2015 and continues working as an ambassador for Miss Kenya through her domestic violence platform. In 2017 she became the pageant president. Her background in volunteering and helping others has inspired many young people to volunteer and bring change to their communities. Caroline has also represented Kenya at the Annual International Human Rights Summit, organized a college preparation workshop for high school students in her community, and launched an ambassador program to help young women give back to their communities.

Read more about Caroline’s experience in her LinkedIn profile here.

Ex Officio Chair

Lauren is an experienced policy writer and author. After she earned an honors degree in English, she went on to write policy for multiple government agencies and contracting companies. She also wrote An Unlikely Gift, a book about Kupenda’s founding and growth. Lauren has a heart for Kupenda’s mission to serve children with disabilities because she underwent numerous pediatric health challenges herself. In addition to working with Kupenda in Kenya on multiple occasions, Lauren has hosted a variety of awareness and fundraising events. Without her fundraising efforts in the early stages, Kupenda would not be where it is today.

Her love of the children she met in Kenya is also evident in her devoted leadership of Kupenda’s board of directors. Lauren served as the board chairperson for over a decade. She currently serves in a non-voting ex officio capacity while also operating in a program support contracting role with an emphasis on writing and editing projects.

Read more about Lauren’s experience in her LinkedIn profile here.

Board Member

Beth Melillo is an Organizational Development and Change Management specialist with an M.S. degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology. and B.A. in English. She currently works as a Program Manager for business change at National Grid, an investor-owned electricity and gas utility based in the U.K. and Northeast U.S. In her current role she provides training and development to leaders and managers so that they can effectively lead change in a transforming environment. In past roles at the company she has worked on enterprise-wide teams in order to shift corporate culture, develop and retain employees, increase employee performance, integrate a newly acquired company, enhance team effectiveness and increase diversity and inclusion. Previous work in HR included generalist experiences with recruiting, onboarding and employee training and development. Prior to working in her current field, Beth worked at Bridgewell, a service provider for persons with disability. While there, as a Case Manager she focused on improving capability in the activities of daily living for her clients so that they could live more independently.

In addition to her professional work, Beth is the Founder and President of BayState IO, a Massachusetts-based membership organization that connects professionals who apply psychology to the workplace, which is a local chapter of the Society of Industrial Organizational Psychologists. She has also volunteered on various Personnel and Nominating committees in churches to ensure effective governance, staffing and operations, and has volunteered with the the city of Salem, MA. Recycling Committee serving as both Chair and Secretary. She has volunteered with Night to Shine, an unforgettable prom experience for people with special needs.

Read more about Beth’s experience in her LinkedIn profile here.

Board Member

Maddy Ullman is a disabled Chinese adoptee with a love for stories. Her life experience growing up raised by white parents shaped her passion for diversity and inclusion in storytelling through writing to increase representation on screen. Maddy was recently a Showrunner’s assistant for a Netflix series, where she maintained a high level of organization in and out of the Writer’s Room. Additionally, her many years of experience as a writer’s assistant deepened her passion for collaborating with others to tell a compelling story that will resonate with diverse audiences. Having mild cerebral palsy, Maddy is an excellent problem-solver, especially when it comes to unforeseeable accessibility barriers. Other than chasing the writing muse, Maddy is a full on cat lady and photographer. Her hobbies include improving her American Sign Language skills and practicing aerial hammock yoga.

Read more about Maddy’s experience in her LinkedIn profile here.