Our Board continues to be integral in the many aspects of governance, ensuring our mission, and supporting our fiscal operations. Board members ensure that the organization not only does things right, but does the right thing on behalf of all the families we serve.
Kathleen Thomas
Board Chair
Kathleen has worked in strategic brand and digital development for the last 21 years, amassing clients from publishing, education, retail and design. She establishes branding, marketing, and technology operations for a variety of clients that are in their early stage, fast growth or re-branding. Developmental FX has played a major role in the life of her whole family and she is excited to help spread the word on this transformative organization. Kathleen has a BA from Trinity College, an MA in Cinema Studies from New York University and an MBA from Columbia Business School. A recovering New Yorker, she lives in Denver with her two children and loveable mutt Domino. When not looking at a computer screen, being crafty or doting on her children, she is playing tennis or fly fishing Colorado’s beautiful streams.
Jon Marshall
Board Vice Chair
Jon Marshall is Vice President of Client Services at Omega Healthcare, where he manages a team of direct reports and operations managers to support a $20M portfolio of healthcare clients. He has 15 years of experience in leadership and business development, including past roles in hospital administration. Jon has a B.A. degree in Economics from Colgate University and an MBA in Health Administration from the University of Colorado Denver. Developmental FX has been very helpful to his family and he’s excited to support its mission of helping children in their development. Jon lives in Denver with his wife and two young children and loves to run on trails and play golf.
Sebrina Ivey
Treasurer & Finance Chair
Sebrina Ivey is the Chief Compliance and Operations Officer for GHP Investment Advisors (GHPIA) in Denver, CO. Sebrina joined GHPIA in 2012, prior to joining GHPIA, Sebrina was the controller for Developmental Pathways, a not-for-profit providing services to individuals with developmental disabilities. Sebrina is a Certified Public Accountant in Colorado, a Certified Internal Auditor and earned a Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) designation. She has over 15 years of experience in a variety of industries including non-profit, higher education, and business loss consulting. Sebrina earned a BBA in Accounting and a BS in Sociology from the University of Northern Colorado in 2001. Sebrina lives in Highlands Ranch with her husband and two boys.
Heather Kuzma
Board Secretary
Heather Kuzma consults with K-12 educators, both nationally and in Colorado, through the Public Education and Business Coalition, a Denver-based nonprofit educational organization. She supports teachers, teams, instructional coaches, and administrators through coaching, facilitating, and collaborating around professional learning. Heather integrates her training in Advanced Cognitive Coaching and Adaptive Schools to engage learners in advancing the teaching profession. She brings over 25 years of experience in the field of education, teaching in both elementary and middle school classrooms. Since 2010, she has coached teachers and leadership teams. She has worked as an instructional coach, a Professional Development Coordinator, and is also currently an Assistant Principal for Douglas County School District. Heather earned her Master’s degree in Reading and Language Arts from Oakland University. She holds a Type D Administration certification, and also earned her Bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University.
Rob Baumgarten
Development Chair
Rob Baumgarten is vice president of retirement plan sales at The Standard, where he helps businesses optimize retirement plans for their employees. He has over 30 years of experience as an organizational leader in sales, marketing, and client consulting. He holds a BS in business administration from the Leeds School of Business at CU Boulder, and has completed licensure in Colorado for various FINRA, life insurance, and securities certifications. Rob lives in Denver with his wife and three children. Outside of the office, Rob is an active advisor to community organizations and has served on several boards and committees including DFX, the Kempe Fund, Jewish Family Service and Hillel of Colorado. He enjoys skiing and fly fishing.
Elizabeth Doris
Immediate Past Board Chair
Elizabeth Doris is the Principal Laboratory Program Manager for State Local, and Tribal Audiences at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. She manages a $10M annual portfolio and is responsible for developing and directing all aspects of NREL’s relationship with these audiences and coordinating these activities across the laboratory. Liz has 15 years of program development and management experience in energy efficiency and renewable energy policy research and content expertise in energy policy, including over 50 publications on effective policies for clean energy development. She has a B.S. degree in Environmental Science from Boston University and an M.A. in Environmental Policy from Johns Hopkins.
Don Drews
Don Drews is the President and Founder of Courageous Marketing. He is active in Denver’s marketing analytics community, with particular interests in integrating analytics across the marketing ecosystem and in corporate analytics leadership. He also has a strong interest in supporting social enterprise and mission-driven organizations. Described as a renaissance marketer, Don has held senior marketing and sales management positions in consumer products, services, and manufacturing companies. He was an adjunct marketing professor at DePaul and Loyola universities in Chicago, and he serves as a marketing advisor to several nonprofits. Don received his MBA from the University of Southern California, and his BA from UCLA.
Michael Frank
Governance Chair
Michael received his BA in Political Science, East Asian Studies, at Stanford University in 1973 and his MD at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in 1977. He completed a Pediatric Residency at The Children’s Hospital in Columbus Ohio (now Nationwide Hospital) associated with Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio in 1980. He practiced for three years at a National Health Service site in Newport, Tennessee before moving to Denver in 1984 where he continued in general pediatric practice at Southeast Denver Pediatrics until his retirement in 2015. In the last 15 years of his practice he specialized in ADHD and related comorbidities also serving as the medical consultant to The STAR Center in Denver that specializes in children with Sensory Processing Disorder and sensory based feeding disorders.
He was a former Vice Chairman of the Dept. of Pediatrics at Rose Medical Center as well as a clinical faculty member of The Univ. of Colorado Health Science Center, and is a Senior Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Michael is married to Dr. Molly Frank, Family Practice, with whom he has three grown children. His outside interests include music performance and he has just completed another undergraduate degree in music composition at Regis University, Denver. He sings in two choral groups and performs in a local band called FreeStyle. He is on the Board of Directors of The Playground Ensemble, and Denver Sister Cities International, and he volunteers with several other community organizations. Additional interest include: fly fishing, cycling, photography, soccer, and international travel.
Jennifer Gifford
Jennifer Gifford is a civil litigation attorney and partner at Lambdin & Chaney, LLP. She previously owned the law firm of Gifford Stevens, LLC for 10 years. Jennifer has been a practicing attorney since 1995 with a focus on litigated matters in the areas of commercial contract disputes, insurance law, employment law, construction defects, bodily injury and other general torts. Jennifer has a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College and a J.D. from University of Denver, Sturm College of Law. She lives in Denver with her wife, Kathy, and two daughters, Piper and Remy.
Karen Onderko
Karen Onderko spent the first half of her career in financial risk management and investment banking in NYC consulting banks about derivative products and, eventually, managing a business using interest rate options to guarantee the return of principal on 401(k) investments.
In 2009, she turned her attention toward the brain and studied neuroscience at CU Denver. Her work with Dr. Jim Grigsby researching executive functioning led her to become more interested in clinical applications to improve brain function. In 2015, she joined Integrated Listening Systems (iLs), a neuroplastic therapy company, as Director of Research and Education. At iLs (now owned by Unyte Health), Karen has collaborated closely with the scientist Stephen Porges, Ph.D. on commercializing an auditory intervention he developed, the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP), making it available to occupational therapists, psychologists and trauma therapists around the world.
Karen is married to Bob Doherty and they have three daughters – Evan, Jane, and Camille. She has served as a trustee for the boards of the Denver Film Society, Challenge Denver, Stanley British Primary School, Colorado Academy, and the Aspen Brain Institute.
Summer Villalta
Summer is a self-advocate and mother of 2 boys, ages 12 and 10. Her oldest son is affected with Fragile X Syndrome. Summer has been very active in the Fragile X community. She has served as the Co-Leader for The Fragile X Alliance of Texas since her son’s diagnosis in 2011. She was also instrumental in the planning of the 15th International Fragile X Conference in San Antonio, TX. Her family recently moved to the Denver area and is now the Facilitator of The Siblings and Self Advocate Group with The National Fragile X Foundation. Summer recently had the pleasure of presenting at the 16th International Fragile X Conference in Cincinnati with Nicole Tartaglia, MD and Dr. Jennifer Epstein, PSY.D to full mutation mothers. Her family is excited to be in Colorado and to participate in the special needs community.
Susan Willson
Susan Pryor Willson, a 5th generation Coloradan, was born and raised in Denver. She attended Denver Public Schools, graduated cum laude from the University of Colorado with a degree in English Literature, and earned her JD from Northwestern University School of Law. While raising 3 children, she began a volunteer career which continues to this day. Among these activities she has served on the Boards of the Junior League of Denver, Catholic Community Services (President), Denver Public Schools Improvement and Accountability Committee (Chairman), Large District Accountability Committee, Colorado Cancer Research Program, Denver Children’s Home (President), and participated in Leadership Denver as well as Denver Rotary.
Susan practiced law for 21 years at Sheridan Ross, an intellectual property firm, dealing with the international aspects of patents and trademarks. Professionally, she served on the Board of the International Trademark Association and on the Board of the Brand Names Education Foundation. Currently she serves on the Board of the Friends Foundation of the Denver Public Library. She has 6 grandchildren, ages 3-11. Susan and John have been married for 53 years.
Matt Teeters
Professionally, Matt Teeters works as the Regional President of the Denver Region for Alpine Bank. In this role, Matt’s now responsible for all loan and deposit operations for the bank’s three Denver locations at Union Station, Cherry Creek, and the Denver Tech Center. Personally, Matt’s a Colorado native and was born and raised in Denver. He attended Cherry Creek High School and from there, went on to Grinnell College, earning a bachelor’s degree in Economics. He completed his MBA from the University of Denver in 2013. In addition for working for Alpine Bank, Matt also serves as a board member for Roundup River Ranch, Judi’s House, The Sonoran Institute, Developmental FX, The Colorado Open Golf Foundation, and the Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Governors. As an acknowledgement for the leadership displayed with these organizations, Teeters was selected as one of Colorado Biz Magazines Top 25 Young Professionals in 2016. Matt was married to Sarah in July 2017, has a 2 year old daughter named Charlie and a 6 month old named Dean. Lastly, his hobbies include golfing, mountain biking, skiing, and spending time outdoors.
John Wasserman
Board Member Emeritus
John recently retired from 40 years of the active practice of lawyer. He was a partner in Sender Wasserman Wadsworth where his practice included commercial real estate and complex bankruptcy work. In addition, he has been involved as a board member and fundraiser for several not for profits, including Breakthrough at Kent Denver, Camperships for Nebagamon and B’nai Havurah. He also served on the committee for the establishment of the middle school for Stanley British Primary School and as their legal advisor for the acquisition of its Lowry Campus. For the last 8 years he has served as a co-chair of the finance committee for Congressman Edwin Perlmutter. John and his wife Esther have lived in Denver since 1979 and have two adult children.