About ACHA
Board of Directors/Staff
The Adult Congenital Heart Association is overseen by an elected Board of Directors. The members of the Board meet monthly to discuss ACHA matters and each member spends at least 12 hours a month working for ACHA, from fundraising independently to working with volunteers on numerous ACHA committees. Each member brings a variety of talents to the Board and working together, they are able to combine their strengths to best serve ACHA's mission to educate and advocate for adults with congenital heart defects.
The ACHA staff play an integral role in the day-to-day workings of the organization, liaising between members of ACHA, ACHA's Board of Directors and Medical Advisory Board, and medical professionals around the world.
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Board of Directors |
Staff |
Nicole Boramanand has been a pediatric nurse practitioner for ten years. She helped initiate the first adult congenital heart clinic at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego and aided in the development of the Yale-New Haven Adult Congenital Heart Program in Connecticut. Her experience with ACH patients and families has driven her passion for advocacy and promoting professional and patient awareness. She believes strongly in the development of dedicated ACH programs that provide holistic and quality care. The mission of ACHA and dedication of its Board provide a unique opportunity to help drive this care and awareness on a more national level.
Nicole works in corporate development for a medical device firm in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She received an MBA from the Yale School of Management, MSN from the Yale School of Nursing, and BS in Biochemistry/Cell Biology from University of California, San Diego.
Stephen Brabeck, MD, FACC, is a practicing adult cardiologist with Cardiopulmonary Associates in Monterey, California. He was born in 1950 with a Tetrology of Fallot and atresia of the left pulmonary artery. He had corrective surgery at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota in 1955, and went back to Mayo in March 2007 for a pulmonary valve replacement and modified Maze procedure. He had been associated as Board member with the American Heart Association (AHA) for over 15 years, serving at the divisional and affiliate level, both as Board member, divisional president, and affiliate president-elect. He currently holds a clinical teaching appointment at University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine.
Dr. Brabeck was aware of the ACHA for some time, but came face to face with the organization at its Fourth National Conference in San Francisco in 2006. He was extremely impressed with the passion and empowerment displayed by the speakers and attendees, and became committed to be involved. He hopes to contribute his personal and professional experienced to help further the mission of the ACHA, especially as it relates to furthering education, both public and professional, as to the unique care needs and resources available for the growing number of adults with congenital heart disease.
Married with five children, four whom have flown the coop to the four corners of the world, Dr. Brabeck and his wife Elise reside with their one remaining child and their Jack Russell terrier in Carmel Valley, California.
Michelle DeRoo brings many years of technology leadership and Health Level Seven (HL7) experience to the ACHA. A resident of the Chicagoland area and a healthcare technology professional, Michelle is thrilled to be a part of the ACHA. Having been a Mayo Clinic CHD patient for over three decades, she is eager to share her experience in healthcare technology, patient advocacy, and insurance management with the organization. Additionally, growing the ACHA to have a broader impact on her home territory in Illinois is a challenge she looks forward to conquering for CHD patients. Michelle has a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois where she received the Franklin Honor award, and recently graduated at the top of her class at Aurora University where she received her MBA in leadership.
Gwendolyn Guerra, Secretary, has been a member of the ACHA Board of Directors for four years. She is a member of the Executive Committee and has chaired the Fundraising and Conference Committees. After volunteering at the Northern California Regional Conference in 2003 and attending the Third National Conference in 2004, Gwendolyn was inspired by the dedication of the ACHA Board and wanted to become a part of it. She brings a wide range of experience and expertise to the Board, from event planning and marketing to accounting and non-profit management. She is fluent in French and graduated with honors from University of California Davis with a Bachelor's degree in International Relations.
Kevin Gordon hasn't allowed his CHD (d-TGA) to keep him from a successful career and a wonderful life.
Professionally, Kevin has significant experience in retail sales, sales management, advertising, marketing, consumer research, technology development, e-commerce, retail concept development, strategic planning, venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, financial strategy, and new ventures. After 20+ years in corporate life with America's largest consumer electronics retailer, Kevin is now a founding partner in a retail strategy consulting firm.
Personally, Kevin has traveled much of the world, and continues to pursue his passions for friends, books, music, theater, photography, sports cars, and (spectator) sports.
Kevin finally hooked up with ACHA when he attended the Third National Conference held at the Mayo Clinic in 2004. Kevin is excited about the opportunity to use his professional skills to help others with ACHDs learn more about their condition and find helpful treatment.
Kevin lives in Minnesota (Twin Cities) with his wife, and their adorable Shih Tzu.
Tom Grady manages an institutional sales and marketing group for a large bank holding company in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A native of St. Louis, Tom has spent the majority of his career in marketing and public relations with a variety of organizations, including non-profits and Wall Street investment firms. He received his Bachelor’s of Arts degree in English from Saint Louis University and a Master’s degree in business administration from the Freeman School of Business at Tulane University in New Orleans. He has had corrective surgeries for tetralogy of Fallot. He and his wife are raising their two healthy children in Orono, Minnesota.
Rachel Linstead, Program Manger, joins ACHA with a background in health policy and administration from her work coordinating quality improvement and federal grant management at Philadelphia FIGHT, an AIDS service organization serving over 6,000 people. Her non-profit experience also includes work in media policy reform, affordable housing & environmental advocacy. Rachel received her Bachelor of Arts from Hampshire College and earned a Paralegal Certificate from Villanova University.
Karen Matson, Vice and Fundraising Chair. A Seattle resident, and telecommunications professional, Karen brings years of non-profit management experience to ACHA. With past experiences as a professional fundraiser, advertising account executive, and congenital heart patient, she supports ACHA with ideas and a unique outlook. BFA Graphic Design, Certificate in Fundraising Management.
Barry Meil, a resident of Potomac, Maryland, develops commercial real estate in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, after recently selling a chain of child care centers. Meil has served on the Board of several health-related charitable organizations and runs the Meil Family Foundation.
His son, Jason, was born with tetralogy of Fallot in 1981. Jason had corrective surgery in 1984 and is currently being seen at the Cleveland Clinic.
Tracy Motley, Treasurer and Financial Chair of ACHA. Tracy applied for a position on the ACHA Board of Directors as a result of a very positive experience with the organization during her preparation for a recent surgery to correct a congenital heart defect. She comes to ACHA from the pharmaceutical industry where she served for the past 17 years. She is currently transitioning to academia as a high school math teacher. She has a BS and MS in Engineering and a Master of Management. Tracy resides in West Chester, Pennsylvania, with her husband and three children.
Jennifer Napier graduated from the University of North Florida with a Bachelors of Science for Communications in 2006. Becoming a member of the ACHA Board holds great personal meaning for Jennifer as she has a CHD (Tricuspid Atresia) and had her fifth surgery (a Fontan revision and partial Cox-Maze) in July of 2006.
Previously Jennifer worked in the advertising field as the Advertising Manager for the UNF newspaper. She later worked for Morris Communications at the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, Florida in the Retail Advertising department.
Jennifer now resides in the Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas area where she hopes to help younger CHD patients such as herself.
Joleen Reynolds joined the board of ACHA in July 2006. She was born March 5, 1941, with tetralogy of Fallot. At 65, she is one of the oldest adults with CHD in the country. Her Blalock-Taussig procedure was done in Dallas in 1951 at age 10 by Dr. J. Warner Duckett who had to use her left carotid artery to make the shunt. Before she had children, she was advised to have a total correction which was done by Dr. Denton Cooley in 1966. Afterwards she and her husband were blessed with two sons, Forrest, 36, and Lt. Robert Fisher, 31. “My title is ‘mother,’” she says, although most of her life she has served as president or board member for numerous charitable civic and political causes and worked as a speech pathologist for 25 years in the public schools. She learned about ACHA from Dr. John Child and Pam Miner at UCLA Ahmanson ACHD Center in Los Angeles, CA, where her pulmonary valve was replaced by Dr. Hillel Laks in August 2005. She finds ACHA to be a wonderful organization that offers ACHD patients information and support, and provides her the opportunity to participate in her favorite past times: fundraising and lobbying. She says, “I think developing public awareness of ACHD and building a registry of patients is an exciting challenge.”
Kimberly Russell was born in 1960 with a single left ventricle, pulmonary atresia, and chronic cyanosis. She has had two Blalock shunts, and a partial Glenn with a central shunt. She has a wonderful husband and a beautiful 23-year-old married daughter. Enthralled with the support and education received at the 2004 National Conference, Kim began to learn all she could about ACHD. Since then, she has written In a Heartbeat: a baby’s heart, a surgeon’s hands, a life of miracles, her life’s story written for parents of children with CHD (available in October 2006); appeared in a national FOX News story about congenital heart disease and Emory Clinic; attended Lobby Day 2006 in Washington, DC, and started an ACHA group in the Atlanta area. She is a new board member and looks forward to helping the ACHA achieve its goal of improving and extending the quality of life for adults with CHD.
Sarah Sharpless, Manager of Publications and Member Services, comes to ACHA from Chelsea House Publishers, an award-winning educational children's publisher, where she worked as an editor after receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2004.
Donna Smith, Board Chair, has been fortunate to enjoy good health since her 1960 surgery for tetralogy of Fallot. In 2003 she became interested in the challenges and accomplishments of other adults with CHD, believing their stories needed to be told. Later that year she became the co-chair of ACHA's Southern California Region, then joined the Newsletter Committee in 2005. Professionally, her career in Human Resources management has provided her with opportunities for leadership and public speaking, as well as knowledge about employee relations and benefits law. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Management from the University of Redlands.
Amy Verstappen, President/CEO, joined the ACHA board in 2000, and was ACHA's first Fundraising Chair. She became ACHA Board President in 2002, and stepped off the ACHA Board to become ACHA's first paid President and Executive Director in January 2006. Before her personal experiences as a complex congenital heart survivor led her to patient advocacy, Ms. Verstappen worked as an educator with children and adults in a variety of settings. Ms. Verstappen received a Bachelor of Science in Sociology-Anthropology from Swarthmore College in 1983 and a Masters in Education from Lesley College in 1989. She has co-authored a number of publications on adults with congenital heart disease and has served as an ACHD consultant in venues such as the American College of Cardiology (ACC), the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and the International Society of Adult Congenital Cardiac Disease (ISACCD).
George H. Warren, MD, is a 59-year-old with tetralogy of Fallot, for which he was operated upon in 1955 and 1964. He is a physician and a retired pathologist, whose diagnostic work, teaching, and professional publications focused upon diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and liver. Introduced to the ACHA through those who share in his care at the Boston Adult Congenital Heart (BACH) program, George’s interests reflect his belief that complex CHD conditions require lifelong cardiology care. He has shared in the development of an ACHA website Directory of ACHD programs in North America, and he has assisted the development of the Colorado ACHA support group in Denver, Colorado.