Board of Directors

Cindy Huie lives in Mesa, AZ, where she and her husband, Richard, own and operate a landmark seafood restaurant. She is the mother of an adult with CHD; Andi was born with sub-aortic stenosis and has had one surgery at the age of nine years. Cindy and her daughter discovered ACHA in 2007 when they were in search of adult CHD care. They both attended the ACHA National Conference In 2008 in Philadelphia and came away very impressed with ACHA’s commitment to improving and prolonging the lives of heart defect survivors. Cindy previously served on the ACHA National Board of Directors from 2011-2016. She has actively sought to develop relationships with both CHD and ACHD medical professionals in Arizona as well as participating in awareness events with local CHD organizations. Cindy has co-chaired the Arizona Congenital Heart Walk for eight years now and often speaks to parent groups about ACHD and ensuring their children transition to the proper adult care.

Barry Meil, a resident of Potomac, MD, develops commercial real estate in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Meil serves on the board of several health-related charitable organizations and runs the Meil Family Foundation. He also previously served on the ACHA Board of Directors from 2008-2013. Barry’s wife Wendy is an ACHA Ambassador. His son Jason was born with tetralogy of Fallot in 1981. Jason had corrective surgery in 1984 and is currently being seen at Children’s National Medical Center in D.C.

Susan Timmins is the mother of an adult daughter with CHD. With continual gratitude to the dedication of her daughter’s surgeons and cardiologists for providing innovative surgeries, procedures, and care from the 1980’s to present, she has volunteered over many years with several organizations and foundations committed to improving the lives of those with congenital heart defects and other serious diseases. She attended her first ACHA conference in 2006 and has participated with ACHA in DC since 2007 in advocating for CHD research funding.  Susan is delighted to join with ACHA’s other board members and staff in working toward ACHA’s mission of improving and extending the lives of everyone born with a CHD. She is passionate about ensuring access to everyone with CHD to quality appropriate lifelong CHD care. She and her husband reside on the west coast of Florida where they have owned and operated a restaurant perched by the Gulf of Mexico for the past 31 years.

Heather Abbott has more than 12 years of experience in marketing and business development. She is a Retail Marketing Consultant specializing in helping retailers manage their gift card programs and she also runs her own online travel business. Heather became involved with ACHA in 2005 after attending a regional event in New Jersey. Since then, she has served on the ACHA Board of Directors from 2008-2014, including several years as treasurer. She is also the Co-Chair of the Congenital Heart Walk Long Island and has been a champion of the Congenital Heart Walk program since its initial inception in late 2009. Heather is thrilled to be rejoining the ACHA Board in 2016 and looks forward to using her marketing and social media skills to help ACHA broaden its reach to congenital heart patients who are currently lost to proper care. In addition to her work with ACHA, Heather also serves on the Board of the Incentive Marketing Association and as a member of the Cornell University Council. In her free time, Heather loves to travel, read, attend Zumba class and train for runDisney 5K and 10K races. Heather has a BS and MBA from Cornell University and she resides in the greater New York City area with her husband.

Tony Garvy has been involved with ACHA for over a decade through attending conferences and walks. He was born with transposition of the great arteries. He believes in the importance of ACHA’s mission as a resource and advocate for those with congenital heart defects. Tony loves traveling, golf, working out and spending time with his wonderful daughters. He is a financial consultant who lives in Naples, FL.

Bonnie Johnson, Esq. was born with d-transposition of the great arteries and became involved in ACHA prior to her most recent procedure to repair pulmonary stenosis of her neo-aortic valve. While researching the procedure, Bonnie found the ACHA online discussion forums to be both a wealth of knowledge and a supportive community. After volunteering for over a decade with another national heart non-profit, Bonnie found her home at ACHA as the only non-profit solely dedicated to addressing the unique medical concerns of those living with CHD. Bonnie is passionate about creating awareness around the necessity of accessible, lifelong care for those living with congenital heart disease and believes no other organization is better situated to do so than ACHA. Bonnie is a graduate of Drexel University School of Law and currently practices in the area of criminal law. In her spare time, Bonnie enjoys investing in real estate and is an avid yogi. Bonnie strongly believes that aside from medical care, there is no greater way to take care of the adult living with CHD than through healthy diet and exercise. Bonnie resides in the Philadelphia suburbs with her husband, Abie, and rescue pup, Beau.

Joanne Nichols found out about her congenital heart defect through a routine physical when she was 19. The nurse said she had a murmur and suggested an echocardiogram. The echo showed that Joanne had a bicuspid aortic valve. In April 2018, 23 years later, she learned she had a rapidly growing ascending aortic aneurysm and had surgery in May 2018. The surgeons were able to repair her bicuspid valve and she is continues to lead a normal life with her biological valve. Joanne works in digital marketing and advertising, having spent the last 16 years at Google. Her team works with some of the nation's most recognized brands and advertising agencies, supporting them with strategic planning, sales consulting and account management. Joanne has a bachelor's degree in Communications from San Jose State University and an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Business. Joanne lives in Southern California with her husband and three kids.

James Ruppel, MD, MS, is a retired eye surgeon who practiced for 35 years. He has degrees in physics and mathematics; his past employment includes grade school teaching and coding, and he is a U.S. Army veteran. James’ oldest son was born in 1980 with a single ventricle and has had Blalock-Taussig procedures at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City and Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, followed by a Fontan and other procedures at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. James has attended ACHA national conferences in Rochester, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Orlando and two Congenital Heart Legislative Conferences in Washington, D.C. As a physician, James was able to access top level medical care for his son. His goal in ACHA is to provide access to similar care for the million plus adults with CHD. He resides in Galesburg, IL, with his wife Barbara.

Paul Schmidt is a career public accountant, having previously been an audit partner with Arthur Andersen and a risk advisory partner with Ernst & Young. He is currently Senior Vice President - Financial Controls for News America Marketing, following a similar role at Dow Jones, both of which are divisions of News Corporation. Previous not-for-profit experience includes Treasurer of Lifeline of Southwestern Connecticut and Treasurer of the Stamford Symphony, and Paul is currently Treasurer of the Dow Jones News Fund. Paul is a graduate of Brown University and holds an MBA from Cornell University. He was born and raised in Wisconsin where he met his wife, the Rev. Anne W. Coffman. They have lived in Connecticut for more than 30 years, where they raised their three sons, one of whom was born with transposition of the great vessels. They have relied on ACHA for guidance and support for many years with their son and Paul looks forward to joining the Board in 2018.