Meagan Consedine is an Army veteran, active duty Army spouse and mother of two. Her youngest child was diagnosed with autism at age 4. As a highly mobile family, they have experienced first-hand the challenges of transferring an IEP to a new school. Meagan has worked in the private sector as a business development operations manager and a proposal manager. She has a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from Oregon State University, with a concentration in social policy, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Notre Dame. In addition to her professional experiences, Meagan is also an active Family Readiness Group (FRG) volunteer. 

A proud wife to an Army Aviator, Crystal has served the military community in many capacities over the last 20 years and is committed to serving until and beyond her soldier’s retirement. She strongly believes in serving military families and the surrounding community at each duty station.

In 2014, her oldest son was diagnosed with a rare speech disorder and Autism. Two years later, her youngest son was diagnosed with the same speech disorder. These diagnoses thrust her family into the Special Needs and Special Education community. Driven by her passion to help, Crystal went back to school and focused her research on Civil Rights, Disability Rights, and Special Education Law.

Crystal works as a paralegal, advocate, and legal analyst in Special Education Law. She is deeply committed to policy changes to advance Disability Rights and serves as an Instructional Assistant at The George Washington University.

Mary is a Navy Spouse and mother of 3 children, one of whom was diagnosed with ADHD. Mary knows firsthand what it’s like to endure the stressors and lack of support when it comes to the Exceptional Military Family Program. Mary recently graduated from Regent University with a Master of Arts in Law with a concentration in Criminal Justice. She has a passion for helping others and being a voice for those who have a hard time being heard. 

Hilary Laxson, a former Coast Guard spouse of 12 years, has been in the military community since 2000. She graduated from the University of Denver in 1999 with a BSBA in Finance and obtained a graduate level paralegal degree in 2000 from University of San Diego. 

She spent time in California, Georgia and Hawaii as a Coast Guard Family member. She has a child with severe dyslexia and other learning disabilities in high school. She’s the parent volunteer for Decoding Dyslexia Military for Georgia and actively involved in advocacy for active duty families in the State of Georgia. Last February, she attended “Say Dyslexia” Day in order to help bring more attention to dyslexia in the State of Georgia. She runs a parent support group on Facebook called Warrior Parents of Dyslexics for parents all over the USA who need help navigating the world of dyslexia. When she’s not helping parents with dyslexic children she works full time as an online business consultant and business manager. 

GRACE E. KIM is the principal attorney with The Law Office of Grace E. Kim, P.C. Her practice is focused on Special Education and Education Law, to include issues involving the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), restraint and seclusion, school discipline, and higher education issues. Ms. Kim has been working on behalf of children with Special Needs since 2002 as a mother of a Special Needs child. This led her to become an attorney dedicating her practice to representing families of Special Needs children with legal and education-related issues. She earned her B.A. degree from Nyack College, her M.A. degree from Alliance Theological Seminary, and her J.D. degree from the George Mason School of Law. Ms. Kim lectures on Special Education Law and related topics for various local and national organizations and bar associations. She is also an Air Force spouse and a board member and co-founder of Partners in Promise, an education and advocacy non-profit group working on behalf of military special needs children. Ms. Kim lives in Virginia with her husband, Air Force Chaplain Lt. Col. Joshua Kim, her daughter, Karis (13) and her son, Josiah (19) who is on the Autism Spectrum with co-morbid conditions and other neurological and physical disabilities. In her free time she enjoys running marathons, singing opera, exploring different cultures through travel, books, and cuisines, and spending quality time with friends and family.

Alyssa Picchini Schaffer is a marathon-running, novel-reading, coffee-drinking, afternoon-nap-loving scientist. She is passionate about addressing significant problems in science by combining broad perspectives and attention to detailed scientific inquiry. She is a Senior Scientist and Administrative Director for the Neuroscience Collaborations at the Simons Foundation. 

Before joining Simons, Alyssa was the Scientific Director of TEDMED, an independent licensee of TED focused on science, health and medicine. From 2010-2012, Alyssa was a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She is also a Columbia University Alumna, earning her PhD from the Pharmacology Department. Her research passion lies in understanding the biological basis of psychiatric disease. While at Columbia, Alyssa investigated the cell biology, fate specification, and environmental regulation of neural stem cells in the adult brain. When not dabbling in Italian, she loves to focus her energy on empowering underprivileged teens, salsa dancing, running, and yoga.

Kaci McCarley is an active duty Army spouse and mother of a 14 year old son with Down syndrome. After gaining her undergraduate degree in special education and working as a teacher for several years, she joined Goodwill of the Olympics and Rainier Region as Director of Disability Services where she had opportunity to support military students transitioning from K-12 education into adult services.

She became an advocate for students with disabilities after seeing the tremendous stress military families endure during times of transition, and the lost instruction that negatively impacts academic achievement and development. Kaci currently works for the Military Child Education Coalition who champions quality, inclusive education opportunities for all military-connected children.