Ruth Walden · President

Ruth Walden recently retired from her position as a Family Specialist for the New York State Department of Health in the Children with Special Health Care Needs Program. Among her duties and responsibilities, Ruth referred families and young adults to services, resources and funding opportunities to help their families. She also conducted trainings and offered facilitation for focus groups of families and youth/young adults with special health care needs. Additionally, Ruth worked with local counties to acquaint them with transition needs so that they are better prepared to work with youth and young adults within their community.

Since having her son, Ruth has been very interested in helping others make lemonade from the lemons they have in their lives. Ruth's son is her inspiration that gives her the passion and drive to work in the field as well as to offer her free time to assist families of CSHCN. Her motto has always been "If I can help just one person, I can achieve my goals." To see smiles on the children's faces, lights up Ruth's life. She can't imagine life without some attachment to CSHCN. Ruth is the current President of the Family Voices Board of Directors.

Ruth is enthusiastic about contributing her time and talents to Family Voices. While serving in this capacity the key organizational goals Ruth is focused on include diversifying Family Voices' funding for the future, increasing the list of Family Voices contributors and supporters and assisting Family Voices in becoming a true 21st century organization. She applauds Family Voices for taking the first steps in this process by completing the reorganization of the Family Voices infrastructure. Now Ruth affirms- "we must move to the next level!"

Molly Cole · Vice-President

Molly Cole is Director of Connecticut's Council on Developmental Disabilities. She was previously the Associate Director of the A.J. Pappanikou Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at UConn Health Center.  She has over 30 years of experience in the field of developmental disabilities, with a focus on family support and advocacy.  She is a founding member of Family Voices and recently served as a National Field Co-coordinator for the organization.  She holds a number of appointments to councils and boards, including Chair of the State Advisory Council to the CT Department of Children and Families, and co-chair of the Medical Home Advisory Council to the CT Department of Public Health.  Mrs. Cole has received numerous state and national awards.  She has published articles on family leadership and family support, and written and directed numerous grant funded projects.  She served as a Program Manager for the CT Birth to Three System, is the former Executive Director of FAVOR Inc., a statewide family advocacy organization, and she directed the Family Center at CT Children's Medical Center for nine years.  She is the parent of three children and grandparent of two, and she has had personal experience with an array of disability and health services and programs in the state.  Her middle child, Mariyama had significant disabilities complex medical needs, and passed away at the age of 18. 

Renee Turchi, MD · Treasurer

Renee Turchi is a practicing MD whose research and clinical work focus on children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN). Renee is a member of the faculty at Drexel University School of Public Health and Drexel University College of Medicine. In addition, she is the Director of the Pennsylvania Medical Home Program (EPIC IC), a statewide quality improvement program for pediatric practices across Pennsylvania funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Maternal Child Health Bureau (www.pamedicalhome.org). Renee is Medical Director of Special Programs at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, where she oversees grants and program development and practices. Her research and clinical work around care coordination and CYSHCN have been presented and published in multiple national forums.

Renee's passion centers around caring for CYSHCN. As such, she supports and advocates that all children should have a medical home which includes family centered care. Research and policies supporting medical home, care coordination and family centered care are at the core of her passions.

Renee is current Treasurer of the Family Voices Board of Directors. During her tenure on the Board of Directors, Renee wants to contribute to bringing the value of family centered care and Family Voices to the medical provider community. Her hope is that the medical community supports and assists in promoting F2Fs and Family Voices. She would like to help get the Finance Audit Committee up and running and assist in fund raising. In addition, Renee is interested in supporting and disseminating work with the Family Voices tools.

Wendy Jones · Secretary

Wendy Jones is the Director of the Children & Youth with Special Health Care Needs Project at the National Center for Cultural Competence (CYSHCN- NCCC) at the Georgetown University Center for Child & Human Development in the Pediatrics Department of the Georgetown Medical Center. In her current work at the Center for Child & Human Development she is involved in three major projects: (1) NCCC- providing training, technical assistance and consultation, and resource development to programs serving and supporting families of CYSHCN to translate cultural and linguistic competence theory and policy into practice towards the elimination of health disparities; (2) National Center for Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation- to assist Early Head Start, Head Start and early childhood education programs to provide mental health consultation services to infants, toddlers and their families to promote healthy social, emotional and behavioral health with emphasis on family and community culture and the impact/stigma associated with emotional or behavioral disabilities; (3) DC Symposium- to support family involvement and engagement in the development of a plan to improve services and supports for children and youth with special health care needs and disabilities and their families.

Wendy's passions and interests are centered on providing assistance to families from diverse language, socio-economic, geographic and racial backgrounds to navigate and negotiate the best services and supports for their children and families. She feels very strongly about social equity and parity for all.

Wendy is currently serving as the Secretary of the Family Voices Board of Directors. During her tenure with Family Voices, Wendy hopes to bring the cultural and linguistic competence perspective to the Board of Directors. She looks forward to seeing a renewed spirit of commitment and engagement in activities to foster participation by the range of families that may have not formerly participated in the organization. Wendy is also keeping interested in the development of mechanisms to assist Family Voices constituents to enhance their awareness, knowledge, and skills to facilitate collaboration and engagement with a variety of communities and families. Wendy has enjoyed her tenure on the Family Voices Board of Directors and hopes to continue to be involved with Family Voices well after the end of her second term.

Merle McPherson

Merle McPherson is a retired MD. In addition to serving on the Family Voices Board of Directors, she maintains contact with professional colleagues at organizations such as AAP and AMCHP as well as foundations and other children's organizations as an advocate for children and families. Merle lives in Arlington, Virginia where she has been active in the development and continuation of the Arlington Pediatric Center serving underinsured and uninsured children.

Merle's career focused upon children and families, and particularly upon those with special health care needs and her interest continues. She continues to work towards the implementation of a model of family-centered, culturally competent, community-based comprehensive care. At this very moment in America, Merle's passion is to expand and strengthen the health care service system for all children and their families so that it is universal, equitable and sustainable.

During her tenure on the Family Voices Board of Directors Merle would like to increase Family Voices' leadership in moving research and policy to the service level.

Marcia O'Malley

Marcia O’Malley is a professional multimedia specialist with over twenty years of experience working with and for nonprofit organizations. Prior to assuming the role of Executive Director of Family TIES of Nevada in 2003, Marcia served as the organization's Outreach Specialist and coordinated the development of Nevada’s Family Voices. She also served as the state coordinator and co-regional coordinator for National Family Voices' Region 9 representing consumers in discussions regarding health care.

The parent of a teenage son who has Down syndrome, Marcia has combined her personal and professional experience, resulting in major accomplishments.  Such accomplishments include establishing the Nevada Family-to-Family Health Information and Education Center, co-chairing the Statewide Covering Kids and Families Coalition which promoted the Nevada Check Up and Medicaid health insurance programs for children, serving on the governor-appointed Nevada 2-1-1 Partnership, and on the Title IV-B Committee.  Marcia also worked closely with the state’s Title V Children with Special Health Care Needs Program on a number of initiatives including facilitating a parent-focused committee that addressed the underutilization of the Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) program. 

During her tenure on the Family Voices Board, Marcia hopes to apply her nonprofit and multimedia experience to enhance Family Voices’ visibility, stability, and impact.

Carolyn Richardson

Carolyn Richardson is a Leadership Training Coordinator at the Robert Wood Johnson Center for Health Policy at the University of New Mexico. In this role Carolyn mentors doctoral fellows, post-doctoral students and junior faculty in leadership areas. In particular, she works with fellows in the development of health policy briefs. In addition, she works part-time for the New Mexico Pediatric Pulmonary Center as their graduate student Training Director. In both of these positions, Carolyn is primarily focused on proposal development and leadership teaching. Lastly, Carolyn in involved in a lot of leadership trainings for New Mexico tribes.

Proposal development is Carolyn's first professional passion. Second among her professional interests would be translating grants into leadership programs that target minority and students who face educational challenges at all levels. In her spare time Carolyn likes to participate in cultural celebrations in her community, read and TRY to paint.

During her tenure on the Family Voices Board of Directors Carolyn would like to contribute to the organization by participating in proposal development when possible and looking at some good research questions that can help national and state chapters. She would also like to share her expertise in program evaluation to assist Family Voices at both national and local levels.

Susan Sherry

Susan Sherry is the Deputy Director of Community Catalyst, a national non-profit advocacy organization working to build consumer participation in the health care system. She has over twenty five years of experience in health policy and consumer health advocacy. At Community Catalyst and Families USA, she developed and supervised the organization's state-based technical assistance programs and issue work including tobacco tax coalitions, nonprofit to for-profit conversions, health reform, and prescription access initiatives. Susan is an instructor at the Harvard School of Public Health where she teaches a course in community organizing. In 2004 and 2005, Susan was named one of Modern Healthcare's 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare. Prior to her national work, Susan was the founding Executive Director of Health Care For All. In that role, she represented consumer interests in negotiations around the 1986 Massachusetts universal health care law, hospital free care, insurance market reforms, and financially distressed acute care hospitals. She was involved in implementation of state health reforms. Susan holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a master's degree from Goddard College. She has also completed her doctoral coursework at Brandeis University.

During her tenure on the Family Voices Board of Directors, Susan hopes to contribute to strengthening the voice of families in health policy as national health reform is implemented.

Scott C. Suzuki, JD, MPH

Scott Suzuki is an attorney who practices law in Honolulu in the areas of estate planning, elder law and Special Needs planning. His practice includes, but is not limited to, assisting families with guardianship / conservatorship issues and the creation and administration of special needs trusts.

Scott believes in hard work but also enjoys sports, music and literature. And while he is a proponent of preventative health practices, Scott also has a weak spot for good food in all varieties!
During his tenure on the Board he would like to focus on fostering and encouraging more partnerships and team work between Family Voices and other national organizations.

Thomas F. Tonniges, MD, FAAP

Thomas Tonniges, MD, FAAP, is Director of the Boys Town Institute for Child Health Improvement. Prior to Boys Town, Tom was the Director of International and Inter-Professional Activities at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) where he represented the Academy internationally to promote optimal physical, mental and social health and well-being for all infants, children, adolescents and young adults worldwide.  For ten years Tom was the Director of the Department of Community Pediatrics where he led a variety of private and federal grant programs to improve the health of children nationwide. He also was a member of the AAP Board of Directors.  A graduate of the University of Nebraska College of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska, Tom served in private practice for 18 years in Hastings, Nebraska. Tom has recently brought together a group of child advocates, charitable organizations, and concerned citizens from across the state to work toward ending child poverty in Nebraska.

During his tenure on the Board, Tom will bring his extensive nonprofit, child health, and fundraising background to benefit Family Voices. 

Grace Pushparany Williams

Grace Pushparany Williams most recently worked for the Association of the Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP) as the Program Manager for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN), for the Parents Place of Maryland as a Health Care Coordinator as well as for the Maryland Coalition of Families for Children's Mental Health as a Cultural Competency Outreach Coordinator. Grace is also involved in the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council where she serves on the Children and Family Issues Committee and works with the Maryland State Interagency Coordinating Council (SICC) on issues related to infants and toddlers as well outreach related to cultural and linguistic affairs. Additionally her work involves partnering with groups and agencies such as the Maryland University Center of Excellence (UCEDD), the Maryland Medicaid Advisory Commission, the Maryland Dental Action Coalition, the Prince George's County Commission on Disabilities and The Arc of Prince George's County.

Grace strongly believes in the Family Voices mission and vision and is grateful and proud of Family Voices for being the only organization representing the broad spectrum of children and youth with special health care needs. Her areas of interest and passion are family-centered care, cultural competency, family involvement, policy and legislative affairs.

Grace has been part of the Family Voices organization for about 10 years as a network member, Regional Coordinator, Executive Director Search Committee member and Infrastructure Committee member. She hopes to use this experience and the knowledge she has gained to promote the Family Voices mission and vision, especially in the areas of partnership with other like-minded organizations and federal and state agencies as well as to promote and implement cultural competency and influence policy and legislative affairs.

Josie Woll

Along with Polly Arango and Julie Beckett, Josie founded Family Voices. Josie Woll is the parent of three children, including a wonderful daughter Cassilly who has a few developmental disabilities and even more significant successes like those in so many other families who are Family Voices members. Josie served as the Director of the Sultan Easter Seal School an Early Intervention Program that was recognized for its excellence in providing family centered, culturally appropriate and coordinated services to families and their infants and toddlers with special health care needs or at risk for them.  Josie has also been a contractor with the Federal Children with Special Health Needs Division, Bureau of Maternal and Child Health and is, at times, a contractor with the University of Hawaii’s Center for Disability Studies.  Josie has received numerous awards and honors that she shares with the many partners she has collaborated with over the years.  Her most treasured recognitions were those that acknowledged her contributions to the betterment of families and their children with special needs in Hawaii.

During this tenure on the Family Voices Board of Directors (Josie has served previous terms in the 90s and early 2000s), Josie would like to preserve the gains that have been achieved by the tireless efforts of so many Family Voices members and build on them to ensure the voices of children and their families are not only heard but result in the system changes which acknowledge that fiscal prudence and quality services can coexist.  Josie would also like to support and ensure Family Voices mentors new family leaders who will personify our grassroots organization that speaks for the many in their communities, states and at the national level.

2011 - 2012 Board Officers

Ruth Walden – President
Molly Cole – Vice-President
Wendy Jones, ME.D., MSW – Secretary
Renee Turchi, MD, MPH – Treasurer

Board Contact Information

Family Voices, Inc.

3701 San Mateo Blvd NE, Suite 103
Albuquerque, NM 87110
Toll-Free: (888) 835-5669
Fax: (505) 872-4780

Interested in joining the Board of Directors?  Read more and apply here.