Who We Are
OUR EXECUTIVE BOARD
Angelo Veotte - Board President
Angelo is the president of our executive board.
Angelo is originally from South Africa but moved to the United States in 2010. He lives in the Montgomery area and works at Procter & Gamble. Angelo and his wife Christine Veotte (who runs our programs) have three children: Adam, Elli and Selah. Selah has Down syndrome.
You can email Angelo at aveotte@gigisplayhouse.org.
Fred Brushaber - Board Vice President
Fred helps plan events and also serves as our board vice president.
Fred lives in the Anderson area with his husband Mark (one of our key volunteers) and their son Freddy who has Down syndrome. They are expecting their second child via surrogate. Fred is originally from Michigan but moved to Cincinnati for Mark’s job. Fred went to engineering school and law school and now works as a patent examiner for the federal government.
You can email Fred at fbrushaber@gigisplayhouse.org.
Michael Green - Board Treasurer
Michael is our board treasurer.
Michael lives in Cincinnati with his wife Emily and their two children, Luca and Nico. Luca has Down syndrome. Michael (CFP) founded Three Twenty One Financial Outfitters, a company that helps special needs families with their financial needs.
You can email Michael at mgreen@gigisplayhouse.org.
Ann Poirier - Board Secretary
Ann serves as our board secretary.
Ann was born and raised in Cincinnati and never plans to leave. She lives with her husband Tim and their four children: Lucy, Alice, Calvin and Peter. Alice has Down syndrome. Ann runs a blog about Down syndrome and writes articles about Down syndrome that have been published on Yahoo, The Mighty, The Catholic Telegraph and more.
You can email Ann at apoirier@gigisplayhouse.org.
OUR BOARD MEMBERS AT LARGE
Pam Carver
Pam helps on our fundraising and events committee and serves on our board.
Pam lives in Cincinnati with her husband Joe. Together they have five grown children. Pam's granddaughter Journee has Down syndrome. Originally from Las Vegas, Nevada, Pam moved to Cincinnati on the recommendation of Journee’s doctors.
You can email Pam at pcarver@gigisplayhouse.org.
Anna Shelton
Anna serves on our board.
Anna is originally from Oregon and now lives in the Anderson area with her husband Dan and four daughters. Their daughter Izzy has Down syndrome. Anna also works at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital as a registered nurse.
You can email Anna at ashelton@gigisplayhouse.org.
Lindy Kiley
Lindy serves on our board and also helps with our programs.
Lindy is best friends with Anna Shelton, whose daughter Izzy has Down syndrome. Lindy got involved with GiGi's Playhouse as a way to support Anna and Izzy. Lindy lives in Loveland, Ohio with her husband and three children. She also works at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital as a registered nurse.
You can email Lindy at Likiley@gigisplayhouse.org.
Lisa Hackett
Lisa serves on our board and also leads our marketing.
Lisa is best friends with Ann Poirier, whose daughter Alice has Down syndrome. Lisa got involved with GiGi's Playhouse as a way to support Ann and Alice. Lisa lives in the Anderson area of Cincinnati her husband and their two cats. She works in market research as a pharmaceutical research manager.
You can email Lisa at Lhackett@gigisplayhouse.org.
OUR ADVISORY BOARD
Matt Lumb
Matt leads our advisory board.
Matt was born and raised in Australia but now lives in the United States with his wife Alison and their four children. He got involved with GiGi’s Playhouse Cincinnati because one of his good friends has a child with Down syndrome.
You can email Matt at mjlumb07@gmail.com.
Kevin Dineen
Kevin serves on our advisory board.
Kevin is a corporate attorney who has been practicing law in the Greater Cincinnati area for more than 15 years. He and his wife Susan have two children, one of whom has Down syndrome.
You can email Kevin at dineenkm@gmail.com.
Dan Shelton
Dan serves on our advisory board.
Dan lives in the Anderson area with his wife Anna and their four daughters. Their daughter Izzy has Down syndrome.
You can email Dan at daniel.shelton@gmail.com.
Mark Wiehe
Mark serves on our advisory board.
Mark is married to his wife Karen and they have four children. Their daughter, Becca, has Down syndrome. Lighting up when he talks about Becca, he says, “Having a child with Down syndrome has made us a better family and me a better person.”
You can email Mark at mwiehe@cinci.rr.com.
Nicole White
Nicole serves on our advisory board and helps plan events for GiGi’s Playhouse Cincinnati.
Nicole works for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, consults with Down Syndrome Achieves and volunteers for the Special Olympics. She recently earned her PhD.
Nicole has four children, one of whom has Down syndrome.
You can email Nicole at nwhite@gigisplayhouse.org.
Gretchen Carroll
Gretchen serves on our advisory board.
Gretchen also works as the clinical special educator and school liaison for the Thomas Center for Down Syndrome at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Gretchen has worked as a clinical special educator, learning specialist and school consultant for more than 25 years. During this time, she has worked with hundreds of children and schools to improve outcomes for children with Down syndrome. Gretchen lives in Cincinnati and is married with four young adult children.
You can email Gretchen at gretchen.carroll@cchmc.org.
Tim Bingaman
Tim serves on our advisory board.
Along with his wife, Tim co-owns Jules & BING! Monograms and Embroidery. He also works for the Small Business Development Center at Miami University and does leadership consulting. Tim and his wife have three children and two grandchildren. Their grandson Wally has Down syndrome.
You can email Tim at timbingaman@gmail.com.
OUR KEY VOLUNTEERS
Erin Truter
Erin is our volunteer coordinator. This is a HUGE role on our team because we are 99% volunteer-run; Erin manages all of those key volunteers.
Erin and her husband Garth share two sons, Seth and Joel. Although Erin does not have a family member with Down syndrome, she says, "I've had friends throughout my life who have Down syndrome. I love their unique personalities! I'm so excited to be part of an organization that encourages their development and community interaction."
If you would like to volunteer for GiGi's Playhouse Cincinnati, please email Erin at etruter@gigisplayhouse.org.
Christine Veotte
Christine is our amazing program coordinator. Together with Lindy Kiley (one of our board members at large), Christine develops all of our programs that we offer for free to our participants.
Christine and her husband Angelo (our executive board president) live in the Montgomery area of Cincinnati. They share three children: Adam, Elli and Selah. Their daughter Selah has Down syndrome.
As a former teacher, Christine loves planning programs for children and adults with Down syndrome. She says, "My desire has always been to have a place for families to come together, not only for free programming, but to find community and support. I firmly believe that we were all created by God and each have a unique plan and purpose for our lives. Selah has taught our whole family about what is really important: kindness, patience and loving the people around us."
You can email Christine at cveotte@gigisplayhouse.org.
Jessica Berndt
Jessica volunteers with our fundraising and events.
Jessica and her husband David have two kids, Freddy (who has Down syndrome) and Theo.
You can email Jessica at jberndt@gigisplayhouse.org.
Mark Grice
Mark volunteers with fundraising and events.
Mark and his husband Fred (who serves as our board vice president) live in the Anderson area with their son Freddy who has Down syndrome. Mark is originally from Toledo, Ohio, but moved to Cincinnati for his job.
You can email Mark at mgrice@gigisplayhouse.org.
Shelly Capal
Shelly helps with our fundraising.
Shelly's grandson Cooper has Down syndrome.
You can email Shelly at scapal@gigisplayhouse.org.
Want to join our amazing team?
We’re always looking for people who are passionate about Down syndrome and have the desire to make this world a better place. If you can volunteer for GiGi’s Playhouse Cincinnati, please click here.