Welcome Our Newest Board Member and Long-Time Advocate!

Welcome long-time advocate, Caitlin Paterson, to Our Board of Directors

We are thrilled to officially welcome Caitlin Paterson to the GiGi’s Playhouse Madison Board of Directors!

Caitlin brings a powerful combination of personal passion and professional expertise to our mission. As a project manager in healthcare technology, she’s spent the past decade working with community-based nonprofits across Dane County, building systems that improve lives. But Caitlin’s connection to the disability community goes far beyond her professional life.

Her younger sister Erin has Down syndrome, and Caitlin has been a devoted caregiver, advocate, fundraiser, and storyteller for the disability community since childhood. In college, she led “Spread the Word to End the Word” campaigns, helping shift language and hearts toward greater inclusion and respect. Over the years, she’s continued that momentum, even running marathons to raise funds for GiGi’s Playhouse!

Caitlin brings a grassroots spirit and a strategic mindset, which is exactly the kind of energy that helps GiGi’s continue to grow with purpose. With her background in both systems-level thinking and hands-on advocacy, Caitlin is ready to make a meaningful impact as we move into our next chapter.

She lives in Sun Prairie with her husband and their two beloved dogs, and somehow still finds time to coach high school girls’ soccer, proving that she’s not only driven but deeply committed to building up the next generation.

We feel incredibly lucky to have Caitlin join our leadership team. Her lived experience, her heart, and her professional know-how are a perfect match for our vision of a more accepting, inclusive world for individuals with Down syndrome.

Welcome to the board, Caitlin—we’re so glad you’re here!

Learn about our entire board of directors HERE. Interested in joining our board? There’s an application at the bottom of the board of directors page!