Welcome to the Playhouse!

We are so excited to have TWO new people join our wonderful GiGi’s Nashville Family. Emily Sheridan is our new Programs Coordinator and Tracie Michelson is our new Volunteer Coordinator! We are so excited for these ladies to join our team so make sure you say “Hello!” next time you see them around the playhouse!

Emily grew up in Illinois and graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a degree in Special Education. After teaching an elementary life skills program in Urbana for 3 years, Emily felt she needed more training to better serve individuals with intense support needs. She moved to Nashville where she earned her Master’s degree in Severe and Multiple Disabilities from Vanderbilt University. After applying all her newfound knowledge and skills to a middle school functional skills program, she is excited to take a step out of the classroom and into the nonprofit world. Emily brings a wealth of knowledge and experience about supporting individuals with disabilities and their families. She hopes to bring creative, new ideas to GiGi’s Nashville to enhance the already amazing impact the programs have. In her free time, she loves to play games with friends, work in the garden with her partner, and explore new restaurants. Emily is so grateful for the opportunity to join the GiGi’s family!

Tracie grew up in Hollywood, Florida. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Communication Disorders from Emerson College in Boston, MA. Her career in the special education field began with working with children on the Autism Spectrum. After living in Boston for a few years, she decided to return to Florida to be closer to her family. Continuing with her love of working with students with disabilities, Tracie pursued her Master of Science degree in Varying Exceptionalities at Nova Southeastern University while working as a classroom special educator for many years. In 2007, her family moved to Tennessee for a better environment to raise children. Tracie has since been homeschooling her three children. Zachary has graduated high school and is pursuing a professional ballet career and Austin has graduated college and is pursuing a career in film making. Her daughter, Mackenzie, is 9 years old and happens to have that extra chromosome we all love! GiGi’s Playhouse became a source of community for their family and is why Tracie is so excited to be a part of the GiGi’s family! She is very excited to be working with the volunteers to continue the vision of enriching and fun programming that GiGi’s is known for.