Brian Skotko, M.D., M.P.P., a resident physician at Children's Hospital Boston and Boston Medical Center, has dedicated his professional energies toward children with cognitive and development disabilities. In 2001 he co-authored the national award-winning book, Common Threads: Celebrating Life with Down Syndrome. He is a graduate of Duke University, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Brian recently authored major research on how physicians deliver a diagnosis of Down syndrome to new parents. He has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The L.A. Times, NPR’s On Point, and ABC’s Good Morning America. Brian serves on the Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress, the Massachusetts Developmental Disability Council, and the National Down Syndrome Society.

Brian is the proud brother of Alison and Kristin; Kristin has Down syndrome and provides Brian with much of his motivation. Brian and his wife Carrie reside in Boston, Massachusetts.

James E. Taylor is Cadillac's General Manager, responsible for the division’s global product, marketing and promotional activities. He was previously vehicle line executive for GM’s SIGMA architecture. In that position he directed the planning, engineering and manufacturing of the new Cadillac CTS, SRX, and the STS models. Jim’s career with General Motors has included several production and purchasing positions in the US, Canada and Germany. Taylor graduated from McMaster University, Ontario, Canada in 1980 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. Taylor and his wife, Sue, have two sons, Andrew and Michael, and live in Rochester, Michigan.

Scott Ferguson is the Regional Vice President of Macy’s for a five state area. He began his career with Marshall Field’s in Chicago as a manager and then a buyer. Prior to his current position, Scott was the store manager at Somerset in Troy. Scott graduated from Michigan State in Business Administration. He has extensive Board experience, having served on the board for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and is currently on the Board of Junior Achievement of Southeast Michigan. Scott and his wife, Nancy, live in Rochester Hills and have three children: Alex, Adam and Madison.

Julie Roehm is an innovative marketing communications veteran. Most recently, she served as Senior Vice President of Marketing Communications at Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart Stores and as Director of Marketing Communications for Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge at DaimlerChrysler in Auburn Hills.

In January 2006, Julie was named Corporate Media Executive of the Year runner-up by the Delaney Report. In 2005, she was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame and featured in Automotive News as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Women in the Automotive Industry. She has also been named as one of Working Mother Magazine’s Top 25. Roehm and her husband, Mike, and sons Nick and Luke live in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Norman Yatooma founded Norman Yatooma & Associates, P.C. in August of 2000. He was formerly with Butzel Long, P.C. Mr. Yatooma represents corporate and individual clients on a local and international level, personally concentrating his litigation practice in franchise, class action, corporate, and real estate law.

Mr. Yatooma has been active in the community through his charitable organizations, including his role as Founder and President of For The Kids Foundation and Chairman and General Counsel for Charity Motors. Additionally, Mr. Yatooma serves as a program participant on radio station WJR’s "Call For Action". Mr. Yatooma graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from Taylor University, receiving his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the Indiana University School of Law in Bloomington, Indiana.

Sue Novak is a partner in the Health and Human Services Team with Plante & Moran, PLLC. Susan serves not-for-profit and health care organizations by providing a full range of accounting, auditing, tax and management consulting services. Susan also coordinates the firm's internal training seminars related to current issues and developments in the not-for-profit industry and writes the firm's standard audit programs for not-for-profit financial statement and compliance audits.

She received her Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Oakland University and is also a graduate of Leadership Oakland IX. In addition to her corporate responsibilities, Novak is a technical reviewer for not-for-profit accounting and auditing textbook published by Harcourt Brace. Susan and her husband Michael live in Rochester Hills with their two daughters, Kelly and Amy.

Sherry L. Viola, MD received both her BS and MD degrees from Michigan State University. Dr. Viola has been an attending physician at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, since 1987. She is in private practice specializing in Physican Medicine and Rehabilitation. She also serves as Medical Director for the Cognitive Retraining Program at that facility. Dr. Viola studied spinal cord rehab at Mary Freebed in Grand Rapids, and Traumatic Brain Injury Rehab at the Texas Institute for Rehabilitation and Research. Sherry lives in Rochester Hills, Michigan with her two sons, Andrew and Nicholas.

Ken Armstrong joined Borders Group as Executive Vice President of U.S. Stores in February 2007, bringing more than 30 years of retail experience to Borders store operations. Ken and his team are responsible for driving sales and providing a rich shopping experience for customers at more than 1,000 Borders superstores and specialty retail stores in the U.S.

Immediately prior to joining Borders, Ken spent three years as Senior Vice President and Director of Stores for Saks Department Store Group's Parisian division. While there, he helped drive double-digit sales growth and significant earnings improvements as part of the retailer’s turnaround.

Ken received a bachelor’s degree in 1972 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He and his wife have three children, the youngest is their son, Chris, who has Down syndrome.

Denise Knobblock-Starr is Chief Administrative Officer for Compuware Corporation. Among her responsibilities are corporate real estate, facilities, purchasing, and customer service. Denise joined Compuware in 1989, and held positions of increasing responsibility in facilities and administration including Senior Vice President and Executive Vice President. She oversaw the construction and occupancy of the new Compuware Headquarters and plays a leading role in bringing services and retail establishments to the building.

Denise serves on a long list of non-profit boards including HAVEN, Hospice Foundation, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, Gleaners Food Bank, Women’s Leadership Foundation and the Michigan Minority Business Development Council. Denise credits her endurance to two things: a passion for having fun and a knack for finding creative solutions to unique challenges.

Denise has a grown son who lives in the Western United States. She shares her home in Oakland County with a black Lab named Jake. She has a degree in business administration from Mercy College of Detroit.

Craig Como is a resident of Troy, Michigan. Craig graduated from Hillsdale College in 1991 with a degree in education. Craig and his wife Laurie are the owners of the Como Pediatric Communication Center, a private speech and language pathology practice in the city of Troy. They have an eight year-old daughter named Nina. Craig is a serious runner and is often training for his next big race. He organizes and runs our annual bike clinic and maintains relationships with bike shops and athletes supportive of our goals.

Chris Groesser graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Administration in 1985 and with a MBA in Marketing from Wayne State University in 1992. Chris has held various Sales/Marketing positions within the automotive supply industry since 1985 and is currently an Account Manager at L & L Products, Inc. located in Romeo, Michigan.

Chris and his wife Kari were married in 1992 and have four children; Madelyn, Owen, Lily, and Ella. Their son Owen, who was born in 1997, has Down syndrome. The Groessers reside in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

Mark Kelly, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, studied at the University of Pittsburgh. He now resides in Rochester, Michigan with his wife, Karen, and his grandchildren Geoffrey, 14, and Schae, 11. Mark and Karen have also raised two adult sons.

Mark has experience as a small business owner, prior to 17-year career with Hewlett-Packard as a global account executive. He has a grant-writing certificate from Indiana University's School on Philanthropy, which will help acquire the necessary funding for the Foundation to grow. Mark now does freelance development work for non-profits, including the Lake Orion Downtown Development Authority and the Rochester Heritage Festival.

Victoria A. Roberts was commissioned by President William Jefferson Clinton on June 29, l998, to serve as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan, with the unanimous advice and consent of the United States Senate. Prior to that, Judge Roberts was in private practice. She also served as a court appointed special master and arbitrator in pending litigation matters.

Judge Roberts was the 62nd president of the State Bar of Michigan and the first black female to hold that position. Her term expired in September, 1997, the same year she was named one of the Lawyers of the Year by the Michigan Lawyers Weekly.

Judge Roberts received her Juris Doctor degree in 1976 from Northeastern University School of Law in Boston. Her undergraduate degree, in journalism and sociology, is from the University of Michigan. A native of Detroit, she was Valedictorian of the 1969 graduating class of St. Martin de Porres High School.

A runner, Judge Roberts completed her first marathon in October, 2005, finishing as the second woman from Detroit in her age category. She has a son, Jonathan, with Down syndrome who is active within the community.