Board Members

Community Advisory Board

A community autism advisory board was created to assist with the planning for development and implementation of The Scott Center for Autism Treatment. The first meeting of the Advisory Board was in 2006 prior to the initiation of any program or building plans. The community autism advisory board continues its vital role to provide input, review program direction, and identify continuing needs.

A subcommittee of the Autism Advisory Committee with additional community membership was formed to assist with fundraising. The successful, first fundraiser, An Evening of Hope, was held on April 3, 2009 at the Pumpkin Center, Cocoa Beach with proceeds dedicated to building an outside playground.

Members of the Autism Community Advisory Committee are:

	David K. Baer Banker, J.P. Morgan Private Bank Vice President David has been in the financial services industry for 18 years. David is currently a Banker with J.P. Morgan Private Bank, with responsibilities for advising high net worth families in the Central Florida area on overall wealth management strategies. Prior to his role at J.P. Morgan, David worked as a Private Banker and Relationship Manager at Wells Fargo Private Bank. During his five year tenure with firm, David led a team of specialists to advise clients on their overall personal wealth management needs of high net work individuals and families. David joined Wells Fargo from SunTrust Sports and Entertainment Specialty Group, where he was responsible for opening and managing the Orlando office. Also with SunTrust, David worked as a Wealth Strategist with assisting clients with their comprehensive wealth management needs. Before joining SunTrust, David worked at Bank of America as a relationship manager in The Private Bank at Bank of America (now U.S. Trust) and a commercial lender working with business owners on banking and advisory solutions. David and two children, LeeAnn and Kyle, and live in Orlando, Florida.
	Michael Durante Mike Durante is a CPA with Berman Hopkins, the largest independently and locally owned CPA and business consulting firm in Central Florida
	Cathy Ford Health First Board Member since 2005 Former Chairman, Holmes Regional Medical Center/Palm Bay Hospital Board of Directors Headmaster of Holy Trinity Episcopal School in Melbourne B.S. and M.S. Graduate of Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama Member of the Board of Directors for Florida Council of Independent Schools Member of the Governing Board for the National Association of Episcopal Schools Member of the Board of Trustee for Sewanee - The University of the South Former president of The Haven Board of Directors Former president of the Junior League of South Brevard
	Dr. Rachel Fornes Founder and President, Home At Last Adoption
	John Hopkins John R. Hopkins, CPA Berman Hopkins, the largest independently and locally owned CPA and business consulting firm in Central Florida. John has over 33 years of experience in auditing, accounting and management consulting as well as corporate business planning for commercial enterprises, governmental entities and housing authorities.
	Gale Kempf Gale and her husband David, established Kempf's Jewlers in Brevard County in June 1971. Kempf's is located in the seaside community of Indialantic on Florida's East Coast where Gale is an award winning designer.
	Mary Beth Kenkel, Ph.D. Dean and Professor College of Psychology and Liberal Arts Florida Institute of Technology Dr. Kenkel is Dean of the College of Psychology and Liberal Arts at the Florida Institute of Technology.
	Lisa Lewis Lisa Lewis is a member of the fundraising committee and parent of a child with autism. Mrs. Lewis has designed and implemented a home program in conjunction with Dr. Vince Carbone.
	Mark Malek, Attorney Mr. Malek is a patent attorney and the Managing Partner of Zies Widerman & Malek, which maintains offices in Melbourne, FL, Washington, DC and Evansville, IN. Mark was the chairman of The Evening of Hope IV committee, and co-chair of The Evening of Hope V committee.
	Jose Martinez-Diaz, Ph.D., BCBA-D Dr. Martinez is the chair of the Applied Behavior Analysis, School of Psychology at Florida Institute of Technology. Dr. Martinez is also on the Board of the Behavior Analysts Certification Board in Tallahassee, FL.
	Claudia O'Brien Claudia O'Brien is a member of the fundraising committee and parent of a child with autism
	Wendy Potter Wendy Potter is the founding partner in the Child and Family Consultants, Melbourne, FL. Wendy is a mental health counselor.
	Dan Schwinn Dan has established the strategic vision of Avidyne and leads the management team. Prior to founding Avidyne Corporation, Dan co-founded Shiva Corporation, a global communications equipment manufacturer that grew to sales of $150M and 500 employees. Dan was president from 1985 until 1993 and chairman until 1995. During Dan's tenure at Shiva, the company had the leading share in its markets and provided outstanding returns to its investors, reaching a $2.6 billion market capitalization. Dan founded Avidyne in 1995 to bring sophisticated electronic instrumentation to general aviation aircraft. Dan currently flies a TBM850 and a Lake Renegade seaplane, and he is also type-rated in the Falcon 10 jet. He is a graduate of MIT and also a member of the Visiting Committee on Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, a board member of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), the Small Aircraft Manufacturers Association (SAMA), and a director of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). Caterina Bandini Schwinn Caterina was co-anchor of the 5, 6, and 11pm news on WHDH-TV, the NBC affiliate in Boston, until she gave up her job to raise three children. While spending the past 11 years at WHDH, she covered a wide range of local, national, and international stories, including reporting from NATO and both Macedonia and Kosovo during the Kosovo war, reporting from the Vatican during the priest sexual abuse crisis and following several presidential candidates on the campaign trail. Ms. Bandini received an Emmy and Associated Press Award for her work in television news. During her free time she volunteered for Catholic Charities and served on the Greater Boston Food Bank marketing board (now currently on the US fund for UNICEF board). Dan and Caterina are both very interested in autism research, particularly the role genetics AND the environment play in this epidemic. Their daughter has autism and they would like to see an ABA based school offered here in Melbourne, as an option for her.
	Mary Senne, Ed.D. Dr. Senne is an adjunct professor at the University of Central Florida in the area of Special Education and worked for the establishment of the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD) and Toni Jennings Exceptional Education Institute in Central Florida.
	Debra Sloane, Psy.D., BCBA Debra is a Licensed Staff Psychologist at the Counseling & Psychological Services center on campus at Florida Tech providing individual and group therapy services to undergraduate and graduate students of FIT. She also does some consultation work with families who have a child on the Autism Spectrum. In addition, she is the mother of child with Autism.