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People Who Make AAASD Great

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Meet the Dream Team

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Meet the Dream Team ✦

Board of Directors

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Rich Johnston

Board President

Rich has been a practicing psychologist since 1990 and has experience in several settings and roles including inpatient and outpatient treatment, program development, administration, consultation and program management. Since 2010 he has conducted psychological evaluations for the Grandis Evaluation Center in Asheville, frequently clarifying the needs of those on the Autism Spectrum. He has supported Arms Around ASD for several years and joined the Board of Directors in the summer of 2019.

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Melissa Gerhardt

Board Secretary

Melissa K. Gerhardt is a Speech-Language Pathologist who has loved working with autistic people for decades. She is passionate about working with the entire family. She currently works for SLP-Tele providing teletherapy. Melissa enjoys playing with her granddaughters, hiking, swimming, golfing, walking, reading and crafting. She has served in many volunteer roles and loves working with Arms Around ASD.

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Jason Hadley

Board Treasurer

Jason retired from Kimberly Clark in 2018 after being an engineer there for 30 years. His last 17 working years were spent at the KC plant in Hendersonville. Before moving to Asheville in 2001, Jason lived in Atlanta for 25 years, attending Georgia Tech, Southern Tech and Georgia State University.

Board Members-at-Large

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Catherine Bergrud

Board Member-at-Large

Cate Bergrud owns and runs a professional care company providing administration and marketing services to local healthcare providers. She and her husband Dag moved to the mountains of WNC to escape the natural disasters that plagued the LAs – Los Angeles and Louisiana – that they had called home. She is the mother of two lovely and opinionated young men, one of whom is special needs. Cate loves volunteering with Arms Around ASD, Special Olympics and various dog rescues, and would love to learn to knit. In her free time you can find Cate sleeping or reading British mysteries.

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Sarah Broberg

Board Member-at-Large

Public Relations & Marketing Management

Sarah Broberg has over 15 years of experience providing strategic corporate communications consultancy services to clients in the United States and across the Middle East and North Africa, Europe and the Gulf region. Her award-winning approach to corporate communications has helped pioneer the development of the industry in Egypt and elsewhere.

She is an active member of the Asheville community, serving as a member of Young Professionals of Asheville, Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, member of the Development Committee, Friends of the WNC Nature Center, the public member of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee for the Department of Veterinary Medical Technology at AB Tech Community College, member of the Advisory Committee, Haw Creek Elementary School and the Redwood Forest Neighborhood liaison to the Coalition of Asheville Neighborhoods (CAN) and founder of the East Asheville Neighborhood Coalition.

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Roger Hecht

Board Member-at-Large

By way of introduction, I’m Roger Hecht, a retired attorney who moved to the Asheville area approximately two years ago from Northern California. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, left NY to teach school on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico, and then settled in the Bay Area where I attended law school and established my practice. My grandson was born on the spectrum so when I was introduced to the Arms Around organization, I was drawn to its commitment and dedication to the autistic community and decided to volunteer in the boutique and eventually join the board as a member.

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Scout McCormick

Board Member-at-Large

Scout McCormick is a forty-year-old transgender pagan on the spectrum. He grew up in Georgia, spent most of his twenties in upstate New York, and has lived here in North Carolina for just over a decade. Having worked a wide range of jobs, he’s been a career firefighter for the last six and a half years. Diagnosed in his late thirties, he’s still honing his spectrum superpowers. Scout currently lives in Lake Lure with his wife, two part-time step-children and four full-time cats.

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Zan Plemmons

Board Member-at-Large

Zan Plemmons (nonbinary, they/them or she/her) graduated from Winthrop University in 2010 with a BA in psychology. In 2019, Susan was finally diagnosed with autism at the age of 32 and was previously diagnosed with ADHD. They have first-hand experience of navigating a world that was not designed for neurodivergent people and has overcome many obstacles in life. Susan has previously worked for a nonprofit organization providing community support to adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities and is very involved in both the autistic and queer communities. They currently work as a merchandising manager for a large home improvement store and lead a support/social group for autistic adults that meets at Arms Around ASD. Susan enjoys making jewelry, reading, outdoor adventures, and spending time with their cats Luna and Rajah in their free time.

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Joan Walker

Board Member-at-Large

Joan Walker is originally from South Carolina and has lived in and around Asheville for 20+ years. She spent 15 years working in environmental advocacy at multiple non-profits, endeavoring to slow climate change and protect wild places and communities from pollution. While it was important work, the high-stress work culture was not supportive of a neurodivergent like herself, and in 2021 she stepped out of that world to return to focus on self-care, healing her nervous system, and being a more present mother to her two amazing kids May (age 12) and Sylvia (age 8)

She established Fiddlesticks Farm, where she raises flowers, vegetables, heirloom eggs and lives close to the land. When she’s not digging in the dirt, she also loves dance, music, painting, hiking and spending time in nature, meeting new people, and being with her dogs.

Executive Staff

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Michele Louzon

Founder and Executive Director

Michele is the founder and director of Arms Around ASD. A Chicago native, she received her BS in Communications from the University of Illinois and an MS in Counseling from Georgia State University. Her specialty is adolescent sexuality and taught sex education in Buncombe County middle schools and Asheville City middle and high school for The Health Adventure. During her time living in Atlanta BC (Before Children) she created and taught a sexuality and emotional wellness education program for Summit Medical Center to be used in Atlanta area schools. Currently, she is part of a coalition whose mission is to empower and support the I/DD community to prevent, respond and heal from sexual trauma.

Michele lives in North Asheville with her husband of 36 years Jason Hadley and their four completely insane rescue cats – Martin, Farley, George and Raj. They have two adult children, Jesse and Jake, and one daughter-in-law, Julia. Michele is a Third Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and plays trivia weekly. Sometimes, she plays weakly.

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Jenn Hartzog

Administrative Assistant

Jenn Hartzog is Michele Louzon’s Administrative Assistant at AAASD, and “Queen of All Things Administrative” (no joke!). Jenn, Paul, and their two sons moved to Asheville in 2013 from Ann Arbor, MI, and have been enjoying greener pastures ever since. Originally from Salt Lake City, Jenn prefers life in the mountains of Asheville over anywhere else! Aside from being Mom, and Administrator, Jenn enjoys amateur entomology, as well as etymology (look that up in your Funk & Wagnalls), bird-watching, cooking (and all things foodie), and making jewelry. Join her at Trader Joe’s sometime for a great Food Adventure!

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Jennifer Campbell

Big Hug Boutique Manager

Jennifer Campbell is the Manager of The Big Hug Boutique at AAASD. Jennifer and family also run our Roleplay Gaming Group. Jennifer is originally from Delaware but moved to the mountains in 1994 and never looked back. Her background is theater and retail management, medical office clerk, executive secretary, and many more. Aside from Mom and Manager, she enjoys LARPing, Costuming, Cosplay, DnD, and all things geeky. Come say Hi!

Volunteers

Boutique / Front Desk

Amy Fields, Andrea Kusz, Jaime Sanborn, Jen Collins, Jennifer Campbell, Jesse Trimbach, Karen & Regina Driesse, Kat Mallon, Lydia Rose, Liz Bailey Max & Dilyn, Melissa Gerhardt, Ophelia Battle, Rachel Friel, Roger Hecht, Wendy Lichtig
Massage

Allexis Bayliss
Sarah Hasty
Travis Bekina
Travis Jackson
Trinity Johnson
Pet Therapy

Jen Pyne with Moqui & Bucky
Liz Glatstein & Penny
Rich Johnston & Sasha
Rob Reuss & Gizmo
Sherry & Pumpkin
Emma Cassedy & Deputy Brody
Social Media

Clever Squirrel Creative
Cara Carlson
Michele Louzon
Yoga

Emily Danciu-Grosso
Nani Orsillo
Amy Fields
This & That

Eddie Turner
Jason Hadley
Joan Walker
Sarah Kuhl
Reiki

Jen Dale
Jenna Swanson
Brooke Stevenson
Move Your Body

Cynthia Greenfield
Haunani Orsillo
"Q&A" Queer and Autistic Support Group for Adults

Scout McCormick
Zan Ross
Teen "Q&A" Queer and Autistic Support Group

Steph Allen
Snack Attack!

Megan Vazquez
Ky-Lee Barnes
9D Somatic Breathing

Tyler Brisbane
Anna Cox
Big Hug Boutique

Alicia Fordham
Teri Siegel
AAC Club

Emily Bennett Lacey
Acupuncture

Jeremy Noble
ASL

Elizabeth Brooks
Autistics United Adult Support Group

Zan Ross
Belly Dancing & Hula

Haunani Orsillo
Bird Watching

Jay Wherley
Davis’ Dance Party

Davis
Dental Screenings

Dr. Charlie Page
Esthetician

Andrea Myers
Executive Director

Michele Louzon
Financial Wellness Series

First Bank
Foot Rubs

Trinity Johnson
Friends Group

Michele Louzon
Game Day

Jennifer Campbell
Gardening Group

Babs Mountjoy
Healing Touch

Kat Mallon
Janitorial

Kelly Walker
Jyorei

Elvia Diaz
Karaoke

Ryan Boblett
Late Identified ASD Women Support Group

Brooke Stevenson
LGBTQ+ Consultations

John Avery
Meditation

Catherine Faherty
Nurse Practitioner

April Thomas
Queen of All Things Administrative

Jenn Hartzog
Relationship Coaching

Amber Lavin
Shake Yer Booty

Haunani Orsillo
Social Skills Games

Claire McCulloch
Building Social Skills

Luke Ferry
Stop-Motion Animation Creation

Jake Louzon-Hadley
Stretching

Ellen Marion
Supportive Counseling

Michele Louzon
Transitions Navigator

Gretchen Levine
TRE

Anne Cifelli
Trinity’s Book Club

Trinity Johnson
Video Games

Megan Vazquez
Zumba Gold and POUND®

Delia Bailey