People Who Make AAASD Great
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Meet the Dream Team
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Meet the Dream Team ✦
Board of Directors
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Susan Plemmons
Board Member-at-Large
Susan 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.
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
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.
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!
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
AAC Club
Emily Bennett Lacey
Autistics United Adult Support Group
Zan Ross
Bird Watching
Jay Wherley
Acupuncture
Jeremy Noble
Belly Dancing & Hula
Haunani Orsillo
Big Hug Boutique
Alicia Fordham
Teri Siegel
Cooking & Baking
Dan & Kristen Fields
Denise Fosco
Crochet & Crafting Club
Emily Taylor
Davis’ Dance Party
Davis
Dental Screenings
Dr. Charlie Page
Executive Director
Michele Louzon
Foot Rubs
Trinity Johnson
Friends Group
Michele Louzon
Game Day (D&D)
Jennifer Campbell
Gardening Group
Babs Mountjoy
Healing Touch
Kat Mallon
Janitorial
Kelly Walker
Ryan Prager
Jyorei
Elvia Diaz
Karaoke
Ryan Boblett
LGBTQ+ Consultations
John Avery
Massage
Allexis Bayliss
Haunani Orsillo
Sarah Hasty
Toni Pollack
Travis Bekina
Travis Jackson
Meditation
Catherine Faherty
Boutique/Front Desk
Amy Fields
Andrea Kusz
Jaime Sanborn
Jen Collins
Jennifer Campbell
Jesse Trimbach
Jenn Hartzog
Lydia Rose
LizBeth Bailey
Max & Dilyn
Melissa Gerhardt
Ophelia Battle
Rachel Friel
Ryan Boblett
Roger Hecht
Wendy Lichtig
Move Your Body
Nani Orsillo
Cynthia Greenfield
Naturopath
Janet Opila-Lehman
Nurse Practitioner
April Thomas
Esthetician
Andrea Myers
Parent Support Group
April Thomas
Yoga
Amy Fields
Emily Danciu-Grosso
Nani Orsillo
Toni Pollack
Pet Therapy
Emma with Brody
Jen Pyne with Moqui
Liz Glatstein & Penny
Rich Johnston & Sasha
Rob Reuss & Gizmo
Sherry & Pumpkin
This & That
Eddie Turner
Jason Hadley
Joan Walker
Sarah Kuhl
Reiki
Jen Dale
Brooke Stevenson
Jenna Swanson
Relationship Coaching
Amber Lavin
Snack Attack
Megan Vazquez
Ky-Lee
Snug Saturdays
Megan Vazquez
Social Media
Cara Carlson
Michele Louzon
Social Skills Games
Claire McCulloch
Social Skills Group
Luke Ferry
Stop-Action Animation Creation
Jake Louzon-Hadley
Stretching
Ellen Marion
Subtle Body Energy Alignment
Gene Buser
Supportive Counseling
Michele Louzon
Transitions Navigator
Gretchen Levine
Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE)
Anne Cifelli
Trinity’s Book Club
Trinity Johnson
“Q&A” Queer & Autistic Support Group
Scout McCormick
Zan Ross
Video Games
Haunani Orsillo
Zumba Gold and POUND®
Delia Bailey
Queen of All Things Administrative
Jenn Harzog
Sponsors
$1500+
$750+
$500+
Nancy Beck
Mary Diffendal
$250+
$100+
Catherine Bergrud
Melissa Gerhardt
Claire McCulloch
