People
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Kayla Bertrand is the Executive Director of MNDSA. Kayla served as the Director of Finance for MNDSA for three years prior to becoming Executive Director in October 2024. She has been active in the special needs community for nine years. She has been working with families who are starting their special needs journey for seven years. She is also a volunteer for an organization that connects families of children with special needs and who need help navigating the system. Kayla has been a Certified Support Planner for six years. She has a daughter who has been on the Consumer Directed Community Supports Program for eight years. Her daughter has complex medical and behavioral needs.
​
PROGRAM DIRECTOR, B.R.I.D.G.E.
Kaylie Schmidt is the Program Director for the B.R.I.D.G.E. Program. Kaylie’s passion for advocacy started early when she started her career in nursing working with infants in the NICU. As she became a mother to her own children, her advocacy moved home as she navigated the world of medical complexity and neurodivergence and learned that connecting to resources wasn’t as easy as she once thought. Kaylie left bedside nursing in 2016 and has been navigating the world of advocacy ever since, walking alongside families in different capacities to reach their goal of their best life. Kaylie also volunteers providing training and support with the Autism Service Dog Program, the organization her family’s service dog, Hadley, came from. Kaylie is a proud mom to 3 beautiful children, all of whom are autistic and wonderfully unique! Kaylie received her own diagnosis of autism after seeing herself in her children and is a proud member of the autistic community.
​
CERTIFIED SUPPORT PLANNERS
Sarah Biddlecome, Senior Support Planner
Nicole Collodoro, Senior Support Planner
Peter Collodoro, Senior Support Planner
Iman Hassan, Support Planner
Jennifer Lind, Support Planner
Stacy Vigiletti, Senior Support Planner
Lisa Zietlow, Support Planner
​​​​
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
​Lisa Zietlow, Administrative Specialist​​
Sarah Biddlecome, Project Manager and Grant Writer
​​​
BOARD MEMBERS
Jules Edwards, Chair and Treasurer
Milena Bates, Secretary
Jess Wilson, Member at Large
​