Staff

Image Description: Headshot photo of John Tschida, a smiling man with glasses, graying brown hair and goatee, wearing a navy suit, white shirt, and red and blue patterned tie.

John Tschida, MPP, is the executive director of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD). He has spent more than 20 years using data and research to drive policy change and service development for individuals with disabilities. Before joining AUCD in February of 2017 as associate executive di... READ MORE >

Image Description: Headshot photo of Rodney Samaco, a smiling man with black hair, dark brown eyes, wearing a black suit, grey shirt, and black tie.

Dr. Rodney Samaco, PhD is the Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD). With over 20 years of experience in academic research focused on rare genetic intellectual and neurodevelopmental disabilities, Rodney leverages his strategic perspectives, domain expertise, and... READ MORE >

Image Description: Photo of Elizabeth (Liz) Schneider (she/her/hers), a smiling woman with brown hair in front of a light blue background.

Liz Schneider is the Association of University Centers on Disabilities' Executive Assistant. She provides executive and administrative support, is the AUCD Board Liaison, and provides support for Accessibility at AUCD.

Liz has been providing executive and administrative support for several years at nonprofit organizations and universities, ... READ MORE >

Image Description: Photo of E. Troy Washington, a man wearing a gray blazer and a light blue shirt.

E. Troy Washington is the Senior Director of Finance and Grants Administration at AUCD. Troy has over thirty years of accounting and grants experience. He has vast accounting experience leading financial operations for several organizations. His accounting experience includes financial statements and reporting, cash management, financial analysis, month and year-end closings, and audit ... READ MORE >

Talk to me about: Interdisciplinary Training, Technical Assistance, Quality Improvement, Early Childhood

Danielle Webber, MSW, is the Director of AUCD’s Communitiy Inclusion Team. Her responsibilities include overseeing the development, delivery, and evaluation of TA provided to the UCEDD network through the UCEDD Resource Center (URC). Danielle brings almost fifteen years of experience with AUCD, its network centers, and partner organizations, to this role.

Previously, Danielle served as Senior Manager AUCD’s Public Health team leading... READ MORE >

Image Description: An Image of Chase Mulvaney smiling male of color with black hair cut short, wearing a purple and white plaid button down, a tan belt, and blue pants. His hands are tucked behind his back, and he's standing outdoors on a marble patio.

Chase Mulvaney (He/Him), MIR, is the Program Manager for the Community Inclusion Team. His responsibilities include connecting with stakeholders across the network, providing technical assistance, and working collaboratively to meet the... READ MORE >

Image Description: Image of male smiling with styled short brown hair and wearing half blue, half white glasses that are faded horizontally at the middle and a dark blue sweater with a zipper.

Brandon Lewis, MPH, CPH, is the Data Support Manager supporting Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LENDs), University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs), Leadership Education in Adolescent Health (LEAHs), Pediatric Pulmonary Centers (PPCs), and De... READ MORE >

Margaux Whitehead is a Program Specialist on the UCEDD Resource Center technical assistance team. Her responsibilities include program evaluation and direct technical support to UCEDD’s across the national network.

Margaux holds a bachelor’s degree in public health and social work from Loyola University Chicago. <... READ MORE >

Image Description: Image of smiling woman with long blond hair wearing a black and white print shirt and necklace.

Becky completed a master's degree in Public Health at Virginia Tech with a concentration in health education and promotion. Previously, Becky worked with the community service board for Southwest Virginia coordinating risk management activities, monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic, and overseeing various healthcare facilities delivering mental health and disability services.... READ MORE >

Jackie Czyzia, MPH, is the Director of AUCD's MCH Engagement Team. Her responsibilities include overseeing the development, delivery, and evaluation of TA provided to LEND and Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics (DBP) training programs through the Interdisciplinary Technical Assistance Center on Autism and Developmental Disabilities (ITAC). With subject matter expertise and leadership experience in pregnancy and infant health, Jackie brings over nine years of ex... READ MORE >

Mollie Blafer (she/her) has an MEd in College Student Personnel Administration from James Madison University and a BA in Sociology from SUNY Cortland. Before joining AUCD as the Program Manager for the Emerging Leaders Community, she served as the Network Data and Systems Specialist for a place-based county initiative in North Carolina working to ensure families and children have access to resources for healthy development. Mollie was responsible for developing and managing a referral databas... READ MORE >

Image Description: Headshot of Jeanette Córdova, a Latine woman with short dark hair, wearing glasses and a burgundy floral blouse. 

Jeanette M. Córdova is the Technical Assistance Program Manager (Bilingual) for AUCD's Maternal and Child Health Technical Assistance (TA) Team. Her responsibilities include managing projects, initiatives, and meetings that address the objectives of our funder's training programs. She will actively promote continued i... READ MORE >

Image Description: Photo of Dana Kim, a smiling Asian-American woman with short black hair. She is wearing a black shirt in front of a white background. 

Dana Kim is the Program Manager for the Autism Intervention Research Network on Physical Health (AIR-P). Her responsibilities include connecting with stakeholders across the AIR-P and AUCD networks to lead event planning and maintain engagement from AIR-P's Collaborating Research Entities (CREs). She provides administrativ... READ MORE >

Image Description: Image of male smiling with styled short brown hair and wearing half blue, half white glasses that are faded horizontally at the middle and a dark blue sweater with a zipper.

Brandon Lewis, MPH, CPH, is the Data Support Manager supporting Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LENDs), University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs), Leadership Education in Adolescent Health (LEAHs), Pediatric Pulmonary Centers (PPCs), and De... READ MORE >

Image Description: Rachel, a white woman with medium-length brown hair, wears large floral earrings and a white long sleeved shirt and smiles at the camera. She stands next to a white column with trees and clouds in the background.

Rachel Miller is a Program Specialist for AUCD’s Maternal and Child Health technical assistance team. Her responsibilities include supporting LENDs and DBPs through AUCD's cooperative agreement with MCHB's Division of MCH Workforce Development and dis... READ MORE >

Ms. Glymph brings 20 years of diversified public health experience to AUCD. This diversified experience has provided the opportunity to work collaboratively with other organizations to develop partnerships and establish proactive efforts wherever public health is and insuring public health for all.

Ms. Glymph formerly served as the senior manager for community violence and intervention programs for the University of Maryland Capital Region Health, where she led multifaceted community-... READ MORE >

Nadja Agnew is a public health professional with over 15 years of non-profit program management experience. Before joining AUCD, Nadja worked with the Capital Area Food Bank in Washington, D.C. managing the direct distribution of fresh produce in communities with limited access to affordable food. While with the food bank, Nadja also led a research project to measure the food insecurity rates of children and young adults and created a three -year strategic plan to better addres... READ MORE >

Holly Hohmeister, MS, is the Senior Project Manager for Vaccine Outreach Initiatives. She manages the Local Vaccine Outreach Initiative as well as AUCD’s grantee activities for the USAging Aging and Disability Vaccination Collaborative. Holly plans and provides technical assistance to project partners engaged in vaccine outreach for the disability community, which include UCEDDs, LENDs, and Developmental Disability Organizations. This involves developing resources, key messages, and fac... READ MORE >

Tida holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Health from the University of Maryland. Before AUCD, Tida worked at the National Human Genome Research Institute to understand causes of non-communicable diseases, identify targets for intervention, and mechanisms for disease prevention. During college, she formulated a public health initiative about COVID-19 and recommendations to improve public health programs for underserved populations such as those with Opioid Use disorders.

Tida&rsq... READ MORE >

Luwam Yohanes is excited to be joining AUCD as a Program Specialist for the Public Health team. She received her Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in Maternal, Family and Child Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Luwam’s previous work as a Registered Behavioral Technician at Easterseals UCP gave her the opportunity to work directly with children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. This experience sparked her passion for improvi... READ MORE >

Talk to me about: Expanding access and increasing equity in disasters and pandemics; Whole community (inclusive) emergency planning, Civic engagement, Public health law, Climate change and disability

Image Description: Susan Wolf-Fordham, JD, MPA. Senior Program Manager
Deputy Director, National Technical Assistance and Training Center on Disability Inclusion and Emergency Preparedness. Does this work? Sue

... READ MORE >

Cindy Smith serves as the Director of Public Policy for AUCD, working to formulate and implement AUCD's legislative and advocacy priorities and strategies.

Cindy began her career as a Research Study Coordinator and Database Manager at the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) in Boston. For the last 11 years, Cindy has worked in public policy and advocacy for the DD Act partners at the state or national levels. Most recently, she served as Deputy Director for Policy and P... READ MORE >

Image Description: A young man with medium length brown hair, wearing a black and white striped polo shirt smiles for a photo on a rooftop. The sky is blue and he is surrounded by various buildings.

Kevin serves as the Policy Fellow and helps implement AUCD’s policy and advocacy priorities.  Kevin identifies as a gay man with mental health disabilities and is excited to bring his personal experience to this role. He will serve in this position from June 2022 until June 2023... READ MORE >

Talk to me about: Tuesdays with Liz, Self Advocacy, Plain Language, Public Speaking, Public Policy, Mentorship

Image Description: A white woman with black hair and glasses wearing a white turtleneck with a blue sweater.

Liz Weintraub has a long history of leadership in self advocacy, and has held many board and advisory positions at state and national organizations. She is a full time member of the AUCD's policy team and also the host of Tuesdays With Liz: Disability Policy For All, where she a... READ MORE >

Talk to me about: Public Policy, Advocacy, Victims of Crime/Abuse & Neglect

Image Description: Denise, a white woman with short reddish hair, wears red rectangular glasses and smiles at the camera. Denise wears a black and red flowered jacket against a black background.

Denise Rozell, JD, is the Director of Policy Innovation at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD). Denise works primarily on issues affecting youth in post-secondary education, employment and independent living including as the co-Director for the PROMISE Technical Assist... READ MORE >

Image Description: Image of smiling woman with short brown hair wearing a black and white suit jacket, nose ring and earrings.

Michele Lunsford is the Director of Marketing and Communications at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities where she leads the organization's communications, development and events-planning work. Utilizing more than a decade of experience in non-profit communications, Michele works to ele... READ MORE >

Talk to me about: Digital Communications, Design, Marketing and Accessibility

Image Description: Headshot photo of Anna Costalas, a smiling olive skinned queer with short greyish black hair and brown eyes, wearing tortoise glasses and a button down shirt with a book filled bookcase in the background.

Anna Costalas, MPA, serves as the Digital Marketing and Communications Manager at AUCD. Anna manages and provides leadership in AUCD’s digital communications and marketing activities, including live and recorded webinars, in-person meetings ... READ MORE >

Image of a smiling woman with shoulder-length brown hair wearing glasses, earrings, and a blue sweater. There is grass and a cloudy skyline in the background.

Allison Haeger is the Communications Assistant at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities. She will support the management of AUCD’s social media platforms, the planning and production of Tuesdays with Liz, AUCD's CDC-funded project to spread vaccine confidence in the disability community, plann... READ MORE >

Talk to me about: Web Technologies/Internet Services, NIRS and LPQI Technical Questions, Web Application Development

Image Descriptions: White woman with black blazer is facing the camera head on. She has brown long hair and is smiling.

Oksana Klimova, MS, is the Director of Web Services at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD). Oksana directs and oversees all aspects of AUCD's web systems in support of the association and network's strategic goals and priorities. She is responsible for creative design and development, from conception of prototype concepts through final progra... READ MORE >

Brittney Swann is the Junior Accountant for AUCD. She is a recent graduate from the University of Maryland Global Campus and has previously worked as an Accounting Manager for the College of Southern Maryland. Her duties with AUCD include processing invoices and payments through Bill.com, processing orders for the office, and working closely with the Accounting team to ensure timely monthly reconciliation.

In her spare time, she loves to travel with her Husband, Son and sweet Labrado... READ MORE >

Image Description: Photo of E. Troy Washington, a man wearing a gray blazer and a light blue shirt.

E. Troy Washington is the Senior Director of Finance and Grants Administration at AUCD. Troy has over thirty years of accounting and grants experience. He has vast accounting experience leading financial operations for several organizations. His accounting experience includes financial statements and reporting, cash management, financial analysis, month and year-end closings, and audit ... READ MORE >