Our Team
PMD Alliance Staff
Meet Andréa Merriam
Meet Rebecca Korduner
Hailing from small-town New England, Rebecca grew up appreciating the value of a tight-knit community. After graduating from Gordon College in Massachusetts, she launched her career helping a myriad of nonprofit organizations research and implement IT solutions. Never one to stagnate, Rebecca grew into numerous roles, including: Salesforce administrator, web developer, IT manager, grant writer, program facilitator, and associate director.
All this experience honed Rebecca’s ability to think at both the global and granular levels and instilled a passion for bringing the power of technology and connectivity to those isolated by health or circumstance. Her current role as Chief Strategy Officer is a perfect blend of innovation, technology and program delivery, which allows PMD Alliance to grow our online community of individuals all over the world.
Meet Anissa Mitchell
Anissa has a master’s degree in social work from The Ohio State University and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Anissa has over 30 years’ experience in medical social work in a variety of settings including acute rehab, pain management, hospital care management, community based care, and has spent that last two decades of her work dedicated to Parkinson’s and other movement disorders.
Anissa started her work in movement disorders as the manager of a Parkinson Outreach Program and used her creativity, social work skills, and collaborative spirit to build a community of support for four counties in the Central Florida area. She join the PMD Alliance team in 2020 where she jumped right in the middle of a global pandemic using her skills to keep people supported, educated, and connected. Over the years, Anissa has developed and facilitated a variety of educational programs and groups and has a special interest in supporting the care partner. Not long after starting her work in Parkinson’s Anissa’s own mother was diagnosed. Anissa’s empathy, and creativity are foundational to her role as Chief Program Officer.
Meet Philip Giles
After graduating from the University of Central Oklahoma, Philip began his operations and communications career at the Disney Interactive Media Group. Through service in their VoluntEARS program, Philip discovered how rewarding it is to serve his community and made the conscious decision to continue his career working at non-profit organizations. Since then, Philip had the privilege of making an impact via advocacy and policy change at the National Crime Victim Law Institute and the Oregon Oral Health Coalition, and providing direct service and community education at Candlelighters For Children With Cancer and Nathan Adelson Hospice.
Philip is inspired by PMD Alliance’s mission of never having anyone walk this journey alone, and by the movement disorder community’s passion and resilience. Philip is tasked with operations involving the entire scope of PMD Alliance communications, including in-person and online events, news and information, philanthropy, and more.
Meet Ke'yana Hatfield
Ke’yana is a dedicated public health professional with a passion for serving her community. She holds a bachelor’s degree in public health from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her experience includes serving as Program Director at the Parkinson Association of the Carolinas, where she honed her skills in program development and community outreach. Currently, she contributes her expertise as the Volunteer Coordinator at PMD Alliance, fostering meaningful connections between volunteers and the organization’s mission.
Ke’yana is deeply committed to building strong relationships within her community and making a positive impact on the lives of others.
Meet Regan Hinshaw
Born and raised in Washington State, Regan received her BA in Communications from Walla Walla University. Most recently, she’s honed her skills in brand strategy, web development, social media management, graphic design, and video production as a design and marketing consultant. After working with a variety of different nonprofits, she fell in love with producing projects that reflect meaningful missions, and it wasn’t long before she came across PMD Alliance—falling headfirst into ensuring that those in the movement disorders community see themselves in everything we do.
As the granddaughter of a person living with Parkinson’s, Regan deeply understands the importance of highlighting the experience of every person within the Movement Disorders Ecosystem. She is endlessly honored to be a part of a team and community that are committed to sitting with each other wherever they are in their journey.
Meet Aaron King
Aaron brings over 20 years of experience in sales and sales leadership to his role at PMD Alliance, where he is passionate about building meaningful connections with donors and driving impactful fundraising initiatives. His journey into the nonprofit world was a natural evolution – while working in the for-profit sector, Aaron was an active advocate for the National MS Society, a cause close to his heart.
In 2020, he and his wife took a leap and moved to a remote village in Mexico, dedicating themselves to philanthropic efforts focused on education for local children. After returning to Chicago, Aaron was drawn to PMD Alliance not only for its mission but for a deeply personal reason – his father’s journey with Parkinson’s disease. This connection fuels his commitment to ensuring the movement disorders community receives the support they need to live full, empowered lives.
Meet Kelly Merkel
Kelly has a variety of experience in business, nonprofit, and education sectors. Kelly spent a year volunteering as an AmeriCorps*NCCC member in the southeastern region tutoring elementary students, working at a homeless shelter, and rebuilding homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. After earning a Master of Education degree from Middle Tennessee State University, Kelly joined a customer experience consulting agency as a program assistant.
Kelly also has experience as a volunteer coordinator, school counselor, archivist, and event coordinator. As a Pilates enthusiast, Kelly is passionate about holistic wellness and how movement disorders impact daily life. With a passion for serving others, Kelly brings her business acumen and caring nature to the programs team.
Meet Kelly Papesh
Kelly Papesh, MSN, DNP is a doctorally-trained and board-certified family nurse practitioner. After completing her Bachelor of Science in nursing at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, she completed a Master of Science in nursing and a doctorate in nursing practice from Frontier Nursing University in Hyden, KY. She has extensive experience as an advanced practice provider (APP) in neurology and patient case management, with over five years of experience specializing in movement disorders. Her experience includes assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients with a variety of movement disorders including Parkinson disease, atypical parkinsonism, essential tremor, ataxia, and Huntington’s disease. She is skilled in advanced therapies including deep brain stimulation and botulinum toxin injections. She loves to provide education and teaching patients, care partners, peers and the community.
As a strong advocate for APPs, she’s eager to create opportunities for APPs to deepen their education and professional skills and to work with peers from across the country who share a vision and passion to advance the field of APPs and make a splash in the world of Parkinson disease and movement disorders.
Meet Carrie Emerson Parker
Meet Julie Perlin
Julie earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Management and Economics from the State University of New York Empire State College. She has been working in health-related nonprofit organizations since 2014. Like many new college graduates, Julie was not sure where she wanted to focus her career, but shortly after graduating college, Julie began her first nonprofit role. With the combination of her passion to help and care for others and the positivity, unity and care she saw within communities, Julie knew instantly she wanted nonprofit work to become her career path.
Always looking to learn, Julie has gained years of experience in finance, operations and administration, development and data systems. She has had her hands in event planning and support, data management and finance systems, to name a few. In her role as Associate Director, Operations, she utilizes this variety of experience to support PMD Alliance programs and communities. She is inspired by the strength, unity and passion of the PMD Alliance community.
Meet Clemie Alvarez-Pizzillo
Meet Jason Rivera
With a Master of Public Health from the University of Arizona, Jason Rivera spent 15 years managing major projects, building collaborations and creating professional development and capacity building training. He served as the Associate Director of Prevention Services at the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation for 5 years before joining the PMD Alliance Team.
As PMD Alliance seeks to meet the needs of the Medical Network and other areas of the ecosystem, Jason’s extensive experience with professional development has provided the necessary expertise in directing the launch of the new continuing education program for physicians and APPs (Advanced Practice Providers), as well as guiding future development and training opportunities for the organization and other parts of the ecosystem.
Meet Calissa Schneider
Calissa received her undergraduate degree in Kinesiology Exercise Fitness and is certified through the American College of Sports Medicine in Exercise Physiology. After graduation, she joined the team at Touchmark Retirement Community where she fell in love with functional movement, brain health, and connecting with people with Parkinson’s. To launch the community’s first-ever Parkinson’s programming, including exercise & support groups, she became certified as a PWR! Moves instructor and Rock Steady Boxing coach. This work taught her to be flexible and to try new things. Today, she seeks to bring her positivity and passion for movement to PMD Alliance.
When she’s not on the job, she volunteers for My Team Triumph, a running team that allows people with disabilities to participate in races with the use of specialized racing equipment. She and her partner love to travel, eat chicken strips & fries, and hike with their three dogs.
Meet Shelby Speth
Shelby is a dedicated nonprofit professional with a passion for community-based approaches to public health. She has a BS in Health Science with a concentration in Global/Comparative Public Health from Drake University. Throughout her career, Shelby has worked in both fund development and program services for a variety of health-related nonprofit organizations, most recently serving as the Manager of Nonprofit Partnerships at CHC: Creating Healthier Communities. She is extremely passionate about mission-driven work and the impact it makes on the community. Shelby brings her positive attitude, energy, and passion to the PMD Alliance programs team.
Outside of work, Shelby is a registered yoga teacher, avid hiker, and dog mom.
Meet Amanda Schwartz
Raised in rural Appalachia, Amanda has a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing and a minor in Women’s Studies from Marshall University, where she completed the prestigious Yeager Scholarship program. A longstanding passion for correcting injustice and serving vulnerable communities led her to a career in nonprofit, where she grew her skillset to include: donor and data administration, operations, grant writing, web development, and branding, to touch on a few.
Amanda loves to use her knowledge to enable others to achieve their best, and her array of experience perfectly positions her to support the varied needs of our team and the diverse individuals we serve. Amanda’s personal experiences with chronic illness inform her work, making it all the more meaningful for her to get to give back to the patient community through her role at PMD Alliance.
Board of Directors
Meet Andrea Lowe
Meet Jennifer Anderson
Meet David Higgins
Meet Ava Butler
Meet Lauren Schroeder
Meet Keith Chamberlain
refusing to take "no" for an answer
Meet Our PMDAmbassadors
Our boots-on-the-ground community connectors. They enhance our strategy with their essential insights, volunteering their experience and expertise to create a stronger Movement Disorders Ecosystem.
Join Our Team
Our staff is passionate, supportive, and packed with expertise. Are you looking for your next professional adventure?
