Project Leadership

I’m Annie Peña-Pérez. I was born and raised in Mexico. I moved to Indiana in 2004. I have two beautiful children. I had worked as a Medical Assistant for 3 years. I’m a Bi-Lingual Resource Specialist in a non-profit organization for the past 4 years. I started in a young age being part and serve my community. I’m excited to be working with this amazing program. I can’t wait to share all my experience and knowledge with all the families.

Christina Boothby is the Senior Director, Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN) Initiatives at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). In this role, she directs a large portfolio of national programs designed to support children and youth with special health care needs with a focus on systems of service improvement, family-centered care, and promotion of access to a quality medical home. She guides strategy development and oversees the implementation and evaluation of initiatives related to children with medical complexity, disabilities, and chronic medical conditions. Christina has a Master of Public Affairs with concentrations in Nonprofit Management and Public Policy Analysis from Indiana University. She enjoys going on long walks with her husband and two dogs and visiting a different national park every year. Christina is excited to learn from the experience of other PAC members and to partner with Family Voices to build capacity among pediatric clinicians to better support families of CYSHCN with limited English proficiency.

Doris is a first-generation Latine born with disabilities. She is a medically complex certified foster and adoptive mother of thriving children with disabilities, employed by Parents Available to Help (PATH) CT as the Statewide Bilingual Health Information Specialist, Certified Community Health Worker and Public Policy Liaison with BA Degrees in International Relations; Spanish Language, Literature and Linguistics; Political Science and a Master’s in Education after successfully presenting her Academic Research in Multisensory Universal Design for Learning in Foreign Language Education.  Doris has completed Partners in Policymaking, UCEDD Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities, Mental Health & Developmental Disabilities ECHO, AIMH Infant and Toddler Mental Health for Early Care and Education Providers and Family Child Care Providers (Spanish), Youth Mental Health First Aid, NAMI Family to Family (Spanish), National NAMI SMARTS Advocacy, Question, Persuade & Refer Gatekeeper, DV Court Advocate (Spanish), Juvenile Justice Trauma.  She has dedicated decades to amplifying the voices as a trusted messenger for the marginalized and has served (past/present) as founder of the National Alpha Sigma Omega Latina Sorority, Inc., founding member and first Latine President of the Special Education Parent Teacher Association; first Latine Chair of the CT Council on Developmental Disabilities; Keep the Promise Coalition; USH Accessibility & Inclusion Ministry Chair, Children in Placement Guardian ad Litem, Annie C Foundation, Connecticut Children’s Family Advisory Council & Behavioral Team, DDS North Central Leader for Lifecourse Cultural & Linguistic Ambassador, CSDE Bureau of Education Special Education State Advisory Council, Yale PRCH Latino Colectivo, CT Family First Prevention Community Team, CT 2020 Census Complete Count Committee, CT Emergency Support Function (ESF) #15 (Public Information and External Affairs) Diverse Communities & Disabilities Task Forces, Police Accountability Task Force- Improving Interactions With the Disability Community,  Family Voices Cultural Responsiveness Committee, HUSKY 4 Immigrants Research Committee, CAFAF Bilingual Trainer, Got Transition! Cultural Responsiveness, CDC Child Growth Development App (Spanish) & Crisis Standards of Care Advisory Council

My name is Jingwen Niu, currently a neuroscientist working in the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. I graduated from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing), where I got my Ph.D. with a major in Cell and Developmental Biology.

I am also a 40-year-old Mom of two boys whose ages are 7 and 4. My older son was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disease when he was 4 years old. My husband and I were both born and grow up in China and we speak both Mandarin Chinese and English. We mainly speak Mandarin at home and our kids are usually in a bilingual environment. We experienced the challenges of their language skills in terms of receptive and expressive English at a certain stage, especially my older son. We also have bilingual families that have kids with special needs in our neighborhood, and I feel the difficulties they encountered. Thus, I am very excited to have this opportunity to participate PEALS so I could share my opinions and those from similar families in order to better solve the issue and help us and ourselves.

Families of Children with Special Health Care needs are thrust into navigating so much simultaneously often with no prior training or preparation. It can be overwhelming and yet critical as it is time sensitive. Some families often find communication frustrating as they must also navigate language barriers.  I am excited to be part of efforts to bring much needed hope to families through improving their access to language services. I am always happy and honored to participate in efforts to improve the quality of health care for children and as a caregiver myself appreciate the importance of empowering caregivers.

I have three excellent sons all thriving despite one living with special health care needs. My family continues to learn ways to advocate for our son and appreciate the difficulties faced by people with diverse backgrounds. I believe that we can empower families to move from simply surviving to thrive.  I have been fortunate to get training as Partners in Policy Making (UConn) Graduate, and several other pieces of training and opportunities and Parent Advisory under Family Voices. I am a lawyer and human resource practitioner. I love to dance, take long walks, read, cook, laugh, and meet new people.

My name is Patty, an Iranian woman who immigrated to the United States of America about 18 years ago. I came to the U.S. when I was in my late 20s and barely spoke English. Although I had my graduate degree in Clinical Psychology, limited English wouldn’t allow me to utilize my skills and training.  Therefore, I decided to learn English and enhance my training by going back to school and earning another degree by obtaining my MPH (Master of Public Health) with a concentration in epidemiology back in 2015.  My professional career took off when my English started improving by holding positions in department stores, accounting, and banking until I found myself passionate about helping communities, especially low-income families and their children.  Currently, I am working at the local and state levels providing services to minority children and youth mainly at a professional level.  In addition, I am managing a few programs at a county level by providing support and health services to the youth and their families.