Misty Parsley | President

Misty Parsley headshot

  • Title: Executive Director and Professor
  • Organization: Lipscomb University

Dr. Misty Vetter Parsley is a professor of Education and the Executive Director of the Office of Accessibility and Learning Supports at Lipscomb University. Misty’s passion is including people with disabilities in all aspects of the community and ensuring that they have the same opportunities to participate as do all other individuals. She started the IDEAL program, Igniting the Dream of Education and Access at Lipscomb, in January 2014 for students with intellectual disabilities and was the principal investigator of the TPSID grant from 2015-2020. She launched BEST, Bisons Excelling and Succeeding Together, for degree-seeking students with disabilities in the Fall of 2023. Misty has also served on numerous nonprofit boards including Autism TN, Disability Rights TN, Genesis Academy, and was a founding board member of the Southeastern Postsecondary Education Alliance.

John Andresen | President-Elect

john andresen Headshot

  • Title: Director of Interdisciplinary Training / Assistant Research Scientist
  • Organization: Indiana Institute on Disability and Community

Dr. John Andresen serves as the Director of Interdisciplinary Training at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community at Indiana University Bloomington. With a professional foundation in education, Dr. Andresen began his career as a junior high school special education teacher before transitioning to higher education. His research focuses on the transition to employment for individuals with intellectual disabilities, emphasizing the role and impact of state and federal programs. In addition to his directorial responsibilities, Dr. Andresen holds leadership positions as the Research and Policy Vice Chair for the Great Lakes Inclusive Postsecondary Education Alliance (GLIPSEA) and as a member of the Research Advisory Board for the Gregory S. Fehribach Center.

April Regester | Treasurer

  • Title: Chair & Associate Professor
  • Organization: University of Missouri - St. Louis

April Regester is an Associate Professor of Inclusive Education at the University of Missouri - St. Louis (UMSL), and serves as the Department Chair for Educator Preparation & Leadership (EPL). April helped to establish UMSL Succeed in 2013, an inclusive residential postsecondary education program for individuals with intellectual disability. April’s introduction to inclusive education was in high school, where she had the privilege of participating in programs designed to include students with and without disabilities. The benefits of inclusive experiences led to her own career pathway and values that informed the development of UMSL Succeed.

Katie Norland | Secretary

  • Title: Director, Transition and Access Pathways (TAP)
  • Organization: University of Cincinnati

Katie Norland is the Director of the Transition and Access Pathways (TAP) program at the University of Cincinnati, a four-year inclusive postsecondary program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She is passionate about advocating for students with disabilities and advancing inclusive education. Prior to her work at UC, she served as the Director of Student Success Services at The College of the Florida Keys, where she led Project ACCESS and oversaw grant management, student accessibility services, career development, and internship programs. Her background also includes expertise in marketing, social media, hospitality, and event management, which she integrates into her work to enhance program outreach and community engagement.

Susanna Miller-Raines | Managing Director (Non-Voting)

Susanna Miller-Raines Headshot

  • Title: Managing Director
  • Organization: IPSE Association

Susanna is a program manager for the Think College Inclusive Higher Education Network and a training and technical assistance provider working closely with regional and state alliances and those that are in development. Prior to Think College Susanna led the Georgia Inclusive Postsecondary Education Alliance out of the Center for Leadership in Disability at Georgia State University. Susanna is also the co-founder and was the founding board chair of the Southeast Postsecondary Education Alliance. Her work has been focused on supporting exploration and implementation of inclusive higher education programs in Georgia as well as building state and regional alliances.

Brenda Barrio | At-Large Board Member

Brenda Barrio Headshot

  • Title: Assistant Vice President for Research and Innovation/ Associate Faculty College of Health and Public Service
  • Organization: Organization: University of North Texas

Brenda Barrio is an Assistant Vice President for Research and Innovation in the Division of Research and Innovation and Associate Professor in Rehabilitation and Health Services at the University of North Texas. Her research focuses on the areas of disproportionality of students from marginalized communities and finding equitable and accessible ways to address this issue at the K-12 and higher education levels. Dr. Barrio has more than 20 years of teaching experience including, graduate and undergraduate education and K-5th bilingual and inclusive education in Texas.

She is also the co-founder of the UNT ELEVAR and WSU ROAR post-secondary education programs for young adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and is the Past-President of the Council for Learning Disabilities.

Meg Grigal | Think College Representative (ex-officio - voting)

Meg Grigal Headshot

  • Title: Director
  • Organization: Think College

Meg Grigal, Ph.D. is a senior research fellow at the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston and the director of Think College, a national center focused on research, policy and practice on inclusive higher education for people with intellectual disability. At Think College, Meg serves as a principal investigator on a variety of research, technical assistance, and evaluation projects including the Think College National Coordinating Center and the Inclusive Higher Education Network. Dr. Grigal’s work has led to expansion of higher education options for students with intellectual disabilities throughout the US and internationally.

Beth Meyers | Lawrence B. Taishoff Center Representative (ex-officio, voting)

Beth Myers

  • Title: Executive Director
  • Organization: Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education

Dr. Beth Myers is the Executive Director of the Taishoff Center and the Lawrence B. Taishoff Professor of Inclusive Education in the School of Education at Syracuse University, teaching in the Inclusive Elementary and Special Education Program and leading graduate students in a Special Education Consultant internship program. Beth holds degrees in Elementary Education, Special Education, and Literacy from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. Professor Myers taught in the Lower Merion School District in Pennsylvania and helped to create a best-practice inclusive program there. She opened a regional center for autism services in 2006 and served as Executive Director before joining the center’s consultation team in 2011.

Clare Papay | Journal of Inclusive Postsecondary Education (JIPE) Representative (ex-officio, non-voting)

Clare Papay Headshot

  • Title: Senior Associate, Inclusive Postsecondary Education
  • Organization: Institute for Community Inclusion, UMass Boston

Clare Papay (she/her) is Senior Associate, Inclusive Postsecondary Education, at Think College at the Institute for Community Inclusion, UMass Boston, where she conducts research and provides technical assistance on inclusive higher education for students with intellectual disability. Clare is the co-Principal Investigator for the National Coordinating Center for the TPSID model demonstration program and for the Think College Inclusive Higher Education Network: A Technical Assistance and Dissemination Center, both funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education. She serves as co-editor for the Journal of Inclusive Postsecondary Education (JIPE).

Karly Grisafi | State of the Art (SOTA) Representative (ex-officio, non-voting)

Karly Grifasi Headshot

  • Title: Assistant Director of Operations and Communications
  • Organization:

Karly Grifasi is a producer, events manager, and communications professional who works with the Center on Disability and Inclusion and the Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education to develop marketing initiatives, events, websites, videos, and anything else to help further the mission of the Center. She supports the CDI with grant management, special projects and development initiatives, and also manages the annual State of the Art Conference on Inclusive Higher Education and Inclusive College Fair. Her 20 years of experience in television production, working for Saturday Night Live, and NBC’s TODAY Show, combined with several years in the global non-profit world, have given her an innate ability to find creative solutions for any challenge.

Danie Roberts-Dahm | Special Advisor (non-voting)

Danie Roberts-Dahm headshot

  • Title: Project Coordinator
  • Organization: Think College

Danie is the project coordinator for the Think College Inclusive Higher Education Network. She leads project implementation, including public awareness and regional partnership development, training and technical assistance, and dissemination. Prior to Think College, Danie served in leadership roles at an inclusive postsecondary program for students with intellectual disability as well as a state technical assistance center focused on the transition of students with disabilities in Florida. In addition, she was one of the initial board members of the Southeast Postsecondary Education Alliance (SEPSEA), serving as Research Chair. Danie’s work has been focused on the development of inclusive higher education opportunities for students with disabilities.

Brianna Shults | Special Advisor (non-voting)

Brianna Shults Headshot

  • Title: Director, InclusiveU
  • Organization: Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education, Syracuse University

Brianna Shults is the Director of InclusiveU, a program at Syracuse University for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to attend college. With nine years of experience at InclusiveU, Brianna has played a central role in shaping the program’s strategic plan, student services, and community partnerships. She holds a B.S. in Biology and a Master of Education from Le Moyne College, as well as a Master of Public Administration and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Leadership of International and Non-Governmental Organizations from Syracuse University. Before joining the Taishoff Center, Brianna worked for a Syracuse-based non-profit, where she developed and launched employment and community engagement programs. These initiatives were aimed at equipping individuals with skills to actively participate and succeed in their communities. Brianna brings both passion and expertise to her work, advocating for increased access, funding, support, inclusion and success for all students.

Wil Francis | Member-At-Large

Wil Francis

  • Title: Director of Academic Accommodations
  • Organization: College of the Canyons

Wilbert (Wil) Francis is the Director of Academic Accommodations at College of the Canyons (COC). Prior to joining COC in 2022, Wil served as the Project Director of Open the Doors to College at the UCLA Tarjan Center (a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities). In that role, he was responsible for providing professional development to Disability Support Services (DSS) coordinators, directors, and staff for 116 California Community Colleges (CCCs) under a Professional Accountability and Development Services (PADS) contract with the California Community Colleges Chancellors Office (CCCCO) from 2008-2022. Wil was also responsible for the implementation, training, and technical assistance that was provided to the College to Career (C2C) programs, a model program on 8 CCCs, funded by California Department of Rehabilitation. He worked at the UCLA Tarjan Center on many higher education and employment-related projects from 2007-2022.