Suniti Sarah Bal

Suniti Sarah Bal is a Vice President at GMMB, one of the most respected full-service communications agencies in the nation. GMMB is a firm on a mission to help non-profits, associations, and foundations raise their profiles, advance issues, shift attitudes, and change lives. Suniti brings over 15 years of nonprofit and political communications experience to GMMB.

Currently, her portfolio includes work on health equity, climate change, and education. Working closely with nonprofits of all sizes, Suniti provides strategic communications counsel to support day-to-day communications needs, expert crisis communications support, and overall partnership to help organizations reach their goals. In addition to her client work, she sits on GMMB’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council and serves as a co-lead of the Earned Media Strategy Group.

Most recently, Suniti worked at the American Heart Association (AHA), where she served as Director of Federal Media Advocacy. In this role, she implemented strategic direction on all communication and outreach to the national media in support of AHA’s federal advocacy agenda. She also led communications and media strategy for multiple grassroots policy campaigns, including AHA’s successful campaign to end the practice of surprise medical billing.

Prior to her work with AHA, Suniti served as Director of Public Relations for The Arc of the United States, the nation’s oldest and largest disability rights organization. During her tenure with The Arc, she tripled The Arc’s earned media coverage and created lasting partnerships to further the organization’s mission of inclusion. Disability rights remain a passion for her.

Early in her career, Suniti served on Senator Mazie Hirono’s (then Congresswoman Hirono) staff. Currently, she also serves on the board of directors for the Praxis Project, a national nonprofit dedicated to health equity and social justice.

Thomas J. Collamore

Tom is Senior Advisor to the George and Barbara Bush Foundation and founder of Collamore Consulting Group, an advisory firm serving foundations, corporate executives, and trade associations. He was Executive Vice President and Counselor to the President, and chief communications officer, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce from 2007 to 2018. Earlier, Tom was Vice President of Corporate Public Affairs at Altria Group. His extensive government experience includes serving as Special Assistant to Secretary of Commerce Malcom Baldrige, senior staff to Vice President Bush, and Chief of Staff and Assistant Secretary of Commerce in the George H.W. Bush Administration. As a volunteer, he has served in leadership roles with Benedictine School for Exceptional Children (MD), George Bush Presidential Library (TX), Citymeals on Wheels (NY), MedStar National Rehab Hospital (DC), Kingswood Oxford School (CT) and Drew University (NJ). Tom and his wife, Jacqueline, live in Chevy Chase, MD with their four children.

Sari Hornstein

Sari was born and raised in Montreal and lived in London and the Netherlands for five years before moving to the U.S. in 1983 where she has been ever since. Over the course of her career, she has taught college history, edited and written books, served as an Executive Director of an inclusive theatre, written extensively on issues related to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), advocated on their behalf, and has served on boards of developmental disability nonprofits. Sari has a son with IDD. A deeply passionate and committed community leader, she currently serves on the boards of ArtStream, an inclusive theatre company (Washington, D.C.); the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (Washington, D.C.); and on the Advisory Board of the Institute for After School Development, an affiliate of the All Stars Project (NYC), that focuses on after school and youth development. Sari is a graduate of McGill University (B.A. 1978), the London School of Economics (M.Sc.1980), and Leiden University (Ph.D. 1985).

Lloyd Lewis

Lloyd Lewis is the CEO of Arc Thrift Stores of Colorado, one of the state’s largest employers, nonprofits, and one of the largest employers of persons with IDD. Under his tenure, Arc Thrift has provided over $250 million to nonprofit causes and charities. Prior to joining Arc Thrift, Mr. Lewis was a municipal investment banker with Smith Barney, a Senior Financial Analyst with IBM, a Director of Finance for a publicly traded medical equipment company, and CFO for a high-tech start-up company. Mr. Lewis is a nationally recognized expert and speaker in IDD employment and has been recognized in the Congressional Record. He is the recipient of a NewsEd Civil Rights Award and a World Citizenship Award from the International Civitans, whose prior winners include Eunice Shriver, founder of Special Olympics. Mr. Lewis received an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago and lives in Colorado with his wife Claire and has four older and two younger children, including a 19-year-old son with Down syndrome.

Frederick M. Misilo, Jr., Board President

Frederick M. Misilo, Jr., is the President of Fletcher Tilton PC, a regional law firm with offices in Worcester, Boston, Framingham, Cape Cod and Providence, RI. He is also Chair of the firm’s Trust and Estate Department.

Fred has over thirty-five years of experience in estate planning, estate administration, trust management, and asset protection. He specializes in complex succession planning, with extensive experience in special needs and elder law. He is admitted to practice in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Florida, and holds the designation of Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor (CTFA).

Attorney Misilo serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for Fallon Health, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit, community-focused health insurance company, as well as for The Arc US Foundation, a Washington, D.C.–based nonprofit that advances the mission of The Arc of the United States—the nation’s largest and oldest civil and human rights organization supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. His leadership roles include Past President of both The Arc of the United States and The Arc of Massachusetts, as well as former Chair of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. He served three terms on the Holden Board of Selectmen, including three years as Chair. In state government, he served as Deputy Commissioner for the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services during the Weld administration. Earlier in his career, Fred was Executive Director of Harbor Area Community Services, Inc., a Boston-based organization providing residential support to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Attorney Misilo was inducted to the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Hall of Fame in 2025; received the Key to the City of Worcester in 2025 for his lifelong contributions to advancing the interests of persons with disabilities, seniors, and others to promote their dignity and quality of life through legal advocacy; was honored as Riverview School’s 2024 Dream Maker; received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023 by ALM and Law.com; received the 2011 Joseph Andrade Award for Leadership and the 2012 Rose Pessin Memorial Award from The Arc of Massachusetts; and The Arc of Cape Cod presented him with the Arc Angel of the Year Award in 2010. Attorney Misilo has been listed in the Best Lawyers in America® yearly since 2012.

Attorney Misilo provided technical assistance, and his advocacy work was featured in Autism: Coming of Age, a PBS documentary that addressed the challenges faced by individuals with autism and their families. This documentary was chosen by judges from CBS, NPR, ABC and the PBS News Hour as the 2012 winner of the National Journalism Award from the National Institute of Health Care Management.

Katy Neas, Chief Executive Officer

Katherine (Katy) Neas is the CEO of The Arc of the United States, the largest national community-based organization advocating for and serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families. She leads The Arc’s Washington, DC-based national office and network of nearly 600 state and local chapters, which provide direct support and advocacy to more than a million people with IDD across the United States.

Katy has a deep commitment to advancing the rights and opportunities of people with disabilities, exemplified by her 35-year career spanning government, nonprofit, and association sectors. She is well known as an ally and thought leader by government officials and legislators, nonprofit providers, self-advocates, parents, and executive staff across the country. She began her career as Legislative Assistant to Senator Tom Harkin and the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Disability Policy, where she worked on the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). She then served as the Associate Director of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities, where she promoted research, education, and service initiatives to improve the lives of people with IDD and their families.

Katy spent 23 years at Easterseals, a national nonprofit that provides direct services to children and adults with disabilities and their families. She held various leadership roles, including Senior Vice President of Government Relations, where she advocated for federal and state policies and programs that benefit people with disabilities and managed the Easterseals Office of Public Affairs. She has extensive policy experience in early education, special education, employment and systems transformation for children and youth with disabilities and their families.

Prior to joining The Arc, Katy was appointed by President Joe Biden to serve as the Deputy Assistant Secretary and Acting Assistant Secretary in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services at the U.S. Department of Education. She advised U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on matters related to the education of children and adults with disabilities and led efforts to support community living, improve education and employment outcomes, and break barriers and stigmas for all people with disabilities. She also managed the Department’s extensive work in addressing the mental health crisis affecting all our nation’s youth.

Katy also has extensive experience in the association sector, having served as the Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at the 100,000 member American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). She oversaw APTA’s federal and state government public policy activities, federal regulatory affairs, grassroots and political action efforts, and public relations.

Katy, a graduate of Georgetown University and native of Des Moines, Iowa, is widely regarded for her bipartisan and collaborative work, earning her roles including Past Chair of the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities (CCD). She is honored to lead The Arc into the future, working with its dedicated staff, board, chapters, self-advocates, families, and partners to build a world where people with IDD are valued members of society who have the power to choose how they live, learn, work, and play.

Yvette Pegues (She/her/ella/disabled)

Pegues is academically trained as a Doctor of Education Leadership & Early Childhood Specialists, Doctor of Business Philosophy, and  Microsoft Certified System Engineer. She authored several IBM patents, white papers, and Redbooks in her Engineering and World Wide Program Delivery Manager roles as well as non-fiction books as educator and Diversity Practitioner. She is also a globally recognized and acclaimed DEIB (diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging) authority. As a disabled executive, she is uniquely qualified and trained to uncover equity gaps and disability barriers that organizations and people leaders cannot see.

Dawn Sweeney

A transformational business leader with decades of experience, Dawn has built a reputation for operational excellence, innovative strategic thinking, integrity, and a passionate commitment to all she undertakes. The longest-serving and first woman President & CEO of the National Restaurant Association, advancing and protecting the nation’s one million restaurants and its 15 million employees, she retired in 2019. Previously, she was President of AARP Services, the taxable business subsidiary serving AARP’s 40 million members. Currently, Dawn serves as an Executive-In-Residence at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, is a Principal at New England Consulting Group, and an independent board member of SITE Centers Corp. She is actively involved with MedStar National Rehab Hospital, The Economic Club of DC, the International Women’s Forum, and the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD). She is also an NACD Certified Director.

Carol Wheeler

Carol is the former President of The Arc of the United States Foundation, has served on The Arc’s National Board and executive committee, and during the Obama Administration, was appointed to the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities. Carol’s other volunteer work has included founding and chairing the board of the Washington Ireland Program for Service and Leadership, co-chairing the Advisory Board for N Street Village, founding and chairing the Friends of J.O. Wilson Elementary School, coordinating the D.C. program for Project Children, chairing the board of the South Africa-Washington Program and co-chairing the Washington Interfaith Network. In addition to working on Capitol Hill and in a Cabinet agency, she has served as White House Liaison for Women’s Organizations, Executive Director of the Women’s Campaign Fund, Vice President for Government Affairs at the National Association of Broadcasters, and as a consultant/lobbyist for America’s Public Television Stations.