Board of Directors

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Our Board of Directors is passionate about improving the lives of individuals and families affected by Okur-Chung Neurodevelopmental Syndrome (“OCNDS”). They have been charged with diving deep into their rolodexes to help us accomplish our goals and objectives. Their expertise in their individual fields will help us achieve our goals. We have some lofty but realistic goals that will be achieved with hard work, determination and strategic fundraising. More importantly, these goals also can’t be achieved without our OCNDS community collaborating and working as one. Our Parent Advisory Board (“PAB”) plays a vital role in ensuring the patient voice is heard and represented in all aspects of our foundation. Our PAB advises our Board of Directors, brainstorms ideas and shares insights from the parent perspective related to OCNDS.

Jennifer Sills

Jennifer Sills is the President and Founder of the CSNK2A1 Foundation. She was inspired to become an advocate for individuals and families affected by Okur-Chung Neurodevelopmental Syndrome (“OCNDS”) following the 2016 diagnosis of her daughter, Juliet (“Jules”).


For years, Jennifer and her family searched for a diagnosis to better explain the symptoms plaguing Jules since birth; some symptoms were similar to Autism while others were inexplicably different. With so few available explanations, the search to find ways to help Jules was an isolating and heartrending one. But in 2016, with the help of breakthroughs in the science of genetic testing, Jules was diagnosed with OCNDS, a rare genetic syndrome. At the time, Jennifer only knew of 5 other patients with OCNDS. Jennifer was determined to figure out how to further OCNDS research as well as find and support individuals with OCNDS. In 2018, Jen and her husband Jason launched the CSNK2A1 Foundation.


Prior to her work with the CSNK2A1 Foundation, Jennifer worked as an Estate Planning and Tax Attorney, advising local non-profit organizations on planned giving and fundraising. Jennifer is active in her own community and in other nonprofit organizations. She serves as a Board Member for BOK Ranch, a non-profit organization providing therapeutic horseback riding for clients with special needs. She also serves on the West Coast Advisory Council for the Child Mind Institute, an independent, national nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of children and families struggling with mental health and learning disorders. She is a founding board member of the Live Like Leo Foundation, a non-profit foundation dedicated to giving young minds and their families opportunities to become global citizens, empowering them to lead their communities with compassion and inclusion in order to create a kinder and more connected world. She is also a member of the Simons Searchlight Community Advisory Committee (CAC) which advises and guides research and community activities on behalf of all Simons Searchlight participants and gene groups.


Jennifer received a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and her J.D. from Pepperdine University. She currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, Jason, their 2 children and their mini zoo consisting of 2 cats and 2 dogs.
Kathryn O'Connor Garner

Kathryn O'Connor Gardner


Kate is a public and private markets investor with 25+ years of experience across distressed credit, private equity, and venture capital. She is a General Partner and member of the Investment Committee at Kilonova Capital, which is a value-oriented, growth capital provider, focused on delivering structured financing solutions to category-defining deep technology companies.


Prior to joining Kilonova, Kate helped launch Livello Capital, a fund focusing on deep value, event-driven situations. In her role as Managing Director at Livello, she invested in global companies with headquarters across North America, South America, Europe and Asia.  Kate was one of three members of senior management that managed a roughly $250 million portfolio.


Prior to launching Livello Capital, Kate was a Senior Vice President and Corporate Credit Research Analyst within AllianceBernstein’s high-yield research group, focusing on the energy sector. She oversaw all energy-related investments for traditional high yield portfolios with $35 billion in assets under management. She was also an Investment Committee Member for the Energy Opportunity Funds at AllianceBernstein. Prior to joining AllianceBernstein in 2016, Kathryn was a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank where she covered industries including energy, automotive and aerospace & defense.


Kate’s Wall Street experience spans more than 25 years, and she also has experience serving as an advisor for startups on strategy, financial analysis and capital market transactions. She was profiled by Forbes as a working parent, champion of workplace diversity, and advisor to diverse founders. Her valuable experience in the finance industry enables her to provide broad financial and investor expertise as Chairman of the Board (GSE Systems (Ticker: GVP), as Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee (GSE Systems (Ticker: GVP) & Hesperos Inc (private)), as a member of the Compensation Committee GSE Systems (Ticker: GVP), and on the Audit Committee where she also serves as a financial expert (GSE Systems (Ticker: GVP) & Hesperos Inc (private)).


Education: Bachelor of Science from University of California, Berkeley in Economics and Bachelor of Arts University of California, Berkeley in Business Administration
Catherine Landers

Catherine Landers


Catherine Landers is an advocate and attorney with more than 20+ years’ experience in policy, communications, community engagement, and management. She is currently serving as Housing and Homelessness deputy for Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, where her portfolio includes homelessness policy, housing capital projects, tenant protections, and related legislation. 


Recently, Catherine led legislative affairs for the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) managing a team of federal, state, and local policy analysts. She also previously worked for the City of Los Angeles, overseeing Councilmember David Ryu’s homelessness initiatives and policy. In 2015, Catherine worked as an Honored Guest Manager for the Special Olympics World Games, the largest sporting event held in Los Angeles since the 1984 Olympics. 


Catherine has held senior roles on numerous electoral and advocacy campaigns at the federal, state, and local levels, working to effectuate positive change and to uplift the voices of those often overlooked and marginalized. 


Catherine received a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley and a J.D. from American University, Washington College of Law. She lives with her partner Steve and their cat in Los Angeles.
Jennifer Allen

Jennifer Allen is a Senior Director in the Data & Analytics group of the FTI Consulting’s Forensic and Litigation Consulting segment and is based in Chicago.   Ms. Allen has more than fifteen years of litigation advisory experience, working in areas of complex data analysis, financial investigation, forensic accounting, anti-money laundering, litigation support, health care compliance review, data warehousing, insurance claim calculation and financial auditing.  Ms. Allen specializes in bringing together large, disparate data sets to perform complex analysis on financial records.  Ms. Allen has also consulted in a performance improvement capacity with distressed companies looking to increase profitability and cash flow.  Ms. Allen has experience in a wide range of industries, including financial services, telecommunications, government, entertainment, insurance, food service, and health care.  Ms. Allen previously worked at Arthur Andersen and KPMG prior to joining FTI Consulting.  Ms. Allen is graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Haas School of Business, with a B.S. in Business Administration. Ms. Allen is an active member of, and mentor in, the volunteer organization Partnership to Educate and Advance Kids (“PEAK”) which provides four-year scholarships to a private Chicago high school to academically average students with untapped potential throughout the city of Chicago.
Francesca DeMartino

Francesca DeMartino

Senior Vice President, Chief Investor Relations Officer, Pfizer Inc.


Francesca has nearly 25+ years of combined experience in Investor Relations, Communications, and Corporate Finance. She has counseled more than 25 private and public healthcare companies and C-level executives. She most recently held the position of Senior Vice President, Head of Investor Relations at BD (Becton Dickinson) (NYSE: BDX). Prior to BD she was Vice President, Investor Relations at Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT). During her tenure at Medtronic, she was also Vice President, Corporate Communications and Vice President, Global Communications for the Diabetes Group. Prior to joining Medtronic, Francesca held positions of increasing responsibility at Johnson & Johnson, OMRIX Biopharmaceuticals, Macrocure Ltd, GCI Group and The Ruth Group. 


Francesca began her career at Alex. Brown & Sons (now Deutsche Bank) as a Financial Analyst in the Health Care Investment Banking Group. Her accomplishments include: recognition by IR Magazine as "Best Overall Investor Relations" and "Best Investor Relations: Healthcare" in 2021.  While at OMRIX, she developed and led the IR function, which achieved "#1 Aftermarket Performance Among 2006 Healthcare IPO's" and "#2 Aftermarket Performance Among 2006 IPO's Across All Industries".  She was also part of the Senior Management Team that completed a secondary offering, sale, and integration of OMRIX into Johnson & Johnson. Additionally, Francesca built and led Macrocure's Investor Relations function through its Initial Public Offering, and its increased liquidity, broadened investor base, and returns of 40% from IPO. Lastly, she contributed to the Investor Relations program and $1.1B sale of Sirna Therapeutics to Merck & Co and she led Corporate Communications for Johnson & Johnson's $4B divestiture of Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, which at the time was their largest divestiture to date. 


Ms. DeMartino is of Mexican and Italian descent and is a native Spanish and English speaker. She holds a B.A. in International and Area Studies from the University of California, Berkeley and a minor in Business Administration from the Walter A. Haas School of Business. She was also Visiting Student at Barnard College and Columbia University. Francesca, her husband David, and their English Bulldog, Sofia reside in New York City.
Dr. Elizabeth

Dr. Elizabeth “Libbie” Prescott works at the intersection of science, technology, and policy at the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. Previously, Libbie was a Professor of the Practice for the Science, Technology and International Affairs program in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Libbie has served in government at the Department of State, Department of Defense, and the intelligence community as well as the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions as an AAAS S&T Policy Congressional Fellow working for the Health Office of Senator Edward M. Kennedy.


Outside of government Libbie worked as Practice Head for Biosecurity at the Eurasia Group; a Research Fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies-US; a Mirzayan Fellow at the National Academy of Science’s Board on Science, Technology & Economic Policy; and consulted for the Strategy Division of the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. Libbie has been on the Steering Committee for the Aspen Institute’s Socrates Program and is a former Council on Foreign Relations Term Member; Center for New American Security Next Generation National Security Leader; German Marshall Fund Young Strategist; GPPi Global Governance Futures Fellow 2027; and Truman National Security Project Fellow.


Libbie has her doctorate in molecular biology from the University of Oxford, Balliol College and dual degrees with high honors in Economics and Molecular & Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley. As a recovering scientist, in her downtime Libbie enjoys scuba diving and the challenges of urban gardening.
Sarah Ghavim

Sarah Ghavim 


Sarah Ghavim is a seasoned brand marketing and strategy leader with over 25 years of experience in CPG, Toys, Food, Beverage, Retail, B2B, Fashion and Entertainment.  She has transformed big ideas into tangible products, experiences and promotions for industry leaders like Mattel, Fisher-Price, IHOP and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.  Over the years, her products and campaigns have garnered many awards including Gold, Silver, and Bronze Effies, NRN's innovation awards, and Neilsen's Menu Innovation awards.  Sarah is currently a marketing consultant for new and growing brands.


Sarah earned her BA in Sociology and Mass Communications from UC Berkeley, and her MBA in Marketing and International Business from NYU Stern School of Business.  She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, son and two dogs.
Jamie Miller

Jamie Miller is an accomplished leader and operator with experience across various industries from start-ups to the Fortune 100. She recently founded Orchard Lake Group, a consulting practice focused on optimizing operational efficiency, streamlining processes, improving productivity, reducing costs, and enhancing overall performance for businesses. Prior to this, Jamie managed a third-party logistics portfolio at Amazon, overseeing a network of delivery service partners accounting for over $1 billion in annual revenue. She has held dynamic operational roles in sectors including digital advertising, SaaS technology, fintech, and real estate.


Jamie is a dedicated mentor, advocate for women in technology and business, and an active investor in female-led venture capital opportunities. In addition to her professional accomplishments, she is an enthusiastic supporter and fan of the University of Michigan, where she and her husband are alumni. Jamie calls New York City home, where she is actively involved with her children's schools. Notably, she took the initiative to establish and manage a private bus service, ensuring the safe and reliable transportation of students and saving fellow parents countless hours of commuting. Her dedication has led to a partnership with the local Department of Education and Transportation, aiming to expand these services school-wide.
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