Board of Directors

Ryan is the chief executive officer for CAE, a global software- and information-driven trading firm addressing the semiconductor market. Additionally, Ryan is a chairman of Jacob Family Holdings and serves as a director for numerous private companies. Prior to CAE, Ryan worked in venture capital and private equity at Summit Partners, Endeavour Capital and Celerity Partners. He’s a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles. Throughout his career, Ryan has been focused on investing in and helping to grow private companies and conveying those beneficial practices to non-profit organizations. Ryan’s son Grayson has Angelman syndrome.

Mike is the Chairman of Sustain.Life, a sustainability SaaS platform and also CEO of 4Sided Venture Studios.  Prior to that Mike established and ran Walmart’s artificial intelligence computer vision group while also serving on the board of GeneTx Biotherapeutics, where he had the pleasure of working with the incredible team that shepherded GTX-102 to in human trials and eventual sale to Ultragenyx.

Guy Shapira is a Partner & Senior Portfolio Manager at AS Birch Grove, an alternative credit asset management firm. Mr. Shapira leads the Opportunistic Credit across the firm and manages the multi-strategy credit hedge fund. Mr. Shapira joined Birch Grove at its inception in 2013 and led the firm’s investments in Healthcare, Technology and Business Services.

Amelia Beatty received her undergraduate degree from Wellesley College and her Master of Arts degree at Sotheby’s Institute of Art London. Amelia has lived and worked in San Francisco, Boston, London, Los Angeles, Shanghai, China; Brazzaville, Congo and Algiers, Algeria. Her diverse jobs have included catering, managing an art gallery, managing security for diplomats, and working with the U.S. Department of Defense. Amelia and her husband have three sons. Their middle son has a congenital heart defect and apraxia of speech. Their youngest son, Orion, has Angelman syndrome. Becoming fluent in French while living abroad, Amelia and her husband decided to have a bilingual family, and have largely succeeded in spite of the communication challenges with two of their children. Amelia and her family live in Amman, Jordan.

Roy received a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated magna cum laude. He is owner and corporate manager at Lafayette S.A.S., a vertically integrated, state-of-the-art, textile manufacturing and distribution company, which was founded in 1942 and has customers in 24 countries around the world. Roy grew up and lives in Bogota, Colombia. Roy has three children, his daughter Michelle has Angelman syndrome.

Kelly David, M.A., CCC-SLP, received her BS in Biology and Master of Arts degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of Central Florida. She is a member of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) and licensed in the state of Florida. She has served populations from pediatric to geriatric, with developmental and/or acquired disorders. She currently works as a clinical instructor at the University of Central Florida’s Communication Disorders Clinic. She has experience speaking at both the state and national level on topics related to self-advocacy, traumatic brain injury, and incorporating the client/caregiver voice in therapy approaches. Her most important role, however, is as mother to Colin and Madeline. Her son, Colin, lives with Angelman syndrome.

Lauren is an attorney for Dell Technologies. Lauren handles high stakes intellectual property litigation, licensing, intellectual property policy, and various legal matters for the company. Lauren also serves as a Committee Chair for Dell legal’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion efforts and is an active member of Dell’s Innovation and Assistive Technology Committee.

Lauren’s work for FAST includes policy issues, grant contracts, and future planning to help ensure FAST accomplishes its mission that all living with Angelman syndrome receive a meaningful therapeutic.

John is the owner of Frontline Commercial Real Estate, LLC, where he develops, acquires, finances, and leases retail and industrial commercial real estate. Concurrently, his manufacturing business, Keder Solutions LLC, designs, manufactures, and distributes textile reinforcement products internationally. Prior to this, John led his family business to become the largest manufacturer and installer of temporary structures. A few notable clients include Walt Disney World, NFL/Super Bowl, IMG/New York Fashion Week, and the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. John’s daughter Grace has Angelman syndrome.

Karly currently serves as the Vice President of External Affairs for Comcast’s Midwest Region. In this role Karly oversees the company’s government affairs, community investment and public affairs for a four state region that includes MN, WI, KS and MO. For over a decade Karly has represented the dynamic interests of this leading communications company before city, county, and state governments and promoted and grew the business through strategic relationships, effective advocacy, and constructive negotiations. Karly has also built strong community partnerships to increase investment towards programs focused on increasing digital equity.

Nora resides in Seattle, Washington, and has worked in strategic marketing positions for fortune 100 companies. Nora has over 20 years of experience in building brand and products, and have led large scale marketing campaign launches in $10B+ businesses. She is a graduate of the University of Waterloo in Canada. Nora brings 20 years of extensive marketing experience with a background in creative marketing, storytelling, strategic partnerships and community engagement to the FAST Board of Directors. Nora’s daughter, Arbor, has Angelman syndrome.

Paula earned a Bachelor of Science degree in architectural technology from the New York Institute of Technology. Her career focused on residential and commercial property management in both Manhattan and Chicago. Paula oversaw the management and title transfer of multimillion-dollar properties, and handled all property negotiations, purchasing, construction/renovation projects and staff supervision. Her portfolio contained some of the highest-profile buildings and entities in the above-mentioned cities. Paula has two children. Her daughter, Ainsley, has Angelman syndrome.