Board of Directors

PEATC is governed by a culturally and geographically diverse Board that includes a majority membership of parents of children with a full range of disabilities. Members also include professionals in related fields, self-advocates, university representatives, legal and business experts.

If you are interested in joining the board of directors, please complete this form and email it to board@peatc.org or mail to:

PEATC
403 Holiday Court, Suite 104
Warrenton, VA 20186

Silke Douglass

Board Chair

Silke Marisela Douglass serves as Director of the Office of Compliance Initiatives at the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, DC. As Director, she provides leadership and support to the Department's enforcement agencies, advancing the expansion and development of innovative and effective approaches to worker outreach and employer compliance assistance. Silke is passionate about deploying customer experience and human centered design principles and practices to educate vulnerable and historically marginalized and underserved worker populations about their federal labor rights. 

 

Silke’s career includes more than 15 years in public service. She previously served as Chief of the Office of Program Policy Evaluation at the Mine Safety and Health Administration where she worked to protect the health and safety of coal miners across the country. She also worked as an assistant audit director at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General where she led audits of departmental programs, including the Federal Black Lung Benefits Program. Prior to her career at the U.S. Department of Labor, Silke worked as a consultant at Deloitte and in quality assurance at the American Red Cross in the San Francisco Bay Area.

 

Silke currently serves on the Board of Directors of the City of Fairfax Theatre Company as Community Outreach and Volunteer Chair. She had the privilege of filling the role of assistant producer of the theatre company’s intergenerational production of Shrek The Musical in the summer of 2022. Silke is also a member of the diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility committee at The Little Theatre of Alexandria. Her other volunteer efforts include serving as a research and curatorial fellow at The Historic Sydenstricker Schoolhouse and in horticultural services at the National Gallery of Art. 

 

Silke holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Rutgers College where she was a Henry Rutgers Scholar and has a Master’s in Public Administration from Cornell University.

 

Silke lives in West Springfield with her husband, David, and sons, Dax and Kai. They have two dogs, Quib and Dusty, a goldendoodle and a plott hound. 

Tiffany Brutus, Board Member

Tiffany Brutus​

Vice Chair ​

Tiffany Brutus is an Assistant Director of Student-Athlete Services at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where she provides and coordinates academic support, leadership and career development for the JMU student-athlete population. She is a two time graduate of James Madison University earning B.S. and M.S. degree in Health Sciences. Currently, Tiffany is pursuing a Ph.D. in Strategic Leadership at JMU. She resides in the city of Harrisonburg with her husband; together they have three children one with dyslexia. Tiffany serves on the local Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) of Harrisonburg City Public Schools. She is also a NCHEC Certified Health Education Specialist and has a passion for preventative health in addition to her interests in advocacy, education, leadership and organizational development.

Christina Harrison

Secretary

Christina Harrison is a native of Lynchburg, Virginia. She owns a small therapy agency that provides early intervention services to infants, toddlers and their families in the Central Virginia, Roanoke Valley, and south west regions of Virginia. Christy has over 12 years of experience working with children ages 0-3 and 7 years of experience working with children with special needs ages 3-6 years old in a classroom setting. Christy has been married for 23 years and is the mother of 4 boys, twins age 20, an 18 year old, and an 11 year old.

She received her B.S. in Psychology and Special Education as well as her M.Ed. in Special Education with concentration in Early Childhood Special Education from the University of Lynchburg (previously Lynchburg College). Christy is currently working on her M.S. in Vision Impairments from Radford University and her Ed.D. from Liberty University in Community Care and Counseling. She is also working on her Virginia Infant Mental Health endorsement. Christy serves on the Highlands Community Services Board and the Virginia Inter agency Coordinating Counsel.

Her passion is to help educate parents on their rights, to help them support their children in their educational journey, to support individuals with disabilities in learning how to advocate for themselves, and to coach families and caregivers in teaching all young children.

Zipporah Levi-Shackleford

Treasurer

Dr. Zipporah Levi-Shackleford is the Founder of and the Behavior & Education Consultant for Creative Approach Development Center in Richmond, VA. Inspired by her experiences of being a special needs sibling and parent she is a strong advocate in the fields of disability, mental health, and education. She assists individuals and families with setting up systems and learning new skills to overcome challenges and behaviors that interfere with reaching goals and increasing independence. She also provides training to businesses and organizations to help them better understand how to support people with disabilities and mental health impairments and those who support them.

Zipporah has a Doctorate in education and certifications in Positive Behavior Supports, Disability Leadership, and Autism Spectrum Disorders. She has spoken and trained across the country on these topics and serves as the Secretary for the Arc of Virginia Board of Directors, Chair for the Parent to Parent USA DEI Task force and Board Treasurer, and Chair for the PAIMI Committee and Board Member for the Disability Law Center of Virginia.

Richard “Rick” Bowmaster

Dr. Rick Bowmaster has 42 years of experience in public education. He has served as a special education teacher and a general education teacher in grades K-4th.  He was an elementary principal, a K-12 education specialist, deputy superintendent, and a superintendent of schools. He has worked in rural, suburban, and urban school settings. He served as a state-level coach for the Virginia Tiered Systems of Support at Virginia Commonwealth University. Currently, he is the Special Education Parent Resource Coordinator for the Williamsburg/James City County School Division.

Service to the community is a vital part of life. Rick has served as the Chair of the Eastern Shore Chapter of the South Hampton Roads Boys and Girls Club. He served four years on the Eastern Shore Literacy Council, a non-profit devoted to teaching adults to read, with last two years as President. In both settings, he wrote grants and promoted fundraising to support the non-profit organizations.

Melissa Chabot

Melissa has worked in the field of higher education for over twenty years. She is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Interim Associate Dean at Northern Virginia Community College’s Annandale Campus. In this role, she provides administrative support to faculty and students in the Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Division. She has served on many committees at NOVA where she worked with diverse teams toward a shared goal. She believes actions speak louder than words and demonstrates this with strong advocacy on campus. She has advocated for women at NOVA by creating more lactation spaces and advocating for free menstrual products. She has also advocated for neurodivergent students by offering professional development around neurodiversity to the NOVA community, in addition to offering executive functioning skills workshops to students. She currently serves as the faculty adviser to the Neurodiversity Club.

Originally from Belchertown, Massachusetts, she earned a B.S. in Business from Bay Path University, an M.A. in Communication Sciences from the University of Connecticut, a graduate certificate in Autism Studies from George Mason University, and is currently completing coursework in the Master of Education in Special Education, also at George Mason University. She is committed to equity and accessibility for all students but is particularly passionate about advocating for students with disabilities and advancing inclusive pedagogies.

John Kelly, Board Member

John Kelly

Mr. Kelly most recently served as SourceAmerica’s Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy. SourceAmerica is a non-profit organization that maintains a network of more than 700 other non-profits employing over 80,000 people with significant disabilities. John joined SourceAmerica in 2001, and he leveraged his extensive background in disability policy to ensure that individuals with disabilities had a strong voice on Capitol Hill.

Prior to assuming his current role as President, John worked in several SourceAmerica divisions including regional and national operations. John is currently the president of Workability International, an organization connecting nonprofits and businesses across the globe that champion rights and opportunities for people with disabilities. He served as chair of the Prince William County Special Education Advisory Committee and chair of the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities (Virginia’s gubernatorial appointed Developmental Disabilities Council).

John has also held leadership positions at Borders Books, PepsiCo and spent three years teaching English in Japan. Originally from Maryland, he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Deanna Rennon

Deanna Rennon is a mother of four children who currently works in the role of operations officer for a statewide community-based agency in Virginia that serves people with developmental disabilities and behavioral health needs.Deanna holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Mary Washington. She has several years of experience working as a case manager, coordinating and implementing service plans for children and adults with Behavioral Health needs, Autism, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities. She also served two and a half years in the United States Army as a medic. When she is not working, she enjoys time spent with her family outdoors, at the beach, boating, reading, and running. Deanna always defines her why/purpose in what she seeks to accomplish, and much of her time is spent advocating at the local and state level. Her advocacy is not only for her youngest daughter who has a rare genetic disorder, but for all people in the state that experience different forms of disabilities. She is passionate and a strong advocate.

Rhonda Tabor

Image and bio coming soon