Meet Our Board Of Directors
Alicia Wopat
President
Alicia is a resident of Monkton Maryland. She is an advocate for those with developmental disabilities working to ensure happy and fulfilling lives. Alicia began working with SDAN in 2016 and currently serves as Board President. She also serves as a Board Member with Pathfinders for Autism beginning in 2015. She has a background in Real Estate as well as finance and investments. She excels at research and thoughtful and creative solutions to problem solving.
Patti Saylor
Vice President
Patti is the proud mother of three adult children, Emma, Adam and the late Ethan Saylor. Her oldest son, Ethan was a 26 year young man with down syndrome who tragically lost his life during an interaction with law enforcement officers in a movie theater in Frederick County in January 2013. Patti continues her advocacy in Maryland and throughout the country to improve relationships and interactions between first responders and individuals with disabilities.
Patti has served on many national, state and local boards, committees and councils during her 30 plus years of advocacy and looks forward to working as a SDAN Board member to further the vision of Self Direction in Maryland.
Athena Elliott
Board Secretary
Athena Elliott is a retired chief compliance officer with 38 years of federal service with DHHS/Indian Health Service. Her experience includes designing internal auditing programs and oversight activities to assess clinical and administrative risk management. She has held federal positions at all service levels, including IHS headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, and supporting regional work in California, New Mexico, Arizona and Oklahoma.
Athena is experienced in analyzing and identifying national and local systemic changes needed to improve the quality of health care services delivered to underserved and vulnerable, special populations.
Peter Mattes
Board Treasurer
Sunny Cefaratti
Board Member
Sunny Cefaratti has been a resident of Annapolis Maryland since 1988. She is the co-founder of the non-profit organization, The Musical Autist. She is an Autistic Self-Advocate and mentor to others on the autism spectrum. Sunny is also an active member of the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council. Sunny is a performing pianist and vocalist who plays at local nursing homes and assisted living facilities and community events. Sunny was born in South Korea, completely blind, and was adopted by her family in the US at 2 years of age. She was diagnosed with autism in 2001. She is a graduate of Maryland School for the Blind.
Sunny’s support broker connected her to SDAN and she has been attending meetings since August of 2018. Sunny is committed to help other participants be active members in their community and make others aware of Self- Directed Services.
Samantha Ferraro
Board Member
Samantha is a Learning and Development Leader with extensive experience supporting person-centered programs across healthcare and human services. With a background in psychology and over a decade of work supporting individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities, she is dedicated to advancing inclusion, independence, and quality of life for others.
Samantha is excited to apply her leadership and training expertise to promote self-determination, equity, and meaningful choice for all people receiving self-directed services and the community of SDAN.
Jessica Gallatin
Board Member
I joined the SDAN Board with a personal mission to strengthen Maryland’s self-direction system and ensure that individuals like my twin sister can live full, self-determined lives. Known for my deep understanding of the policies, people, and practices that shape disability services in Maryland, I bring both heart and precision to my advocacy work.
I have spent years walking alongside my sister, learning, adapting, and speaking up for what makes life meaningful and fair. I am also a busy, single mom of three, juggling family life, advocacy, and the daily realities that so many Maryland families face. I bring a grounded, lived perspective to the SDAN board, someone who understands the challenges, celebrates the wins, and continues to learn right alongside the people I support. I want my voice to reflect both experience and common sense, reminding those that self-direction isn’t just a system, it’s a journey.
Lynne Gummo
Board Member
Lynne Gummo has been actively advocating for those with developmental differences primarily in the Montgomery and Frederick Counties of Maryland. Lynne’s daughter, Danielle began self-directed services in 2018 after receiving services from a local service provider. Lynne has hands on experience in understanding the processes, administrative requirements and challenges in aligning self-directed services to the actual needs of individuals with disabilities when choosing to live an independent life with a supportive environment.
Lynne has a CPA background and has worked with Not for Profits and Boards. She is a current board member of Ryans Place and served as a past board member of Potomac Community Resources.
Lynne looks forward to continuing to make an impact for those who are considering self direction as well as those already participating by understanding what is working and not working in our community and to address what it really takes to support an individual to live independently and address the sustainability of self direction for a participant.
Kimberlie Manns
Board Member
Kimberlie Manns is a dynamic telecommunications entrepreneur, commercial business consultant, and certified Support Broker. As the owner of two minority-owned companies and a graduate of the Clark Construction Contracting and Bidding Program, she brings strategic insight and technical mastery to every endeavor.
Kimberlie is a recognized advocate for Maryland’s IDD community, blending lived experience with policy expertise to drive systemic change. Her work spans business leadership, compliance innovation, and participant-centered advocacy, all grounded in transparency, equity, and empowerment.
Beth Munro
Board Member
Beth Munro is a life long resident of Montgomery County and mom to three adult children. Her youngest, Caroline, has self-directed her DDA services since 2015. Caroline lives independently with the assistance of a Housing Choice Voucher, and the supports she needs to be happy and safe in her home and community. Beth has a background in individual and systems advocacy dating back to 2001 upon completion of Partners in Policymaking. Her current passions include person-centered planning, ensuring that funding is available to meet the needs and goals of individuals using DDA funded services, as well as a commitment to the vision and mission of SDAN.
Stephanie Watkins
Board Member
Stephanie is passionate about helping every person live the life of their choosing and assisting them to gain the support necessary to live independent and meaningful lives. Her passion to advocate for and support individuals with special needs stems from all that she has learned from her oldest son, who although non-verbal, has much to say. She has worked in the disability field for the past 20 years and as a support broker for the past 5. She loves spending time with her husband and four amazing adult children, boating, kayaking, and doing DIY projects.
Eldon Windyboy
Board Member
My journey into advocacy has been life-long. I have been actively involved in my older sister’s care, who has severe disabilities, for many years. When COVID-19 reshaped our lives, and my family rallied around her needs, I became more involved in self-directed services to support her. That experience opened my eyes to how fulfilling it is to help others in similar situations and inspired me to continue doing so through broader means with SDAN. I’ve been a certified support broker in Maryland, and I’m passionate about empowering families and amplifying the voices of people with disabilities and to ensure their choice and control is supported and respected. Being part of SDAN leadership allows me to keep making a difference and contribute to a mission that means a great deal to me.
The skills I bring to the Board include lived experience as a person with Asperger’s Syndrome, a life-long caregiver, and also my personal interests and abilities that include the following: I have a college degree and I am a certified audio engineer; a musician who enjoys working on digital archival projects and security research. In my free time, I like to design video games, photography, social media expertise, and exploring new ways to blend creativity with technology. These skills help promote awareness to a broader audience of a too-often unseen population with special needs and abilities.