Staff Members

 

April Pinch-Keeler
President/CEO
April Pinch-Keeler has been managing and directing services for people with disabilities for more than 20 years. Her passion for service was honed before she even graduated high school and led her to complete a master’s certificate program in research development and independent living.

She has been with MVLE, Inc. for 17 years and is the President and CEO. MVLE is an internationally accredited agency providing daily work opportunities and rehabilitation services to over 630 adults with disabilities in more than 200 metro area organizations. April has provided overall supervision and direction of the agency’s services, programs, and legislative initiatives since 2007, and has established it as a competitive leader in the field with revenues growing from 5.6 million to 14 million. She has also forged a U.S. Department of Defense mentor-protégé agreement with Northrop Grumman to help develop their infrastructure and federal contracts to provide employment opportunities for people with disabilities. She is currently focused on building sustainability through new business initiatives like Ability Nation Scentsations™ and forging new partnerships to diversify revenues.

Former Speaker of the House and General Chairman of American Solutions, Newt Gingrich, recently honored her as American Solutions’ 2009 Entrepreneur of the Year from Virginia for “advancing real solutions to help create more jobs and get our economy moving again.” MVLE received the Greater Springfield Chamber's 2010 Corporate Citizen Award and Ms. Keeler was named Woman of The Year by the National Association of Professional Women. She was named Elon University’s Hometown Hero in 2008 for her years of service and advocacy and now provides internship opportunities for their Leadership Fellows Group. She also thrives in her role as Legislative Chair for vaACCSES and intends to keep public policy in the forefront to assert the civil rights of all people, regardless of ability, to employment and services.


Kenan Aden
Sr. Vice President Programs
Kenan has over 15 years of experience managing rehabilitation programs for people living with disabilities. He has been instrumental in MVLE business operations, development of rehabilitation programs and employment development for individuals served at MVLE. Kenan has developed and implemented infrastructure, customer service, and regulatory compliance changes that have significantly increased quality of services and program capacities at MVLE. He knows and lives the MVLE mission. 
 
   Ken Rush 
VP of Contracts and Business Development
Ken has been with MVLE Inc for 2 years. He is currently holding the position of VP of Contracts and Business Development and has built a strong business development team. Ken has been working with community rehabilitation program throughout Virginia since 1998. Previously, his career focused on sales, marketing and business development.


Kary Jordan Klein, SPHR
Sr. Director of Administration
Ms. Klein brings 20 years of Human Resource experience with her, along with 13 years of business ownership, franchise and property management expertise and organizational knowledge. Her background includes numerous awards such as 2006 Entrepreneur of the Year, Chattanooga, TN., finalist for an Athena Award, Lucy Bomar Award for Excellence, 1993 Property Supervisor of the Year, Chicago, IL., and Passion For Excellence and Teamwork awards from prior positions.
  
Michelle Lotrecchiano
Sr. Director of Rehab Program Compliance
Michelle has been with MVLE for 12 years. In November of 1999 she joined MVLE as a Rehabilitation Specialist for the Center-Based program, and a few years later was promoted to Asst. Director and has grown into the current position as the Director of Rehab Program Compliance. Michelle has a wide range of experience and knowledge that she is able to share with all the services that MVLE provides.

Robert Peres, Esq.
Sr. Director of Corporate Communications
Robert has been working in senior roles in marketing, business development and communications for 16 years. His main focus in recent years were international law firms, but he also led the marketing efforts of a large commercial real estate firm in Florida. Prior to this career he was a lawyer in the area of labor law in Germany and advised companies on transactional communications. Before joining MVLE in 2011, Robert was President of Robert Peres Consulting LLC and advised law firms as well as professional services companies, banks and insurance providers in all areas of communications and marketing.
 
 Paige Coffey
 Executive Assistant to April Pinch-Keeler 
Paige recently joined the MVLE family in the fall 2010. Paige comes from a diverse background from working as an Assistant for the homeless to assisting in multimillion dollar commercial real estate deals. Paige has over a decade of experience assisting at the executive level and brings additional talents to MVLE, with her background in professional theater and the visual arts. Her previous employer was ArtStream, where she discovered her true calling for working in many capacities furthering the enrichment of the lives of persons with disabilities.  
 

Board Member Biographies

Frank Doe has been a MVLE Board Member since 1996. He currently serves as Treasurer and member of the Finance Committee and Audit Committee. He has been Chairman of the Board previously. Frank’s expertise in financial planning has provided a wealth of information to MVLE over the years and has contributed to the growth of MVLE’s finance department, as well.

Joe Apa is the past Chairman of MVLE’s Board of Directors and serves on the Finance Committee. Joe has served on the Board of Directors since 1993. As Vice Chair, Joe brings a solid financial perspective to the Board and uses his expertise to analyze, evaluate and recommend sound financial business decisions to benefit the agency. Joe is also a senior Board Member with a great deal of historical knowledge that is beneficial when making current board decisions and sharing this knowledge with newer Board Members.

Mark Beerthius has been a member of the Board of Directors since July 2006. He serves as the Executive Secretary and chairs the Board Governance Committee. Mark is a retired Army Colonel with extensive experience in financial and program management. He had a second career in the Defense Industry where he specialized in program analysis and financial planning. Mark is active in his church and community and enjoys cycling and hiking.

Scott Mendelson Scott Mendelson has been on the Board of Directors for nearly 5 years helping MVLE’s business development and fundraising efforts. He has also been involved in helping other nonprofit organizations including MDA and Susan G. Komen. Mr. Mendelson helped formed a real estate and advisory company, EDGE Commercial, in 2007 with a primary focus on developing corporate advisory services for companies headquartered here in the Washington DC Region.

Karen Roberson has been a member of the Board of Directors since October 1998 and is presently a member of the Legislative Committee. Having a son who benefits from MVLE’s programs and services, Karen has been active in the social services field as a parent, advocate, and spokesperson for over 35 years. She brings a variety of experiences, not only as a parent, but also as a business person, to the Board.

Gay Shane has been a member of the Board of Directors since January 2004. She is currently the Chairman of the Board as well as the head of the Human Resources Committee and has been an invaluable advisor on security issues for MVLE. She has taken over the chair position from Joe Apa in October 2011. Gay has 17 years experience in physical and information security and 22 years experience in Human Resources and Administration and for 10 years was Director of Security and Administration for a local Government contractor. She also has more than 20 years of non-profit board experience. She completed the UMC Board of Global Ministries Community of Shalom Training and was instrumental in developing the 501c3 Community of Shalom Initiative along the Route 1 corridor. 


Paul Seigle has been a Board Member since October 2004. Paul is currently the Chairperson of the IT Committee. Paul has provided the agency’s IT department with valuable information pertaining to managing and operating the IT system.

 
John Pellegrin  has been a member of the Board of Directors since the Fall of 2010 and has become actively involved with MVLE’s outreach mission and building even stronger relationships within the local, county and state-wide communities. He comes to MVLE with some 40 years’ legal experience, and is a member of other area/community Boards. These include the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce (GSCC) (Board & Past President); West Springfield Rotary Club Board/Membership Chair; Commissioner, Fairfax County Small Business Commission; and Springfield Golf & Country Club (Past President/Board). He also works with the Women’s Business Center/Community Business Partnership in its Incubator Program.

John has been honored by the GSCC with its Corporate Citizen of the Year Award, Membership Award, Prism Award for Leadership, and has received a Leadership Fairfax Benchmark 500 Award. 


Brittany Wismer has been a member of the Board of Directors since June 2010. She has been a member of the Finance and Audit committees and is now Vice Chair of MVLE.
Brittany has experience in business development, networking, banking, customer service, and prides herself on her ability to connect people. She is a native of Northern Virginia and feels that serving her community is of great importance. Brittany is also on the board of the Tower Club's Young Executives Society and on the Future Fund of Northern Virginia's Grants Committee. Brittany is an alumni of Virginia Tech with a B.S. in Biological Sciences and a minor in Business.

Carl Ericson became a member of the MVLE Board of Directors in 2008 and is chair of the legislative committee of the MVLE board. Carl has extensive experience in the fields of corporate communications, journalism, public affairs, media and public relations. He also has experience in crisis communications and branding.

Brigadier General (Retired) Jimmie C. “JJ” Jackson, Jr., has been a member of the Board of Directors since March 2011. JJ has more than 33 years of experience in military operations, having commanded Air Force units at the squadron, group and wing levels and NATO levels. He retired from active duty in 2009 as the Commandant, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. JJ earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing from Texas A&M University, and Masters of Science Degrees from Troy State University and the National War College. He also completed the “Building a High-Performance Minority Business Course” at Tuck Business School, Dartmouth College Hanover, NH; the Center for Creative Leadership Program, San Diego, California; the National Security Management Course at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, New York; and the Multi-National Crisis Management Course, the NATO School, Oberammergau, Germany. JJ was recognized as one of the Top Hispanics in the US Military in 2008 and 2009 by the Hispanic Engineer and Information Technology Magazine. He also served on the Advisory Committee for Joint Forces Quarterly.


Luis A. Corrales has been a member of MVLE’s Board of Directors since August 2011 and is actively involved in business development and fundraising efforts. Luis has extensive experience in financial planning, risk management, banking, and wealth management. He is a proven leader in the Hispanic business community serving on the Membership Committee for the Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and on the Spanish Catholic Center’s Advisory Council. He earned his B.S. in International Finance from the Kogod School of Business at American University.