NWACS Board

About the NWACS Board

NWACS is run completely on volunteer power! Scroll down to read about our amazing volunteers who make this organization possible.

“Many hands make light work.” We are growing and need more help! All incoming board members receive mentorship and support from fellow board members. We are actively seeking AAC Users, BIPOC, and other marginalized individuals. Click here to explore our open positions. We would love to have you!

Have a question, an idea or request, simply want to connect, or want to get involved? Send us an email.

Learn about Board Member benefits, expectations, and responsibilities

“NWACS is a community rooted in the belief that everyone deserves meaningful access to communication – and information about communication. As president, I’m proud to support work that presumes potential, values multimodal communication, and centers accessibility, learning, and shared growth. The debut of our new website doubles down on our commitment to ensure this information is freely available to all who need it.”

Jo Ristow

President, NWACS

Current Board Members

SLP means ‘speech-language pathologist’; OT means ‘occupational therapist’

President

Jo Ristow, SLP (she/they)

Jo is a speech-language pathologist based out of Seattle and owner of Chat NW. She also serves as a part-time lecturer at the University of Washington. She has 12+ years of experience in the field with a specialty in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). Jo has worked and consulted across multiple settings including outpatient therapy, Autism Centers, birth-to-three centers, schools, inpatient units, and private practices. Her passion is supporting those who use AAC to

connect with the people important to them,
advocate for the things that are important to them, and
communicate in the environments that are important to them.

She presumes potential and emphasizes multi-modal communication. She also strives to provide neurodiversity-affirming, anti-ableist supports and education. The work and joy of communication is meant to be shared! Jo lives in Seattle with her partner and two children. She spends her (rather scarce) free time reading, hiking, rock collecting, and learning.

Vice President

Molly Menzie, SLP (she/her)

Molly graduated with a master’s degree in speech-language pathology from the University of Utah in 2012. She is a bilingual pediatric SLP. She works in outpatient pediatric and early intervention settings. Her interests include augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), bilingual language development, and neurodiversity-affirming practices. Molly has been a volunteer with NWACS since 2019 and joined the board in 2022. Molly believes in

collaboration,
a strengths-based approach,
parent/caregiver coaching,
communication and body autonomy,
honoring all forms of communication, and
connection over compliance.

In her spare time, Molly likes to spend time with her husband and two kids, snowboard, hike, go camping, and listen to podcasts.

Secretary

Emily Holmes, SLP (she/her)

Emily is a speech-language pathologist with a passion for pediatrics. She is a proud alum of Florida State and Purdue Universities. She has worked in schools, private practice, and hospitals. She is interested in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), neurodiversity-affirming practice, and developing meaningful connection as a foundation for communication. She collaborated with artist and art teacher, Kate Lackey, to create and publish Roary’s Talker, a children’s book about an AAC-using dinosaur.

Emily believes in:

lifelong learning,
celebrating all neurotypes,
collaboration,
creativity, and
honoring all modalities of communication.

Emily is excited to be part of NWACS! Her “me time” consists of singing, reading, crafting, crocheting, quilting, infodumping, watching tv, playing board games, and spending time with her family and friends.

Treasurer

Morgan Scherer (they/them)

Morgan Scherer lives in Seattle, WA with their spouse, children, pets, and dairy goats. They are a late-identified autistic/ADHDer, PDA, a spoonie/chronically ill, and a part-time AAC user. Morgan’s professional experience includes 30 years in non-profit programming and management. They are passionate about helping organizations live their progressive values, especially relative to

the structures,
processes,
and culture

of the organization.

Morgan loves to read urban fantasy, dictionaries, cereal boxes, and anything else that catches their eye. They will happily talk your ear off about native flora and fauna, invasive species, word etymologies, or AAC apps. They are fascinated by the double empathy problem and the cultural differences between autistic and allistic communication. Morgan’s very favorite way to have alone time is biking on their recumbent electric trike in beautiful places.

AAC User Advisor

Pixie Sky (they/them)

Pixie is autistic and nonverbal, a full time AAC user. They started drawing, when very young, to try to communicate with people. Pixie has also used emojis, home sign, printed communication cards, and American sign language as well as communication boards and speech generating AAC devices. They get frustrated with AAC device vocabularies sometimes because they’re all made for children, which limits their communication to child-appropriate words even though Pixie is an adult.

Pixie loves skiing with a Special Olympics team, and does many activities with Outdoors for All, like rock climbing, bicycling, kayaking and hiking.

Pixie is an artist at Vibrant Palette, an art studio specifically for disabled artists. They also really like animals and have 3 guinea pigs, 2 cats, and a Service Dog in training.

Graphic with two people holding speech-generating devices below text that reads, "We are recruiting. Our AAC community needs you!"

AAC Learning Network Coordinator

OPEN, RECRUITING

Blog Coordinator

OPEN, RECRUITING

Caregiver Representative

Cass Griffin Bennett (she/her)

Cass Griffin Bennett is an autistic and ADHD self-advocate. She is a parent of multiple autistic children, including a young multimodal communicator. She knows firsthand that AAC can change lives. Cass started her youngest child on robust high-tech AAC at age 2. She stepped into the Outreach Coordinator role because she wishes she had known about NWACS when first embarking on this AAC quest. She hopes that sharing her family’s Toddler AAC experience will decrease gatekeeping. Cass wants to empower parents to take an active role in their child’s AAC journey.

Cass is passionate about early access to robust high-tech AAC, collaborative problem-solving, equity, neurodiversity, and inclusion. Her guiding goal in parenting is to raise her children to be their own best self-advocates. Cass has a career background in professional services business development and a degree in Psychology.

Fall Conference Coordinator

Esther Klang, CPACC (she/her)

Esther Klang is an accessibility tester and disability rights advocate. She has extensive experience in assistive technology (AT) and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). In 2006, she underwent brain stem tumor removal surgery. This resulted in quadriplegia and a speech disability. She champions equal access to physical and digital spaces and communication for all. Esther is a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC). She provides accessibility testing services to various organizations and individuals.

Esther enjoys a variety of activities in her leisure time. She frequently participates in research studies and completes surveys to share her experiences. Esther is also passionate about creating content for her website and YouTube channel. She shares information, resources, and personal reflections on living with a disability. She enjoys connecting with others and staying updated on AT through social media.

Fundraising Coordinator

OPEN, RECRUITING

Marketing Coordinator

Kristal Whiteside, SLP (she/her)

Kristal is a Speech‑Language Pathologist. She has clinical experience across acute care, inpatient neurorehabilitation, and outpatient settings. In these roles, she focused on expanding access to high‑tech AAC supports for adults recovering from newly acquired neurological injuries. Kristal currently works on the Tobii Dynavox Learning Team. She is a Learning Program Manager. She leads educational programs that support professionals and organizations in implementing AAC effectively. She is passionate about creating learning experiences that empower both people with communication disabilities and the professionals who support them. Outside of work, Kristal enjoys homesteading, snuggling her many animals, and spending time with her partner.

Outreach Coordinator

OPEN, RECRUITING

Social Media Coordinator

Grace Clark, SLP (she/her)

Grace Clark, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, has 12 years of experience as a Speech-Language Pathologist. She is a researcher at Montclair State University, where she studies language and literacy development in children on the autism spectrum who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).

Grace is passionate about empowering children and fostering communication access through evidence-based practices. She is committed to bridging the gap between research and practical applications, striving to make a meaningful impact in the field of AAC.

Outside of work, Grace enjoys skiing, playing tennis, and camping with her husband and 2 boys.

Volunteer Coordinator

Alison Damboise, SLP (she/her)

Alison is a Speech-Language Pathologist in the Snohomish school district. She is also the owner of a private practice (Lake Stevens Speech Language and AAC, PLLC). Alison has a special interest in working with autistic children and children with complex communication needs. She is passionate about learning, sharing resources, and connecting with and supporting families. As a new board member, Alison is looking forward to collaborating with other AAC professionals, AAC users, and families to help support authentic and autonomous communication for everyone. In her spare time, she loves hiking, going for walks, reading, and spending time with her husband, two kids, and Collie mix.

Website Coordinator

OPEN, RECRUITING

Web Team Coordinator

Cassandra Stafford, SLP (she/her)

Casey is a Speech-Language Pathologist and Assistive Technology Professional. She has a private practice (Vlinder Communication Therapies) in the Seattle area. Casey works primarily with children. She also works with teens and adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. She joined the NWACS board in 2015 to help with website and social media duties. Casey enjoys reading, baking, crocheting, card-making, and doting on her nieces!

Member At Large

Rachel Riback, SLP (she/her)

Rachel is a speech-language pathologist currently working at an elementary school in Washington, DC. She has a background in elementary and special education and completed graduate school for Speech Pathology at the University of District of Columbia in 2017.

Rachel works with students who have various speech and language disorders including articulation, fluency, expressive, receptive, and pragmatic language deficits. Many of the students that she works with have complex communication needs and benefit from AAC devices or support to help them communicate throughout their day. These tools have proven to be extremely effective for many of the nonverbal or unintelligible students that she works with and she is very passionate about learning more about AAC, using it with her students, and spreading/ sharing awareness!

In her spare time, Rachel enjoys traveling, sports, going to museums, live music, reading, and spending time with friends and family. She is very excited to collaborate with this group to grow her knowledge, spread her passion, and help make sure that everyone can have the voice that they deserve!

Join the NWACS Board

Benefits of serving on the NWACS Board include:

Opportunities to connect and network with colleagues and mentors in the field of AAC
Learn and grow your knowledge in AAC/AT
Complimentary conference registration for volunteering in needed roles
Flexibility and support from fellow board community
For professionals: an activity to add to your curriculum vitae

Click on role descriptions to learn more about responsibilities of serving on the NWACS Board.

Interested?

We encourage you to first look at our Mission, Vision, Values and explore the NWACS website to learn more about our organization.
Read the role description(s) for positions you are interested in.
Contact us to let us know your interest.
We will invite you to attend a board meeting so we can meet, answer your questions, and you can get a glimpse of us in action.
When you are ready to commit, complete the Becoming an NWACS Board Member form and send us an email (info@nwacs.info).

Open Positions:

All incoming board members receive mentorship and support from fellow board members. If you are interested, or have any questions, please contact us!

NWACS Board

About the NWACS Board

Current Board Members

President

Vice President

Secretary

Treasurer