Board Members

Dr. Ryan is pictured with his younger brother Neil who provided the inspiration for his work in the field of developmental disabilities. Dr. Ryan is the former superintendent of the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities. He received his Ph.D. from Ohio State University while a graduate student working at the Nisonger Center. Prior to completing his Ph.D., Dr. Ryan received degrees from The State University of NY and Manhattan College.

In addition to his 40 years of service to the DD community, Dr. Ryan served on the board of education of the Avon Lake City School for eight years. Dr. Ryan also taught at Cleveland State University and Notre Dame College. As a long-time supporter of Ohio SIBS, Dr. Ryan joined the Ohio SIBS Board in January 2016.

Jacqui Krumpelman is the Information Technology Director of Aultman College. Her professional expertise in project management, programming and application support. She worked in IT in the Cleveland area for many years before relocating to the Akron/Canton area. Jacqui received her BA in Management and Labor from Cleveland State University and her MBA from Malone University. Jacqui has 3 adult children. Fortunately all live in Ohio and she visits with them as much as possible.

Jacqui is the middle child of five siblings – three sisters and one brother. One of her sisters and her brother have multiple disabilities from PKU (phenylketonuria) and other health issues. Growing up with special needs siblings provided Jacqui with insight, understanding, and compassion for individuals with disabilities and for their caretakers.

Jacqui joined Ohio SIBS in November 2016. She hopes to provide valuable resources to individuals with special siblings during her term with Ohio SIBS.

After Sophia obtained a Bachelors of Science in Chemistry at Wittenberg University she realized her true calling was to work with children with disabilities, which is no surprise since she has always been so involved in her brother’s life. She is currently working with a team at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center to run a study for toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorders and other developmental disabilities. Sophia volunteers to facilitate Sibshops that Cincinnati Children’s hosts for younger sibs.

Sophia’s younger brother, Troy, has Angelman Syndrome. Troy currently lives with his parents only a quarter mile away from Sophia which allows her to see him often. The two of them love to have picnics when the weather is nice or cuddle up to watch movies when it is not so nice. Sophia, her family, and other people important in Troy’s life have been working very hard to help Troy find something he loves that will also allow him to make a meaningful contribution to his community throughout his adult life.

Derek Graham is an estate planning attorney and partner at Resch, Root, Philipps & Grahams, LLC. He genuinely enjoys helping people avoid and fix problems that arise in their lives. Whether they are the parent of a child with special needs trying to figure out Medicaid, a small business owner trying to understand the confusing letter they received in the mail or just an individual wanting to know what will happen to their assets at their death, Derek enjoys teaming up with individuals and families to solve problems.

Early in his career, Derek was fortunate to get experience in civil litigation, business transactions and estate planning. Then in 2009, he and his wife had their first daughter who was born with Down syndrome. Like many of his clients today, they were inundated with information and felt overwhelmed. Nine years later, Derek now spends the majority of his days helping similarly situated families understand the various resources that exist. Derek finds it very rewarding to meet with families of all varieties and help them understand how to effectively and practically plan their estate. More than that though, he enjoys helping families understand the resources available to them and how to get the most out of those resources. His practice areas include Estate Planning, Special Needs Estate Planning, Developmental Disabilities Law, Elder Law, Guardianship, Probate, Probate Litigation and Business (organizational, transactional and succession). Derek earns his clients’ trust by working hard to accomplish their goals, being accessible and giving advice based upon experience.

Kelly Barnett, LISW-S is the Clinical Program Manager for Nisonger Behavior Support Services. She has been working within the Nisonger Behavior Support Services program for over 19 years. Kelly’s early college years shaped her career path and her passion for her work with individuals with developmental disabilities. She worked as an Independent provider implementing applied behavior analysis programs for children with Autism.

She enjoyed that work immensely, which led her to pursue her masters degree in social work. During her MSW program she was lucky enough to find her mentor Dr. Tom Fish whose work involved siblings of individuals with disabilities. Kelly’s work with Dr, Fish provided her with the experience of facilitating groups for young siblings of individuals with disabilities. Throughout her career in behavior support services adult siblings have often been team members for her clients, serving in the role of advocate or guardian.

Kelly has been able to see many times the wonderful role siblings have in the life of their brother or sister with a developmental disability. Although Kelly does not have any family members with disabilities she does have a strong connection with her siblings, Kristen and Kacy. They are two of her biggest supporters and she cherishes those relationships.

While serving on the Ohio SIBS board she hopes to support siblings and help them to connect and gain knowledge that will help them support their sibling throughout their life.