Page 53 - Lauren Lolo Spencer Issue

Michelle Sie Whitten, Co-founder, President, and CEO of Global Down syndrome Founda- tion (GLOBAL) is a friendly and intelligent force. Inspired by her daughter Sophia, who was born with Down syndrome, GLOBAL has had the same mission since its conception. They focus on spreading awareness that people with Down syndrome are important mem- bers of society and that they have been deprived of fundamental human rights and civil rights, such as medical care and research. Michelle, a longtime friend of ABILITY, had a chat with Chet Cooper and Lia Martirosyan on the latest with GLOBAL, including how GLOBAL’s hard work and persistence lead to exciting new research as well as publishing the peer-reviewed paper: “Medical Care Guidelines for Adults with Down syndrome.”
Lia Martirosyan: We haven’t chatted since 2011, any updates, any news?
Michelle Sie Whitten: (laughs) Oh, my gosh. The great thing about GLOBAL is that we have never changed the mission in our work – to dramatically improve the lives of people with Down syndrome through research, medical care, education & advocacy. I think a lot of
ABILITY 53