Compassionate Support

Nancy Murray M.S. is the President of The Arc of Greater Pittsburgh and Senior Vice President of Achieva. She has 45 years of experience in the disability field in the areas of public policy, advocacy, family support, supports coordination, health care and state government serving people with disabilities and their families. Nancy’s primary area of interest and study is the resilience of families of children and adults with disabilities and the long term impact of caring for a person with a disability on a family. Nancy and her husband are the parents of two adult children with Down syndrome.

Nancy is the founder and Project Director of Achieva's Disability Healthcare Initiative and was the founder and first Director of the Down Syndrome Center at Children’s Hospital (UPMC) of Pittsburgh. She has served as the President of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation; a member of the Pennsylvania Medical Assistance Advisory Council; numerous committees through the Pennsylvania Office of Developmental Programs; numerous committees of The Arc of the United States; and the National Council of Executives of The Arc; a member of the Pennsylvania Waiting List Campaign; co-chair of the federal RAISE Family Care-giving Council; a member of the Pennsylvania Adult Protective Services Advisory Council; a member of the Pennsylvania Governor’s Council on Reform; and a member of the Advisory Council for the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Research, Training and Dissemination of  Family Support for People with Disabilities Across the Life Course. 

Nancy received her B.S. from Gettysburg College and her M.S. from the University of Pittsburgh.

Lori has worked at Achieva since 2016 in various roles: IM4Q (Independent Monitoring for Quality); Older Adult Protective Services Case Aide; Older Adult Protect Services Investigator; FSS Coordinator; and Disability Advocate with Advocacy/Family Supports. She has over 18 year’s experience with disability advocacy. Lori’s daughter was born in 2002 with a diagnosis of Down syndrome which caused a detour in her career choice from Food and Beverage Director to Healthcare and Advocacy. Madison is now a healthy 18-year-old and is planning on starting her own greenhouse business.

Lori is a member of the Beaver County Behavioral Health Human Rights Committee, Beaver County Intermediate Unit Task Force, and the Local Interagency Coordinating Council for Early Intervention in Beaver County. She has raised awareness and thousands of dollars for Down syndrome and Multiple Sclerosis awareness through her Facebook page: Madison Miracle Makers.

Amy Guthrie has been an advocate with Achieva since 2006. Having personally experienced the challenges of navigating services for her son when he was young, she was thankful that an Achieva advocate was able to assist her. Now, Amy is pleased to support people with disabilities and their families across the region so they can understand the systems and have their concerns addressed. In addition to providing resources, reviewing documents, and facilitating communication, she supports families at meetings and mediations.

Amy also works on systemic issues, collaborating with other organizations to reach out to underserved communities. Additionally, she serves on the Local Task Force on the Right to Education for Intermediate Unit 3, where she shares information on legislation and policy regarding issues of interest to the disability community.
 
Amy received her B.A. from Earlham College and her M.S.Ed from Duquesne University.

Regina Sciullo has more than 26 years experience in advocacy including educational, transition to adulthood, family supports and systemic advocacy.  Her career in advocacy began when son Nick, was born with Down syndrome. In addition to being a disability advocate for Achieva, Regina was instrumental in starting a Sibs Group in Westmoreland County - a support for siblings that have a brother or sister with a disability. She is involved with Family Resource Network and Supports (FRNS), a disability support group and Up with Downs, a group providing supports for families of children with Down syndrome. 

She serves on the Westmoreland County Human Rights committee and the Local Task Force Westmoreland County Intermediate Unit #7. Regina is also a peer supporter for Parent to Parent. She also serves on the advisory council for St. Vincent College Bearcat B.E.S.T. transition program. Regina, along with son Nick, enjoy addressing first year students at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School through the Down Syndrome Center of Western Pennsylvania.  

Melissa is a disability and family supports advocate in Westmoreland County. She is the parent of a chld with an intellectual disability and autism. Melissa is an ambassador in the Charting the LifeCourse Framework and former board member of Westmoreland Casemanagement Supports Inc. (WCSI).

She also co-authored a journal article in ODP Positive Approaches on Person-Centered Planning and Trauma-Informed Approach. Melissa has a passion for supporting people with disabilities, their families and the community at large to ensure people with disabilities are living a good life and the life they envision for themselves. Melissa advocates for equity and inclusion in the educational system and is trained to engage with people in Person-Centered Planning and can offer training to other agencies and organizations.


 

Wendi Wojtecki lives in Erie County and is the mother of two adopted children. Both of her children are very active in sports. Her one child was drug and alcohol exposed in utero, which led Wendi to need to learn how to advocate from the beginning. In the early years, Wendi learned as the Intermediate Unit came in for Early Intervention services. After a few years, she went back to work as a Paraprofessional in her school district. As her children got older, they wanted some independence so Wendi moved to work as an Educational Advocate for a local nonprofit. There, she gained vast experience with family supports and educational advocacy.

Wendi is knowledgeable in special education inclusion, home and community-based services (HCBS), employment supports, transitioning from school to adult life, and government benefits.

At Achieva, she looks forward to helping you navigate the complexities of disability rights and responsibilities in a world where inclusion must be at the forefront.