Who Are We
Board Members and Officers
William E. Halle
Co-Founder/President, Down Syndrome Foundation of Orange County (2001 to present)
Partner, O'Neil LLP (1997 to present)
Board Member/Vice President, Down Syndrome Education USA (2008 to 2012)
Board Member, National Down Syndrome Society (2004 to 2010)
Board Member, Down Syndrome Association of Orange County (1999 to 2007)
J.D., University of Michigan Law School, 1990
Dana L. Halle (Ex Officio)
Co-Founder/Executive Director, Down Syndrome Foundation of Orange County (2001 to present)
Developer and Lead Instructor, The Learning Program and LP Online (2004 to present)
Executive Committee Board Member, 2nd Vice President, National Down Syndrome Congress (2014 to present).
Member, Stanford Down Syndrome Research Center Advisory Board (2021 to present)
Board Member/Chief Financial Officer/Vice President of Education and Outreach, Down Syndrome Education USA (May 2008 to present)
Member, DSEI's Science, Research and Practice Advisory Board (2007 to present)
Board Member, Project Independence (2003-2009, 2010-2017)
J.D., University of California, Hastings College of the Law, 1988
Jenith A. Mishne
Board Member/Vice President, Down Syndrome Foundation of Orange County (2001 to present)
Director, Educational Technology, Newport Mesa Unified School District (2010 to present)
Teacher, Newport Mesa Unified School District (1997 to 2010)
Adjunct Faculty, Masters of Science in Educational Technology, California State University, Fullerton (2015 to present)
Adjunct Faculty, Masters of Learning Technologies, Pepperdine University (2009 to 2012)
Advisory Board Member for The Learning Program (2004 to present)
Ed.D. Educational Technology (2012)
M.S. Instructional Leadership in Curriculum and Instruction (2000)
Clear Multiple Subject Teaching Credential (1997)
Timothy L. Elliott
Board Member, Down Syndrome Foundation of Orange County (2008 to present)
Partner, The Lowenbaum Partnership, LLC
J.D., University of Michigan Law School, 1990
Kevin S. Kendall
Board Member, Down Syndrome Foundation of Orange County (2008 to present)
Vice President and General Counsel, Allied Esports International, Inc.
J.D., University of Michigan Law School, 1990
Brian H. Hanel
Board Member, Down Syndrome Foundation of Orange County (2008 to present)
Senior Vice President, Acquisition and Finance, Everest Properties
MBA, University of California, Irvine, 1987
David M. Giunta
Board Member, Down Syndrome Foundation of Orange County (2008 to present)
Founder, BlackPlum Properties, LLC.
Staff and Teaching Team
Lauren Halle
Operations Manager
Educational Facilitator, Student Programming
Cheryl Hall
Teacher, Student Programming
Learning Program, After School Academies & Teen Time
Volunteers
Special thanks to our dedicated and amazing group of volunteers, including Brian, Camellia, Caitlin, Dani, Danielle, Garrett, Marcy and Zakk. Your generous donations of time enables us to better serve all of our students!
A giant thank you to Garrett Hall for sharing his yoga expertise with our students and helping each week with balance, flexibility, and strength!
Learning Program Advisory Board Members
Sue Buckley OBE, BA (Hons), CPsychol, AFBPsS
Director of Science and Research, Down Syndrome Education International
Emeritus Professor of Developmental Disability, University of Portsmouth, UK
Jenith Mishne, Ed.D.
See Credentials Above
Susan Leonard-Giesen
Lecturer, California State University Long Beach
Special Education Credential Program
Linda Tyson MA, CCC-SLP
Speech-language Pathologist
Kim Courtney-Bowman MA, OTR/L
Pediatric Occupational Therapist
Mark Warschauer, Ph. D.
Professor of Education
University of California, Irvine