Doreen Caruso: President and Co-Founder
John Jones: Vice President and Co-Founder
Debbi Greene Barer: Director of Communications
Wendi Taylor: Treasurer
Melissa DeMartin: Creative Director
Bernadette Jackel: Secretary

Bios

Doreen Caruso
President and Co-Founder

Doreen is Co-Founder and President of The Pilot House. She has extensive leadership experience in a variety of organizations serving the special needs community. Prior to the birth of her twins in 1999, she worked for the Bridgeport Board of Education in the Federal and State grant department as an accounting specialist. From 2003 – 2005 she was President of the Early Childhood Center Parent Support Group, spearheading fundraising efforts and selecting parent speakers. During that time she also organized a Walk for Autism in Fairfield, CT for the Autism Spectrum Resource Center, and served as a Board Member of that organization.

After serving as Vice President of Fundraising for the Fairfield, CT SEPTA (Special Education Parent-Teacher Association) in 2004, Doreen became President, a post she held from 2005 – 2007. With a board of 20 people, she organized programs, engaged speakers and created the model for and development of the first SEPTA summer camp. For her summer camp experience, she was invited to deliver the Inspirational Address to the 2007 CT State SEPTA Council. At that time, she was also on the Honorary Committee for the Kennedy Center “Autism Project Benefit” from 2006 – 2007.

Doreen and her husband Nicholas live in Fairfield, CT, and have a teenage son named Michael, and twins, Allison and Christopher. Christopher was diagnosed at 2 with autism. The Pilot House was a dream of Doreen’s not only for her son, but for the countless families searching for a place for their children to have fun and just be kids.

John W. Jones
Vice President and Co-Founder

John is Co-Founder and Vice President of Development for The Pilot House. He is currently working to raise funds to secure a permanent site that will house all recreational, therapeutic and family-related services in one facility.

John is President of ARGUS Media, LLC, a media consulting business located in Fairfield, Connecticut. Prior to starting ARGUS Media, John built a successful 20-year career with Snyder Marketing Services, a division of Euro RSCG Worldwide of Havas Global Media.

A founding member of the Fairfield SEPTA (Special Education Parent Teacher Association), John served on its executive board as representative to the Board of Education. He has been a Den Leader with the Cub Scouts, a board member at Arts for Healing and is currently President of the Greenfield Hill Village Improvement Society.

John and his wife Elizabeth reside in Fairfield, Connecticut with their two boys, Wade and Alexander, and their two dogs Riley and Chloe. Alexander has Autism.

Debbi Greene Barer
Director of Communications

Debbi brings over 20 years of writing experience in marketing and advertising to the Pilot House, to help develop the website and refine communications. In addition to her association with TPH, she has enjoyed a long association with Mothers of Multiples (MOMs) of Lower Fairfield County, CT. MOMs is one of the largest twin support groups in the country, with nearly 500 members. Debbi has held many positions, including Co-Chair of the CT State Mothers of Twins Association Convention in 2001, and President of MOMs from 2001-2003.

In addition to serving on The Pilot House board, Debbi is part of the development committee for the first Diversity Day in Easton, CT. That committee also helped Easton celebrate, for the first time, the International Day for Tolerance.

Debbi lives in Easton, CT with her husband Andrew, son Logan (age 12) and twins Milo and Eli (10). Eli has Down Syndrome. It is Debbi's hope that families who have a child with special needs will find support, acceptance and friends at The Pilot House, and that all kinds of kids will come together there and have fun.

Wendi Taylor
Treasurer

Wendi has over 20 years of banking and finance experience. She worked at People’s Bank for 21 years and was involved in many different aspects, from being a teller to becoming the Operations Manager for the Greater Fairfield County branches. She maintained the budgets and all financial operations.

Wendi has since become the Operations Manager for The House Designers, an architectural design company, which is web based and has published magazines that are sold nationally. Her position there is to maintain the budget and all incoming and outgoing finances for the entire company.

In addition, Wendi was the treasurer for her Condominium Association; she is a notary and has been involved with many events that pertain to Special Needs Children. She lives in Fairfield, CT with her husband Brian and her dog Rascal.

Melissa DeMartin
Creative Director

In 1999, Melissa and her husband Michael founded Designsite, a design and marketing communications firm. Designsite's clients are Comcast, Ingersoll Rand, Hartz, Warner Bros. Records, Fox Cable Networks, The Maritime Aquarium, AstraZeneca, Capitol Records, among others.

Prior to Designsite, Melissa worked for DMCD, one of America's leading exhibit design firms, for eight years as a Senior Exhibit Designer. Melissa earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from Rochester Institute of Technology in 1987.

Melissa served on the Executive Board of the Fairfield SEPTA (Special Education Parent-Teacher Association) from 2003 – 2007. She designed, developed and maintained the SEPTA website, fairfieldsepta.org, for two years and headed the Resource Committee for another two. Melissa was also in charge of the Jennings School Annual Boutique in both 2005 and 2006. She, along with good friend and colleague Doreen Caruso, ran the Parent Support Group at the Early Childhood Center in 2003. Other community positions include Craft Coordinator for Mothers of Preschoolers in 2002 and coordinator for Children’s Events with the Welcome Club of Fairfield and Easton, CT in 2001.

Melissa and her husband Michael reside in Fairfield, CT with their twins, Madeline and Michael John. Michael John has Sensory Integration Disorder as well as a Speech and Language Disorder.

Bernadette Jackel
Secretary

Bernadette Jackel joins The Pilot House board after many years of advocating for children. She spent six years on the board of the Ahlbin Center for Rehabilitation Medicine Auxiliary, three years as an Executive Board Member. During her tenure, the board was successful in opening the Pediatric Center in Southport. She has held various Fairfield PTA board and executive board positions over the past 14 years and is currently an executive board member of Fairfield PTA Council. Concurrently she served on Fairfield Septa Executive Board in various positions including chairing the Grant committee where she led funding of various grant applications. She also successfully led the committee in changing the stucture of the program to one that now also includes giving district-wide grants so all children in the district will benefit, not just the few whose teachers applied. Bernadette is a member of NAPVI (National Association of Parents with children with Visual Impairments), AER (Association for Education and Rehabilitation of Blind and Visually Impaired), FOVI (Focus on Visual Impairments), NFB (National Federation of the Blind) and AFB (American Foundation for the Blind).

Bernadette holds a degree in special education. She currently works as a marketing assistant in the real estate industry yet continues to attend conferences and workshops related to all aspects of special education.

Bernadette is proud to be a native of Fairfield. She and her husband Glenn have raised two children. Their daughter Emma attends Boston College while their son Michael, who has Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI), currently attends Perkins School for the Blind.

Bernadette is excited to be a part of The Pilot House and holds the same vision that all children can be successful when the necessary opportunities to learn are offered to them.