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Leadership

Board of Directors

Officers of the Board

Chair
Isaiah Wilson II,
Kutak Rock, LLP

Vice Chair
Nayo S. Williams,
Valley Perinatal Services, LLC

Secretary
Hema Tatineni,
CopperPoint Insurance Companies

Treasurer
Bridget Olesiewicz,
Retired Community Member

Members of the Board

Theresa Esparza
Ports America

Benjamin Goetter
Mortenson

Tina Gounder
FedEx Logistics

Tom Hoof
Tom Hoof Consulting

Janet Howe
Holland & Hart LLP

Michael Marsh
Colliers International

William McClung
Retired, former CFO

Kamran Merchant
PNC Bank

Christine Nowaczyk
U.S Bank

Kevin Sandler
Retired Community Member

Andy Shaw
Hudson Insurance Group

Eduardo Urquides
AmFam Group

Trevor M. Yamada
Sonora Quest Laboratories

Agency Leadership

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Bio

Ginger Ward, MAEd

Ginger Ward, MAEd

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Bio

Jake Adams

Jake Adams

Jake Adams

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Bio

Eve DelReal

Eve DelReal

Eve DelReal

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Bio

Jessica Brandt

Jessica Brandt

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Bio

Douglas Albrecht, Ph.D.

Douglas Albrecht, Ph.D.

Douglas Albrecht, Ph.D.

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Bio

Michelle Luna Kepner

Michelle Luna-Kepner

Michelle Luna-Kepner

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Bio

Jeanette Ramos

Jeanette Ramos, CPA

Jeanette Ramos, CPA

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Bio

Otto Reemelin, CISM

Otto Reemelin, CISM

Otto Reemelin, CISM

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Bio

Alison Steier, Ph.D.

Alison Steier, Ph.D.

Alison Steier, Ph.D.

Helping Arizona Children & Families

With your support, we can do even more.

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2850 N. 24TH STREET • PHOENIX, AZ 85008
P (602) 266-5976 • F (602) 274-8952
[email protected]

SOUTHWEST HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IS A 501(C)(3) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION (EIN: 86-0407179) AND A QUALIFYING NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION FOR THE ARIZONA CHARITABLE TAX CREDIT (QCO CODE: 20390).

©1981-2026 SOUTHWEST HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, INCORPORATED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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Felecia Rotellini

Felecia Rotellini has spent her career fighting for Arizonans. A graduate of Notre Dame Law School, she built a distinguished legal career in Arizona — her adoptive home — serving for years as a prosecutor in the Arizona Attorney General’s Office and later as Superintendent of the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions. Throughout it all, her commitment to protecting the people of this state never wavered.

That same commitment brought her to Southwest Human Development. Felecia has chosen to include SWHD in her will because she believes that every Arizona child deserves a strong and loving start in life — and that the work we do today matters for generations to come.

Ginger Ward, MAEd

Chief Executive Officer

Ginger Ward is the founder and chief executive officer of Southwest Human Development. Founded in 1981 with a staff of only six serving 175 children and families, Southwest Human Development has grown to be Arizona’s largest nonprofit dedicated to early childhood development with 900 employees, serving 140,000 children, families and professionals each year.

Under Ginger’s direction, the agency has established a national reputation for leadership and high-quality services in the early childhood fields of education, mental health, family support, disabilities services and professional development. Ginger has made a significant contribution to the early childhood field in Arizona by ensuring that the latest best practices and research are used to create programs and educate parents, professionals and policymakers about the importance of children’s earliest years to later development.

Ginger sits on a variety of boards and committees charged with forming policy and improving services for children and families, including the Alliance for Early Learning Success, Arizona State Alliance Team, Child Care Advisory Committee-State of Arizona, Educare Arizona Board of Directors, Educare Governance Council, Governor’s Council on Child Safety and Family Empowerment Prevention Subcommittee, Healthy Families Steering Committee, and the Maricopa County Family Support Alliance Steering Committee.

Jake Adams

Chief Development Officer

Jake Adams is the Chief Development Officer for Southwest Human Development where he oversees agency fundraising, community outreach, volunteer engagement, special events and marketing communications.

Jake has more than 15 years of experience in fundraising and business development in a variety of industries including politics, nonprofit, telecom, construction and renewable energy. Jake has also managed political campaigns, most recently for Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton.

Jake grew up in Pennsylvania before moving to Washington, D.C. in 2002, where he fundraised for U.S. Senate candidates from Delaware and Alaska. In 2005, a political campaign brought Jake to Arizona and he later worked in the construction industry as the lead salesman for his company’s renewable energy division. Jake then returned to politics in 2010.

Jake received an undergraduate degree in economics from West Chester University of Pennsylvania and completed an MBA at the University of Arizona.

He enjoys photography, fishing, woodworking and spending time with his family.

Jake Adams

Jake Adams

Chief Development Officer

Jake Adams is the Chief Development Officer for Southwest Human Development where he oversees agency fundraising, community outreach, volunteer engagement, special events and marketing communications.

Jake has more than 15 years of experience in fundraising and business development in a variety of industries including politics, nonprofit, telecom, construction and renewable energy. Jake has also managed political campaigns, most recently for Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton.

Jake grew up in Pennsylvania before moving to Washington, D.C. in 2002, where he fundraised for U.S. Senate candidates from Delaware and Alaska. In 2005, a political campaign brought Jake to Arizona and he later worked in the construction industry as the lead salesman for his company’s renewable energy division. Jake then returned to politics in 2010.

Jake received an undergraduate degree in economics from West Chester University of Pennsylvania and completed an MBA at the University of Arizona.

He enjoys photography, fishing, woodworking and spending time with his family.

Eve DelReal

Eve DelReal

Director, Early Head Start and Head Start

Eve DelReal has worked in Head Start and in the early childhood education field for more than 20 years.

Before joining SWHD in January 2024, Eve served as the Maricopa County Human Services Assistant Director where she led the implementation of the early education division, including the Head Start program with an annual budget of $22 million.

Before that, she held multiple leadership roles in the Head Start and Early Head Start space. Eve currently serves as the President of the Arizona Head Start Association where she provides state-level strategic leadership that has helped to establish a stronger presence and partnerships with the Department of Economic Security, Department of Education, and multiple institutions of higher education and workforce development. Other accomplishments from Eve’s career in public service include opening childcare facilities, developing a shelter for single mothers, and leading the implementation of the Early Head Start Child-Care Partnership program for the county.

Her commitment to public service was recognized numerous times by elected leaders, specifically for her contributions to improve the lives of children and communities, which includes the California State Assembly as Woman of Action for 2010.

Eve is pursuing her doctoral studies in Public Administration and is an advocate for high quality social service programs.

Jessica Brandt

Vice President, Services for Children with Disabilities

Jessica Brandt, DPT is a licensed physical therapist and the Vice President of Services for Children with Disabilities. In this position Jessica provides leadership and support to help ensure the success of multiple programs including the Birth to Five Center of Excellence, Smooth Way Home, High Risk Perinatal Program, Nurse Family Partnership, Inclusion, Side by Side, and Head start Disabilities services.

Jessica was born and raised in Arizona. She received her Bachelors of Science in Health Sciences from the University of Arizona. She continued her education through AT Still University at the Arizona School of Health Sciences where she earned her Doctorate in Physical Therapy.

Jessica has over 22 years of clinical and management experience providing pediatric physical therapy in multiple settings. Providing her with extensive experiences in how to help support children and their families as they navigate services available throughout the state of Arizona. Prior to joining Southwest Human Development, Jessica served as the Associate Director of Rehabilitation in the hospital setting where she provided direct leadership to a large, multi-disciplinary acute care team as well as working across departments with leadership to improve the quality and consistency of services throughout the hospital system. Jessica has years of providing early intervention services through AzEIP, including time as a PT on the SWHD AzEIP team.

Douglas Albrecht, Ph.D.

Douglas Albrecht, Ph.D.

Clinical Director, Mental Health Services

Doug Albrecht is a licensed clinical psychologist who serves as the Clinical Director for Mental Health Services at Southwest Human Development. He provides treatment, assessment, consultation and supervision services for infants, toddlers and their families.

Doug received his training at the Fuller Graduate School of Psychology in Pasadena, Calif. He has provided training to professionals and graduate students on the treatment of children who have experienced multiple forms of trauma, including physical and sexual abuse and domestic violence.

He has experience working with children in both California and Arizona who have been physically and sexually abused. Doug has additional expertise in infant/toddler mental health, parent-child relationships, play therapy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and attachment and bonding.

Michelle Luna Kepner

Michelle Luna-Kepner

Director, Human Resources

Michelle is an experienced Human Resources Leader with a strong track record of driving results in various international corporations. With 20 years of experience, she has successfully led initiatives that align employees with business goals during different stages of organizational development. Michelle is known for her leadership and HR-building skills, particularly in talent acquisition, development, engagement, and retention. She has expertise in areas such as labor and employee relations, compensation and benefits planning, regulatory compliance, and HR systems and analytics.

In her previous roles, Michelle has played a significant part in building infrastructure, talent, and processes to meet organizational goals. Most recently, she served as the HR Director for a Chinese Mining company, where she helped establish the US Headquarters and led a small team in supporting the company’s rapid growth. Prior to that, she worked at Pinto Valley Mining Corp and Freeport-McMoran in HR leadership roles. Michelle has extensive experience leading cultural change initiatives and has been successful in attracting top talent and positioning companies as desirable places to work. Additionally, she has developed strategies to retain high-quality benefits for employees while achieving cost savings. Her ability to lead and implement effective HR strategies has contributed to the overall success of the organizations she has worked with.

Jeanette Ramos

Jeanette Ramos, CPA

Chief Financial Officer

Jeanette Ramos is the Chief Financial Officer for Southwest Human Development where she oversees the agency’s financial management functions, including overseeing the agency and program budgets, general accounting, accounts receivable/payable, financial reporting, insurance, retirement plans and tax management. She is also responsible for providing strategic leadership for the agency by working with the executive management team and Board of Directors.

Jeanette grew up in Cherry Hill, N.J. She received her Bachelor of Science in accounting from La Salle University in Philadelphia and is a licensed CPA in both Arizona and Pennsylvania. Her first job after college exposed her to nonprofits and her passion for nonprofits grew stronger each year. Jeanette has more than 25 years of experience serving nonprofits.

In 2013, Jeanette’s family decided to move to Arizona where she joined CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, a professional services firm and the eighth largest accounting firm in the U.S., as an audit manager in the nonprofits sector. She rose up through management and after three years became a signing director serving nonprofit clients locally and nationally.

In 2018, with her passion for nonprofits now even stronger, she knew she needed to be a part of nonprofit organization that aligned with her passion for helping children. In April 2019, she was fortunate to be chosen as the Chief Financial Officer at Southwest Human Development.

Otto Reemelin, CISM

Otto Reemelin, CISM

Chief Information Officer

Otto joined Southwest Human Development as CIO in January 2022. He holds certifications as a certified Healthcare CIO (CHCIO), Certified Digital Health Executive (CDH-E) and Certified Information Security Manager (CISM). Otto oversees every aspect of the agency’s information systems, providing strategic leadership for the agency and managing the team that supports the EMR and enterprise applications from end to end, Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM, Software Development, Azure DevOps, Data Analytics, IT Ops, Cyber Security, and the organization’s Service Desk. Otto also acts as the organization’s Chief Security Officer to ensure compliance with HIPAA, First Things First, Department of Child Safety, and other stakeholders.

Otto has more than 20 years of experience as a senior-level information systems executive and a proven track record for leading critical projects in high-growth environments. He stays current in his constantly evolving field, as an active member of national organization such as ISACA, CHIME, and NIST.

Alison Steier, Ph.D.

Alison Steier, Ph.D.

Clinical Director, Mental Health Services

Alison Steier, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist and vice president of mental health services at Southwest Human Development. She is director of Southwest’s Harris Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Training Institute, the statewide toll-free Birth to Five Helpline and its “Fussy Baby” home visiting service as well as Arizona’s system of early childhood mental health consultation, known as Smart Support.

Dr. Steier earned her doctoral degree from George Mason University. She received advanced training in psychotherapy from Georgetown University, completed a pre-doctoral fellowship in clinical psychology at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital and was a visiting fellow at Boston’s Children’s Hospital. She holds a fellowship in infant mental health from Louisiana State University Medical Center and a postdoctoral degree in infant mental health from Tulane University Medical Center.

Dr. Steier is the founder and co-chair of The RAINE Group, a think tank comprised of national experts which works to advance practice, policy and research in the specialty of early childhood mental health consultation. She is a national trainer for the FAN Approach (Facilitating Attuned Interactions). She is a frequent presenter on topics related to infant mental health, both nationally and internationally, and has published in the areas of early childhood mental health consultation and young children’s attachments to special inanimate objects (“transitional objects”).

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