Spirit Club Foundation's board of directors welcomed two new members in August 2021. Tigest Alemu and Julie Gold will serve two-year terms, helping advance the organization's mission to make fitness accessible for people with disabilities.
Tigest Alemu is the Executive Director for Community Options, Inc. in Rockville, a national nonprofit that provides community-based options for residential for children, adult, and employment support services to people with disabilities living in Montgomery County.
She has over 15 years of experience working in the adult disability services industry, with specific expertise in managing community engagement, quality assurance, and housing operations initiatives. Tigest previously served as the Director of Program Support services at the Jubilee Association of Maryland.
Tigest was born in Ethiopia and grew up in Delaware, where her parents reside. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Baltimore and a Master's in Business Administration in Healthcare and Finance from Wilmington University. She is also a graduate of 2018 Leadership Montgomery's Emerging Leaders, a graduate of the University of Delaware's National Leadership Consortium on Developmental Disabilities, and a certified interviewer for the Council on Quality and Leadership.
Tigest is a member of the National Black MBA Association of Washington, D.C. and Young Ethiopian Professionals.
Julie Gold is a special educator in a Montgomery County Public Schools inclusive pre-k class. Her journey into special education began in with a summer job as an early intervention therapist for infants and toddlers.
While studying special education at the University of Maryland, College Park, she served as president of the Student Council for Exceptional Children and participated in a dialogue at the White House that focused on the Obama Administration's initiatives on children with disabilities and their families.
Julie holds a Master of Education in Special Education with certifications in Generic Early Childhood Special Education, Early Childhood Education, and Severe/Profound Disabilities. She previously worked as a Comprehensive Autism Preschool Program teacher in Montgomery County Public Schools for five years, designing individualized instructional programs to work on academic, life, and communication skills.
She lives in Columbia with her family and enjoys staying active by doing yoga and going on family walks.