One-Hour Phone Call

During the call, a panel from the Epilepsy Foundation of America (EFA) and their youth partners will:

1. Describe the role of the Foundation’s Youth Council
2. Describe the ways in which Council members are serving as ambassadors to local EFA affiliates helping them to actively engage youth and develop youth councils
3. Describe resources available to state and local Title V CYSHCN programs
   

Facilitators

• Toni G. Wall - PI, HRTW National Resource Center; Director, Children with Special Health Needs Division of Family Health, Maine Department of Health & Human Services toni.g.wall@maine.gov
• Mallory Cyr - Youth Consultant, HRTW National Resource Center and Integrated Services for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs Maine mallorycyr@hrtw.org
  

Panelists

• Deborah Carr
  Vice President
  Quality of Life, National Programs & Research
  Epilepsy Foundation
  dcarr2@efa.org
• Jody Kakacek
  Program Manager, Special Projects
  Quality of Life, Programs and Research
  Epilepsy Foundation
  jkakacek@efa.org
• Kristin Schkade
  Chair, Epilepsy Foundation National Youth Council
  
  Kristin Schkade has been a member of the Epilepsy Foundation National Youth Council since its formation in late 2006. She now presides as the Chair of the Youth Council and has a seat on the Foundations Board of Directors as a youth representative. Kristin lives in Houston, TX where she works with the Texas affiliate of the Epilepsy Foundation as the Director of Camps and Recreation Programs. Her passion for empowering youth with and without epilepsy is evident in all that she does.
  
• Liv Witkowski
  Member, Epilepsy Foundation National Youth Council
  Chair, Epilepsy Foundation of the St. Louis Region Youth Council
  
  Liv was diagnosed with epilepsy when she had a grand mal seizure at the age of fifteen. When she was seventeen, she began working with the Epilepsy Foundation of the St. Louis Region to start a youth council, which has already completed several fundraising projects and is currently planning more. Her mentor at the local affiliate suggested that Liv apply for the National Youth Council, of which she is happy to say she is now a member.
  
• Tina Westra
  Chair, Epilepsy Foundation of Michigan Youth Leadership Council
  
  Christina (Tina) Westra is 20 years old and currently a junior at Calvin College studying Therapeutic Recreation and Social Work. She has been involved in the Epilepsy Foundation for about 5 years. She first became involved a few years after being diagnosed with epilepsy. She is currently the Chair of the Epilepsy Foundation of Michigan Youth Leadership Council.