The Special Education Foundation (SEF) is excited to announce the election of four new members to its Board of Directors. These individuals bring a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to the Foundation's mission of empowering students with disabilities in St. Louis County. As a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, SEF is dedicated to assisting these students in achieving success in ways not supported by tax dollars.

We welcome Eric Crider to the SEF Board of Directors, bringing extensive experience in operations, strategic planning, and program development. Eric is the Director of Operations at the Consulting Solutions Acceleration Center for PwC. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in accountancy from the University of Missouri and is a Certified Public Accountant in Missouri. He and his wife live in Kirkwood, MO, with their two young children.

Also joining the SEF Board is Tracey Heckman (Hanfling). Tracey is Managing Director at Apollo Global Management and brings a passion for working with and supporting children and adults with disabilities to help them develop confidence and new skills. Tracey has been a volunteer figure skating coach with Special Olympics New York and is enthusiastic about supporting SEF’s mission of empowering students with disabilities in St. Louis County.

Sekhar Nadella was also elected earlier this month to the SEF Board. Sekhar recently retired as Vice President of Architecture and Technology at MasterCard bringing a deep knowledge of business technology to the SEF Board. He is committed to helping SEF grow in its impact of assisting students with disabilities in St. Louis County.

Tom Shortal, an Insurance Broker at Arch Brokerage, joins the SEF Board and is no stranger to the Special Education Foundation. Tom has been  member of the planning committee for the Dan McLaughlin Charity Golf Tournament and Auction for the last several years, and his daughter, Katie, is a special education teacher and was one of our winners of the inaugural Starfish Awards in June.

Also, at its meeting earlier this month Dr. Julia Burke was elected the new Chair of the Board of Directors. Julia is the CEO of Educational Services by Burke, LLC, which specializes in executive coaching, human resources and educational consulting, business development, and special education advocacy. Prior to starting her company in 2018, Julia was a school administrator after serving in public education for 35 years.

Julia succeeds Mike Corry, who served as Chair of the Board from 2022 - 2024. Mike will continue to serve on the Executive Committee of the Board as a Vice Chair. Also re-elected to the Executive Committee is Mike Lackey as Vice Chair, and Todd Streff as Secretary. Richard Carver was elected to serve as the SEF Board Treasurer.

Visit our website under the About Us section to see the full list of the Special Education Foundation Board of Directors and staff members.