Theresa Nix, Founder and CEO
My husband and I received our son's Down syndrome diagnosis the day after he was born. We felt shocked, afraid and alone. But we chose to turn our powerful emotions into energy that propelled us forward, allowing us to become the advocates—and parents—that Everett needed.
Immediately, we began researching. I spent two years simply figuring things out—not only as the mom of a child with special needs, but also as a first-time mom. After meeting fabulous women through a mom group, I realized that sharing personal experiences is the best resource (and therapy) we could ever hope to find. I learned more in a few moments from moms who “get it” than I had in all of my hours of Googling. But we needed more: more information, more activities, more help, more togetherness.
This is why I established Downside Up—a non-profit providing support, education, and encouragement for families who have children with disabilities. We connect children with the resources they need to grow and thrive. We inspire community acceptance by sharing with others the presence and potential of people with special needs. We welcome every new family into our own, meeting them exactly where they are on this wild ride.
Our Board
Kim Leffew
Board Chair
Kim is the Director of Auxiliary Programs at Girls Preparatory School, where she has been since 1999. She has also taught PE, coached softball, & is Summer Programs Director. She is a native Chattanoogan and an avid member of multiple organizations & committees which include Multiple Sclerosis Mid-South Chapter, Heart Association, Siskin Children’s Institute, Ironman, & ADK Zeta Chapter. Her husband, Todd, and her 10 year old son, Laik, are always on the go — at the lake in the summer, the mountains in the winter, and cheering on the Mocs every moment in between. Laik was born with Trisomy 12p which is a rare chromosomal duplication on the 12th chromosome (1 in 55,0000 births). Kim has helped other families who may need support, encouragement, and guidance by blogging her experience in Living Leffew — it’s a good way to live for sure Kim!!
Katie Hendrix
Vice Chair
Katie came to Chattanooga to attend Covenant College, majoring in history with a focus on British history. After college, she began her journey into the startup world at Tricycle, Inc., then moved into the development at Covenant College. She spent time in several other local startups, including Quickcue and Variable. She recruited talent for Lamp Post Group and managed the Chattanooga Gigabit Community Fund for the Mozilla Foundation. As the Chief of Staff, she runs the CO.LAB Capital Network, working alongside entrepreneurs and investors to provide access to capital in our area. Katie is board secretary for the South Broad Redevelopment Group.
Lori Turberville
Office Administrator
Lori and her husband, Billy, moved back from Alabama to her family land where she grew up in Hixson. After studying Psychology & Communications at UTC, she worked for the Hamilton County School System in the Exceptional Education Census Department & at White Oak Elementary School.
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Prior to managing all the comings and goings of Downside Up, she dedicated almost 20 years to Gymboree as a general manager and district sales manager. As the Southeastern District Manager, she successfully opened, maintained, & supervised over 30 stores during her tenure. Her strong leadership & managerial experience have been a blessing to our organization. Lori enjoys spending time with her family, and having “lunch bunch” with her grandson, Everett, at Training Wheels each day.
David Wolfe
Treasurer
David lives on Signal Mountain with his wife Cassidy, little boys Ward & Solly, and baby Zeffie. He is a senior accountant with HHM in Chattanooga. Prior to joining HHM, David worked in financial operations of TVA, was a successful advertising sales executive, and did a stint as a real estate agent.
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He earned a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. David volunteers as a coach with First Tee, a non-profit dedicated to teaching golf to under-served children. On evenings and weekends, David can be found spending time with his family hiking and mountain biking.
Vanessa Moss
Secretary
Vanessa Moss is originally from Huntsville, Alabama, but Chattanooga has been "home" since 2005. She teaches American Lit., mainly, at the Mechatronics Akademie at Volkswagen and serves as an adjunct professor for Chattanooga State Community College.
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Other than teaching she loves reading, learning new things (like knitting and organic gardening), and spending time, especially outdoors, surrounded by the handsome fellas in her life: husband (Charlie Moss) and two sons, Noah and Emmett.
Kaitlin Wallace
Kaitlin grew up on Signal Mountain, where she now lives with her husband and two boys. She lived in Colorado for five years. During that time, she served as the Young Life Capernaum Coordinator, where she was able to work alongside students with disabilities as they celebrated their unique gifts and abilities to serve and lead their peers.
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She is convinced that every person has the right to live into the truth that they were fearfully and wonderfully made on purpose and with purpose. Now, she helps people realize and reach their full potential as a personal trainer. She is a big fan of hiking, running, coffee, and brunch.
Melanie Walker
Melanie Walker is truly honored to join the Downside Up Board of Directors this year. Melanie is a Shareholder with Baker Donelson where she has practiced immigration law as a member of their Global Immigration Group, working with international businesses, universities, and individuals to successfully manage their global workforce and international mobility and find solutions to their complex immigration challenges.
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Before joining Baker Donelson, Melanie served as a federal law clerk in the District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, supporting Judge Curtis Collier. During this two-year assignment, she and her family fell in love with Chattanooga and knew they could not return to their Atlanta home. Born in Northern Virginia, Melanie attended theater school in Chicago and worked as an actress in Atlanta for many years, performing everything from Shakespeare to children’s theatre with a few commercials, voiceovers and screen appearances scattered in between. While in Atlanta, she served on her first Board, helping to start a theater company, Dad’s Garage, which is still operating more than 20 years later. After her first son was born, she decided to leave the stage for a bit and headed to law school at the University of Georgia. While in her third year of law school, she gave birth to their second son.
Melanie and her husband Lee have two sons, ages 16 and 8. Their middle son was born critically challenged, and for his precious few years with them, introduced them to a whole new world of caregivers, therapists, medical professionals, and community resources designed to support these exceptional children and families. His spirit lives on in their hearts and inspires them to find opportunities to get involved with those resources that changed their family forever. During her time in Chattanooga, Melanie and her family honor his memory by committing to causes that help to support children with extraordinary needs and their families, volunteering with Ronald McDonald House, Siskin Children’s Institute, and community outreach programs such as NightOWLS. Over these past years, she has been so touched by all that Downside Up has accomplished and deeply understands how profoundly important these programs and opportunities are—not only for the exceptional children, but for their parents, siblings, and families who love them beyond measure.
In her treasured pockets of unscheduled time, Melanie enjoys exploring hiking trails and biking with her family, traveling to new places as much as possible (not much right now), watching and participating in theater however she can, and dressing up in crazy costumes to run races with her friends.
Laurel Eldridge
Laurel is an experienced Event and Program Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the insurance industry and non profit sector. Skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Event Management, Media Relations, Corporate Communications, and Fundraising. Strong program and project management professional with a Certification focused in Meeting and Event Planning from Belmont University.
Lawrence Parry
Ministry- Started as a volunteer leader with Young Life in Chattanooga with then area director Len Teague in 1980, worked with youth as a volunteer leader for High School students at Lookout Mtn Presbyterian Church. Came back to Young Life to develop a new YL club in East Ridge for then and current area director David Haskins.
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After several years, moved to YL committee for several more years. Worked strictly as a volunteer at Community Kitchen for several years. Helped with Northshore Fellowship PCA church plant, then helped Mountain Fellowship Church church plant on Signal Mountain. In 2015, worked at City Project on a week long ministry of Home Renewal in Memphis area. In 2019, brought those same ideas and expanded them to develop Mountain Home Repairs Ministry, a non-denominational, multi-church movement aimed strictly at home repairs without cost to the poor, widowed, fixed income elderly, etc. Out of our efforts to expand to the Red Bank area, we started the Red Bank Community Food Pantry (of which I am a Board Member). Currently working with 10 denominations spread over 15 different churches and 3 private businesses, RB Food Pantry feeds thousands twice a month. Worked with the Macllelan Foundation to secure a $5k grant to start a new Food Pantry in East Lake area (currently being developed). Hobbies include but not limited to: hunting, shooting sports, archery, water skiing, kayaking and scuba diving
Chelsea Johnson
Chelsea is the Director of the Community Relations & Foundations department at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee. Chelsea was born in Chattanooga, but moved away with her family when she was in elementary school. She graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville with a Journalism degree in Public Relations. Chelsea used the communications skills she honed at UTK as a newspaper reporter in Connecticut soon after graduating.
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Non-profits have always held a special place in Chelsea’s heart, so working for Reading Is Fundamental in Washington, DC encouraging young students to read around the nation was a perfect fit.
Chelsea moved back to Chattanooga to marry her husband, JR, in 2007. Her first position in Chattanooga was as Education Director for the Northside Neighborhood House (NNH) where she worked as a liaison between the local schools and the students NNH serves.
In mid-2009, after the birth of her son, Connor, Chelsea began her career with BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee as the Corporate Events Planner. Her love of community and serving her neighbors led her to work with the philanthropic arm of BlueCross for the past nine years. Chelsea is proud to call Tennessee home and to share that love with others as she travels the world with her family.
Charlie Moss
Charlie Moss is a freelance copywriter and journalist who has written for publications such as The New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, Slate, Vice, the Bitter Southerner and others. He is married to Vanessa Moss, a high school English teacher, and has two boys, Noah and Emmett. He's served on the board of Downside Up for more than two years.
Ali Pettigrew
Ali Pettigrew is an Account Manager for Boardmaker, supporting schools across the United States and Canada as they utilize Boardmaker as a materials creation, data collection, staff support and student empowerment tool within classrooms and learning spaces throughout their schools and districts.
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Ali's professional career has allowed her to facilitate individualized student learning in a variety of settings, ranging from classrooms to summer camps, with a specialty for cultivating successful learning and communication strategies for students with brain injury and autism diagnoses. She currently resides in Chattanooga.