Who We Are
Friends is a 501(c)(3) national nonprofit organization dedicated to providing support and education to young people who stutter, their families, and professionals, through annual conferences, one-day workshops, and outreach. Friends events provide workshops for children, adolescents, parents and adults who stutter. Some topics addressed during our workshops include self-advocacy, self-disclosure, navigating middle school, navigating high school and college, bullying, teasing, successful academic outcomes, successful career outcomes, navigating employment issues, interviewing skills, diversity in the workplace, educating our peers in academic and employment environments. Workshops for parents include discussing how best to support your child, advocating for your child, working with schools to ensure academic success, how to talk about stuttering with your child, family, school and extended families. Our vision is to help build a world in which all young people who stutter feel empowered to communicate whenever, wherever, and however they want to.
Our Story
In 1997, Friends was founded by John Ahlbach and Lee to meet the need for organized support and education for young people who stutter and their families. Over the years, we have expanded into a national organization that hosts a large annual convention each July and many regional one-day conferences around the country throughout the year. We primarily serve young people and their families, but also provide invaluable education to SLPs and graduate students and welcome adults who stutter into our community as volunteers.
Co-Founder
Lee Caggiano, MS, CCC-SLP, BCS-F
Lee passed away on November 11th, 2023. Lee was the Director of Stuttering Therapy and Resources of Northern Colorado and treated children, adolescents, and adults who stutter. Lee was the mother of a son who stutters and was co-founder and Executive Director of Friends: The National Association of Young People Who Stutter. She was committed to providing a high level of parent education and training and developed and coordinated workshops for children who stutter, families and professionals for 30 years. She presented at local and national conferences regarding the needs of young people who stutter and their families. Lee served as a consultant to many school districts and taught the graduate level fluency courses at New York University, Queens College, and Long Island University-Post.
Co-Founder
John Ahlbach
I co-founded Friends in 1997 with Lee to provide young people and their families with their own space, their own identity within the stuttering community. I have loved every minute of it with all my heart!
Executive Director
Caryn Herring, M.S. CCC-SLP
Caryn Herring is a person who stutters, a speech-language pathologist, and a doctoral candidate at Michigan State University. Caryn met Lee in 2010, and has been involved with Friends ever since. Caryn served on the Board of Directors as the Chairperson for 5 years and is proud to follow in Lee’s footsteps as the current Executive Director of Friends. Caryn’s research interests include the process of desensitization for people who stutter, reducing adverse impact, and the role of voluntary stuttering. She has also taught and clinically supervised both undergraduate and graduate students at MSU, The University of Pittsburgh, and Duquesne University.
Board Members
Roisin McManus
Chairperson of the Board
Róisín McManus is stutterer, nurse practitioner and mother. She has been involved with Friends since 2010, and still gets chills witnessing its impact on kids, families, adults and therapists. She works as a nurse practitioner specializing in palliative care, and lives in Providence, RI with her husband, daughter and extended family.
Stavros Ladeas
Vice Chair Person
Stavros Ladeas is a PWS, a proud father and software engineer based in Providence, RI. He spent a decade in NYC where he met my amazing wife and became involved in the stuttering advocacy community. His work challenges him and helps him grow, and he enjoys being a new parent in his free time.
Arin Sheeler
Secretary
Arin Sheeler is a proud parent of a young boy who stutters. Her family found Friends through The Ohio State University One-Day Conference in 2018, and attended their first Annual Convention in Chicago in 2019. Her husband and 3 children live in Columbus, Ohio, and both Arin and her husband work for The Ohio State University. She is a Speech Read more
Rick Arenas
Treasurer
Rick Arenas is a person who stutters and a parent of a child who stutters. He works at the University of New Mexico as an associate professor where he teaches and conducts research in the area of stuttering. He is honored to be able to be part of Friends. The organization does an amazing job supporting young people who stutter and their families.
Adannaya Brown
Adannaya Brown (she/her) is a parent of a person who stutters, dedicated advocate, friend, and student of the stuttering community. A relentless chaser of joy, her favorite pastimes are reading, dancing, and staring at the sky. She lives with her husband, four children, and two dogs in Aurora, Colorado.
George Daquila
George Daquila has stuttered his whole life. He found the stuttering community later in life at the age of 28, he loves being part of it and the broader disability community. George is an Engineering Manager at Google, where he is also a member of the disability community and a leader of the stuttering group. George is a fierce advocate for equality of Read more
Eric Jackson
Eric Jackson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is a person who stutters, speech-language pathologist, and Assistant Professor at NYU, where he conducts research on stuttering. He is a long-time supporter and volunteer for Friends.
Evan Kestenbaum
Evan is a lifelong entrepreneur, data geek, and person who stutters who has co-founded and led several successful businesses, primarily within the eyecare industry. Evan now supports a broad range of mission-driven businesses, including Friends, and aims to help other entrepreneurs who stutter. After years in New York, Evan now lives in Read more
Joel Korte
Joel Korte is a person who stutters and the owner of Chase Bliss, a Minneapolis based company that designs and manufactures guitar pedals.
Sara MacIntyre
Sara MacIntyre, M.A., CCC-SLP is the director of YouSpeak, a private practice in Philadelphia, where she works with individuals of all ages who stutter. She is also the Director of Programs and Education for The Stuttering Foundation and an Adjunct instructor at Teachers College, Columbia University. Sara previously served as the Friends Read more
Mark O'Malia
Mark O’Malia, M.S., CCC-SLP is a speech-language pathologist and person who stutters. He is a full-time clinician at The American Institute for Stuttering (AIS) in NYC, working with people who stutter across the lifespan.
Ryan Pollard
Ryan Pollard, Ph.D. CCC-SLP BCS-F is a stutterer, speech-language pathologist, and clinical professor at the University of Colorado Boulder where he trains graduate students and teaches courses in stuttering, disability studies, counseling and other areas. Over the past several years he’s volunteered or worked for Friends, the Stuttering Read more
Anthony Saleh
I am the proud parent of a daughter who stutters and eternally grateful to the entire Friends organization for providing so much support, knowledge, and comfort to our entire family. Friends has been life changing for us and we are so privileged to be part of this phenomenal organization!
Tricia Zebrowski
Tricia Zebrowski is a long-time volunteer with Friends and has been a presenter and facilitator for many annual conventions, one-day workshops and virtual parent groups. In recent years she organized the Graduate Student Training Program at the annual convention. Tricia is a speech-language therapist and Professor Read more
Development and Advancement Board
Haley Warner
Co-Chair
Haley Warner, M.S. CCC-SLP is a speech-language pathologist and currently pursuing her PhD in the stuttering and vvariability (savvy) lab at New York University. She attended her first Friends Annual Convention in Chicago in 2019 and is passionate about the important work Friends does.
Jackie Winter
Co-Chair
Jackie Winter is a long-time member and supporter of the Friends community. She and her husband, Paul, are the proud parents to Ray, a 20-year-old adult who stutters, and to Lily, a 23-year-old and an amazing sibling to her baby brother. Jackie is a VP and Senior Operations Manager at First American Title Insurance Company.
Ernie Canadeo
Kate Popovich-Gargiulo
Kate has been involved with Friends since 2005. After her first 3 day conference which she attended with her family, she was inspired and knew immediately Friends would always be a part of her life. She is the proud mom of three children, two of whom stutter. All of her children have remained active in the organization and have made lifelong friendships. Read more
Anthony Saleh
I am the proud parent of a daughter who stutters and eternally grateful to the entire Friends organization for providing so much support, knowledge, and comfort to our entire family. Friends has been life changing for us and we are so privileged to be part of this phenomenal organization!
Friends Committees
Noura Embabi
Administrative Assistant & Bookkeeper
I am a PhD student in sociology and a former speech-language pathologist passionate about stuttering support and advocacy. I attended my first Friends conference in 2014 and feel proud to be a part of the wonderful Friends community.
Sara MacIntyre
One Day Conference Director
Sara MacIntyre, M.A., CCC-SLP is the director of YouSpeak, a private practice in Philadelphia, where she works with individuals of all ages who stutter. She is also the Director of Programs and Education for The Stuttering Foundation and an Adjunct Instructor at Teachers College,Read more
Jenny McGuire
Annual Convention Manager
Jenny McGuire is a person who stutters and a vociferous advocate for the stuttering community. Jenny worked as an art therapist with pediatric hematology and oncology patients and their families. She found deep gratification in this work for innumerable reasons, the main Jenny has brought that spirit of community healing to her own stuttering journey, and has transformed from being deeply shameful and covert (masking her stutter) to a proud PWS. She finds great joy in working with various stuttering organizations to help others find wholeness and embrace their stutter as part of their identity. Jenny is thrilled to join the Friends family as the Annual Convention Manager, as she has experienced first hand the transformative power of the Friends community.Read more
Hallie Mintz
Social Media Coordinator
Hallie Mintz, M.S. CCC-SLP is the owner of Philly Speech Services, a private practice in the greater Philadelphia area, where she works with children of all ages and abilities. Hallie has a passion for supporting children and adolescents who stutter by encouraging confidentRead more
Mark O’Malia
Stepping Up Program Coordinator
Mark O’Malia, M.S., CCC-SLP is a speech-language pathologist and person who stutters. He is a full-time clinician at The American Institute for Stuttering in NYC, working with people who stutter across the lifespan. Mark is actively involved in the stuttering self-help community, frequently Read more
Ed Samp
Convention Scholarship
My son Eddie is a stutterer. Our family attended the 2nd annual Friends convention in 1999 in Boston when Eddie was 9. It changed our lives. Over the years, we’ve enjoyed staying connected with our Friends family through the annual conference. Our Scholarship Program helps others Read more