Our Leadership Team
Our Leadership Team is an award-winning team of passionate individuals who are patient advocates "at the table", serving on advisory panels, participating as research liaisons, and using their stories to influence policy. This, combined with their professional experience in business, education, and research, makes our organization what it is today.
Tiffany Westrich-Robertson
Chief Executive Officer | Co-Founder | Board President
Person living with non-radiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis & various co-morbidities.
Julie Lopez
Executive Assistant/Operations Manager
Person supporting family with
AiArthritis Diseases
Monika Gransee
Human Resources
Person supporting family with AiArthritis Diseases
Leila P.L. Valete
Health Education Manager
Person living with Lupus & Sjögren's Disease
Kelly Conway
Co-Founder
Community Awareness Lead
Person living with Spondyloarthritis
Mark Hobraczk
Director of Public Policy
Person living with Ankylosing Spondylitis
Ray Patnaude
Project Manager - Knowledge = Empowerment Public Policy Program
Person living with Psoriatic Arthritis
Brian DuVal
Patient Advocacy Manager
Person living with Hemophilia & Family Crohn's disease/UC
Vanessa Lathan
Grassroots Manager
Person living with Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease (UCTD)
Michael Guadalupe
Volunteer Program
Coordinator
Person living with Psoriatic Arthritis
Anika Rahman
Legislative Liaison &
Policy Consultant
Person supporting a "Mystery Patient"
Support Team
Christy Granzotto
Social Media Manager
Person supporting those with AiArthritis Diseases
Julia Manis
Program Assistant
Bolaji Bamidele
Administrative Assistant
Ryan Reeves
AiArthritis Voices 360 Production & Audio Engineer
Christina Davis
AiArthritis Voices 360 Production & Marketing Expert
Keirsten Schaffer
Marketing & Communications
AiArthritis Voices 360 Co-Hosts
Diversity of Perspectives
In 2019, we won a small Innovation Impact Award to launch our version of a podcast, or talk show, that aims to expand vocal diversity among those who lead conversations that influence our work to impact education, advocacy, and research. The voices leading our show represent a wide variety of people living with our diseases - representative of different geographic locations, biological sex, gender, age, diagnoses, and experience (patient advocacy and professional). The show also plans to "tour", recording live with an audience of those affected by our diseases. These co-hosts will help elevate our mission to include all voices "at the table" to levels no one else in our community has achieved. We are excited they are part of our "team!"
Volunteers
Volunteers who are passionate about our cause can become foundation leaders. They help in a variety of ways including: project development, project implementation, coalition membership, and ambassadors for our organization and in our communities and around the world.
Advisors
As people living with these diseases and communicating with others like us daily, we are continuously identifying outstanding issues that our community needs to solve. We then identify the right experts or stakeholders to bring "to the table" - alongside people living with AiArthritis diseases, to help develop and implement solutions together. These are called our Engagement Partners.
Advisors may include other patient advocacy organizations, healthcare and medical professionals, and various stakeholders who bring value and expertise to each project team.
Examples of existing advisors include: Rheumatology Nurses Society, FORWARD Databank, Center for Survey Research (Boston), Center for Autoinflammatory Diseases.
Board of Directors
We are an organization of change agents, working - at times quickly - to tackle the most pressing community issues. Keeping our Board of Directors small helps to expedite approvals when needed. Since our primary aim as an organization is to infuse the patient voice in all we do, which at times may challenge current healthcare practices, our Board members cannot be affiliated with therapeutic practice. Any medical input we obtain is strictly done in an advisory capacity.
Tiffany Westrich-Robertson
President
CEO | Business Development | Educator
& Sr. Project Manager
Person living with non-radiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis
Florian Klett
Board Member
Person supporting family members affected by AiArthritis Diseases
Ami Patel
Treasurer
Senior Director of Clinical Education
and Research at BHOF
Person supporting those with AiArthritis diseases
Julie Baak
WE ARE CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR TWO ADDITIONAL BOARD MEMBERS FOR 2025
