Our Founders
Chuck Saia
Chuck is a Senior Partner at Deloitte, the Author of You Got This, Kid! Words of Advice for Young Leaders, a Board Member at Quinnipiac University, an angel investor, the former Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte’s Risk and Financial Advisory business, former Chief Risk, Reputation and Regulatory Affairs Officer of Deloitte, a philanthropist focused on Lupus and environmental sustainability and a frequent author and contributor to publications, including Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and Fortune.
Karin Wagner
Karin is the Founder and CEO of Invigorate, the go-to resource center to build healthy habits and sustain healthier lifestyles while navigating autoimmune disease. Invigorate embraces an incremental approach to holistic health and reduced disease activity that’s built on a foundation of realistic lifestyle changes. Karin has been surviving and thriving with Lupus for 15 years and connected with Chuck Saia via LinkedIn about his book, YOU GOT THIS, KID! Words of Advice for Young Leaders, proceeds benefiting lupus research and environmental sustainability. A few short months later, You Got This, Kid! Leadership Foundation was founded.
Our Board Members
Michelle Khan
Michelle is a seasoned Business Development Executive with over 15 years of Director-level experience, including in Fortune 200 companies. Most recently, she led the development, implementation, and management of strategic, operational efforts for women’s leadership speaker and consultant Selena Rezvani and produced her LinkedIn Live show, Women + Work Culture. She is also an advisory board member for the You Matter Marathon, No Running Required, a non-profit organization creating and enriching positive connections between people and within communities by inviting people to share You Matter cards.
Olamide Gbotosho
Olamide Gbotosho, a 2021 graduate of Quinnipiac University, holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management with a minor in Integrated Communications and Advertising. She currently works as an Advisory Senior Associate on the Technology Enablement team at KPMG. With experience spanning healthcare, government, telecommunications, and advertising, Olamide has taken on on roles including product owner, project manager, and software developer. While at Quinnipiac, she began her journey with YOU GOT THIS, KID as an intern and now contributes as a member of the Board of Directors for the organization.
Monica Lalani
Monica is a Principal with Deloitte and works with financial services clients in the areas of strategy, regulatory and risk management. She is originally from Canada, where she received her MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business, and then worked as a strategy consultant at Accenture and in the insurance industry before joining Deloitte. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two daughters. Over the past year, she has done a lot of personal research on Lupus, given the potential impact on her own family and as a result, she is passionate about supporting efforts related to Lupus research and a cure.
Courtney McGinnis
Currently a Professor of Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences at Quinnipiac University, where she also serves as the Environmental Sciences and Studies Program Director. Courtney completed her Ph.D. in Physiology and Neurobiology at the University of Connecticut, where her dissertation focused on understanding the molecular mechanism of endocrine disrupting chemicals. This broad interest in aquatic toxicology has been the focus of Dr. McGinnis’s research at Quinnipiac, where she has studied the molecular mechanisms of endocrine-disrupting chemicals and for the last decade examined the Quinnipiac River for the presence of phthalates and plasticizers. As a trained toxicologist, Dr. McGinnis is also passionate about teaching the basic principles of toxicology to future toxicologists.
Alexia Papavasilakis
Alexia is a New York-based artist who, in Spring 2021, will graduate from Parsons School of Design with a BFA in Illustration. You Got This, Kid! Words of Advice for Young Leaders is the first full-length book that her work has been published in, but over the past couple of years she has done editorial for Slate Magazine and Bias Journal of Dress Practice. Aside from that Alexia works on commission and occasionally displays her work in gallery spaces across New York City. Sustainability is an issue that always struck her interest, so from being a conscious consumer to being a conscious producer of art, she is willing to lend a hand to the environment in any way she can. Check out her work here
Allison Saia
Allison is a Cornell University graduate with a degree in Statistics and Biometry; Allison started her career doing technology integration work at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) before moving to Deloitte. At Deloitte, she had various roles in IT, before eventually taking a role leading Human Resources recruiting. After having her first child, she became engaged in volunteer roles and philanthropy while focusing on raising her and Chuck’s children Ethan and Matthew. She is currently a volunteer at St. Joseph’s Social Service Center and The Community Food Bank of New Jersey and works daily in different capacities to support the mission of YGTK. Allison's sister Amy suffers from Lupus, since being diagnosed over 20 years ago and Allison has been very active in raising money for Lupus research
Amy Szoke
Amy is a SUNY Oswego graduate with a degree in Elementary Education and Science. Amy started her career in 1996 as an 8th-grade science teacher in Florida and then stayed home for several years to raise her two girls Traci (2001) and Ashley (2003). Amy currently works as an administrator at Temple Emanuel-El of Palm Beach. While pregnant with her first daughter, Amy was diagnosed with Lupus and has struggled with the effects of the disease for over 20 years. On top of countless doctors' appointments, medicine regimens, and daily joint pain and fatigue, Amy has suffered from two lupus-induced strokes, has had to endure two rounds of chemotherapy, and was recently diagnosed with lupus nephritis. Through it all, she has worked full time and built a beautiful family.
Ingrid Dillon
Ingrid is currently a Director of Revenue Accounting & Compliance for a SaaS Technology company. She began her career in Banking and joined Deloitte to pursue a career in public accounting but, fate had other plans when her two sons arrived to join their sister which precipitated a move out of NYC to the New Jersey suburbs along with a new career as a corporate controller. Being passionate and dedicated to education and empowerment of our young people, she served as a New Jersey School Board member for over 6 years and spearheaded several scholarship committees and mentoring programs in corporate and volunteer organizations. She shares a keen concern for our environment and efforts to find a cure for autoimmune diseases.
Dave Wagner
Dave is from St. Paul, MN, and is a Senior Manager with Deloitte & Touche LLP. He has spent 13 years with the firm performing IT control and risk assessments within a wide range of industries but now focuses on Life Sciences specifically. Outside of work, his time is mostly spent with his wife and two young boys enjoying the outdoors. He hopes to bring two of his passions together, solving complex problems and technology, to help drive awareness of the everyday challenges people with autoimmune diseases face and ultimately support research efforts to find a cure.
Angelina Kaliada
Angelina is a proud graduate of Quinnipiac University, where she earned both her bachelor’s degree in Marketing and her MBA. During her graduate year, she interned with YGTK, playing a key role in growing the organization’s social media presence and leading a successful brand refresh. Building on that experience, Angelina now serves as an Advisory Board Member for YGTK, overseeing marketing operations and mentoring the current intern. She is also the Marketing Manager at BCC Interactive, where she specializes in Search Engine Optimization, helping businesses enhance their online visibility and drive results.
Chris Burton
Chris Burton is a minister, teacher, writer, and professional speaker who works with various groups to bring together people who may be surprised by what they have in common. Chris is the sole proprietor of an abolitionist and anti-racist consulting agency for churches, schools, and communities called Di Baddest Consulting and the Director of the Leadership Institute at Union Presbyterian Seminary. Born and educated in Brooklyn, Chris is a writer for himself and others. He is a proud Davidson alum, received his Doctor of Ministry and Master of Divinity degrees from Union Presbyterian Seminary, as well as a Master of Science in Education from St. John's University. He serves as an ambassador for the Lupus Foundation of America, is a Social Justice Fellow for The Memorial Foundation, and serves on the board of You Got This, Kid! Chris was named “an innovator in ministry you should know” by the Presbyterian Outlook. He co-hosts a podcast about race, culture and soul care called CrossStreets as well as Invigorate Your Autoimmune Journey Podcast and State of Black Man. His preaching was featured on A Sermon For Every Sunday. His speaking was featured in TEDx, a speaking series that highlights human connection. His writing has been featured in The Presbyterian Outlook, Boomshots, The Hill, Unbound, Freedom Road, and The Christian Century. Chris writes about Jamaican culture, music, sports, living with Lupus and his journey with God. You can find Chris' work at baddestchaplain.substack.com and bring Chris to speak to your community through www.chrisburtonspeaks.com.