Board of Directors
LYNETTE MULLENS, M.D., PH.D. | CHAIR
Lynette Mullens is a Co-Founder of Avalon. Lynette qualified as an M.D. with Honours from the University of London, England, in 1987. She was awarded a Ph.D. from the same university in 1993 and subsequently joined the headquarters of GlaxoWellcome, a major multinational pharmaceutical company. Lynette specialized in clinical research and development of drugs for the treatment of neurologic and psychiatric disorders. She was the principal physician on the international team responsible for the development of the antiepileptic drug Lamictal in both the U.S. and Europe . This drug is commonly used for the treatment of seizures associated with conditions such as cerebral palsy in both children and adults. After moving to California in 1999, Lynette worked for a start-up company which collaborated with non-profit organizations to provide patients with online access to clinical trials. This experience inspired her to contemplate a new venture aimed at enhancing the lives of children who have cerebral palsy. Lynette has three children, the eldest of whom has cerebral palsy.
KINGA E. CZEGENI, M.SP.ED., CABMP
Kinga is a Co-Founder of Avalon. She holds a master’s degree in Special Education (with an emphasis in Physical and Health Impairments) as well as a California teaching credential. She was a Lecturer at San Francisco State University for over a decade, where she taught a graduate course on the Implications and Management of Physical Disabilities and Sensory Impairments. Kinga entered the field of special education at the International Peto Institute in Budapest, Hungary. She graduated with High Honors in 1996 with a degree in elementary education majoring in special education of motor-disabled children. Kinga was recruited to California in 1997 where she contributed to the establishment of two programs for children with cerebral palsy. Kinga is a certified practitioner in the Anat Baniel Method®. She is a graduate of the Mastery Program which encompasses children with special needs.
After 17 years of service, in March of 2022, Kinga stepped down as Avalon’s Executive Director. She continues to serve on the board of directors.
Currently Kinga dedicates her time to her private practice, Mov/Mi, providing therapeutic services for newly diagnosed babies and their families, children with special needs (Cerebral Palsy, movement disorders, ASD, ADHD), adults with chronic pain, and high performers.
WILLIAM (“BILL”) H. WOLF, JR., M.B.A., TREASURER
Bill Wolf is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Lobo Leasing a specialized aircraft financing company focused on leasing commercial helicopters to U.S. and international rotorcraft operators. Bill graduated in 1987 from Amherst College with a bachelor’s degree, cum laude, in Economics. Prior to business school, Bill was a financial Analyst at Goldman, Sachs & Co. After graduating from the Harvard Graduate School of Business in 1991 with a Master’s in Business Administration, Bill was an investment banker and financial advisor. From 1991 to 2004, Bill was in positions of increasing responsibility at Goldman, Sachs & Co., retiring in 2004 as a Managing Director of the Investment Banking Division and Head of the U.S. Retail Industry Practice. Subsequently, he became a Managing Director and Global Sector Head for the Retail and Distribution Industries at HSBC and later joined Credit Suisse as Managing Director and Co-Head of the Americas Retail Group. Bill left investment banking in 2008 and entered private practice, where he invested on behalf of a family office based in Austin, Texas in service, energy, retail, aviation and financial private companies. In this connection Bill and members of his family have formed Wolf Partners and Lobo Leasing to invest in and arrange financing for private companies in the energy, aviation, and financial services among other sectors.
ANN WILSON GREEN, J.D., SECRETARY
Ann Wilson Green earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1983. She earned her Juris Doctor degree from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. in 1986. Upon graduating, she began practicing law with the firm of Sedgwick, Detert, Moran and Arnold (now Sedgwick) in New York City where she specialized in medical device and pharmaceutical products liability litigation. During that time, she was also actively involved in the New York City Bar Association’s Special Committee on Legal Issues Effecting People with Disabilities. As part of that committee work, she prepared comments on the draft legislation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Ann transferred to Sedgwick’s San Francisco office in 1991 where she was promoted to partner. In 1998, Ann retired to explore other pursuits. Interested in continuing her work with people with disabilities, she worked as an aide to a freshman student at Stanford University who has cerebral palsy. In 2014, Ann earned a Master of Liberal Arts (MLA) degree from Stanford University. She is currently serving on the Alumni Advisory Board for Stanford's MLA program. She is also pursuing a PhD in English from Claremont Graduate University. She is married and has two children.
Jennifer Parker, M.S.
Jen Parker earned her Bachelor of Arts in English from Boston College and a Masters of Science from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. She started her career at Fidelity Investments in Boston. After moving west, she marketed her way through the dot com bubble, first at Zoom Marketing, a high tech consulting firm, and later as Director of Marketing at iMotors. In 2016 co-founded UCSF's Pediatric Epilepsy Center of Excellence (PECE) with Dr. Joseph Sullivan after realizing the need for a better whole patient approach while caring for her youngest with severe epilepsy. PECE now serves hundreds of kids in San Francisco and Oakland, providing counseling and therapy for families struggling with an epilepsy diagnosis. Jen is a writer and essayist, publishing on medium and substack, and served on the Board of Pied Piper Players, a community theater non-profit from 2018-2021. She is married and has four children, and likes to run whenever possible.
BRYAN vu, B.A.
Bryan Vu earned his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics & Economics from Pomona College in Claremont, California. After starting his career as a Business Analyst (Accenture), Technical Consultant (Trilogy Software), and Sales Engineer (Art Technology Group) in Los Angeles and Austin during the dot-com boom and bust, Bryan moved to the SF Bay Area. At Google for nine years, Bryan managed and grew several business and technical teams in Google’s AdSense, Gmail, DoubleClick and AdExchange businesses. Most recently, he served as VP of Product at Lightning Labs, a venture-backed digital currency payments startup based in San Francisco. Bryan has two children, the eldest of whom has a rare genetic condition (Chromosome 18q deletion)., B.A.
MELANIE HUNTLEY, PH.D.
Melanie Huntley was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology & Mathematics in 2001 and a Ph.D. in Computational Biology from McMaster University in Canada in 2006. Since moving to the Bay Area in 2010, her career as a scientist & data scientist, now in the Personalized Healthcare organization at Genentech, has been inspired by her daughter, who suffers from a severe and treatment resistant form of epilepsy called Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS). Melanie is a staunch advocate for the special needs community, and also serves as a board member and past president of the LGS Foundation. During her free time, she most enjoys activities that light up her daughter’s face with joy, like Avalon celebrations, and therapeutic horse riding.
Dan Heller
Dan graduated from Carnegie Mellon with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. He worked as a Software Engineer at Indeed, Google, and IBM over 17 years, and for the last 8 years has been leading Enterprise IT teams at Indeed, currently as a Sr Director of Engineering. Originally from New Jersey, Dan lived in Austin, TX for 15 years before moving to California and putting down roots in the SF East Bay. Dan is married with three children, and his oldest son has attended The Avalon Academy since 2022. In addition to family adventures with the kids, Dan is active in his local community and enjoys outdoor work around the home.