Our Team | Walk In My Shoes

Board of Directors

Margaret Weiss Behrns

Founder, President, & Program Director

Margaret serves as the Founder, President, and volunteer Director of the Walk In My Shoes program. She holds an M.A. in community health education and a B.A. in sociology. She worked for many years in multicultural outreach, bilingual communications, and youth development. Margaret is currently a preschool teacher and serves on the Fairfax County SEPTA Board of Directors as the Underserved Populations Committee Chair. One of her greatest passions is creating WIMS activities and providing technical assistance and training to schools.

Joanne Walton

Vice President, Social Media & Fundraising Manager, Education Advisor

Joanne Walton serves as the WIMS Vice President and as the volunteer Education Advisor, Social Media, and Fundraising Manager. Joanne is a Special Education teacher at a Title 1 school in Fairfax County. She received a master's degree in Education from Bank Street College and a Master's degree in Special Education from George Mason University. She is the mom of two children with special needs. Joanne enjoys volunteering in many capacities and is passionate about equity and inclusion. She believes that in order to truly have equity and inclusion, students, parents, and teachers need to be able to share in the perspective of others.

Minneh Bennett

Treasurer & Accountant

Minneh Bennett is a CPA and Financial Representative for Northwestern Mutual. She lends her talents to the Walk In My Shoes Program by serving as our treasurer and accountant. Included in the many reasons she is passionate about the WIMS mission are her two children.

Youth Ambassadors

Students who have experienced WIMS and contribute their talents to the development and growth of the program.

Rhea Bhatia

Rhea experienced the Walk In My Shoes program at Floris Elementary for several years before joining the Walk In My Shoes Youth Ambassador team. She served on our team and met with us weekly throughout the entire pandemic. She has participated in several projects, including the bullying article.

Sarina Nayak

Sarina is a freshman at the University of Virginia studying biology. She participated in the Walk In My Shoes program during elementary school and returned to WIMS at the beginning of the pandemic as a youth ambassador to make a meaningful impact within her community. She contributes to various projects and volunteers at community events. Over the years, Sarina has loved being able to learn more about empathy and help the program grow.

Annika Bhatia

Annika is a freshman at the University of Virginia studying International Relations and Economics. Annika participated in the Walk In My Shoes program in elementary school. In middle school, she returned to help lead activities for other students and eventually became a youth ambassador to help kids learn how they can become more empathetic towards others. Throughout her time with WIMS, she has volunteered at numerous events and worked on a variety of projects.

Partners

Educate Theatre Camp

The founders of Educate Theatre Camp believe that theatre education is a powerful tool for nurturing creativity and talent in young individuals. Their comprehensive range of educational programs and activities in acting, dancing, and theatre production are designed to provide an adaptive theatre education experience that is fully customizable for children of all skill levels and needs. Educate Theatre Camp’s immersive theatre camps, educator training, and masterclasses offer a platform for students to explore and develop their passion for the performing arts. They also focus on teaching life skills through the process of theatre, making it a truly special and valuable experience for children. Some of their camps will incorporate Walk In My Shoes into their program!

Changing Perspectives

Changing Perspectives works with individual schools, school districts, and other nonprofit organizations to educate, empower, and inspire members of their community to advance thinking and practice around social-emotional learning and inclusion practices. They support educators, school leaders, and educational communities with a range of customizable services that include curriculum resources, family workshops, professional development training, site visits, and virtual coaching. They offer a 25% discount on their curriculum until June 30, 2024, when you mention Walk In My Shoes. To receive the 25% discount, please email info@cpne.org or enter WIMS in the coupon code section at checkout.

Founding Friends

Tina Bates Baldera

Tina is the founder of Tristal Educational Consulting LLC which offers academic, ADHD, and Executive Functioning (EF) coaching, mentoring, and tutoring, and small business consulting. She is also a yoga instructor for children with special needs. She holds an MA in education with a community education concentration and a BA in interdisciplinary studies. Tina is passionate about increasing understanding of the challenges facing diverse populations and sees the Walk In My Shoes program as offering a realistic lense of the daily experiences of our students and the staff that support them.

Anna Bryan

Anna is a Strategic Communications Consultant based in the DC metro area with clients throughout the US. Anna specializes in marketing and communications for nonprofits and purpose-driven startups with an expertise in branding, strategy, mission alignment, and messaging. Anna advises nonprofits on the phases before launch including mission, clarity, and objectives. Anna held various policy analyst and strategic communications roles in the financial services sector before pivoting to nonprofit management. Anna holds a BA from Penn State University and an MA from George Mason University.

Soraya Galeas

Soraya Galeas is the Program Director of Task-Tarea, a U.S. – based charity whose mission is to break the cycle of poverty in the Maya villages of Guatemala through education empowerment. Soraya and Task-Tarea are huge fans of the Walk In My Shoes program and they successfully adapted and translated the activity scripts and worksheets into Spanish and trained hundreds of Guatemalan teachers using the Walk In My Shoes program activities.

Jennifer Kruzynski

Jennifer holds an EdD from Drexel University in Educational Administration. The Walk In My Shoes program served as the basis for her dissertation and she has adapted the activities for high school and workplace settings, and is creating a classroom curriculum based on the Walk In My Shoes Program. Jennifer currently works in Fairfax County as a special education department chair. Prior to coming to Fairfax County Jennifer worked in special education in Pennsylvania and taught in St. Maarten. She received her undergraduate and master’s degree in Elementary and Special Education and Special Education: Autism from West Chester University of PA. Jennifer is part of the Fairfax County Special Education PTA.

Brett Fox

As the Leader of the Northern Virginia Food Allergy Group for the past fourteen years, Brett has been a guest speaker at noteworthy conferences, was a founding member of the Fairfax County Food Allergy Task Force, and won the 2018 “Visionary Award” from Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE). She is the Development Director at Hopecam, a non-profit that virtually connects kids with cancer to their classrooms. Brett is honored to work to further Walk In My Shoe’s mission.

Founding Interns

Arjun Krishnamurthy
Web Intern

Arjun is an 8th grader at Rachel Carson Middle School who has experienced the Walk In My Shoes program while in elementary school and then joined the program as Youth Intern in the summer of 2022. Arjun helped with website development and outreach.

Aamani Kotla
Graphic Design Intern

Aamani is a high school student who participated in the Walk In My Shoes program when she was in fifth and sixth grade. She returned to help us grow and serves as our graphic design intern. Aamani loves designing and creating graphics, presentations, websites, and apps, and she created the graphics for our 5K Walk, Run, and Roll! She hopes to pursue mechanical or computer engineering in the future.