PKS Kids

Board of Directors

PKS Kids was started by a small group of parents in 2006. Their purpose was to promote Pallister-Killian Syndrome and raise awareness through this non-profit organization.

Dawn Bergquist, Chairperson
Dawn lives in Greencastle, PA with her husband, Eric and four children. Her youngest child, Aidan was born with PKS in 2004. Dawn has an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education and a MEd from The University of Virginia in Administration/Supervision. Before choosing to stay home and care for her family, she taught kindergarten for several years. Her hope is that PKS Kids will help to ensure early diagnosis for all children with Pallister-Killian Syndrome in hope that by receiving intervention at a young age they may enjoy a longer, healthier and happier life with the ones that love them.

Mike Zane, Vice-Chairperson
Michael lives is East Islip, New York with his wife Nicole, also actively involved in PKS KidsTM. They have 3 beautiful children - Jake, 4, who was diagnosed with PKS at 6 months old and Kayla and Brandon who are both 2 years old. Michael has been involved in the media business for over 18 years and currently oversees a department responsible for sales and partner audience development for Publishers Clearing House, where he is the Director of Online Lead Generation. He graduated from the University of Maryland at College Park with a degree in business management. Jake has his own website where all are welcome at jakezane.com.

Cammie Gray, Treasurer
Cammie Gray is married and has 4 children. Cammie worked eight years at a mental health insurance company and six of those years were spent in the Purchasing/Finance department. Her third child has Pallister-Killian Syndrome. After looking for 2 years for the reason her child was having problems and not knowing what was wrong, she knows the importance of educating the medical community about PKS. She has very high hopes for the success of this organization. Cammie also serves as the Finance Chair.

Gretchen Peters, Secretary/Education Chair
Gretchen’s youngest child, Simon, was born in 2004 with Pallister-Killian Syndrome. Not having informational resources to help her deal with the diagnosis, Gretchen was determined to help others navigate through the world of PKS. To update friends and family, she created a website for her son and she's thrilled to know that it has been the first point of information for several families. Not wanting to stop there, she hopes that PKS Kids will help to make information about Pallister-Killian widely available for those who are still searching. Gretchen lives in Marshall, MI with her husband Jim and children, Alex, Emily, Maddy, Natalie, and Simon. She may be reached at gpeters@pkskids.net. You may visit Simon's website at www.simonpeters.org. Gretchen also serves as the Education & Promotions Chair.

Kate Hettiger, Medical Advisory Chair
Kate lives in the St. Louis area with her husband and 2 children. Her youngest son was diagnosed with Pallister-Killian Syndrome only after she found Simon's website, thanks to Gretchen. As PKS is so rare, her son's specialists had not seen a case before. Kate's hope is that her work with PKS Kids can help to shine a light on all aspects of Pallister-Killian within the medical community while continuing to provide support and hope to families whose children have PKS.

Kim Hudson, Medical Advisory Committee
Kim lives in Pittsburgh with her husband and their 4 boys. Their oldest son Andrew was born in 2001 with PKS. She has been a nurse for 13 years and works part-time as a Field nurse supervisor for an agency that cares for children and adults with disabilities. Whenever possible, she enjoys traveling with her family and getting together with friends. Her hope for this organization is to promote awareness, facilitate research and ultimately improve the quality of life for the children touched by PKS.

Dana Paglia, Medical Advisory Committee

Nicole Schmidt, Member-at-Large
I am a mom to 3 beautiful children, LIndsey, Hannah and Andrew, as well as a wife to Paul Schmidt for 17 years! We live in Becker, MN. I have a nursing background and worked at a local hospital for 9 years in the ER, Post-Partum/Nursery and Med/Surg units and most recently worked in the Wound Care Center the last 2 years of my job. I am now at home to help manage cares for my son Andrew, who is affected with PKS and Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome. I enjoy singing, music, cooking, entertaining, downhill skiing, water skiing, swimming, aerobics (most days:)), time spent with my family and friends. I have also found a lot of healing in advocating for my son and children with like needs.