AXYS Board of Directors and staff members are dedicated to the mission of AXYS and to our X and Y variation community. While election to the board is an honor, members also have important legal and fiduciary responsibilities that require a commitment of time, skill and resources. The ideal board member is strongly committed to AXYS’s mission and vision, and has the interest, skills, and resources that will fuel the organization’s growth.
Officers
Chair since 2024, Director since 2024
Your name: Ginnie Cover
Your connection to AXYS: XXY, but have written about all variations
General location: Mid- Atlantic ( Washington DC metro area)
How long have you been with AXYS? Since 1995 (originally KS&A)
Brief professional bio: Ginnie worked throughout her career with children and adults with complex medical conditions and developmental disabilities. She holds an MSW from the University of Michigan. After her now adult son was prenatally diagnosed with 47,XXY, in the 1980’s, pre-internet, Ginnie became an advocate for those with X and Y chromosome variations, providing educational programs for families and for professionals who work with this population. In 2012, she published Living with Klinefelter Syndrome, Trisomy X, and 47,XYY, a widely read guidebook to X and Y chromosome variations. During the pandemic, she turned to fiction, completing a novel, Supplemental Needs, about a family coping with a prenatal diagnosis. Ginnie wrote this novel because disability in children is rarely portrayed in fiction, and certainly not where there is a prenatal diagnosis involved. She is a past Board member, and returned to the AXYS Board as Chair in 2024. Ginnie and her husband, who are the parents of two adult sons, live in the Washington, D.C., metro area.
Vice Chair since 2023, Director since 2017
Your name: Gail Decker
Your connection to AXYS: I have a son with XXYY Syndrome
General location: New York
How long have you been with AXYS? I have been a board member since 2017 and part of the XXYY Project since 1998, which joined AXYS in 2015
Brief professional bio: I am retired from banking and management. I am a parent and advocate for individuals with ID/DD here in my local community.
Treasurer since 2024, Director since 2024
Secretary since 2025, Director since 2024
Your name: Jessica Grove
Your connection to AXYS: 47,XXY – my son
General location: Maryland
How long have you been with AXYS? I’ve been on the board since April 2024, but a part of the community for a few years as an observer and receiver of information and resources.
Brief professional bio: Jessica Grove is the Chief Operating Officer for the national mental health organization, Give an Hour. As COO she oversees the day to day operations of the organization including finances, human resources, technology integration, data collection, impact reporting, program management, and more. Jess came to Give an Hour from the professional theater world where she spent many years as a professional Stage Manager and Production Manager at theatres in both North Carolina and Maryland. She considers herself a compassionate and dedicated self-starter. Jess is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She and her husband have three children and are strong advocates for families in need of support for neurodiversity as well as for families built through adoption.
Directors
Director since 2018
Your name: Hannah Acevedo-Schiesel
Your connection to AXYS: Trisomy X
General location: California
How long have you been with AXYS? 7 years
Brief professional bio: Hannah has worked in education for over 25 years as a classroom teacher, a school psychologist, a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, a private practice owner, and a consultant. She is a Spanish-bilingual Licensed Educational Psychologist with a Diplomate in School Neuropsychology (ABSNP) and Board Certification in Behavior Analysis (BCBA). She uses this training along with her experience as a parent to inform her approach to conditions that affect learning and behavior. She is a frequent guest lecturer at several SF Bay Area universities. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family, doing pilates, and traveling.
Director since 2020
Your name: Dalene Basden
Your connection to AXYS: Mother of 47,XXY guy
General location: Boston, MA (North Shore)
How long have you been with AXYS? Member of AXYS community for 25 years, current board member for about two years
Brief professional bio: Dalene Basden, CPSP is a Family Support Specialist serving Lynn since 1998. In 2012, she became the first Nationally Certified Parent Support Provider in the state of Massachusetts. As an African American parent of two sons, one identified with 47XXY, the other with mental health challenges, she experiences firsthand racial disparities in health care. Dalene’s response to this inequality earned her the Rebeka Lee Award from the Harvard School of Public Health. In 2007, Dalene earned her certification as a SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) leader with the Wellesley Centers for Woman. She continues to use her personal experience and expertise as a platform to inform and enlighten others about social injustices. Dalene engages her community, particularly those affected by bias and racism, in conversations of race, culture and intolerance as part of her quest to educate and bring awareness to these issues.
Director since 2025
Andrew’s bio coming soon
Director since 2023
Your name: Melanie Flyte
Your connection to AXYS: Family members with XYY
General location: California
How long have you been with AXYS? I’ve been a board member with AXYS since 2023.
Brief professional bio: Since 2007, I’ve greatly enjoyed working as a paralegal supporting my supervising attorneys. Outside of business hours, I’ve worked extensively with a nonprofit organization supporting Autistic or otherwise Neurodiverse individuals and their families. I’ve also provided special education advocacy to some in my community.
Director since 2024
Your name: Erynn Gordon
Your connection to AXYS: XYY
General location: New Jersey
How long have you been with AXYS? I’ve been a member of the AXYS community since 2021 and joined the board in 2024.
Brief professional bio: Erynn began working with the board in 2024. Her son was diagnosed with 47, XYY when he was 10 years old. Erynn is a genetic counselor by training and has been working in the genetics industry for the past 24 years. Erynn is passionate about patient advocacy and recognizes the challenges that parents face in first finding a diagnosis and then accessing information and is motivated to help AXYS support families. Erynn lives with her husband and two sons in New Jersey.
Director since 2019
Your name: Andrea Millett
Your connection to AXYS: Trisomy X
General location: Boston, Massachusetts
How long have you been with AXYS? I have been a volunteer for 11 years and a board member for 5 years.
Brief professional bio: Andrea is currently employed as a Registered Behavior Technician working in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). She is passionate about connecting Trisomy X families together both through online and in person support groups. Andrea is dedicated to advocate for individuals with Trisomy X and to bring awareness. Sharing stories from the lived experience is an invaluable resource. Andrea lives with her husband Brian and their two cats named Oreo and Jade. Andrea and Brian enjoy traveling and also enjoy cooking new recipes with each other.
Director since 2020
Your name: John Sloss
Your connection to AXYS: I have a son with XXYY syndrome
General location: I live near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
How long have you been with AXYS? I have been an AXYS board of Directors member for 5 years and have been part of the XXYY Project volunteer team for 8 years.
Brief professional bio: I have been employed in the Radiopharmaceutical medical isotope industry as an Instrumentation technologist for 23 years with BWXT Medical and Nordion. We produce various radio-active cancer treatments which are used globally. I have also been active within my work place as a union/employer contract negotiator and Chief steward.
Director since 2020
Your name: Erin Torres
Your connection to AXYS: Trisomies
General location: Maryland
How long have you been with AXYS? 4 years
Brief professional bio: Family Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner who completed her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree at the University of Cincinnati in August 2022. She received her bachelor’s degree from Hampton University in May 2002 and her master’s degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore in May of 2014. Has worked National Institutes of Health’s Clinical Center since 2007, currently with the Section on Developmental Neurogenomics. Most of her nursing career has been in various psychiatric settings, but she also has experience working in the emergency department and in pediatrics.
Staff
Executive Director
Communications Manager