Our Mission
To be a community resource that provides information, training, and resources to young adults with disabilities and their families so they are empowered to lead self-directed lives.
Core Values
Independence
Advocacy/Self-Advocacy
Empowerment
Community
Project Staff
Alie Kriofske Mainella
Youth Case Manager
Alie has been working with people with disabilities for the past ten years as a support person, mentor and educator. She came to IndependenceFirst as a Marquette University graduate school intern while she obtained her Master's Degree in Public Service, focusing on disability rights and the disability movement. After graduation, she found she did not want to leave the agency. She proposed a new youth-focused position to the executive director, who accepted it. Alie now continues her work at IndependenceFirst as the Youth Leadership Specialist, working with young persons with disabilities in transition, self-advocacy and independent living skills training.
Chad Murphy-Price
Youth Coordinator
Chad Murphy-Price is 25 from Milwaukee Wisconsin. He lives with Cerebral Palsy and is a very active wheelchair user. Chad graduated from Milwaukee Area Technical College in Spring 2006 with an Associate Degree in the Visual Communications Program, (Web Site Design & Computer Graphics). Chad's dream job would be to work for a pro sports team in the website and/or graphics since he loves working with computers and sports of any kind so much.
Chad has spoken at numerous state and national disability related conferences about his transition experience from high school to college and now college to the working world. Chad currently sits on the Kids As Self Advocates (KASA) National Youth Advisory Board. For more information about KASA check out our web site. He also sits on the Wisconsin State Transition Initiative Youth Leadership Counsel for more information visit our web site. Chad is also the Youth Coordinator for the Youth Information Training and Resource Center.
In his free time, if he has any, he enjoys attending sporting events, (cheering for the real America's team the Green Bay Packers!), working with computers and hanging out with his friends. Chad currently lives on his own in an assisted living apartment. Contact Chad at WI FACETS Milwaukee office: 414-374-4645 or toll-free 877-374-0511, or Email: cmurphy@wifacets.org
Matthew Zellmer
Transition Coordinator
Matthew joins the YITRC staff as the Transition Coordinator after serving on the project's steering committee as a youth member for the past year and a half. He is also the new director of the Milwaukee County Advocacy grant for 2010.
Prior to joining Wisconsin FACETS, Matthew worked as a sales associate for the Milwaukee Bucks. He is also currently a Community Columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In 2008, he was a member of the paper's Reader Advisory Committee.
Matthew graduated from UW-Whitewater in 2003 with a degree in broadcast journalism, then earned his Master's in communication in 2006. His dream job is to be a sportscaster. In his free time, Matthew enjoys church, sports, and going out with friends.
Nelsinia Ramos
Project Co-Director
Nelsinia is the parent of a young daughter who has autism. She is the Statewide Latino Coordinator for WI FACETS Parent Training and Information Center grant and Outreach Coordinator for the WI Special Education Mediation System. She is a member of the national IDEA Partnerships Dispute Resolution Training Team. She serves on the Circles of Life Conference Steering Committee and WI Dept. of Public Instruction¹s Response to Intervention/Learning Disabilities Committee. Nelsinia is a Board member and Legislative Committee Chair the Autism Society of SE WI. She is the founder of ASSEW¹s Latino Autism Parent Support Group. Nelsinia is also a founding member and Vice-President of Alianza Latina Aplicando Soluciones. She has an Associate Degree in Human Services and is bilingual.
Contact Nelsinia at WI FACETS Milwaukee office: 414-374-4645 x 124 or toll-free 877-374-0511, or Email:nramos@wifacets.org
Read the article Ramos Completes Latino Nonprofit Leadership Program