Leadership

Executive Director and Co-Founder
Sheilagh Cirillo
sheilagh@thefate.org

Sheilagh Cirillo spends her time championing the rights of children with autism through early intervention and educational equality.  

Sheilagh’s commitment to helping improve the lives of autistic children and their families began as a personal journey more than 15 years ago when her nephew JT was diagnosed with the disorder.  While watching her sister-in-law Donna, fight to get JT appropriate early intervention and applied behavior analysis (ABA) programs in school, Sheilagh became determined to help. She joined the board of Parents of Autistic Children (POAC), an organization devoted to autism education, community outreach and family support.  

By April 2007, she co-founded The Foundation for Autism Training and Education (FATE), a national non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives, education and future successes of children with autism by providing training programs for teachers who work with them in public schools.  The programs have been proven to help individuals with autism achieve their highest level of independence— within their homes, schools and communities. 

Sheilagh co-founded FATE because she recognized that while there were many outstanding organizations focused on autism research related to finding the cause or the cure; few addressed the educational needs of children already living with the disorder. FATE not only fills this gap, but it strives to increase the public’s awareness of autism, as well as providing and supporting recreational activities and events that bring happiness to autistic children and their families. 

Today, acting as FATE’s executive director, Sheilagh overseas and serves as its workshop coordinator. She is responsible for the design, implementation, marketing and fundraising for all of FATE’s events. Since its inception, FATE has raised two million dollars, and has trained 3,000 teachers in the US, Asia, Africa, Europe, and South America.  

With the hope of helping as many people as possible, Sheilagh has recently partnered with Zuma Learning Inc., a nationwide organization that provides education technology, training and consultation with instructor-led and online programs.  Recognizing the transformative power of early intervention and education, Sheilagh plans on developing online software—for both Zuma and FATE—which would train parents and teachers how to best teach autistic children. Sheilagh believes the most comprehensive and effective way to help autistic children fulfill their utmost potential is for both parents and teachers to be on the same track.

President

Jeanette Avallone

Jeanette Avallone began her professional career on Wall Street; she was a Vice President with the Bank of Nova Scotia and headed their global bond syndicate desk for ten years.  Since leaving Wall Street, she has been very active in fundraising for countless charities.  She is currently the practice administrator of Spectrum Health Associates, a premier medical practice in Montclair, NJ that specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders in children, adolescents and adults.  Jeanette believes in the importance of working collaboratively with parents and families of autistic children.  As President of FATE, she continues to focus her attention on raising money to providing applied behavior analysis (ABA) training programs for teachers to guarantee the overall educational experience that every child with autism so desperately needs and deserves.