Board of Directors

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Brendan Aylward

Executive Director

Brendan Aylward is the founder and executive director of AdaptX. His career has revolved around inclusion in sports and fitness since he was 15. Several thousand hours of volunteering with organizations like Special Olympics, Best Buddies, and Team Hoyt have taken him around the world to coach, train, and race. As the caregiver of a boy with multiple disabilities since he was 19, and now teammates together as part of Team Hoyt, they have completed more than 100 races together. They hold PRs of 16:41 in the 5k and 2:55:12 in the marathon.

His experiences with these organizations influenced him to open an inclusive strength and conditioning facility, Unified Health and Performance, where his Special Olympics athletes could train alongside their peers. To date, this model of authentic inclusion has not been replicated elsewhere. The facility has served more than 1000 clients since 2016, with over 250 participants who have an intellectual and/or physical disability. The AdaptX team has built the infrastructure and educational platform to help other health and fitness professionals do the same.

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Karen Regan

Director of Marketing

Karen Regan is the owner and founder of Kaleidoscope, an integrated marketing and communications consultancy. For more than 25 years, Karen has worked with emerging companies and entrepreneurs to raise awareness, maximize share of voice, and drive sales. Through her efforts, she has successfully launched 100+ novel technologies, driven the acquisition of five startups, and secured strategic coverage with tier-one media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, CBS News, and CNN.

Karen’s career spans a range of industries, including technology, biotech, health care, green energy, insurance, hospitality and human resources. Her ability to translate complex topics into simplified communications and visualizations accelerates comprehension by key audiences and helps her clients establish leadership positions within their industry.

Dr. Chris Joyce

Director of Research

Dr. Chris Joyce is an Assistant Professor in the School of Physical Therapy at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS). With a focus on musculoskeletal pain and physical therapy utilization, he brings expertise in evidence-based practice, pain science, and therapeutic modalities to his teaching. Dr. Joyce co-chairs the Pain Special Group in the Massachusetts chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association and serves on the Massachusetts Pain Initiative steering committee, advancing pain management practices within physical therapy.

His research, grounded in rehabilitation science, investigates pain management strategies and healthcare accessibility, especially for chronic low back pain. Through numerous publications and conference presentations, Dr. Joyce contributes to evolving approaches in pain science, emphasizing patient-centered care in sports and orthopedic settings.

His research interests have transitioned to inclusion and adaptive fitness through his collaborations with AdaptX and appointment as the director of the Rick Hoyt Research Lab.

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Ladd Lavallee

Director of Development

Ladd Lavallee is an executive coach and advisor to businesses and nonprofits. He helps CEOs create successful teams, operations, and stories. Previously, he was president and owner of Laddawn, Inc., a manufacturing and technology company sold to Berry Global in 2018. His approach is interdisciplinary, growth-oriented, and systematic.

Lavallee is a husband, a father of two, a fitness enthusiast, and a philanthropist. His volunteerism in youth development and on behalf of people with disabilities has been uninterrupted for more than 35 years. He is an executive producer of the 2024 film My Own Normal.

Owen Anketell

Treasurer

Owen is an all-season adaptive athlete. Since the age of 3 he has been skiing adaptively through New England Disabled Sports at Loon Mountain in New Hampshire, where he is an adaptive ski coach now.

During high school, Owen founded a non-profit to help raise awareness for adaptive sports and hand cycled from Calais, ME to Key West, FL to support his organization’s mission. They covered a total of 2,365 miles and educated many people along the ride.

At the age of 16, Owen obtained his Eagle Scout, earning 36 merit badges. He has been invited back to local scout meetings to discuss and show examples of all the adaptive sports he has been involved with and what opportunities are available for athletes and volunteers.

Owen graduated from the University of Arizona in 2022 with a business management degree. He went to the University of Arizona to play on their wheelchair tennis team. While playing four years of collegiate wheelchair tennis, Owen traveled throughout the United States and became a national champion.

Owen is currently a Loan and Collateral Analyst at Cambridge Savings Bank.

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Advisory Board

  • A woman with curly gray hair sits in a wheelchair and speaks into a microphone at an event. She is wearing an elegant, off-the-shoulder black dress. Behind her, a crowd of people listens attentively in a well-lit venue decorated with greenery and mir

    Sarah Skeels

    Research and Education

  • A man with a shaved head smiles warmly in an outdoor portrait. He is wearing a light gray sweater over a dark collared shirt with a striped tie. The background is softly blurred, showing greenery and hints of a road, suggesting a sunny day in a park

    Dr. Brian Helsel

    Research and Education

  • A man with graying hair combed over to the left, wearing a blue coat smiling at the camera.

    Chris Maher

    Development

  • A headshot of Bridget with brown hair just past shoulder length, wearing hooped earrings and a black AdaptX shirt.

    Bridget Bailey

    UX/UI Accessible Design

Staff and Supporters

  • A woman with shoulder length brown hair in a ponytail, wearing a blue Unified Health and Performance shirt.

    Nicole Sampson

    Education

  • A young man with short brown hair sits on a wooden park bench, smiling gently at the camera. He is wearing a light brown suede blazer over a white collared shirt, paired with a brown belt. The background shows a green, sunlit park setting, suggesting

    Beck Schutte

    Research Fellow

  • A headshot of Avery with blonde hair and a white Bentley field hockey uniform.

    Avery Frommer

    Digital Marketing

  • An image of James, who poses with a camera covering his eye while wearing a light green zip-up fleece.

    James Purcell

    Photographer/Videographer