Illinois-Based. Community-Rooted. Arts-Powered.
SIP Arts Foundation is an Illinois nonprofit dedicated to community education on special education law, disability rights, and advocacy for individuals with disabilities and their families. We carry forward nearly two decades of Metro East community work, now formalized as SIP Arts Foundation.
Education, advocacy, and expression.
Pathways to Self-Advocacy
When young adults with disabilities leave high school, many lose access to the supports they relied on, often with no plan in place for what comes next:
- Adult services and benefits
- Mental health supports
- Transportation
- Employment pathways
- Community connection and meaningful daily activities
Without planning, that transition can lead to isolation, caregiver stress, loss of routine, and disconnection from the community.
SIP Arts Foundation helps families plan before that crisis point. Through Southern Illinois Pathways, we help young people and families prepare for life after school with:
- Transition-age disability resource navigation
- Family education and advocacy support
- Community-based opportunities and connection
Nearly two decades of community work.
SIP Arts Foundation builds on a commitment to Metro East families that has grown and evolved over nearly two decades of direct service.
SIP Arts Foundation builds on community work that our founder and families began through PTL Childcare, a separate organization, dating back to 2007, with a clarified focus on education, advocacy, and arts-based expression.
Two communities. One mission.
We walk alongside individuals with developmental disabilities and the families supporting them, and alongside adults of all abilities finding their own voice. Different paths, same belief: every person deserves to be heard.
Individuals with developmental disability & their families
Whether a developmental disability has been diagnosed or is just suspected, we walk with the individual and their family through every stage, helping them understand what's happening, what's possible, and what comes next.
- Navigation — diagnoses, services, systems, and next steps
- Educational opportunities — IEPs, IDEA rights, and school advocacy
- Workplace opportunities — transition planning and employment readiness
Voices ready to be heard
We help adults of all abilities use their unique voices to express their truth, turning lived experience into advocacy, community education, and cultural change through the arts.
- Advocacy — built from personal story and lived experience
- Creative expression — writing, recorded testimony, visual art, and media
- Community visibility — platforms that amplify voices too often unheard
Board of Directors
SIP Arts Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors providing strategic oversight and fiduciary responsibility, supported by a clinical advisor. A majority of our Board is independent of staff and daily operations.
Shauna holds a Master of Education and is a Learning Behavior Specialist (LBS1), credentialed Health Educator, Behavior Analyst, and Developmental Therapist, with over two decades of experience supporting children and youth with disabilities in special education classrooms, IEP management, and nonprofit leadership. Her work is also personal: as the parent of a child with special needs, she has navigated the special education and IEP process firsthand. She is the founder and Executive Director of SIP Arts Foundation, a Governor-appointed member of the Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities, and an active member of the Council for Exceptional Children and Arts Education Partnership, where she advances policy and systems change for individuals with IDD.
Candice is a cybersecurity professional and former educator with more than 15 years of teaching experience and a passion for helping others learn and grow. A traumatic brain injury survivor, she has spent years bringing awareness and advocacy to the brain injury community, and she draws on her own experience with the IEP process to give families a unique perspective on the challenges they face. She brings a strong foundation in communication, leadership, and problem-solving to her work in technology and project management.
Chris is a retired supervisor for the Missouri Department of Mental Health with over two decades of experience in group homes serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. An experienced security professional who currently works with Willows Way, he is passionate about inclusion and helping people of all abilities feel accepted, supported, and educated. He is also a parent with firsthand experience advocating for his children through the special education process.
Maria is a Licensed Professional Counselor and doctoral trainee in Counselor Education and Supervision, with extensive experience supporting individuals with disabilities and complex mental health needs across clinical, residential, and community-based settings. Her background spans direct service, behavioral support, and structured skill-building for individuals with cognitive, emotional, developmental, and psychiatric disabilities. She is committed to strengths-based, accessible, and person-centered support that empowers individuals to achieve meaningful goals across the lifespan.
Pastor Leta Padgett Wright has dedicated her life to the service of others, blending professional excellence with a heart for ministry. She spent over 20 years in the corporate world as an Item Processing Bank Manager before transitioning into full-time ministry with Joyce Meyer Ministries, where she served in World Missions and traveled the globe as a speaker. She later became Care Pastor at Twin Rivers Worship Center, directing counseling and care ministries until her retirement in 2020. Known for her wisdom, deep empathy, and decades of counseling and leadership experience, she remains a pillar of strength and compassion.
Michelle “Chelley” Dallas Scott is a certified special education teacher and a financial educator and strategist with a heart to serve women, families, and the education community. Through her business, True Financial Fitness Consulting (True Fin Fit), she helps families and caregivers understand financial literacy concepts not taught in schools and build strategies for financial fitness and generational legacy.
Kenny is a psychology and music production student and a self-advocacy leadership training graduate. He has interned with Saint Louis Story Stitchers, bringing a youth and self-advocate perspective to SIP Arts Foundation’s work.
Ebony Mac is a psychotherapist and Army veteran with more than 25 years of experience as a trauma-informed counselor supporting families. A graduate of Washington University and a doctoral candidate and brings personal experience navigating the special education system as a parent.
Strong governance, transparent operations. The Board meets at least quarterly, maintains a Conflict of Interest Policy, and operates under the General Not For Profit Corporation Act of the State of Illinois.