Staff

Kelli D. Kelley is the mother of two children born preterm – Jackson Thomas born at 24 weeks in 2000 and Lauren Elizabeth born at 34 weeks in 2003. She has invested her time and talents during the past 10 years to raise awareness of the growing problem of preterm birth and to support families who share her experience. She is often sought out to speak about preterm birth, the high incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression among these parents, and the need for support and navigation resources for all families who have had these experiences.

In 2014, Kelli presented at the 5th Annual Management of Obstetric Crisis:  Developing Practice Strategies to Maximize Maternal & Fetal Outcomes at the St. David’s Women’s Center of Austin. In 2011, Kelli was selected as a parent liaison and spokesperson for the National Perinatal Association as  they work to facilitate the development of Multidisciplinary Guidelines for the Care of Late-Preterm Infants. She was asked to participate in Pediatric Grand Rounds at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio in 2011. Kelli has provided keynote addresses for conferences, such as the Texas Premature Infant Health Summit, the Educational Summit on Prematurity at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio and the Association of Women’s Health Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses Texas Section Conference. Read more about her speaker’s profile.

Kelli was named a 2015 Communicator of the Year from Women Communicators of Austin, a 2011 Local Hero through Bank of America’s Neighborhood Excellence Initiative® and a 2011 Health Care Hero through the Austin Business Journal. She is the 2010 recipient of the Austin Under 40 Award for Medical and Health Care, and an ENERGIZER Keep Going Hall of Fame Semifinalist. Kelli serves on the steering committee for the National Coalition for Infant Health, the Parent Relation Council for the National Association of Neonatal Nurses, the leadership team of the Preemie Parent Alliance and is a member of the Pediatric Family Advisory Council at St. David’s North Austin Medical Center. She is a past President of the Austin chapter of the Association for Women in Communications and a graduate of Leadership Austin.

In 2005, the Kelley family served as the Ambassador family for the Austin division of the March of Dimes. Kelli served on the Austin division Board of Directors of the March of Dimes for four years and was selected to serve on the National Mission Volunteer Advisory Council for two years.

Prior to the birth of her children, Kelli worked in public relations with the The Arc of the Capital Area as the Public Relations Coordinator and then as the Development Coordinator for the Mental Health Association in Texas. She went on to work for Cunningham Communication, a national high-tech public relations agency, as a Public Relations Manager and Marketing Coordinator where she received numerous promotions and awards for her leadership and accomplishments.

Kelli received a bachelor of journalism degree from The University of Texas at Austin. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her husband, children and friends, reading, cooking, exercising and participating in Bible study.

Rachel Astorga-McCain grew up in the small border town of Del Rio, TX, and has been an Austin transplant since 1999. She currently resides in the north Austin area with her husband and daughter, Patrick and Leila, and their dog, Amelia. After her water broke at 24 weeks, followed by a short antepartum hospital stay, Rachel gave birth to Leila in the fall of 2016 at 26 weeks gestation weighing 2 pounds, 2 ounces and was discharged after spending 81 days in the NICU. Despite numerous respiratory issues since then, Leila continues to thrive and is one happy-go-lucky girl.

Rachel experienced first-hand the exhausting emotional and physical toll a NICU stay can have on a parent and the conflicting feelings of excitement, gratitude, worry and grief that continue after discharge.  She looks forward to her new role where she can be part of team that supports fellow preemie parents through quality and meaningful programs.

Prior to joining Hand to Hold, Rachel worked for the Prevention and Early Intervention division at the Department of Family & Protective Services (DFPS) managing strategic cross-state agency efforts after serving as project manager for the federal Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) grant. She previously served as the Director of Community Education at Any Baby Can of Austin, Inc. where she coordinated outreach efforts and managed cross-sector partnerships. Before accepting this position, she was the Family Education Program Manager overseeing family literacy and parenting education programs for Austin area families.

Rachel earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Applied Learning and Development from the University of Texas at Austin as well as an Executive Master of Public Affairs degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs.

An Amarillo native, Jennifer now lives in Austin, Texas with her husband Jonathan. Jennifer’s daughter Evie was born in the spring of 2015 at 25 weeks gestation weighing 1 pound, 13 ounces. She and her husband experienced firsthand the positive impact that Hand to Hold’s in-person family support can have as they navigated the milestones and challenges of having a baby born premature. After a lengthy NICU stay, Evie is now at home and doing well. Jennifer brings her passion and enthusiasm for nonprofit fundraising to Hand to Hold, whose mission is so close to her heart.

Prior to joining Hand to Hold, Jennifer served as the Executive Director of Foster Angels of Central Texas, where she assisted thousands of children in the foster care system in Central Texas and gained significant experience in fundraising and leading the operational components of a non-profit organization. She is a graduate of the University of North Texas in Denton.

Claire lives in Austin with her husband Matt, and graduated Texas State University in August 2015 with her Master of Social Work. She previously worked at Child Protective Services, where she served foster children, the biological parents and families of the children, and their foster placements. Claire is passionate about working with children and families to provide them with support through trying times.

Claire struggled with many years of infertility, as well as a late miscarriage. She recently gave birth to her first child and is enjoying the joys of new motherhood. Claire also has second hand experience with preemies through her sister-in-law’s antepartum stay due to complete placenta previa and delivering her niece at 33 weeks and weighing 4 pounds. Claire witnessed her sister-in-law’s heartache of leaving one child at home for her antepartum hospital stay and then again when she had to return home without her newborn.

Claire also has experience volunteering with a local homeless shelter as well as a grieving center where she helped facilitate the children’s group sessions.

Emily was born and raised in Austin, TX, and has worked in the nonprofit sector for a few years. She sees it as a way to support and give back to the city and its people that are so important to her. She was drawn to Hand to Hold because of their amazing mission; some of Emily’s cousins went into the NICU after they were born, and she saw firsthand how much her family could have used this kind of support.

During her free time, Emily can be found playing nerdy board games with her husband, bragging about her collection of Harry Potter memorabilia and watching TV with her cat, Momo.

Mary Dudley is the proud mother of Hand to Hold’s Founder and Executive Director, Kelli Dudley Kelley. Mary has been with Hand to Hold from the very beginning. Her first visit to a NICU was the night her first grandson was born at 24 weeks. Mary has been by Kelli’s side through the whole journey and is proud to be working as Administrator Coordinator. Mary has been a legal secretary, an assistant to a bank president, the owner and operator of a retail garden center and manager of a health club. She says working for Hand to Hold is living a dream come true with her daughter, helping ensure NICU Families like their own receive support that they so desperately needed 17 years ago. Mary recently celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary and is looking forward to moving to the Austin area to be close to her two daughters and five grandchildren.

Suzy Kellough’s passion for helping others has led her to work with seniors and children with special needs for the past 15 years. Her daughter, Alisa, was born at 27 weeks weighing 1.6 pounds. They were in the NICU for 137 days. Although that was 19 years ago, Suzy still remembers the stress and worries of the NICU and the sadness of not having the experience you dreamed of when finding out you were growing your family.

 

Suzy and her husband, James, have been married for 25 years. They just relocated from Chicago, to McKinney, TX, in August 2017. Suzy loves to read and spend time with family & friends, laughing, visiting the ocean and getting involved in their new church. Her daughter Alisa is 19 years old and starting college.

Jenna Maxfield has been with Hand to Hold since 2017 and serves as the organization’s Podcast Producer, working with Kelli Kelley on booking, writing, and editing all podcasts. Jenna started her career as an English teacher, then eventually worked as an administrator at Fusion Academy in Austin. She graduated from Texas A&M with a Bachelor of Arts in English, and after teaching for several years in Texas, moved to Los Angeles where she obtained her Masters in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California.

Jenna’s passion is writing, and she loves the creativity that goes along with the podcast production. Beyond her work with Hand to Hold, Jenna is an avid reader and writer, writing her own fiction in her spare time. She also has two dogs and a cat that keep her pretty busy.

Becky lives in a small town north of Austin, Texas with her husband and two beautiful children. After their daughter was born healthy and full-term, there was no reason to think their second child would chart a different course. However, Becky’s water broke in her 24th week with her second pregnancy, and their son was born at 25 weeks and 2 days. He spent 103 days in the NICU, with the family doing their best to balance their time between being home with Big Sister during the holidays and being at the NICU with their preemie.

After discharge, Becky quickly learned that the journey doesn’t end when you leave the hospital. She understands the barrage of emotions NICU parents feel, from joy and gratitude to guilt and fear. Before the birth of her preemie, Becky worked for 13 years in Early Childhood Education, most recently as an administrator at a large preschool, where she developed a passion for learning, supporting families, and helping others grow. Now as a Family Support Navigator working directly with NICU families, she is able to channel that passion into helping families find purpose in their pain, using her experiences to support and empower parents facing a similar journey.

Sara has an enthusiasm for spreadsheets and helping people. She originally came to Hand to Hold as a volunteer and now combines her enthusiasm for spreadsheets and helping people as our Volunteer Coordinator. She lives in Austin, Texas with her paramedic husband and two children, Charlie and Nora. Nora was born at 32 weeks and 1 day by emergency C-section due of a placental abruption. After spending 53 days in the NICU, Nora has had a relatively easy path with minimal occupational therapy, eye surgery, ear tubes, and some asthma. Charlie joined the family in October 2016 with no complications.

Sara is originally from rural south Louisiana and received a B.A. in English from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She has worked in higher education and educational publishing in a variety of roles, from project management and sales support to academic advising and orientation. As a true Cajun, she enjoys feeding people, talking about food, and explaining the difference between Cajun food and Creole food.

Alicia resides in Austin with her husband and three beautiful daughters. A former native of New Orleans, LA, she and Christopher met art a conference while working in the specialty banking field. She was quickly swept off her feet and moved to Dallas, TX. They have been in Austin since 2009. Alicia has owned her own floral and event business and has worked as an Executive Assistant/Office and Design Coordinator for a large Church in Dallas. Alicia’s own miscarriages have given her a passion for NICU and bereaved families. She enjoys working to bring her creative touch to the events for families in the NICU.

Jenny hails from Lafayette, Louisiana, but was transplanted to Texas soon after. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts at the University of Texas and currently resides outside of Houston in Cypress, Texas.

Before joining Hand to Hold, Jenny worked for the American Cancer Society as a volunteer coordinator and for the University of Virginia School of Medicine, where she recruited community members to participate as “patients” in clinical skills programs. She is happy for the opportunity to combine both of these work experiences into her role as Family Support Navigator at Hand to Hold, where she works with incoming and current peer mentors to ensure each family that seeks support has a hand to hold.

Jenny has two sweet girls who are both native New Yorkers, but she is grateful to be living in Texas again where her family resides. She enjoys volunteering at both of her girls’ schools. In 2016 she married her husband, Kevin, a nice cajun boy.

Leigh Ann Torres is a writer, creator and mother of three living in Austin, TX. After a short and sudden bout with severe preeclampsia, Leigh Ann’s identical twin girls were delivered at 31 weeks, spending 38 mostly uneventful days in the NICU. Two years later the Torres family welcomed another baby, this time at term, with only a mild case of preeclampsia. Leigh Ann currently runs Hand to Hold’s online content and social media channels. When she’s not doing laundry or fulfilling requests for snacks, she usually has her nose stuck in a book.

Contessa is a mother of two boys who were both born at 34 weeks. While their NICU stay was short, Contessa well remembers the sadness and anxiety of leaving the hospital without her baby.

Before deciding to stay at home with her children, Contessa worked for almost a decade in Long Term Care. As a Nursing Facility Administrator she managed a 120 bed Skilled Nursing Facility in Austin.

Contessa and her husband are graduates of Southwest Texas State University and have been happily married for 13 years. Contessa is the PTA President Elect for her children’s school and enjoys staying physically active with her elementary age boys. From hiking to zip lining she and her family never miss an opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors.