Advisory & Honorary Boards

Advisory Board Members:

Andrew H. Campbell was based in New Jersey and was retired as the President of the Eastern Steel Barrel Company. He was a graduate of Cornell University and the Army Language School and was fluent in Mandarin Chinese. He was involved with many volunteer organizations such as The United Way of Union County (President), and the Family and Children’s Services (President). He was on the boards of Wells College and Roanoke College as well as the Pingry School. He was Vice Chairman of Trinitas Hospital in Elizabeth, NJ and co-chair of the Presidential search committee. Andrew passed away in April 2007 but will always remain on our board with his wonderful spirit, having supported us from the beginning.

Eledryth Barton, based in New Jersey, has worked in Romania with abandoned children, was a midwife in rural areas in the USA, traveled through Egypt, Tibet, Thailand and Nepal and worked in burn wards with recovering children. She is a vocal and respected advocate for rights of the handicapped and for children’s issues across the globe. She also traveled as a member of an elite surgical team doing emergency transplants. She travels extensively each year and consults with various international organizations on health, children’s and handicapped issues.

Kimberleyanne Johnston is an amazing woman. Caught in a housefire at 19 days old she grew up a triple amputee and burn victim- this is not how she or we see her, but rather how the world at large has persisted in seeing her. Ready or not world, she still put herself through college and graduate school and may eventually head to being a full charge nurse. Right now she is head of operations at Pacific Medical Center in Washington, a mother of an adorable 2 year old boy, has been a constant advisor and inspiration over the years to this company on prosthetic and disability issues and has now become a board member. She is funny, feisty, smart, hard working and exemplifies what we stand for - that EVERYONE has the right to do what they can in life. If they have talent that is all that matters. She changes perceptions just by meeting people and being who she is. She is also humble and has no idea what a role model she really is.

Anne Latini is a Queens College graduate with a Bookkeeping Degree and owned a successful retail deli/meat market in upper west side of Manhattan for 8 years. She is now manager of a Specialty Food store in NYC. She enjoys bike riding, cooking and finding good art work- she was in fact the first purchaser of a Nicu’s Spoon art work - and checking the stock market. She is involved with us because issues close to her heart are: kids and their health and growth, being kind to other people and human rights advocacy.

Valerie Peck is a Yale graduate and has been working in regional theater in the New York and Boston area for over 10 years. She currently is a consultant for the International Rescue Committee, a refugee relief organization. Valerie also volunteers her time and sits on the Planning Committee for transModa Fashion show, an annual fundraising event to support refugees and immigrants. Valerie is proud to be part of Nicu’s Spoon which is dedicated to not only bringing entertainment to its audience but enlightening audiences to important issues of the day.

William Clark has been working with the American Federation of Television and Recording Artist for 7 years. He originally joined AFTRA as an Participant Services Counselor handling benefits of television and recording artists. He is currently the Network Administrator handling computer set-ups for staff in New York and Los Angeles. He is a graduate of Hunter College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications. He and his wife Denise live in Jamaica, Queens.

Honorary Board Members:

Mercedes McCambridge (1918-2004)
For her screen debut in All the King’s Men (1949), she won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Despite her early success, she went on to appear in films only intermittently, usually in intense, volatile roles. For her work in Giant (1956), she received a second Oscar nomination. She was never seen onscreen in what was perhaps her best-known performance: that of the demon’s voice in The Exorcist (1975). She taught classes in the late 70’s which is where she encountered the Artistic Director of Nicu’s Spoon and inspired her (You have focus, girl - you can do anything with that!). She authored two autobiographies, The Two of Us (1960) and A Quality of Mercy (1981). After many years battling alcohol, she became sober and an advocate of helping those fighting the disease of alcholism. Mercy (as she was known) died of natural causes at 87-years-old in 2004.

Daniel Tammet
One of the world’s 50 living autistic savants is the first and only to tell his compelling life story and explain how his mind works. His book, Born on a Blue Day published in 2007, was on bestseller lists all over the world. His newest work ‘Embracing The Wide Sky; A Tour Across the Horizons of the Mind’ has just been released in January 2009. He is a high-functioning, 27-year-old British man with Asperger’s syndrome. His ability to think abstractly, deviate from routine, and interact and communicate with others is somewhat impaired, yet he’s capable of incredible feats of memorization and mental calculation. Besides being able to multiply and divide huge sums in his head with the speed and accuracy of a computer, Tammet, the subject of the 2005 documentary Brainman, learned Icelandic in a week and recited the number (pi) to the 22,514th digit, breaking the European record. He also has synesthesia, a neurological syndrome that enables him to experience numbers and words as ’shapes, colors, textures and motions. He touches all he meets, not only with his mind but with his gentle manner. Visit his website.