Sharon Klein
Executive Director
Sharon is honored to be joining Neurofibromatosis Northeast as Executive Director in June 2021! With more than 15 years of non-profit fundraising experience, she brings a focus and passion on finding cures for rare diseases. She has held numerous leadership roles in executive alignment and collaboration, fundraising, management, and patient advocacy and programs.
Sharon’s career in the nonprofit world began right out of college, when she worked as a Program Coordinator at The Leukemia Society of America, now The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Working at what was then a grass roots organization and wearing many hats, Sharon quickly became well versed in relationship building, branding, and marketing. After serving in leadership roles in development at other organizations including the Wang Theater, Sharon returned to LLS in 1999. Read more
Anne Patterson
Director of Patient and Clinic Outreach
Anne is the organization's “boots on the ground” in the northeast where she engages daily with individuals, families and clinicians in the neurofibromatosis community. Anne’s background working in the human service field combined with her many years of dedicated volunteer efforts for those with neurofibromatosis has led to a position that she finds both professionally and personally satisfying.
In alignment with Neurofibromatosis Northeast’s commitment to increasing support for individuals affected by NF, Anne spends much of her time cultivating relationships with families and clinicians. Her efforts focus on increasing visibility of the resources NF Northeast offers, such as creating patient and family support matching programs, assisting with NF related events and fundraisers, promoting advocacy efforts at the state and federal level and informing medical professionals of how NF Northeast can be a resource to them and their patients. Read more
Jenny McDonald
Gift and Data Coordinator
After time at home with her two children, Jenny arrived at Neurofibromatosis Northeast in summer 2018 to restart her 15-year donor relations career, which began in higher education. She coordinated donor appreciation and funds allocation at MIT and Harvard to ensure timely recognition of and accountability to top-tier donors. At NF Northeast she gratefully records and acknowledges the generosity of the NF community. The tributes that arrive in the mail and through cyberspace each day are a testament to the dedication of so many to finding a cure for NF. Making sure those fighters know how much NF Northeast appreciates their efforts is an honor and a privilege. Read more
