Our Purpose
Children with disabilities can be commonly defined by what they can't do—milestones unmet, and benchmarks unchecked. These children and their caregivers are among our most vulnerable population, especially if they reside in a disadvantaged community. Smiles for Speech (SFS) is committed to empowering caregivers by providing access to developmentally appropriate resources to support children with disabilities and ensure long-term sustainable solutions given by expert professional volunteers from all around the world.
Project Ghana
Our Objectives
Increase global awareness and provide education on the importance of therapeutic services for children with disabilities around the world to build an inclusive society.
Offer intensive training and education for professionals and for families without any access to speech therapy to help their children at home.
Remodel attitudes and beliefs surrounding speech and language disorders by providing support and resources to families and their communities.
Distribute materials such as therapy materials, books, toys and games to expose children to new experiences, stimulate language development, and self-expression.
Professional development through training and creating libraries as a resource for students studying speech-language pathology
Support increased cultural awareness in our collective society by learning and understanding various cultures through giving.
Connect and collaborate with other nonprofits with similar objectives to expand knowledge and resources.
Our Global Ambassador, Regina Hall
The challenges are great, with some children in developing countries seen as cursed, a product of witchcraft or even snake children. Smiles for Speech has made in-roads into making change. Within 4 years, we have been able to offer life-changing training and direct therapeutic services for children in low- income communities of Ghana, Kenya, Peru and Jamaica.
300+
children received
direct consultative speech therapy services
1000+
professionals and families
received training to increase communication skills
17+
countries were reached
in our virtual workshops globally
Global Teletherapy Hubs
Giving children with communication disorders access to speech therapy so they can live up to their full potential.
The Team Behind Smiles for Speech
Sandy Dorsey, MA, CCC-SLP
founder
Sandy Dorsey is a leading, speech-language pathologist (SLP), educator, and global advocate for children with special needs. She has provided diagnostic and therapeutic speech services for over 25 years in a variety of SLP care settings. Sandy serves primarily diverse and underserved communities in her New-York-based private practice, All About Speech, LLC, with a team of speech-language pathologists and clinical fellows. In July 2017, Sandy’s commitment to children living in disadvantaged communities with limited access to resources prompted her to found the non-profit organization, Smiles for Speech, Inc. As a proud Howard University alumnus, Sandy has leveraged her education and decades of life experience to partner with programs globally to provide access to experts and investors needed to develop programs to ensure that the most vulnerable children reach their full potential. Sandy’s vision is to create a world where a child’s future is not bound by circumstances such as a disability, socioeconomic status, race, or gender.
Executive Board Members
+ Kimberly Formby
Vice President
Kim Formby lives and works in rural Maine. She has 26 years of experience as an occupational therapist. Kim graduated from Texas Women’s University in 1993 with a degree in occupational therapy. She is currently certified by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy and holds licenses to practice in 4 states. In August 2019, Kim took the leap into private practice as co-founder and co-owner of Acadia Therapy Services, a pediatric occupational therapy practice.
Kim’s area of specialty includes helping kids and parents with emotional and behavioral regulation challenges through sensory processing and social/emotional skill development. She is a member of the Pediatric Trauma Community of Practice with the American Occupational Therapy Association. Kim is thrilled to be a part of Smiles for Speech and looks forward to serving children, families and other professionals globally.
+ Amanda Schaumburg
Secretary
Amanda Schaumburg is a speech-language pathologist based in Texas. She has extensive experience in both public and private schools, early childhood programs, and outpatient clinics. Amanda is a mother of a child on the Autism Spectrum and finds her unique perspective an invaluable tool when serving families in her community. She has a passion for service including volunteering for non- profits, coaching Special Olympics, and teaching merit badges in scouting programs.
She is an author of educational and speech therapy resources through her small business, Panda Speech LLC. Amanda is inspired by the mission of Smiles for Speech and honored to serve an organization that promotes access to much needed therapy services in underserved communities to improve quality of life and help people communicate.
+ Herbert Harriott
Treasurer
Herbert Harriott is an Associate Director on the Ernst & Young LLP (EY) Americas Careers Team in New York, where he is the Change and Enablement Consultant for the performance and feedback program for 75k employees across North and South America. He has worked in the professional services industry for 25+ years in various human resources roles. Herbert has extensive experience in leading all functional areas of human resources, organizational design, culture transformation, human capital management strategies, and operations to reposition businesses for growth.
He has prior board experience as development chair for the Black Ivy Alumni League. Herbert has seen up close and personal the power of speech therapy services. He is committed to supporting Smiles for Speech and contributing to improving the trajectory of the lives of children with special needs and their families for the better.
+ Dr. Regina Enwefa
Outreach Coordinator
Dr. Regina Enwefa, is the Graduate Program Director and Professor in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology at Southern University A&M College, College of Nursing and Allied Health, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dr. Enwefa has worked as a classroom teacher, school administrator, preschool director, and consultant regarding culturally and linguistically diverse children with speech and language disorders, and children with emotional impairments.
Dr. Enwefa has expertise and interests in traumatic brain injury/concussion sports, autism spectrum disorders, feeding and swallowing disorders in pediatrics, picky eaters, sensory processing disorders, augmentative and alternative communication, special education, early childhood education, cultural linguistic diversity, health disparities, neurodegenerative disorders of speech and language from pediatrics to across the lifespan.
+ Dr. Stephen C Enwefa
Outreach Coordinator
Dr. Stephen Enwefa is a Professor at Southern University A&M College, Baton Rouge, LA, in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, College of Nursing and Allied Health. Dr. Enwefa's experience and expertise are in the areas of neurodegenerative and neurological disorders, health disparities, biomedical sciences, feeding and swallowing disorders in both pediatrics and geriatrics, aphasia, language, and literacy development, grantsmanship, ESL/Bilingual Education, online teaching and learning, voice disorders, accent modification, and functional medicine.
Dr. Enwefa has published extensively and known worldwide conducted many workshops and presentations nationally and internationally in Madrid, Spain, Santiago de Cuba, Exeter, England, London, England, Dusseldorf, German, Badajoz, Spain, Oxford, England, Cambridge, England, Havana, Cuba, and Lagos, Nigeria.
Supporting Team
+ Jeannette Washington
Technical Lead
Jeannette Washington has a background as both a speech- language pathologist and software engineer in Detroit, Michigan. She is the owner of Bearly Articulating which is a disability inclusion think tank that ignites conversations across the dimensions of ability. Jeannette’s experience working largely with dyslexic learners has earned her recognition in The Washington Post alongside the cofounder of Yale University’s Center for Dyslexia & Creativity.
She is trained as a Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) facilitator which is accredited by the International Dyslexia Association. Learning to code inspired Jeannette to write the book Technical Difficulties: Why Dyslexic Narratives Matter In Tech. Jeannette takes pride in joining the Smiles for Speech team to serve and support children with special needs in her ancestral home and in other rural communities around the world.
+ Amanda Forgit
Team Coordinator
Amanda Forgit is a trilingual, school-based speech- language pathologist (SLP) holding a Bilingual Extension from Columbia University. Amanda currently serves school age, autistic children, and others with various developmental disabilities in the New York City public schools. She specializes in topics surrounding bilingualism and the SLP, Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), and feeding disorders.
Although Amanda is fluent in English and Italian, her clinical area of interest lies in Spanish. Amanda enjoys connecting with speech-language pathologists and student interns to help support children without access to speech- therapy services.
+ Crystal Neil-Patterson
Events Coordinator
Crystal Neil Patterson is an experienced registered Speech-Language Pathologist who provides teletherapy services to students in both British Columbia and Ontario, Canada. She has experience working with children of all ages in a number of settings to include: private practice, private schools, and neurodevelopmental clinics. The majority of her experience has been in private practice where she worked extensively with the pediatric population ranging from 18 months to 16 years.
Crystal is Hanen certified in both It Takes Two To Talk® (ITTT) and More Than Words ® (MTW) programs, and was most recently involved in providing More Than Words teletherapy programs to families in Ontario in collaboration with the Ontario Autism Program initiative. In addition, Crystal is PROMPT trained and has received her Level 3 certification in Talk Tools. Crystal is passionate about educating and empowering parents about their child’s cognitive, speech and language, and play development through workshops and presentations.
+ Sarah Wu
Communication Chair
Sarah Wu is a seasoned, speech-language pathologist practicing in the suburbs of Chicago for over 14 years. She works primarily with bilingual, Spanish speaking students in school settings, via teletherapy. Sarah is also the owner of Bilingual Speech Therapy Resources, LLC, which focuses on creating speech therapy materials in English and Spanish. Sarah received her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Business from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and her Master of Arts from Northwestern University.
She is currently working on another master's degree in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in ESL/bilingual education from National-Louis University. Sarah enjoys the opportunity to work alongside Sandy and the Smiles for Speech team to train and equip clinicians worldwide to make a difference in the lives of underserved populations.
+ Deborah Brooks
Fundraising Events Coordinator
Deborah Brooks is a speech- language pathologist, providing speech therapy to individuals of all ages and levels of need from early intervention to skilled nursing throughout New York City. She earned her B.A. in Communication Sciences and Disorders in 2010 and M.A. in Speech Language Pathology in 2012, both from St. John’s University in Queens. She is currently an adjunct professor at St John’s University and works at an New York City based private practice. Deborah is the author and illustrator of the speech therapy coloring book series, Color in Speech.
Deborah has supported SFS since 2018 promoting awareness, shared culturally responsive resources, and offered virtual parent trainings in the communities Smiles for Speech serves.
In The News
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