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October 28, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Columbus, OH) — Bridgeway – Academy & Therapy Center (Bridgeway), a nonprofit education and

therapy center serving children and young adults with autism and other developmental disabilities, is

pleased to announce the appointment of Barbara Brown from Grange Insurance as a new member of

the Bridgeway Board of Trustees.

“We are honored to welcome Barbara Brown. Her passion for supporting people with autism, combined

with her extensive finance and legal background will be such an asset to Bridgeway as we continue to

expand our organization and our Board of Trustees,

” said Abby David and Erin Nealy, Co-Founders and

CEOs of Bridgeway.

Ms. Brown is the Chief Claims Officer at Grange Insurance, leading a team of 320 associates. She is

responsible for overseeing Property, Casualty, Legal and Auto Material Damage Claims for the

company. She has over 25 years of experience in the legal and insurance industry focused on personal

and commercial first and third-party claims. She holds a bachelor’s degree in History from Brigham

Young University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Wisconsin. She is a licensed attorney in

the State of Ohio.

Ms. Brown on joining Bridgeway’s Board: “What solidified my wanting to be part of Bridgeway was my

visit to the campus. To see preschool students all the way to young adults being prepared for the future

in a meaningful and loving way, all while being allowed to be their authentic selves and being celebrated

for that, was truly amazing. As a parent of an autistic child, acceptance for who these incredible kids are

is one of the greatest gifts you can receive. Bridgeway gives that gift every day!”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Columbus, OH) — Bridgeway – Academy & Therapy Center (Bridgeway), a nonprofit education and therapy center serving children with autism and other developmental disabilities, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Jaime Twanow as a new member of the Bridgeway Board of Trustees.

Dr. Twanow is a pediatric neurologist and epileptologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. She attended medical school at the University of Illinois before moving north to the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, where she completed her pediatrics residency, child neurology residency and fellowship in clinical neurophysiology. Her clinical areas of focus are complex epilepsy care, critical care neurology, and improving young adult’s transition and transfer from pediatric to adult medical care. Dr. Twanow has cared for and encouraged the growth and development of children with differences in abilities throughout her medical career, and she is looking forward to the opportunity to serve the community in a different way as part of the Bridgeway Board of Trustees.

“We are honored to welcome Dr. Twanow to our Board of Trustees. Dr. Twanow shares our deep commitment to improving the lives of individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities. Her leadership and dedication to children’s health will help further our mission as we work to expand access to high-quality education and therapy services for the families we serve,” said Abby David and Erin Nealy, Co-Founders and Co-CEOs of Bridgeway.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    

(Columbus, OH) — Bridgeway Academy, a nonprofit education serving children with autism and developmental disabilities, was announced as one of 25 semifinalists to receive the Yass Prize presented by the Yass Foundation for Education after several rounds of rigorous judging.

Presented by the Yass Foundation for Education, the Yass Prize advances on four core principles: Sustainable, Transformational, Outstanding, and Permissionless education, collectively abbreviated as STOP. Each year, they reward dozens of organizations, building a growing network of innovative providers that demonstrate these qualities in their commitment to new ideas, technologies, and approaches to learning that bring education into the 21st century.

As semifinalists for the prize, Bridgeway Academy will receive $200,000 in funds to further their mission to inspire the potential and celebrate the ability of every child. Bridgeway Co-Founders and Co-CEOs, Erin Nealy and Abby David, will travel to New York on Wednesday, Sept. 11, where they will attend a summit hosted by the Yass Foundation to meet the other semifinalists from various organizations across the nation. In October, they will deliver a pitch in Miami, Florida in the hopes of winning the $1M prize. The winner of the Yass Prize will be announced on November 7. 

“We are so excited to be semifinalists for the Yass Prize, and are grateful for this incredible opportunity. We appreciate the increasing awareness and national recognition of what we’ve built here since our founding 20 years ago,” says David.

For 20 years, Bridgeway Academy and Therapy Center has been committed to offering an education and therapeutic model that transforms the way students and clients with autism and other developmental disabilities are served. Earlier this year, Nealy and David were also recognized as winners of the SMART 50 awards presented by the SMART Business network, which also celebrates their innovative model and impact on the community.

“We have so much to be thankful for, being announced as one of the semifinalists. We work tirelessly to make sure our students and clients thrive, and are deeply honored that our efforts are being recognized at this level,” said Nealy.

About the Yass Foundation

For more than 25 years, the Yass’ have dedicated their time, their intellect and their resources to creating excellent schools for parents to have meaningful choices. But when the Covid crisis revealed and magnified the vast inequities that surround a majority of our students, they pivoted to a more impactful way to spend their resources to speed up the pace of improving student lives. Thus it was that Janine’s passion for education opportunity for all students sparked the creation of the Yass Prize and the STOP Awards Initiative. Moving from reform to transform, Janine’s vision is fueling a new renaissance in education, based on the premise that every parent deserves the ability to provide their students with individualized, 21st century education opportunities offered in supportive environments alongside their peers. 

June 28 is LGBTQ+ Pride Day. The first pride march happened in New York City 52 years ago, on June 28 1970. The 51-block march ended in Central Park and commemorated The Stonewall Riots that had taken place a year earlier.

A group of Bridgeway staff, board members, and friends participated in this year’s Stonewall Columbus Pride Parade on June 18, 2022. We were excited to be able to participate in person this year. In case you missed our Virtual Pride Parade video from last year, you can check it out HERE.

Bridgeway Academy was invited by Ernst & Young (EY) to join their group for the 2022 parade march. We are grateful for the opportunity to join EY, who also supports the work of Bridgeway Academy throughout the year with financial sponsorship. Additionally, Michelle Umali, Associate Director – Global Solutions Manager at EY, serves as a volunteer leader on our Board of Trustees.

Bridgeway’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Task Force hosted a Pride shirt sale for the second year, and we thank everyone who purchased a t-shirt. Although shirt sales are closed, we will plan to hold the sale again next year. Proceeds from the shirt sale benefit Bridgeway Academy’s DE&I Task Force Fund to provide materials for staff to support DE&I initiatives in the classroom.

We asked Megan Schuster, co-leader of Bridgeway’s LGBTQIA+ Employee Resource Group, to share a few thoughts for the purposes of this blogpost. Megan has been a Lead Teacher in the Preschool Program for many years and will begin a new position as a Training Specialist at the beginning of the new school year.

She provided the following answers to the questions below:

Q. Bridgeway Academy is participating in its first-ever Pride March this year, how does that support from the staff make you feel as an employee at Bridgeway?

A. I couldn’t be more thrilled that Bridgeway participated in the Pride parade this year! I hope this is the first year of many to come. 

Q. What is the importance of having a safe and accepting work environment as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community?

A. It is so important to work in a safe and accepting environment, both for staff and for students who identify as LGBTQIA+.  The fight for equality for the LGBTQIA+ community is still a very real issue in this country and across the world.  We need safe spaces, like Bridgeway Academy, where people who identify as LGBTQIA+ can exist without fear of being persecuted or harmed based on their sexual identity.

We know Megan will have so much expertise to share with staff in her new role. Congratulations, Megan!