Meet Our Foundation Team
Kathy Thomas, M.S. CCC-SLP
Kathy serves as a Senior Program Director for Child Apraxia Treatment at the Once Upon a Time Foundation. Kathy joined the Foundation in 2015. Kathy is a certified speech-language pathologist with over 30 years of experience treating adults and children with complex communication needs. In her role at the Foundation, Kathy oversees all Child Apraxia Treatment programming.
Kathy holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC-SLP) from the American Speech Language Hearing Association and is licensed to practice speech-language pathology in Texas. Kathy graduated from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor’s in Education and a minor in Speech Pathology and Audiology. She holds a Master’s Degree in Speech Pathology with a minor in Aging Studies from the University of North Texas.
Anna Mulloy, M.A., CCC-SLP
Anna joined the Once Upon a Time Foundation in 2021 and serves as a member of the Child Apraxia Treatment team. Anna is a certified speech-language pathologist with over 20 years of experience working with children with speech and language disorders. Her professional background includes clinical practice across multiple settings, supervision, university teaching, clinical education, and the development of educational resources for speech-language pathologists and families.
Anna holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC-SLP) from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and is licensed to practice speech-language pathology in Texas. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders with a minor in Business from Texas Christian University and her Master’s Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from The University of Texas.
Bethany Cale
Bethany serves as a Senior Program Director and Director of Grant Operations for the Once Upon a Time Foundation. Bethany joined the Foundation in 2018 as an Associate Program Director. In her time at the Foundation, Bethany has worked as the Program Director for the Philanthropy Lab and coordinated our research efforts in Electronic Data & Mental Health and Child Apraxia of Speech. As Senior Program Director, Bethany oversees all programming and grant activity.
Bethany graduated magna cum laude from Baylor University with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Business Fellows and Public Relations. During undergrad, Bethany took the Philanthropy Lab Class at Baylor in Fall 2014.
Lauryn Lents
Lauryn Lents joined the Foundation in June 2024 as an Associate Program Director. In her work with the Child Apraxia Treatment program, she coordinates with host sites for the program’s educational workshops, manages the program’s website and social media presence, and works with researchers to help translate and share information about childhood apraxia of speech. She also supports the Raynor Cerebellum Project through event coordination, website management, and other program initiatives. Prior to joining the Foundation, Lauryn served as a Middle School Band Director in the Fort Worth area.
Lexi Peterson
Lexi serves as a Program Director of the Once Upon a Time Foundation. Lexi joined the Foundation in August 2024. Lexi’s areas of focus at the Foundation are The Philanthropy Lab and Electronic Data & Mental Health Research grants.
Lexi graduated summa cum laude from Texas Christian University with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and minors in History and Child Development. Lexi took the Philanthropy Lab Class at TCU in Spring 2014.
Meet Our Experts
Dr. Edythe Strand, CCC-SLP
Dr. Edythe Strand is an emeritus Professor in the Mayo College of Medicine and
former Head of the Division of Speech Pathology, Department of Neurology at the
Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minnesota, and internationally recognized for her
expertise in childhood apraxia of speech. Dr. Strand’s research has focused on
developmental, acquired and progressive apraxia of speech, and issues related to
intelligibility and comprehensibility in degenerative dysarthria.
Dr. Julie Case, CCC-SLP
Dr. Julie Case is the director of the Case Speech Production Lab. Dr. Case is an Assistant Professor in the Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences Department. Dr. Case holds a Ph.D. in Communicative Sciences and Disorders and an M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology from New York University. Her work has incorporated transcription, acoustic and kinematic analyses to examine changes in speech performance with intensive practice and the impact of stimulus complexity on speech production.
Dr. Maria Grigos, CCC-SLP
Dr. Maria Grigos is a Professor and Chair in the Department of
Communicative Sciences and Disorders at New York University. Dr. Grigos also
directs the Motor Speech Lab at NYU. Her scholarly work combines the use of
perceptual, acoustic and kinematic methods to pursue two lines of research. The
first centers on the study of speech motor control and motor learning across the
lifespan in both impaired and non-impaired speakers.