Board of Directors
Our board of directors bring a diverse set of skills and experiences and provide governance to NILMDTS.
Cheryl Haggard
Co-Founder
Cheryl Haggard
Cheryl Haggard is the founding parent of Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep which was formed after the birth of her fourth child Maddux Achilles Haggard in 2005, who was born with the rare condition called Myotubular Myopathy. She and her husband Michael are officially empty nesters. Her eldest son Chase is a JAG in the USAF and is currently stationed with his wife in California. Her daughters, Anna is employed as a marketing manager, and Natalie teaches 2nd grade, both residing in Colorado. After selling their home in 2020 she and her husband embarked on the RV lifestyle. Being self-employed in the auto hail repair industry, has allowed them to travel together and bring their home with them.
Cheryl still enjoys photography and meeting new people through their travels. She now considers Texas her home, but Colorado will always hold a special piece of her heart.
Cheryl strongly believes that it is necessary to make friends with your grief. Because your love and your grief will walk with you, hand in hand, for the rest of your life.
Jessica Person
Chair
Jessica Person
Jessica Person is co-founder and CEO of First Day Photo, Inc., an in-hospital newborn photography company that was born after the loss of the Person’s first son, Eli. Jessica and her husband know first-hand the immense and lasting value that remembrance photography has for a family. Jessica has been a NILMDTS affiliate photographer since 2006 and has a passion for training photographers to be equipped to give one of the most important gifts that can be given to a family who finds themselves facing the unimaginable.
Jessica lives in the Minneapolis area, along with her husband and six kids. Her work takes her into hospitals around the country, and she enjoys the travel and the people. When she’s not working, she enjoys time with her family, cooking all things gluten-free, reading, writing and teaching.
Sam Rodriguez
Vice Chair
Sam Rodriguez
Sam Rodriguez was engaged with NILMDTS in 2008 after the passing of his and his wife Stacey’s first child, Manuel Michael Rodriguez (“Manny”). Sam and Stacey did not receive photographs of Manny through NILMDTS and he says, “…it is one of the big regrets. Every day I wish I had the quality photos of Manny that others have of their children. With Stacey not being awake for most of his wonderful life…having those memories professionally captured would have been very helpful in the healing process…”
Sam joined the NILMDTS board in 2019 and is also the COO of a large transportation company in the Twin Cities area and currently resides in the Southwest Metro area city of Savage, MN with his wife and 2 children.
Sam and Stacey are also founders of the Manny Rodriguez Patient Safety Education Fund at the Akron Children’s Hospital and Foundation in Akron, OH. Their work in the fund is dedicated to honoring the legacy of Manny by being patient and family advocates within the Medical community by providing educational workshops, lectures, and the like to doctors, nurses, medical students, and more.
Matthew Hanson
Treasurer
Matthew Hanson
Matthew Hanson was touched by Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep when a volunteer photographer provided remembrance photographs of his daughter, Olivia on August 22, 2012. Matthew says, “The pictures we received have been priceless and we look at them as a family many times a year.”
Matthew is the Director of Technology for Salon Innovations and is a part of the board of Hopkins Fastpitch Softball. Additionally, he is a Life Advocate for Upworks which mentors and coaches adults coming out of addiction to get back in the workforce.
He resides in Minnetonka, Minnesota with his wife and their three daughters: Cecilia, Caroline and Ruby. During the Summer you will find them on the lake water skiing and wake boarding. He also loves coaching his girls basketball, soccer, and softball teams.
Nicholas Tootalian
Nicholas Tootalian
Nick and his wife Emily became involved with NILMDTS in 2018 upon the passing of their first son, Sarkes Robertson Tootalian. They were fortunate to have a NILMDTS photographer at the hospital, helping create lasting and cherished memories of their time with Sarkes.
Nick joined the NILMDTS Board of Directors in 2019. He is an attorney practicing primarily Family Law and Criminal Defense. Nick is Managing Attorney for Modern Family Law’s Denver office.
Nick and Emily live in Denver with Sarkes’ younger brothers, Elias and Ezra. When he isn’t working or spending time with his family, Nick spends time as an amateur photographer and comic book collector.
Rachel Penn
Rachel Penn
Rachel Penn is the Owner and Creative Director of Lillian’s Floral Studio, a bespoke florist and event designer based in Nashville, Tennessee. A business she has built in honor and memory of her daughter, Lillian Grace Penn, who was born premature on June 6th, 2020 and passed away a few short hours after her birth.
NILMDTS provided Rachel and her husband, Allen, ‘a gift we never knew we wanted or needed, one that we forever cherish because it captures the most visceral memory of our daughter gone too soon”. Since losing Lillian, Rachel has found herself drawn to raising funds, building awareness and growing public support for the loss and infertility community.
Prior to her work in floristry and design, Rachel spent 10+ years living and working overseas in Hong Kong and Singapore as a Sales and Client Executive for major technology companies like LinkedIn and Google. She and her husband are both avid travelers who spent 16 months as full time travelers, visiting all 7 continents and 44 countries from November 2019 to February 2020. She is originally from Nashville, Tennessee and a proud alumnus of Miami University of Ohio.
Brett Nabors
Brett Nabors
Brett Nabors joined the NILMDS Board of Directors in the summer of 2021. He is an IT Advisory Services Partner at Weaver & Tidwell, based in Austin, TX, providing advisory and assurance services to companies to address cybersecurity, IT operations, and other IT related risks.
Brett and his wife, Angie, were blessed to have the support of NILMDTS in June 2010 when they were faced with the loss of their daughter, Kaylin Isabelle. NILMDTS provided a new perspective of the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words”; as the pictures of Kaylin are both priceless and a gift is forever treasured.
Brett lives in Austin, TX with his wife and two sons, Cade and Rowe. He is a member of Texas A&M Internal Audit Advisory Board and served on other boards related to his beloved Aggies and profession. In honor of his daughter, he enjoys spending time with his family on the Colorado River, appropriately named “Kaylin’s Cliffside Retreat”.
Brett has previously held positions as a lecturer for the University of Texas at Austin, Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Senior Manager at SunPower. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in information and operations management from Texas A&M University.
Jessica Dailey
Jessica Dailey
Jessica Dailey is the mother of four precious children: Tucker, Eli, Allison, and Hannah. Jessica and her husband, Quentin, were touched by Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep in June of 2017 when they experienced the loss of their son, Eli. The photos of Eli they received were an important part of their healing process. When the opportunity arose in 2022 to serve on the NILMDTS Board, Jessica jumped at the chance to give back to an organization that supported her family, bringing comfort through their pain.
Living in central Nebraska, Jessica works as a certified public accountant and shareholder of KSO CPA’s, P.C. Working with small business, governmental and non-profit clients, Jessica provides a wide variety of tax and audit services.
Outside the office, Jessica and her family can be found spending warm summer days at the lake, where they enjoy swimming, boating, and wakeboarding.
Samson Martinez
Samson Martinez
Samson Martinez became involved with NILMDTS after he and his wife Ali lost their son, Samson James (“SJ”) in 2020. The photographs Samson and Ali received of their son have helped them navigate through the hardest season of their lives, and have served as an incredible gift that keeps on giving.
Samson joined the board in 2022 and is also a Certified Public Accountant for a firm in Tri-Cities, WA, where he and his wife reside. In addition to his career, Samson serves consistently in his community and is passionate about helping to fill the humanitarian needs of those around him. He hopes his efforts through NILMDTS will continue his son’s legacy and enable more parents experiencing loss to receive the gift of precious photos and memories.
Stephanie Kusta
Stephanie Kusta
Stephanie Kusta was first introduced to Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep in 2016, when she and her husband, Michael Fuentes, lost their daughter, Sophie Kusta Fuentes.
They have since been actively involved in supporting NILMDTS and serving on the Ohio Walk Committee. Involvement in the organization has been a way to be a parent to Sophie, despite the loss. When the opportunity presented itself to now serve on the Board, Stephanie was honored and ecstatic.
Stephanie is the Executive Director & Treasurer of Orveon Global and lives in Columbus, OH, with her husband, two children (Katelyn and Jack), and their dog, Larkin. She spends her time with family, reading, watching sports, and staying active.
Terrell Hatzilias
Terrell Hatzilias
possessions.
Professionally, Terrell is a neuroscientist and medical writer. She lives outside Seattle, WA with her husband, daughter (Kegan’s big sister), and chocolate labrador retriever.
Terrell has been involved in the stillbirth advocacy world since Kegan’s death. She successfully lobbied the Society for Maternal–Fetal Medicine to update pregnancy management guidelines for isolated single umbilical artery babies with the goal of decreasing stillbirth prevalence among babies with this condition. She also successfully led a team of bereaved mothers to pass legislation in the state of Washington to allow the issuance of a Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth. In 2024, she published a scientifically based memoir inspired by Kegan titled “Still His Mama.” Terrell hopes to honor Kegan’s legacy by advocating for other families who have undergone the loss of a baby.