Why I sit on the Down Syndrome Indiana board

People who follow my work for the finance read sometimes ask why a fractional CFO spends his time on a Down syndrome nonprofit. The honest answer is the most personal one I have.

When my son Beau was born, we learned he had Down syndrome. There were a lot of unknowns in those early days. A lot of new language to learn. A lot of questions we didn't know to ask. A Down syndrome association was one of the first places that made the landscape feel navigable, real people who had walked the same road and could tell us what was coming.

We moved to Indianapolis right after Beau was born, and I joined the board of Down Syndrome Indiana. It's parent-founded, more than thirty years old, and it does the quiet work of helping Indiana families work through exactly what we were working through. I've served on it ever since.

What the work actually looks like

Every June, DSI holds its D.A.D.S. golf outing, one of its biggest fundraisers of the year. Over its first 23 years it has raised more than $1.2 million. Collision Advisory came on as a sponsor, and some good friends came out to play.

The outing is the visible part. The dads' group behind it does the quieter work all year. Monthly meetings. Fellowship. Fathers showing up for fathers who just got news they didn't expect. That's the part that mattered most to me when I was the one on the receiving end of it.

The part I want a new parent to hear

Beau is a happy, healthy boy who runs our house. The early challenges were real. The life on the other side of them is full. That's the message I want any parent staring at a fresh diagnosis to hear, and it's the reason I keep showing up.

If you're an Indiana family navigating a new diagnosis, Down Syndrome Indiana is where I'd start: dsindiana.org.