Our Founders

Abigail is an entrepreneur, working closely with her husband on their many business ventures. She wears many hats, but her primary roles include marketing, business and creative development for their variety of companies, some of which include film production, real estate, and civil construction. In 2010, her son, Alex was born with CMV. As a result, he has hearing loss, vestibular issues and motor delays; he continually inspires those around him with his determination and charm. Abigail feels a moral obligation to other women to raise awareness of CMV. She has served as Vice President of the Utah CMV Council and looks forward to supporting the National CMV Foundation in furthering the cause.

A graduate of California Polytechnic State University, Janelle developed the Stop CMV brand and website in 2003, inspired by her twin daughters, Riley and Rachel, who were born with congenital CMV. In the years following, her background in media, marketing, and public relations helped her build Stop CMV into a non-profit organization supported by a wide variety of parents and professionals. She leverages her media and marketing expertise to engage groups large and small while raising awareness of CMV around the global community.

A graduate of the University of Texas, Farah has a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering, with 10 years of work experience as an engineer with BP in Houston and a field development engineer with FMC Technologies in Singapore. When her daughter Madeline was born, they discovered she was severely affected by CMV, and she passed away after 12 days of life. In her honor, Farah began Maddie’s Mission. Her extensive engineering background gives her great expertise planning, budgeting, and executing detailed operations, bringing together large groups of people from different backgrounds.

Sara, co-founder of the Utah CMV Council, was instrumental in the proposal and passage of the Utah CMV law, the first of its kind in the United States. With a B.S. in Special Education, a M.A. in Education Policy Studies, and completing a Ph.D. in Sociobehavioral Epidemiology, she is uniquely positioned to spread awareness and provide support to the CMV community. Following a career with the Office of Special Education Programs at the US Department of Education office of special education, she runs a consulting business to assist state agencies with development and systemic reviews of policy and procedures for early intervention and special education. Her daughter Daisy is deaf due to CMV, diagnosed at 15 months.

With a degree in Nondestructive Testing from Salt Lake Community College, Annie has worked in the aerospace industry testing rocket motors, parts for fighter jets, and various projects for customers including Boeing, Lockheed, and the federal government. In 2012, during the first trimester of her 2nd pregnancy, she learned her daughter Oaklee had contracted CMV in utero. Annie was the first patient for the IVIG study at the University of Utah before losing her daughter 25 weeks into the pregnancy. This motivated her to turn her critical mind to non-profit work as she co-founded the Utah CMV Council.

Kristen currently serves as the organization's President & CEO. She was most recently a Vice President of Account Management for Rosetta, now SapientRazorfish, a multi-service offering, customer-centric, consulting agency. A graduate of the University of Michigan, with an M.A. in Global Marketing Communications & Advertising from Emerson College, Kristen has 13 years in marketing and digital media experience working with several leading global and national brands. She co-founded the National CMV Foundation with her husband John, inspired by their daughter Evelyn Grace, born with congenital CMV. Kristen lives in Tampa, Florida with her husband and two sons.