Program Coordinators

Handling Members’ Incoming Calls… and Considerably More

KS&A’s Program Coordinator appointments were originally approved by the Board of Directors on November 16, 2003, and implemented beginning immediately thereafter. 

As conceived, the program involves the designation of a group of part-time volunteers - each of which is referred to as a “Program Coordinator” - to coordinate KS&A’s efforts to provide better support, communication and educational programming for one of the X and/or Y chromosome aneuploidy condition populations.

The following individuals presently serve as Program Coordinators for specific X and/or Y chromosome aneuploidy populations -

• Jill Balfour
    Program Coordinator (Trisomy X population)
    Phone:  (888) 999-9428, Ext. 38
    E-mail: 




• Leslie Petruk
    Program Coordinator (XYY population)
    Phone:  (888) 999-9428, Ext. 37
    E-mail: 




• Paulette Rothacher
    Program Coordinator (Pediatric and Adolescent XXY population)
    Phone:  (888) 999-9428, Ext. 35
    E-mail: 





• Zell Lundberg
    Program Coordinator (Adult XXY and Klinefelter syndrome population)
    Phone:  (888) 999-9428, Ext. 36
    E-mail: 

The most important issue of concern that prompted KS&A’s creation of these Program Coordinator positions was (and remains) the Board’s desire to improve KS&A’s responsiveness to incoming calls and messages.  Although KS&A takes every inquiry seriously, we are acutely aware of the difference we make in responding to calls concerning a pre-natal diagnosis of an X and/or Y chromosome variation, and in which families are commonly scrambling to quickly learn and integrate a whirlwind of information within a very short period of time before they must make life-altering decisions, and therefore where emotions are raw and misinformation, prejudices and fear are all great. 

KS&A Program Coordinators work as a team, supporting one another to achieve a common goal: Providing unparalleled support for individuals and families seeking to better understand and deal with X and Y chromosome aneuploidies.  (Pictured above, Jill Balfour (L) and Paulette Rothacher (R), respectively KS&A’s Program Coordinators serving the Trisomy X population and the Pediatric and Adolescent XXY populations, along with frequent KS&A volunteer and long-time member, Stefan Schwarz.)

Because their contacts regularly entail discussions with individuals who expect (and deserve) confidential treatment of their identity and the information that is discussed, as a condition of appointment, all of KS&A’s Program Coordinators and Program Assistants are required to enter into a standard Volunteer Services Agreement by and between the Program Coordinator and KS&A.  This Agreement clearly stipulates the strict obligations each Program Coordinator and Program Assistant has for maintaining as confidential any information received from callers or otherwise acquired through his or her use of KS&A’s central records database.

Although each Program Coordinator can, and frequently does, call upon his or her first-hand personal experiences with the condition, this familiarity is supplemented by access to KS&A’s central staff resources, a set of uniform procedures and accountability measures, including quality controls and access to KS&A’s database of centrally located, professionally-reviewed and approved materials, forms and articles.  All Program Coordinators report to KS&A’s Executive Director, and have the option of calling upon the resources of KS&A’s Operating Staff for support, when and as needed.

Beyond their responsibility for addressing the needs of incoming callers, as time permits, each Program Coordinator works to increase communication with and among the individuals and families that comprise the particular chromosome variation for which he or she is KS&A’s designated agent.  Moreover, since KS&A believes that education is a two-way affair, Program Coordinators fulfill a vital role of making certain that information affecting their segment of the population receives the appropriate level of attention in formulating KS&A’s long-term strategy and day-to-day operating plans.