Our Team

her son’s diagnosis, she has spent her life fighting for individuals with disabilities and their families. She earned her Ph.D. in special education from the Teachers College at Columbia University, and a MA in Business Education from NYU. She is the former President of KABHA and a faculty member of the Teachers College. Dr. Bae initiated the first parent education programs for Korean-American families with a NYS DDPC grant.

child and adolescent psychology in the future, he hopes that CIDA will be a great learning opportunity. He has a strong background in data management and wants to make a positive impact in the community through his contribution to CIDA. In his free time, Joon loves to travel to eat all kinds of interesting foods and update his food blog.

in kids and family entertainment industry where she found her passion for education and curriculum development.

Kelly received a Bachelor of Business Administration from The George Washington University and a Master of Arts in Communication from Johns Hopkins University. She will be starting her second master’s degree in special education at St. John’s University in fall 2020.

with a developmental delay, she participated in CIDA’s parent gatherings and became an active parent leader.  In Korea, she majored in print media and she completed her art history major at Queen’s College in New York.  Haewa has been trained to participate in IEP meetings and learned about special education through CIDA’s Volunteer Advocacy Project (VAP) 2019.  In Fall 2020, she will be starting her Master’s program in social services at Fordham University.

always steered her towards opportunities where she could lend a hand. After discovering this field, her interest peaked and that is when she knew that she wanted to use her time to not only support others, but to learn and expand on her own knowledge. With her background in working with adults with intellectual disabilities, in both their residence and Day Program, Rehemia is proficient in supporting individuals in habilitation service training in the community. This allows the people she supports to be able to keep, learn, or improve their skills for daily living. She enjoys making each experience a fun experience that will encourage and inspire one to feel proud of themselves at the end of each class. Rehemia feels that if she can teach/support a new skill that puts a smile on her students’ faces, then she is that much closer to getting the person to feel a sense of independence and being able to live their life to the best of their ability.