Valerie Shepard

Valerie is from both Northern and Southern California. She was born in Northern California and, besides a brief time in Phoenix, AZ, lived there through completing her undergraduate education at UC Davis. She is a proud Aggie. She went directly from UC Davis to graduate school at UCLA (Go Bruins!), where she completed a PhD in English Literature and met her husband, David. She began working as a Student Affairs Officer at UCLA in 2009, and made a career shift to use her writing skills to advocate for removing barriers to undergraduate and graduate education access and success.

Currently, Valerie is a Senior Writer with UCLA Recreation, responsible for assessment, grant support, and strategic planning for wellbeing. As part of her work, she has written grant proposals and helped collaborative teams to successfully apply for state and federal grants. She is also an editor, and has co-edited a recent book on graduate and professional student support.

In 2015, Valerie and David’s daughter Lena was born. Doctors recognized right away that Lena needed genetic testing, and Lena was diagnosed with 18p- when she was around 10 months old. The geneticist handed Valerie and David a printout with Lena’s diagnosis, telling them that Lena had a condition that was so rare, he knew nothing about it. Fortunately, Valerie and David noticed the Chromosome 18 Registry and Research Society listed as a point of contact on the paper, and got connected right away. They have benefitted enormously from information they couldn’t find anywhere else, connecting with other parents, and hearing the invaluable voices of self-advocates. They are also excited to learn about and participate in the ongoing research.

Valerie is thrilled to bring her editing, writing, and advocacy experience to the Director of Grants position for the Chromosome 18 Registry and Research society. She is looking forward to connecting even more with the Chromosome 18 family, and to using her listening and storytelling skills to (gratefully) advocate for this amazing community.