About Us

Monica Vermeulen - Executive Director

Monica Vermeulen is the Founder/Executive Director of the Ashley Lauren Foundation. A cancer survivor herself, Monica experienced, first hand, the pain involved in having a child with cancer. Her daughter, Ashley Lauren, was diagnosed with Wilms Tumor at the age of three. Having lived through the unexpected hardships of pediatric cancer, she realized how important the need for support was during this difficult time. Her passion is to reach out with hope and help to other families that are coping with the same difficulties.

Monica has been a Brick, NJ resident for over 27 years. She is married and has two children. Monica has a B.A. in Non-Profit Management (Focus-Pediatric Cancer) from The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey – graduating Summa Cum Laude/Program Distinction. She is the Founder/Coordinator of the Annual Ocean County College Alumni Association Harvest Party for Children with Cancer as well as a member of the General Council of the Ocean County Alumni Association. She served as a former Alumni Representative on the Ocean County College Board of Trustees and is President of Phi Theta Kappa, Beta Chapter. Monica is also a Director/Choreographer and Board Member of The Guild Theatreworks, Inc.

Lori Klein - President

Lori Klein is currently the President of the Board of Trustees for the Ashley Lauren Foundation. Lori, a New Jersey native who grew up in southern California, oversees the interiors department for Posen Architects, LLC in Elizabeth, NJ. She is married to Scotch Plains mayor Martin Marks and has 2 children. Lori has been involved with many good causes such as the ACS Relay for Life, and the Emmanuel Cancer Foundation as a board member and volunteer for over 12 years. She has also been an active member of Sisterhood at Congregation Beth Israel in Scotch Plains serving as president, and has served on the synagogue's board of trustees.

Lori holds a B.A. of Painting, Sculpture and Graphic Arts from U.C.L.A., and received her design certification from there as well. She has been working in her field for over 20 years in N.J. while volunteering and raising her family.

Jim DeSimone - Trustee

Coming soon...

Carolyn Walker - Secretary

Carolyn Walker is currently the Secretary of the Board of Trustees, a life-long resident of New Jersey, currently resides in Brick, having grown up in Cranford and living in three other counties of the state. She is employed as a Trust Officer in the Estate Settlement Unit for Wachovia Trust in Toms River, NJ.

Carolyn graduated Magna Cum Laude from Georgian Court University with a BS in Business Administration having been a member of the Delta Mu Delta Business Honor Society as well as the Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society. She also is a graduate of Cannon Trust School and is a Certified Trust Financial Advisor. Carolyn is the proud mother of two daughters and is a founding member of the Harvest Party for Children with Cancer held annually at Ocean County College. She is also a member of the Beta Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa at Ocean County College.

Michael A. Plick - Trustee

Michael A. Plick is currently the Treasurer of the Board of Trustees for the Ashley Lauren Foundation. Michael, a New Jersey native who has resided in Cranford for the last 11 years, is the Vice-President of Marketing for a Healthcare Company. He is married and has 3 children. Michael has served on many Boards within Cranford and is currently the Mayor of Cranford.

Michael is also an active member in the Cranford Jaycees and is involved in coaching numerous youth sports in Cranford. In addition, Michael has served on a number of boards for Not-For-Profits and Volunteer Organizations across the state.

Michael holds a B.S. degree in Finance from Ramapo College in New Jersey and he received a J.D. degree from Seton Hall University Law School. Michael has been professionally trained in negotiations and mediation. 

Diane Lehman - Vice-President

Diane Lehman, a Trustee with the Ashley Lauren Foundation, has been a resident of Point Pleasant for the past 16 years and the mother of 2 sons. She has an extensive background in working with Corporate Boards and has been employed with Ansell Limited in Red Bank for 14 years. Previous career history has been with Simon & Schuster, American Express, Associated Merchandising Corp. and GTE contributing on project management, administrative management and conference planning. She is a graduate of Katharine Gibbs School and studied at Georgian Court College. She is currently a supporter of the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Jim Booth - Trustee

Jim Booth is currently the President and Chairman of the Board of SoftNet Technology Corp., an IT consulting company based in Iselin, NJ. Prior to his appointment, he was the Sr. VP- Operations. Jim entered business through the Human Resources profession and possess many years of Human Resources experience in executive assignments. His employment includes senior level positions with Cingular Wireless, BellSouth Wireless Data, Black & Decker and Merck. Jim earned both BS and MA degrees from St. Francis University in Pennsylvania

Jim is a former Board member of Inspara Networking Technologies and former President / current Executive Board member of a number of civic, professional, and non-profit organizations including the American Red Cross and Catholic Charities.

He is a resident of Red Bank, NJ where he lives with his family and spouse Kathleen

David DeDominicis - Trustee

David DeDominicis, is originally a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, relocated to Hoboken, New Jersey and now resides in Brick. He has been residing in Brick for over 16 years with his wife Grace and their 3 children---Matthew, Arianna and Joshua. As a father of 2 boys with special needs, David knows first-hand the struggles of children and their families dealing with impairment and illness. This gives him a strong desire to help other children and their families who are also affected.

David has been a sales management executive in the consumer products industry for over 22 years. He also serves on the Advisory Board of Kidz 4 Kidz, the children's theatre arm of The Ashley Lauren Foundation. Additionally, David assists with fundraising for the Search Day Program helping autistic children and also with Challenger Athletics in Brick.

David dedicates his efforts in helping children and families affected by childhood cancer to the memory of his mother, whom he lost to cancer.

Kevin Burton - Trustee

Kevin Burton is the Director of Manufacturing with the New Jersey-based manufacturing company Alpha Associates, Inc. He has previously held positions as the Director of Engineering, Research & Development with global technology and product development responsibilities, and is currently responsible for all of the daily manufacturing operations at Alpha Associates. Kevin holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University, where he was a Caldwell Scholar, studied at Oxford University – Manchester College, and took MBA coursework at Wake Forest University’s Babcock School of Management before joining a start-up manufacturing firm in the greater Pittsburgh area.

Kevin, his wife and their two children live in Brick where they are involved in a variety of community events through their church and the Kidz-4-Kidz children’s theater.

Victoria Ali - Trustee

Victoria Ali, a graduate of Monmouth University, resides in Red Bank and is employed at TD Ameritrade. She also has an extensive background in event planning, owner of Elite Events LLC, a boutique firm that caters to clients such as Private, Corporate, Political and Charitable Organizations. Victoria is also a current supporter of Collier Youth Services.

Janeen Yodakis - Trustee

Janeen Yodakis, Trustee and Chair Person of the Community Outreach Committee for The Ashley Lauren Foundation, is a very proud resident of Colts Neck, New Jersey. Janeen and husband Albert Yodakis, who is a very successful engineer, are the proud parents of two beautiful children, Elizabeth and Albert Jr. Janeen doesn’t leave her house without her running shoes on, as Al Jr. is only three and certainly keeps her on her toes.

Janeen holds a B.S. degree in Science from the College of New Jersey. She has 12 years of teaching experience in grades K-12 and went on to coach various sports teams including the Shore Regional H.S. state championship field hockey and lacrosse teams.

Janeen has always been a performer. She danced with the very prestigious Boardwalk Star Review in Atlantic City for 15 years, performing at various casino’s, convention hall and on television. With her love of performing, Janeen started her own clowning business which she enjoys using to spread joy to the children of The Ashley Lauren Foundation.

Janeen has chosen to dedicate her life to helping children with cancer and their families out of the gratitude she has for being blessed with two healthy children of her own. She also dedicates her efforts in memory of her father Robert Cranmer who she painfully lost to lung cancer.

Peter Grandich - Trustee

Peter Grandich, With no formal education or training, Peter Grandich entered Wall Street in the mid-1980s and within three years was appointed Vice President of Investment Strategy for a leading New York Stock Exchange member firm.

Now an internationally-acclaimed financial expert, Grandich has made a 25-plus-year career out of his knack for uncannily-accurate market predictions. Labeled the “Wall Street Whiz Kid” by Good Morning America, Grandich gained national notoriety by being among the very few who not only forecasted the 1987 stock market crash just weeks before it happened, but on the very next day he predicted that within two years the market would reach a new all-time high – which it did. Proving his 1987 forecast was no fluke, Mr. Grandich said in January 2000 that the year would go down as the year the great mega bull market of the 80s and 90s came to an end. Again, he was right on target.

His ability to analyze and forecast financial happenings has resulted in roughly 500 media interviews including GMA, the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, New York Times, MarketWatch, Business News Network and dozens more. He’s spoken at investment conferences around the globe and is regarded as one of the world’s foremost market strategists. He has edited and published four widely-read investment newsletters and contributed to numerous national publications.

Peter is the founder of Trinity Financial Sports & Entertainment Management Co. [www.TrinityFSEM.com], a firm with a Christian perspective which he started in 2001 with Lee Rouson, former NY Giant and two-time Super Bowl champion. The firm offers services to celebrities, athletes and average folks. He was also the founder and managing member of Grandich Publications, LLC. Grandich Publications was acquired by Agoracom.com, North America’s largest online small-cap investment center, in 2009 making Peter Grandich Agoracom’s Chief Commentator. Each day, tens of thousands of people follow Peter’s daily online blog at Grandich.agoracom.com. Grandich also provides a variety of services to publicly-held corporations on a compensation basis.

Peter Grandich is a member of the National Association of Christian Financial Consultants, and a long-standing member of The New York Society of Security Analysts and The Society of Quantitative Analysts.

He resides in Freehold, NJ with his wife, Mary, and daughter, Tara.

Joseph Spano - Trustee

Joseph Spano is a managing director of Spano Partners, LLC, his family’s diversified real estate development business, started in 2006. Prior to that, he ran the family’s fashion accessory import business, Buy-Rite, Inc., for over 20 years before selling it to private equity in 2005. Joe was a CPA with Price Waterhouse upon his graduation from Rider University in 1979.

In 2006, Joe founded The Spano Family Charitable Foundation, supporting many local causes, especially those associated with children. He is an active board member of The Friends of the Monmouth County Child Advocacy Center, having recently completed construction of the Center, a safe, child-friendly facility for the victims of child abuse, neglect, and assault as well as their caregivers. He is also active with Swaziland Relief Fund, building a church, health clinic and school in this severely depressed country in Africa. Joe is a retired EMT of 12 years with Freehold First Aid and Rescue Squad, currently an honorary member as he is with Veterans of the Vietnam War and Veterans Coalition.

Joe lives in Freehold Twp. with his wife of 29 years, Diane, and one of his 3 sons. He is a long-time congregant at St. Rose of Lima Church there, where he also teaches religious education.

Joe is a terrible golfer but an enthusiast nonetheless. He travels extensively and is a founding member of Maverick Business Adventures and an active member of Entrepreneur’s Organization.