Kate DeVane, Executive Director and Co-Founder
Kate DeVane is the mother of 17 year-old boy/girl twins. Her son is on the autism spectrum. She has lived year-round on Martha’s Vineyard for over 25 years. She and Marcy Bettencourt founded the Island Autism Group when their boys were in Project Headway preschool together. Kate was the landscape coordinator for Donaroma’s Nursery and Landscape for 20 years until she retired to follow her passion of helping people with autism full time. She attended Cornell University, where she earned her bachelor of fine arts degree. Kate also attended Scotland’s St. Andrews University and taught at The Foote School in New Haven, Conn., for five years. Kate is one of the West Tisbury representatives on the Up-Island School Committee and Chair of All Island School Committees. She was previously chair of the Martha’s Vineyard Parent Advisory Council on Special Education and is on the board of the Cape Cod Collaborative representing Martha’s Vineyard. She was a runner for the Martha’s Vineyard Community Services’ Possible Dreams auction for more than 20 years. Kate, her husband, two children, and three dogs live in West Tisbury.
Contact: kate@islandautism.org
Marcy Bronzino Bettencourt, Treasurer and Co-Founder
Marcy is the mother of three children, two girls and a boy. Her son was diagnosed with autism at the age of two-and-a-half. She and Kate DeVane founded the Island Autism Group when their boys started Project Headway preschool together. Marcy attended Colby-Sawyer College where she earned her bachelor’s degree in American Studies and also attended Trinity College in the American Studies Masters program. She, her husband, and three children live in Oak Bluffs.
Luke Bettencourt, Program Director
Luke is also an experienced physical education and special education teacher at West Tisbury School. Contact: luke@islandautism.org
After-School and Summer Programming Staff
Charlotte Lowell-Bettencourt
Laura Knight
Peter Landry
Jovanna Lowell-Bettencourt
Louisa Pick
Chris White