Dawn to Dusk Team
As we have grown and shaped our program and our services, our team has grown, with each team member bringing their own uniqueness and contributing their speciality to make us what we are today. It wouldn’t have been possible for us to be who and what we are without the skills and hard work of our leadership team and our direct support professionals. On this page, we highlight our leadership team, who work collaboratively to design and provide the best person-centered care of each participant attending our day program.
Mike Smith, Director of Nursing
Mike, a Registered Nurse (RN) for the past 20 years, feels fortunate to have had a varied work experience. He believes that compassion, caring, and understanding are intrinsic qualities that every human being possesses, and that it is our mission to understand and value this awareness. We are thrilled to have Mike run the HealthMattersTM Program, for Dawn to Dusk. Mike reckons that it is an honor and a privilege to work for Dawn to Dusk. He’s grateful everyday that he helps our participants, families and our staff to achieve the very best quality in our lifetime. He truly believes this quote by Lao Tzu – “The journey of thousands miles begins with one step”.
Lourdes Batista, Director of Food Services and Transportation
With over 25 years experience with Food supervision at Adult Medical Day Programs, Lourdes Battista is a creative fun loving person with dynamic skills in Cooking, Arts and Crafts, Floral Design, Special Events and so much more. Lourdes is from the Dominican Republic where she learned about her love for cooking and crafting on her farm. Join Lourdes in trying tasty cuisines or igniting your artistic skills in Arts and Crafts. Lourdes enjoys cooking, event planning and turning dull days into bright ones. She enjoys spending time with her family and grandchildren or out in the garden.
Emily Pope, Director of Program Management
Emily Pope joined Dawn to Dusk in July of 2021. Emily began volunteering with the special needs community during high school and while studying for her BA in Psychology at Rutgers, falling in love with designing activities and experiences aimed at enriching the lives of children and adults with special needs. She earned her certification as a Registered Behavior Technician, gaining experience as an Activity Instructor then as a Behaviorist for adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Emily’s approach to designing the D2D day habilitation program draws on her experience in the field as well as her eclectic background and upbringing, weaving together classic theories of behavior management and cognition with new-age perspectives on wellbeing focused on personal growth at the individual level. Emily’s strength-based approach to program development focuses on building self esteem, efficacy, and confidence through activities designed to enhance opportunities for skill acquisition, social and emotional connection, and the exploration of recreational and leisure-based hobbies, all of which are embedded within the D2D day program.
Maureen Murphy-Fernandez, Activity Director
Maureen has been with Dawn to Dusk since June 2022 and has been primarily providing Music Enrichment as part of the day program. She is a retired teacher of 32 years finishing her teaching career in the West Windsor-Plainsboro School District. Maureen has certifications in the Orff-Schulwerk and Kodaly teaching philosophies and focuses on student centered learning. She has a passion for the visual and performing arts, cooking, fitness and serving to others outside the community of Dawn to Dusk. Maureen lives by her favorite quote by Carl Orff, “Tell me I FORGET, show me I REMEMBER, involve me I UNDERSTAND”. Maureen was recently promoted to Activity Director at Dawn to Dusk.
Jayshree Krishnaswamy, Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA)
Jayshree graduated with a Masters in Clinical Psychology and before moving to the United States, worked in the area of Caregiver Stress & Coping, and in the management of Anxiety and Depression with relaxation techniques. Moving into the field of special education, she worked first as an instructional aide at a school, serving students with Autism or Multiple Disabilities and as a direct therapist working in-home, serving clients and families with Autism.. She has been serving as BCBA since 2017, mostly with in-home ABA services, after completing the Graduate certification in Behavior Analysis and board certification as Behavior Analyst. Jayshree joined Dawn to Dusk in early 2022. Outside of work, Jayshree loves to spend time traveling with family, practicing yoga-meditation, reading books and practicing and listening to music. She is guided by the following quote: “Change the way you look at things and the things you look at will change”.
Kavitha Gurumoorthy, Registered Behavior Technician (RBT)
Kavitha graduated with a Masters degree in Psychology from Madurai Kamaraj University in India. She has worked as a substitute teacher with the East Windsor regional school district in Mercer County, New Jersey and as a teacher’s assistant in HawksWood School Inc, Eatontown, New Jersey for twelve years. She has been working as a Program Coordinator for Innovative Ideas LLC for 10 years and, since 2020, has been working as a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) with Dawn to Dusk. Her passion is to work with people with special needs. Her career in special education started in 2004, when she saw parents with special needs children struggling to find the right care for their children. She specializes in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and as a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT). She looks forward to becoming a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and to continue to help the special needs community.
Sesh Subramanian, Founder and Executive Director
After completing his master’s degree in Business Administration in Finance from Virginia Tech in 1996, Sesh ended up with a job with Bloomberg L.P., the financial information behemoth. Sesh grew with the company, excelling in many prominent roles. Through his 25 years at Bloomberg, Sesh learned several business lessons but the one that he holds most dearly to his heart is that “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”.
In March 2021 Sesh resigned from Bloomberg to focus 100% of his time on Dawn to Dusk. Sesh brings his compassion and passion to serve the elderly and the Intellectually/Developmentally Disabled, his business skills and his financial acumen to Dawn to Dusk. With a passion for fitness and healthy living, Sesh emphasizes the value of exercise and food choices that can enhance one’s overall wellbeing and brings this passion and lived experience to the operations at the Center. He truly wants to make Dawn to Dusk Wellbeing – Beyond an Adult Day Care Facility.
Anandi Nagarajan, Co-Founder
After obtaining her doctorate in the field of Education from Rutgers in 2006, Anandi taught several college level courses at Rider University and Rutgers University. Anandi works at New York University where she collaborates with faculty, administrators, educational technology experts and pedagogy specialists across the university to develop programs and strategic initiatives to support teaching and learning. Proactive and self-motivated, Anandi has a natural ability to connect with people, recognize their needs and provide them with a fulfilling interaction. With her ability to bring people together, her organizational skills and her ability to relate to people of all ages and backgrounds, she brings tremendous value to Dawn to Dusk Wellbeing, in a volunteer capacity, supporting various strategic initiatives, promotional outreach, parent engagement, and futuristic visioning.