Janine Kniola - Founder and Chair, Board of Directors

Janine is a full-time software product manager, wife, and mom of two girls ages seven and five. Originally from Auburn, New York, she and her family relocated to Blacksburg in 2004 and instantly fell in love with our community and everything about the entire New River Valley area. She is passionate about the unique experience a children's museum provides and believes that this area is the perfect future home for an educational environment to amuse and inspire young minds. Janine earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Leadership and Organizational Studies at Binghamton University (Binghamton, NY) and a Master of Arts in College Student Personnel/Higher Education Administration at Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, OH).

Janine's mantra: "I'm here to help make it happen!"

Bettye Ackermann, J.D. - Legal Counsel and Vice Chair, Board of Directors

Bettye is an attorney with H. Gregory Campbell, Jr. PC. She received her law degree from Mercer University School of Law in Macon, Georgia, and her B.A. from Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. She is a member of the Virginia State Bar, the Georgia Bar, the American Bar Association, and the Virginia Women Attorneys Association. She resides in Blacksburg with her husband and two children.

Melissa Richards - Fundraising Co-Chair, Webmaster, Board of Directors

Melissa is the director of marketing and publications at Virginia Tech. A native Virginian who has lived in more than 10 cities around the world, she moved to Blacksburg in 2009 with her husband, stepson, and two daughters. Having a disabled daughter with an undiagnosed mitochondrial disorder fuels Melissa’s concern for special needs advocacy and medical research funding. Before the children's museum became her philanthropic passion, Melissa logged significant volunteer hours for the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities (Raleigh, NC), Ronald McDonald House (Los Angeles, CA and Chapel Hill, NC), and the Baltimore Museum of Art (Baltimore, MD). She graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in Rhetoric and Communication Studies and a minor in Spanish. She is currently pursuing a Master of Public Administration at Virginia Tech.

Melissa lives her life by her self-penned motto: “Every woman needs her own checking account, Swiss Army knife and sense of self - with these things she can do anything on her own.”