Our Team

Pat Dunne

President

Pat serves as the President of the Once Upon a Time Foundation. Pat joined the Foundation in 2012. In his time at the Foundation, Pat has played a key role in building all of the Foundation’s current grant operations from the ground up. 

Pat graduated magna cum laude in electrical engineering from Tulane University and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Bethany Cale

Senior Program Director / Director of Grant Operations

Bethany serves as a Senior Program Director and Director of Grant Operations for the Once Upon a Time Foundation. Bethany joined the Foundation in 2018 as an Associate Program Director. In her time at the Foundation, Bethany has worked as the Program Director for the Philanthropy Lab and coordinated our research efforts in Electronic Data & Mental Health and Child Apraxia of Speech. As Senior Program Director, Bethany oversees all programming and grant activity.

Bethany graduated magna cum laude from Baylor University with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Business Fellows and Public Relations. During undergrad, Bethany took the Philanthropy Lab Class at Baylor in Fall 2014.

Kathy Thomas, M.S. CCC-SLP

Senior Program Director – Child Apraxia Treatment

Kathy serves as a Senior Program Director for Child Apraxia Treatment at the Once Upon a Time Foundation. Kathy joined the Foundation in 2015. Kathy is a certified speech-language pathologist with over 30 years of experience treating adults and children with complex communication needs. In her role at the Foundation, Kathy oversees all Child Apraxia Treatment programming.

Kathy holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC-SLP) from the American Speech Language Hearing Association and is licensed to practice speech-language pathology in Texas. Kathy graduated from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor’s in Education and a minor in Speech Pathology and Audiology. She holds a Master’s Degree in Speech Pathology with a minor in Aging Studies from the University of North Texas.

Kate Jordan

Program Director

Kate serves as Program Director for The Philanthropy Lab at the Once Upon a Time Foundation. Kate joined the Foundation in 2023, bringing over 20 years’ experience in nonprofit and higher education administration.  

Kate holds a BS in Communications and minors in Spanish and English from the University of Oklahoma and a MA in Business Management and Leadership from Liberty University.

Katie Cooke

Associate Program Director

Katie serves as an Associate Program Director of the Once Upon a Time Foundation. Katie joined the Foundation in October 2021. Katie’s areas of focus at the Foundation are the coordination of our Child Apraxia Treatment and Electronic Data & Mental Health Research grants, as well as the administration of our Child Apraxia Treatment online course, advanced workshops and online resources.

Katie graduated from Texas Christian University with a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and minors in Arts Administration and Italian.

Carter Plaster

Associate Program Director

Carter serves as an Associate Program Director of the Once Upon a Time Foundation. Carter joined the Foundation in February 2021 as an Intern and joined the team full time in June 2022. Carter’s areas of focus at the Foundation are The Philanthropy Lab, supporting the administration of our Child Apraxia Treatment programming, and general grants administration.

Carter graduated summa cum laude from Texas Christian University with a Bachelor of Arts in History and minors in Spanish and Geography. During undergrad, Carter took the Philanthropy Lab Class at TCU in Spring 2021.

Brytni West

Administrative Associate

Brytni serves as an Administrative Associate for the Once Upon a Time Foundation. Brytni joined the Foundation in December 2022. Brytni supports the administration of all of the Foundation’s programming.

Brytni earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master of Public Health from Mississippi University for Women.

Whitney Fournier

Events Associate

Whitney serves as an Events Administrator of the Once Upon a Time Foundation. Whitney joined the Foundation in March 2023. In her current role she works to coordinate and support all Foundation Event Programming.

Whitney graduated from Trinity University with a BA in History in 2015 and from Tufts University with an MA in Museum Education in 2017.