Kelly Rosso Leight
Founder and President Emeritus
CARES Foundation, Inc.

Kelly eight, Esq., founded the Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Research, Education and Support (CARES) Foundation, Inc., in 2000 after her daughter was diagnosed with a form of Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH). For eight years, Kelly served as Executive Director of CARES, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting individuals and families affected by CAH. Under Kelly’s leadership, CARES Foundation successfully advocated for comprehensive newborn screening, including CAH, around the world. Now all 50 US states and many countries abroad are screening for CAH and many other life-threatening diseases. She organized seven CAH conferences that educated over 2,000 people about living with CAH. In 2005, Pfizer, Inc., awarded Kelly its first “Unsung Hero” award for her work with CARES.

Kelly is a member of the Newborn Screening Diagnosis and Follow-up Workgroup under the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of The Health Resources and Services Administration for the US Department of Health and Human Services. She sits on the New Jersey Newborn Screening Advisory Committee. She is also a member of the Public Affairs Committee of the March of Dimes–New Jersey and was a recipient of their Volunteer of The Year Award in 2004 for her activism involving newborn screening in New Jersey.

Currently, Kelly is working with CARES to create models and implement Comprehensive Care Centers for CAH around the country. She is also developing programs and models of care for children with chronic diseases in resource-poor countries in conjunction with Caring and Living As Neighbors, an Australian NGO.