Home / Team
The people behind the promise.
An intentionally small team of family, scientists, and operators, with operating costs covered by Isa’s family, so giving flows to the mission.
The board.
Christopher Lazzara
Christopher M. Lazzara is Founder and Executive Advisor of the Isa Elaine Foundation, CEO and co-founder of MountainStar Partners, and President of the Georgia School of Orthodontics. He is Isa’s father.
He founded MountainStar Partners in 2013 and, as Chief Executive Officer, leads the firm’s investment committee, directs investment strategy, and oversees all major initiatives for the company and its subsidiaries. He co-founded the Georgia School of Orthodontics in 2014 with his father, Dr. Gasper Lazzara; the Atlanta campus opened in 2016. A respected leader in North Florida, Chris has served on numerous boards, including eight years with the MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation and as a state-appointed Trustee of the University of North Florida.
In 2023, their infant daughter began showing symptoms of an ultra-rare pediatric neurodegenerative disease. Chris and Rachel Lazzara founded the Isa Elaine Foundation in response, committed to sharing research, clinical application, and financial resources with every family facing childhood dementia. He holds a degree from Southern Methodist University and certificates from the Wharton School of Business.
Freddie Figgers
Freddie Figgers is the Founder and CEO of Figgers Communication Inc., an American telecommunications operator and manufacturer of smartphones and consumer electronics that received the INC Best in Business 2020 award. He is also Chief Architect of Figgers Health and chairs The Figgers Foundation.
At age 15, Freddie developed one of his first inventions to help his father’s battle with Alzheimer’s, a shoe with a GPS tracker and two-way communication. At 21 (2011), he became one of the youngest telecom operators in the United States. His foundation has provided disaster relief, scholarships, and, during COVID-19, distributed over 2 million units of PPE.
Lenn Murrelle, MSPH, PhD
Dr. Murrelle brings nearly 40 years of global experience in epidemiologic research, focusing on disease prevention, pharmacoepidemiology, drug development, and biomarker discovery. He is the founding President and CEO of Venebio Group, LLC, and previously a Director in Worldwide Epidemiology at GlaxoSmithKline.
He has co-authored over 100 scientific publications and was twice awarded US Fulbright Scholar Awards. Since 1995 he has held faculty positions at Virginia Commonwealth University, UNC Chapel Hill, and the Center for Health Studies in Medellín, Colombia, and has consulted for the NIH and WHO. He received his BA from Wake Forest, MSPH from UNC Chapel Hill, and PhD in Psychiatric Epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh.
Dale Pirkle
Following graduation from the United States Military Academy at West Point, Dale served as an Infantry officer at Ft. Benning, Berlin, and Ft. Bragg. He joined Procter & Gamble in 1976 and served in sales and marketing roles for 32 years, leading the first customer business team P&G fielded and creating the Liga Contra el Cáncer marketing event in Miami. He received P&G’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
After P&G, Dale served on the Board of Directors of Seamark Ranch and joined LCPS Management in 2012 as Chief Operating Officer.
Carol Lynch, CPA
Carol joined MountainStar in 2015 following her role as Property Controller at Regency Centers, a publicly traded REIT. Earlier, she held Controller, Financial Reporting Director, and Finance Manager roles at SaaS companies including Black Diamond Performance Reporting, Vurv Technology, and Web.com, and began her career as an auditor at KPMG Peat Marwick.
She serves on the Board of Trustees for the Georgia School of Orthodontics and the Board of Directors for the Jacksonville Humane Society. She holds a B.S. in Business Administration (Accounting) from California State University, Northridge, and an MBA from the University of Florida.
The team.
Rachel Lazzara
Rachel Lazzara is the co-founder of the Isa Elaine Foundation and Isa’s mother. She was the first to notice that Isa’s development was falling behind, and she carried the family through the diagnosis and the year that followed.
While the national work is built, Rachel holds the family steady in Jacksonville. Every gift the Foundation makes is made jointly by Rachel and Christopher Lazzara.
Travis Highsmith
With a strong background in digital innovation, IT strategy, and data analysis, Travis has developed custom dashboards and digital platforms that transform complex data into actionable insights. A Business Administration graduate of the University of North Florida, he blends technical expertise with marketing know-how.
At the foundation, Travis has been instrumental in establishing its digital identity, crafting the branding and designing the website, ensuring technology initiatives streamline operations and support strategic outreach.
Kristen Cain
As a member of the executive team, Kristen ensures project alignment with company and foundation goals, and serves on the Board of Directors for the MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation. Her experience includes working with children at educational camps across Pennsylvania and interning at Camp Kostopoulos in Salt Lake City, supporting individuals with developmental and physical disabilities.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in Recreational Therapy with a minor in Psychology from East Carolina University.
Jourdan Luke
Jourdan Luke is a Junior Analyst at MountainStar Partners and the Isa Elaine Foundation. As a member of the executive department, she leads research initiatives, supports special projects, and serves as the foundation board liaison.
Jourdan’s community involvement includes being a selected participant in the World Affairs Council of Jacksonville’s EDGE Mentorship Program, where she engages with global leaders and board members. She graduated from the University of North Florida with an Honors BBA in International Business. Her global experience includes a semester abroad in Athens, Greece, and an internship with Thread Together in Sydney, Australia, a nonprofit that redirects new clothing from retailers to people in need.
Her experiences reflect a strong commitment to service, community impact, and supporting those in need.
Who directs the science.
Scientific direction for the Foundation’s work comes from Dr. Lenn Murrelle, Board Member and Scientific Advisor; Dr. Juliet Knowles, principal investigator of the BPAN program at Stanford Medicine; and the clinical leadership of the Isa Elaine Foundation Brain Iron Disorders Care Program at UF Health’s Norman Fixel Institute, directed by Dr. Bhavana Patel.
The Foundation’s earliest scientific work was guided by Dr. Marc Fariss, Isa’s great uncle, a pathologist and toxicologist with roughly forty years of NIH-funded research on Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, who identified the parallels between BPAN and the major adult neurodegenerative disorders and documented the nine-step cascade comparison for the Foundation in February 2025.
Lend your skills.
We grow deliberately. If your expertise could help children with BPAN, we’d love to hear from you.