Board of directors

Matthew Klein is the founder of Caring for Caregivers Alliance, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit built around a simple belief: the people who pour themselves into caring for others deserve to be cared for too. He created the organization in memory of his mother, Phyllis Klein, and he runs it from the same place he calls home, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Matthew grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and he is the first to say he had a great childhood. His parents raised him with strong morals, integrity, and humor. They taught him to be grateful, that it is better to give than to receive, and to always pay it forward. Those lessons never left him. They are the quiet foundation under everything he builds today.

Everything changed in 2003, when his mother was diagnosed with stage four cancer. Matthew became her caretaker, and in the years that followed he watched her do something remarkable. Rather than let the diagnosis shrink her world, she chose to live life to the fullest. She became a fierce believer in making good memories, and she spent the time she had left doing exactly that. The way she carried herself through those years reshaped how Matthew sees his own life. He came to believe that life is meant to be celebrated day by day, and that belief became the seed of his work.

Matthew also lives with disabilities of his own. He was diagnosed years ago with bipolar disorder, depression, and severe anxiety disorder with panic attacks. He has been open about how hard the road has been, from long stretches of depression to anxiety that, at its worst, left him feeling paralyzed. Lately his condition has worsened, especially his anxiety and panic attacks. They have grown severe enough that the tides have turned in his family: the son who once cared for his mother is now cared for by his father, who has become his caretaker. Matthew knows the weight of being a caregiver and the weight of needing one, and that lived experience runs through everything Caring for Caregivers Alliance for.

None of that has stopped him from chasing what he sets his mind to. Matthew earned two associate degrees in information technology from Pennsylvania College of Technology, a Penn State affiliate. College did not come easy. It took several attempts and years of pushing through his disabilities, but he refused to quit, and finishing with two degrees stands as one of the proudest accomplishments of his life. He is also an entrepreneur at heart, someone who has launched and attempted to build several companies and chased a number of other business opportunities over the years, always working to create something of his own despite the obstacles in his way.

That is why the nonprofit exists. Caring for Caregivers Alliance is organized around four pillars, Mind, Financial, Growth, and Belonging, each one aimed at restoring the people who give so much of themselves to others. Caregiving can be lonely and depleting, and Matthew built the organization to make sure no one has to carry it alone. It is his way of paying it forward, of honoring the morals his parents gave him and the example his mother set, and of turning his own hardest experiences into something that helps other people live their lives to the fullest.

Mark Klein is a lifelong Pittsburgher whose roots run deep in the Monroeville community. A graduate of Gateway Senior High School who also spent time at the University of Pittsburgh, Mark built a career defined by service and connection, spending most of his professional life in the hospitality industry with Marriott, where he learned that taking care of people is both an art and a discipline. He later brought that same attention to detail to the IT department at Blue Cross, working behind the scenes to keep things running for the people who depend on them.

That instinct to serve eventually led Mark into business for himself. An entrepreneur at heart, he has had his hand in several different companies over the years, always chasing the next idea and learning what it takes to build something of his own. As the owner of Steel City Photo 360, he brings his signature warmth and energy to weddings, corporate events, and celebrations across the Pittsburgh area, turning ordinary moments into one’s people want to remember.

As Vice President of Caring for Caregivers Alliance, Mark channels that lifetime of hospitality and heart into a mission close to home. He understands what it means to give of yourself, and he knows that caregiving isn’t a single dramatic act but a long series of small ones, often unseen and rarely thanked.

A proud Steelers fan with a love for the outdoors and time spent near the water, Mark brings warmth, steadiness, and a down-to-earth sense of humor to everything he does. He’s the friend who answers the phone, the family member who keeps showing up, the person others lean on, and at Caring for Caregivers Alliance, he helps make sure the people who give so much are restored in return.

Brian Welsh has spent his career keeping Pittsburgh moving. As a longtime mechanic for Pittsburgh Regional Transit (formerly the Port Authority), he is one of the people behind the scenes who makes sure the buses run and the city gets where it needs to go. It is steady, hands-on work that rewards patience, problem-solving, and showing up day after day, and Brian has built a reputation for doing exactly that. He also serves as a union representative, advocating for his fellow workers — a role that reflects how naturally he steps up for the people around him.

Above all, Brian is a family man. The people in his life come first, and that same sense of loyalty and care is what drew him to Caring for Caregivers Alliance. That connection is personal on more than one front. He and his wife Michelle are parents to an autistic child, which means caregiving has long been woven into the fabric of their daily life — the extra planning, the advocacy, the patience that never really clocks out. More recently, Michelle's mother was diagnosed with early-stage dementia, and Brian and his family are walking that road as well. He understands firsthand that looking after the people you love is its own kind of work, often quiet and unseen, and he believes the people who carry that weight deserve support of their own.

As Treasurer of Caring for Caregivers Alliance, Brian brings the same reliability and attention to detail that have defined his career to the organization's finances. He keeps a careful eye on the numbers so the mission stays on solid ground, helping make sure that every dollar goes toward restoring the caregivers the organization exists to serve.

Grounded, dependable, and quick with a helping hand, Brian is the kind of person others count on, and that is exactly what he offers Caring for Caregivers Alliance.

Michael Maddox brings more than fifteen years of operations leadership to the Caring for Caregivers Alliance board. He currently serves as Vice President of Operations, North America for Sodexo at Google, where he helps lead one of the largest workplace food programs in the world. Over his career he has managed teams and operations across facilities management, beverage, and military sectors, building high-performing teams through periods of significant change.

Michael is a Lean Six Sigma expert who has managed, facilitated, or sponsored more than 150 improvement projects, ranging from recycling optimization to talent acquisition to warehousing productivity. That work has given him an end-to-end view of how organizations run and where they can do better. He is known for spotting people’s strengths, putting them in position to succeed, and developing the next generation of leaders. He has also championed inclusion efforts supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, reflecting the same belief in dignity and belonging that anchors our mission.

His connection to caregiving is deeply personal. Michael was raised by a single mother who devoted her life to caring for others—first for family members, including her own grandmother during a battle with cancer, and later for more than thirty elderly clients in their own homes. Watching her, he learned early that caregiving is not only about physical support, but about presence, sacrifice, and preserving dignity. When his mother was later diagnosed with stage four cancer and chose to forgo chemotherapy, Michael stepped into the caregiver role himself, taking a leave from work to be by her side. That experience deepened his conviction that those who devote themselves to others also need support, resources, and compassion. Today, as his own family prepares to support his wife’s aging parents, he continues to live the values his mother modeled.

Michael lives in Media, Pennsylvania. For Caring for Caregivers Alliance, he offers sharp operational judgment, a talent for building capable teams, and a lived understanding of the caregiver’s journey. He joins the board to help strengthen the systems of care that so many families quietly rely on—and, in his words, to help take care of those who take care. 

Matthew Keiper has spent his life answering the call to serve—often in the most literal sense. A retired U.S. Coast Guard officer and graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Matthew began his career as a rescue swimmer, one of the most demanding roles in the military, where he willingly went into dangerous waters so that others could make it home. In later years, he took to the skies as a pilot, continuing the same mission of protecting and rescuing those in need.

Now based in Traverse City, Michigan, Matthew has channeled that same drive and discipline into entrepreneurship as the owner and operator of Northern Lakes Boat Co. He also shares his expertise on the water as a certified sailing instructor and coach, passing his knowledge and love of the Great Lakes on to the next generation.

As a Director at Large for Caring for Caregivers Alliance, Matthew brings the heart of a rescuer to a different kind of mission. He understands service not as a job but as a way of life—showing up, holding the line, and making sure no one is left behind. His years of putting others first give him a deep appreciation for the caregivers this organization exists to support: the people who quietly carry others through their hardest moments.

A true hero in every sense, Matthew leads with steadiness, courage, and a servant’s heart—and he helps ensure that those who give so much of themselves are cared for in return. 

Julie Mathias brings the Caring for Caregivers Alliance something that can't be taught in a boardroom: firsthand experience. Julie was her mother's caregiver, and she poured herself fully into that role, showing up day after day with the kind of love and devotion that caregiving asks of a person. She knows what it means to put someone else's needs ahead of her own, to manage the exhaustion, the worry, and the quiet moments no one else sees, all while holding onto love for the person in front of her.

That season of her life didn't just teach Julie what caregiving takes; it taught her what caregivers need. She understands the toll it can take on a person's mind, finances, sense of momentum in their own life, and connection to the people around them, the very four pillars Caring for Caregivers Alliance was built to address. Julie's experience gives the board a grounded, lived-in perspective that keeps the organization's mission tethered to the reality caregivers actually face.

Based in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, Julie is part of the CCAC Boyce Campus community, and she carries the same warmth and steadiness into her relationships that she brought to caring for her mother. Outside of her work with the board, Julie has a real love for animals and is a passionate advocate for them, a reflection of the same devotion and protective instinct she brings to the people in her life. As a Director at Large, Julie helps make sure that the voice of the caregiver, someone who has lived it and loved fiercely through it, has a seat at the table as Caring for Caregivers Alliance builds programs meant to restore people like her.