Learn more about all Project Sleep Board of Directors members.
Julie Flygare, JD, serves as President & CEO of Project Sleep. Flygare is an internationally recognized patient-perspective leader, an accomplished advocate, and the award-winning author of Wide Awake and Dreaming: A Memoir of Narcolepsy. On March 22, 2022, she delivered the TEDx Talk, “What Can You Learn from a Professional Dreamer?“
Since receiving a diagnosis of narcolepsy with cataplexy in 2007, Flygare advanced her leadership in the sleep and healthcare space through speaking engagements, publications, earned media, collaborations, and advocacy and awareness initiatives. Prior to accepting her current role as President & CEO of Project Sleep, Flygare served as President of Project Sleep’s Board of Directors, while also gaining invaluable experience in marketing and philanthropy at the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and City of Hope. Additionally, she served on the National Institutes of Health’s Sleep Disorders Research Advisory Board from 2012 – 2015. Flygare received her B.A. from Brown University in 2005 and her J.D. from Boston College Law School in 2009, focusing on health law, policy, and rare disease drug development.
Lauren is a public health educator and advocate, with a focus on healthcare and resource accessibility. She has implemented programs serving LGBTQIA+ youth in rural Virginia, teens at high risk of pregnancy, and people who are incarcerated and living with HIV.
Lauren has personal and family experience with invisible disabilities, chronic illness, neurodivergence, and LGBTQIA+ identity, and is committed to creating spaces of belonging and inclusion. She is thrilled to serve as Programs Manager with Project Sleep, where she leverages her diverse personal and professional experience (and love of spreadsheets) to coordinate advocacy and awareness initiatives with the sleep community. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking in the Blue Ridge mountains, reading too many books at a time, and trying to keep up with her teenaged kiddo and large extended family. She lives in Virginia.
Rachel is a content creator and digital communicator, with a passion for working in the non-profit sector. She has worked with a private nonprofit community arts organization in her hometown of Wausau, WI and with an animal rescue and transport organization based in Thailand.
Rachel is excited to continue learning about sleep health, sleep equity, and sleep disorders. She believes sleep is indeed a pillar of health and is thrilled to be able to share its benefits with the world. In her spare time, Rachel enjoys seeing live music, getting outside to explore the beautiful land and lakes that Wisconsin has to offer, and also traveling far beyond to an ever-growing list of destinations! She finds that spending the summers in Wisconsin and traveling to warmer destinations during the cold winter months is the perfect balance for her.
Heather is a licensed professional counselor (LPC-MHSP) in the state of Tennessee. She has worked in rural mental health, serving her hometown for the last decade, both within the school system and in her own private practice. Heather has a great passion for working with adolescents and their families, particularly with the LGBTQIA+ community.
Heather’s interest in the science of sleep developed during graduate school, when her sister began exhibiting signs of narcolepsy type 1. She has often emphasized to clients and their families that sleep is the foundation of wellness, which became a much more important sentiment to her after her own chronic illness diagnosis. She serves as a county representative for the Mid-Cumberland Council for Children and Youth and a member of the expert advisory board for Vocational Rehabilitation.
Outside of work, Heather is an avid hiker, recently tackling the goal of hiking at all 57 state parks in her home state of Tennessee within a year. In addition, she enjoys reading, drinking decaf coffee in local coffee shops, antiquing with her best friend, weight lifting, fossil hunting, and bird watching. She lives in her hometown with her partner, Matt, their three children, and three dogs.
Emma Cooksey is a writer, speaker, and patient advocate. She was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea at the age of 30, after more than a decade of unexplained health issues. In 2020, Emma launched a weekly podcast, “Sleep Apnea Stories” to break down stereotypes of sleep apnea while also raising awareness of symptoms and treatment options.
In 2021, Emma became the first person with sleep apnea to complete Project Sleep’s Rising Voices speaker’s training. For the past several years, Emma served as a volunteer on Project Sleep’s Board of Directors, leading the organization’s efforts to establish the Expert Advisory Board in 2022.
In her current role as Sleep Apnea Program Manager, Emma will run Project Sleep’s new Sleep Apnea Education and Awareness Program. She will develop and implement new awareness and educational initiatives, events, and activities, to empower people with sleep apnea to seek diagnosis, support, and care. Emma holds a degree in Law and Economics from Aberdeen University.
Project Sleep’s Expert Advisory Board includes clinicians, researchers, patients, and advocates who are thought leaders and trailblazers in their respective fields. This powerful group works together to accelerate our mission of improving public health by educating individuals and communities about sleep health, sleep equity, and sleep disorders.
