SAY Welcomes Keely Baisden Knudsen as New CEO
We are excited and honored to welcome Keely Baisden Knudsen as our new CEO!
Following a national search, SAY has appointed Keely Baisden Knudsen as our new CEO. We are thrilled to welcome Keely to the SAY family and know that she will provide exceptional leadership into the future. Our beloved Founder and CEO Taro Alexander will remain involved with SAY as an Executive Advisor and Board Member and will work closely with Keely and Russell (SAY’s Executive Director) moving forward.
Taro has made an extraordinary difference in the lives of children who stutter across his 25 years as SAY’s Founder and CEO, and we are indebted to his service. The SAY community recognizes the countless sacrifices that Taro, Leigh, and their family have made to this organization. There just aren’t enough “thank yous” to express what is in our hearts for all Taro has done. We are grateful that Taro will remain an Executive Advisor and a member of the SAY Board of Trustees.
“I could not be more excited to welcome Keely to the team. She is passionate, experienced, and dedicated to this community. I love SAY with all my heart and have dedicated my life to our mission. As I transition from CEO to Executive Advisor, my passion for and dedication to SAY will not change. I will continue to attend and participate in all of SAY’s major special events and will be a strategic partner to Keely and Russell moving forward.”
— Taro Alexander
Keely joins SAY from The Legacy Theatre in Branford, Connecticut. She co-founded the theatre and served as its Artistic Director for fifteen years after its incorporation in 2011. During that time, she led a $5 million capital campaign to restore the historic Stony Creek Puppet House as the theatre’s permanent home, raising the funds from individual donors, grants, foundations, and corporate partners against an annual operating budget of roughly $1.5 million. Over the same period, she grew the board and staff fourfold, produced and directed more than 100 productions, and collaborated with Broadway and Tony-winning artists including Julie Andrews and Christopher Gattelli. Under her leadership, Legacy Theatre has won dozens of BroadwayWorld awards from 2021-2025, as well as “Nonprofit of the Year” (2024) and “Best of Connecticut” (2025).
Keely’s work has consistently centered on the performing arts as a way in for young people and communities too often left outside them. As a performing artist and director, she cares deeply about using theatre and the arts to empower and enlighten. As a mother, she knows what it means to advocate for her child who uses a wheelchair. She founded the Wheel Life Theatre Troupe for performers who use wheelchairs or crutches, was involved in Project GreenHope in Harlem, and built drama-based programs serving young people and adults with autism, youth in New Haven public housing, and veterans in drama therapy programs. Keely is passionate about joining SAY with a two-fold mission for the future: finding and serving more young people who stutter and growing the family that funds the work.
Upon her acceptance of the position, Keely shared, “SAY began by putting young people who stutter center stage, and that idea has grown into a community that reaches kids across the country and around the world. Taro built something rare. I’m honored to help carry it into its next 25 years, so more young people find the friends, the support, and the confidence to be heard.”
Executive Director Russell Krumnow says, “SAY means community. Taro built something special that’s unleashed the confidence and potential of countless youth who stutter for 25 years. Creating and sustaining a non-profit with this level of impact is truly incredible, and the good news is we aren’t saying goodbye, as Taro remains always in this family and on our Board. In Keely, SAY has a new CEO with the savvy and heart to take this strong organization and expand its reach in profound ways. With your support, we’ll keep this work going for 25 more years.”
“On behalf of the Board of Trustees and search committee, we are pleased to welcome Keely Baisden Knudsen to the SAY team and look forward to seeing her entrepreneurial track record in action on behalf of the stuttering community. Out of a talented, sizable pool of candidates, Keely stood out for her heart of service for young people, significant experience driving both impact and financial results in non-profits, and her passion to serve those who stutter. The Board looks forward to working with Keely closely to help SAY continue to grow and thrive as one of the world’s largest non-profit organizations serving the stuttering community,” said Justin Waller, Board Chair
On Monday, May 10, 2027, SAY will be hosting its 25th Annual Benefit Gala in New York City. Taro Alexander and Leigh Pennebaker (Co-Founder of SAY: DC) will be inducted into the SAY: Hall of Fame, and The Common Sense Fund will be the recipient of the SAY: Budd Mayer Advocacy Award. The Gala will be hosted by Kelli O’Hara.
We are delighted to welcome Keely to the SAY family, and we look forward to our campers and participants and their families, as well as our many supporters, volunteers, and staff getting to know the wonderful person she is. We are dedicated to doing all we can to support young people who stutter. Here is the team of year-round staff that is committed to serving this wonderful community. Please reach out anytime.
SAY STAFF
Taro Alexander – Founder and Executive Advisor
Keely Baisden Knudsen – CEO
Everett Bradley – Musical Director
Kate Detrick – Development Manager
Russell Krumnow – Executive Director
Jamiya Leach – Marketing & Communications Manager
Brooke Leiman Edwards MA, CCC-SLP, BCS-SCF – Director of SAY: Speech
Danielle Leneé – Confident Voices Associate
Paige Mansfield – Camp SAY Associate, Office Manager
Sarah Otero – Development Coordinator
Leigh Pennebaker – Co-Founder of SAY: DC
Travis Robertson – Artistic Director
Rich Stephens – Director of Camp SAY