Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome
Michelle Sie Whitten
Michelle Sie Whitten is the executive director of the Anna and John J. Sie Foundation (Foundation). The Foundation provides grants to charitable organizations that make a difference in various sectors from arts and culture to ill or abused children. The Foundation’s two main fields of interest are: (1) Down syndrome related issues, and (2) international security and diplomacy.
Since Ms. Whitten became executive director of the Foundation, she has dedicated a portion of her time to improving the lives of families and individuals who are affected by Down syndrome. In 2006, the Foundation provided a matching grant to help establish The Rocky Mountain Down Syndrome Educational Fund that underwrites much needed Down syndrome-related educational programs. In the same year, the Fund succeeded in reaching its goal of raising $1 million, and Ms. Whitten initiated the creation of the Down Syndrome Educational Symposium Series that brings world-class Down syndrome experts to Colorado several times a year to meet with and educate professionals and parents who touch the lives of people with Down syndrome.
The Foundation is also one of the largest sources of grant money for Down syndrome-related scientific research. To date, the Foundation has helped to provide $1 million underwriting 13 scientific research grants with the aim of eradicating the ill effects of the third 21st chromosome. In 2006, Ms. Whitten received the Arcthrift Community Leadership Award for her Down syndrome-related work.
Prior to joining the Foundation Ms. Whitten was president and CEO of Encore International, Inc. (EI), the then China arm of Liberty Media Corporation. She worked in the cable industry from 1993 until 2005 and is considered a pioneer in the China media industry. For her work during that time she received the 40 Under 40 Achievements Award, the Real Women: Outstanding Entrepreneur Award and the Women in Cable & Telecommunications (WICT) Walk of Fame Award. In 2005 EI was sold to a UK-based company and EI continues to be a leader in foreign media investment in China.
Ms. Whitten sits on the board of The Denver Foundation and ARC Thrift.
She holds a Master of Arts degree in Regional Studies – East Asia and a Graduate Certificate in Business Administration, both from Harvard University. She studied Mandarin Chinese at Peking University and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Asian Studies from Tufts University.
