Past Speakers

Nancy Gianni is the Chief Belief Officer and founder of GiGi’s Playhouse Down Syndrome Achievement Centers as well as an author and public speaker. GiGi’s Playhouse is the ONLY international network of Down Syndrome Achievement Centers created to provide FREE life-changing therapeutic and educational programs for all ages. With 43 GiGi’s Playhouse locations across the U.S. and Mexico, and a demand to open 200 more worldwide using her replicable model, Gianni has no choice but to stay at the top of her game. As the dynamic force that is changing the disability world, Gianni’s story was featured recently on the Today show and on CNN where she was named a CNN Hero in 2016. Gianni, possessed with over-the-top energy and drive serves as both the visionary leader behind the organization’s launch and dramatic growth; and perhaps in her most important role, being GiGi’s mom. Gianni gave birth to her beautiful daughter GiGi in 2002. After receiving the Down syndrome diagnosis, her fears coupled with the negative reactions of the medical staff made Nancy believe that her life, as she knew it, was changed forever. Well, GiGi had another plan! Her birth ignited an unstoppable force of miracles, hope and unconditional love that is now changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of people every day. What began as a mother’s vision to change perception, and maximize her daughter’s successes, has evolved into a global movement of acceptance for ALL! Gianni resides in South Barrington, Illinois with her husband and their four children.