Michelle Sie Whitten is the co-founder and executive director of the Global Down Syndrome Foundation in Denver, Colorado. Whitten started the Global Down Syndrome Foundation along with her parents, Anna and John J. Sie, the founder of Starz, in 2003, shortly after the birth of her daughter, Sophia Kay Whitten, who has Down syndrome. Since 2005, Whitten has served as the Executive Director of the Anna and John J. Sie Foundation (AJSF), one of the major sources of funding for Down syndrome research and programs, as well as medical care.