Matt works on the U.S. Enterprise Sales team of Dell EMC in Chicago. Matt and his wife Kellene have two boys, Brady is 8 and Quinn is 5. Outside of work and family time, Matt serves as President of the Chapter Board for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Greater IL Chapter and President of the Youth Catechesis Council at St. John of the Cross Parish in Western Springs. Matt and Kellene co-chair Shamrockin’ for a Cure which benefits the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Brady O’Connell was born March 13th, 2009 and he underwent surgery two days later for a “routine” procedure to repair his intestines, at which time he was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF). CF is a rare genetic disease which mostly affects the lungs and digestive systems of 33,000 people in the U.S. and life expectancy for someone born today with cystic fibrosis is currently 40 years old. CF requires a rigorous regimen of medicine, breathing treatments, and supplements to remain healthy. Brady has been hospitalized over 10 times to fight lung infections and digestive issues.

Matt and Kellene first learned about CF when their nephew Emmett was born 10 years ago. Prior to starting their own family, Matt and Kellene had genetic testing done to determine if they were carriers of CF. Kellene’s test came back positive as a carrier for CF and Matt’s test incorrectly reported that he wasn’t a carrier. As a result of the test they were completely surprised by Brady’s diagnosis, but overjoyed by their new son and inspired by his strength and resiliency to fight CF!

Matt and Kellene have accepted the challenge to find a cure for cystic fibrosis and they have raised over $750,000 to help fund new therapies, treatments, and the drug development pipeline to find a cure for cystic fibrosis and make CF stand for Cure Found.