Meet the Founders

SparkAbility was founded by Andy and Rachael Santoro, a married couple residing in Hamilton, NJ who share a passion for creating meaningful opportunities for connection, friendship, and relationships for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

Andy and Rachael Santoro, Co-Founders of SparkAbility

Andy & Rachael Santoro

Co-Founders of SparkAbility

Andy Santoro

Co-Founder

Andy's passion for working with and supporting individuals with IDD began when he was just a middle schooler volunteering at a local summer camp for kids with IDD. Since then, he has spent many years volunteering and working alongside individuals with IDD in a variety of settings, including recreational programs, educational environments, nonprofit organizations, and social and community-based programs.

Through these experiences, Andy has developed a deep understanding of the importance of social connection, inclusion, and having opportunities to participate in the community. His passion has continued to grow—not only for supporting individuals with IDD, but for helping them discover their interests, strengths, and confidence.

Rachael Santoro

Co-Founder

Rachael shares Andy's passion for creating opportunities for meaningful connection and inclusion. Together, Andy and Rachael created SparkAbility with the belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to meet new people, build friendships, explore relationships, and feel connected to their community.

Rachael brings her own perspective, compassion, and commitment to helping SparkAbility create a welcoming and supportive experience for every member.

Our Purpose

We created SparkAbility with a simple but important purpose: to help individuals with IDD explore meaningful friendships and relationships while creating new connections and building confidence.

We believe everyone deserves the opportunity to meet new people, discover shared interests, build friendships, and explore the possibility of meaningful relationships in a welcoming and supportive environment.

SparkAbility was created to help make those opportunities more accessible, comfortable, and enjoyable.

Why SparkAbility?

Andy and Rachael believe that making connections can spark something meaningful. Whether it is a new friendship, a potential relationship, a shared interest, or simply the confidence to step outside of one's comfort zone, every connection has the potential to make a difference.

SparkAbility is our way of helping members get out there, meet new people, build confidence, explore friendships and relationships, and create connections that can grow into something meaningful.

Everyone deserves the opportunity to connect. Somtimes You Just Need A Spark.

Have Any Questions Or Suggestions? Let’s Talk

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