Meet the Board

Carly Renken

Founder & CEO

Image Description: Carly is wearing black jean jacket and a small gray bag around her shoulder. Her long light brown hair is pulled to one side. Her hands are in front of her and clasped together and she is standing on a bridge with a red railing with skyscrapers and a sunset in the background. She is smiling.

Hello!!! My name is Carly Renken. I graduated from Millard South High School in 2019 and from Augustana University in May of 2022 with a Bachelor's of Arts in Special Education and Elementary Education. I am now a elementary special education teacher and graduate in May of 2024 with my Masters in Applied Behavior Analysis.  In all honesty, I know little about music, BUT I love learning alongside the musicians in this program! One of my greatest long-time friends has an Down Syndrome, so I have been working with and befriending people with special needs for as long as I can remember. I have been volunteering and coaching for Special Olympics for years, and throughout high school I was all in with the unified programs. I am also a caregiver for several different individuals with different needs. Special Musicians has become my heartbeat. I believe that this program is an avenue for people with special needs to express their joy and ability with no limitations. A lifelong goal of mine is to be an advocate for those who can't advocate for themselves, and my heart's desire is to empower people with disabilities to feel like they can do anything! Our society has a long way to go in accepting everyone and creating equal opportunities, but I want to be that hopeful light that we CAN make an inclusive community, we CAN show kindness and acceptance to everyone, and we CAN shout from the rooftops that everyone is able and everyone is worthy. 

Brandon Collins

Co-Chief Operating Officer  & Treasurer 

Image Description: Brandon is wearing a blue and white plaid dress shirt. He has short brown hair and is wearing glasses. He is smiling. 

Hello, my name is Brandon Collins. I graduated from Millard North High School in 2019 and graduated from University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 2023 with a Bachelors degree in Economics and am now settled in New York. I have been volunteering in the special needs community since my sophomore year of high school and helped start a Unified Club at my school. I joined the Special Musicians team at the beginning of the program and have been blessed to help it operate and grow. Working with the musicians has been an incredible journey and has become a lifelong passion. I am so excited to continue working with this program as I move forward, and I will continue fighting for inclusion wherever life takes me. 


William Nervig

Co-Chief Operating Officer and Secretary

Image Description: Ethan (left) and William (right) smile for a quick picture at the beginning of a session. Ethan has short brown hair and is wearing a black shirt. William has short brown hair and black glasses and is wearing a maroon Special Musicians crewneck. Both men are wearing their nametags. 

Hi! My name is William Nervig, and I graduated from Millard North High School in 2019 and from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts in Physics. Now,  I am living in New York working as a grant writer for a nonprofit that does workforce training and career development for low income New Yorkers. I was first introduced to the special needs community my sophomore year of high school and absolutely fell in love with everyone in it. Combine that with a little bit of music knowledge from middle school band, and here we are! These past years being an advocate have been nothing short of wonderful, and being a part of this program and seeing our musicians create and grow brings me so much joy. Special Musicians aside, I know that it’s my job to stand up for those that are being marginalized, whether it be on the basis of ability or any other factor. I’m extremely lucky to be able to do that through this program, and look forward to continuing to work to make our world more inclusive for everyone in it.

Kali Herbolsheimer

Executive Vice President

Image Description: Kali has light brown hair with a pink headband in and is wearing an orange sweater and light blue jeans. Her hands are clasped in front of her. She is standing in front of path with a wooden fence on one side and trees in the background.  She is smiling. 

Hello! My name is Kali Herbolsheimer. I graduated from Millard South High School in 2020 and will graduate from the University of Nebraska at Kearney in 2024 with a degree in Special Education K-12. I am now working as an Educational Leadership Consultant for a sorority headquarters! I have been involved in the special needs community for as long as I can remember. During high school, I became heavily involved in volunteering and coaching for Special Olympics and that continued throughout my years in college. Music was a huge part of my life growing up so being able to combine two things that make my world go round has been one of the best things. I started volunteering with Special Musicians in 2018 before becoming a branch director and joining the board. As an advocate for those with disabilities, I have loved every part of being with musicians on their journey to finding who they are as an individual and a musician through music. I look forward to continuing to advocate for individuals with disabilities and their capabilities and pushing for inclusive practices whenever possible. 

Left to right: Brandon Collins, Carly Renken, William NervigOmaha Summer Performance 2019Image Description: Brandon (left), Carly (middle), William (right) come together for a group picture at the end of the Omaha Summer Performance in 2019. Brandon has dark brown hair and is wearing black glasses and  a maroon button up short sleeve shirt with jeans. He is holding a grey square picture frame with four pictures in it in his right hand. Carly has long brown hair and is wearing a yellow tank top dress with white polka dots. She has a black picture frame with a blue background at her feet. There are individual pictures in the frame with musicians doing sign language letters to spell "Inclusion is within everyone's abilities". William has short brown hair and is wearing black glasses and a white long sleeve dress shirt with khaki shorts and white shoes. He is holding a grey square picture frame with four pictures in it and a red rose in his left hand. All three board members are smiling. 

As a board, we work really hard to ensure that inclusion, equal opportunity, and accessibility is our mission While we advocate hard for Special Musicians, we are also intentional about how we loop this into our everyday lives. Stepping into advocate roles together is honoring. We look forward to continuing Special Musicians and creating more avenues for those with different needs in all that we do!