About Our Founder

As Executive Director of Power of Play – Rocky Top, Pete Capell hopes to put to good use the skills and lessons he’s learned during his thirty-four years working as a health professional on three different continents.

His time working with clients recovering from spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injuries at Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center taught him that sometimes bad things happen to good people, with little to no warning, so it’s worth taking the time every day to remember and be grateful for all that we have. He also learned how easy it is to forget such important lessons with our busy lives. Access and inclusion are important to everyone eventually, so the best time to start improving both is now!

Pete has worked for almost twenty years in the wheelchair business, where he has provided custom wheelchairs and other assistive devices to people with disabilities and their families. This has allowed him the privilege of meeting a large variety of people and organizations all over East Tennessee who work tirelessly to better the lives of those in need. In this line of work, Pete learned the value of “it is what it is, but it will be what I make it” and put that to good use serving others by providing custom mobility solutions to meet client’s varied needs.

Pete also worked for six years in the local school system, where he learned some valuable lessons about the importance of meaningful inclusion and its impact on the children, families, and caregivers on both sides of the system. It was during this time that Pete became aware of local children with physical disabilities who were being denied access to “ON-Time” mobility, so he decided to do something about it.

With the help of friends, volunteers, and family, Pete founded the nonprofit “GoBabyGo – Rocky Top” project in 2014. Through this venture, and upon reflection on all these life experiences, Pete realized that providing mobility to people with disabilities is the means to an end, not the “end” itself–much like having the ability to speak is valuable, unless you’ve got no one to talk to. There needed to be something more in the community to help bring it all together, so in 2017 the Power of Play was conceived. Pete and the team at Power of Play – Rocky Top are on a mission to use “play” as a means to connect people with and without disabilities in new, fun ways … so that those opportunities for meaningful inclusion will help build a stronger community for all.

We play, with a purpose!