Bob Applebaum is a Professor and Director of the Ohio Long-Term Care Project at Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University. He has been the quality consultant for the past seven years on the National Cash and Counseling Demonstration project and has worked with a number of states on developing systems to ensure quality in Home and Community Based Services.
Eddie Bartnik is a Director with the State Government Disability Services Commission in Western Australia. He has had a key leadership role in major systems change efforts around direct and individualised funding, new governance frameworks across disability and a system of personalised support called “Local Area Coordination.” He is currently leading the development of a “Community Living Plan” for people with disabilities in Western Australia, with a focus on innovation and family leadership. Eddie also has wide consultancy experience across Australia and internationally in nine countries.
Anne Beales is from London, England and is the Director of Service User Involvement and a Management Committee Member of National Survivor User Network. Anne's involvement is currently via her work, supporting people who experience mental distress towards self governance, self management and further provides service user leadership. Anne also sits on the Gender Equality and Women’s Mental Health board as well as various bodies with the NHS both regionally and nationally.
Michael Bleasdale works in Sydney, Australia, starting out as a service provider manager, and then working as a researcher, trainer and consultant. He has also worked in the financial management aspect of guardianship, for the NSW Office of the Protective Commissioner. As Director Consumer Protection for PWD, he heads the National Disability Abuse and Neglect Hotline (Hotline), and the Complaints Resolution and Referral Service (CRRS), both national telephone hotline services which receive complaints from people with disability, or other stakeholders, who use funded disability services. Michael has a longstanding interest in self-determination and individualised funding, and served as a member of the “Prospectors” group at the first Conference on Individualised Funding and Self-Determination in Seattle in July 2000.
Ricky Broussard started his business, Get A Life, in January 2005 to further his mission to “change the world for people with disabilities and those who support them.” Using his circle of support, Ricky continues to chip away at the barriers to create a viable business and a meaningful life. Ricky is known throughout the state for his legislative advocacy, serving on committees and boards at the local, state and national levels. Currently he is the past-president of the Texas Advocates and a regional board member of Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE) a national organization.
Darrell Brown is a participant in Mi Via, New Mexico's self-directed program. He has organized a network of other participants and interested people in his community to share what they are doing and find/create resources in their communities. He is on the Board of Directors for The Arc of New Mexico. He believes that a barrier to self-direction and inclusion is the learned helplessness of so many in the disability community and helps his peers get past this.
Nick Burlison is the owner and operator of Nick’s Copy Service. He has the distinction of being the first business owner to receive substantial employment support services funded by Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation to start his own business.
Peggy Burlison is the Founder and Chair of Bridges of Indiana, a provider of residential services for individuals with disabilities with the emphasis on home and community based services. Bridges was established in 2000 expressly for providing services in a social mode for her son, Nick. Today Bridges of Indiana is one of the largest providers of Medicaid waiver services in Indiana, maintaining offices in four locations and continuing to promote home based principles for living, working and being part of the local community.
Gerald Butler is a Peer Support Specialist in Detroit and the recipient of the 'Person of Excellence Award' from the Michigan Association for Community Mental Health Boards. Additionally he was the architect of 'Empowerment Day' and chair of the Peer Support Empowerment Committee. Years ago, when someone first mentioned Self-Determination, Gerald says he was embarrassed to admit he was afraid of being on his own. However with proper support he has overcome those fears and works at telling others to seek out positive leaders in the system. Gerald plays the flute in the ‘Recovery’ the jazz and easy listening band he organized.
Jean Campbell is a research associate professor and director of the Program in Consumer Studies & Training at the Missouri Institute of Mental Health in St. Louis. As a mental health consumer/survivor, she has led the movement to establish a consumer-directed research agenda in mental health services as a means to bring voice to consumers in research, policy, and peer services.
Patricia Carver is establishing Community Drive, Inc. - knowledge based practice dedicated to circles of support, and coordinates the communication and curriculum development for the Michigan Partners for Freedom; an association designed solely to enhance demand for self-determination in Michigan. She headed the communications effort for Center for Self-Determination -- the primary clearinghouse, training and technical assistance center on self-determination in the country.
Michal Clark is Chief Executive Officer of Kern Regional Center (KRC), one of 21 non-profit agencies serving individuals with developmental disabilities in California. Dr. Clark is also a professor of statistics, research design and educational psychology at California State University Bakersfield and past present of the National Down Syndrome Congress. Dr. Clark is the proud father of Marnie Clark, his 22 year old daughter who has Down syndrome and is also served by KRC. Dr. Clark has been a leader in the implementation of Self-Determination in California and is currently assisting in the development of a new CMS/SD waiver for California.
D'Juan Clay is the Project Consultant, Clerical Support to Member Services, ConsumerLink CareLink Network Member CareLink and ConsumerLink Consumer Advisory Board. Prevention Education and Outreach worker at Gateway Community Health 2007-2008. Member Consumer Advisory Board. Outreach Worker Act Team to Community Care Services Homeless population with mental illness and substance abuse issues Lincoln Park, MI 2007. Children and Family Advocacy Council Member at Large 2008. Detroit Disability Task Force volunteer 2008. Tutor, Mentor Teacher at Community Care Services, Lincoln Park MI 2003 to 2005.
Elias Cohen advocacy efforts are in two primary arenas: extending concepts of self-determination to operating programs for the older people with disabilities, and improving health care programs for prisoners with chronic illness and chronic disabilities. He does this from the perspectives gained as a public interest lawyer (PILCOP) working in aging and disability and as former Pennsylvania Commissioner on Aging developing and administering a variety of home and community based programs for people with disabilities.
Jim Conroy is the President of Center for Outcome Analysis where he performs evaluation, research, and training projects in the human services that lead to improvements in the quality of life of people receiving services and supports. Dr. Conroy has performed extensive work in the developmental disabilities field, including research and policy-relevant evaluation in all 57 states and territories and is a national leader in research on the impacts of Self-Determination initiatives, the effects of deinstitutionalization, and the cost-effectiveness of Medicaid Waiver services.
Jim Dehem is the President/CEO of Community Living Services, Inc. (CLS) a non-profit organization primarily serving persons with developmental disabilities. He is a Director and Vice Chairperson for the Center for Self-Determination. CLS was an original site of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Self-Determination grants for developing individual budgets and transferring authority to people with disabilities. CLS is undergoing a major organization transition in the way they support people and Jim is a frequent speaker on this and other system change issues.
Annette Downey is the Executive Director of Community Living Services of Oakland County, Michigan, where she encourages and supports people to self-direct individualized budgets and to control who, what, when, where, and how supports are provided. She is dedicated to increasing the demand for Self-Determination, as a means of supporting all people with disabilities. Annette promotes flexible services and funding and fully embraces a “Whatever It Takes” mentality.
Steve Dowson lives in England, where he has been involved in social care services for over 30 years as a trainer, consultant and campaigner. At the international level this has involved consultancy in Australia, Canada, and the U.S.A. With Brian Salisbury, he planned the program for the First International Conference on Self-Determination (Seattle, 2000), and assisted the development of the Self-Determination program in San Diego. Within the UK, as Individual Budgets have taken hold, Steve has strongly advocated for the development of independent support brokers, and is currently leading government-funded projects to develop national policy on the training and accreditation of brokers.
Simon Duffy heads In Control which has pioneered the use of personal budgets in the UK and leads efforts to bring about whole system reform of the English disability system by publishing an open source operating system. Simon has been working on practical system to support self-determination for 18 years and developed much of in Control's approach. A new initiative 'Staying in control.' is developing a coherent model of Self Direction into the National Health Services that works across health and social care, respecting difference in legislation and character of interventions and expertise. The programme will involve several sites in England to extend the role of Self-Directed Support into Health services and will break new ground at the boundary of Health and Social Care.
Derrick Dufresne is the co-founder and a senior partner of Community Resource Alliance, Inc. CRA provides training and consultation to those in the field of disabilities – consumers, families, providers, and state and local governmental agencies. He has presented to more than forty thousand people in over forty-eight states since 1982. Derrick is also the President and CEO of the Institute on Public Policy for People with Disabilities, a membership organization that promotes best practice and quality community supports for people with disabilities throughout Illinois.
Beth Durkee is the Director of Services for People with Developmental Disabilities for Allegan County Community Mental Health. Over the past ten years, she has led the system change effort in her organization from a traditional service model to providing services and supports utilizing the values and principles of self-determination. As a result, people served have chosen community employment and supported living over group homes, day programs, and sheltered workshops.
Dan Fisher is presently the Executive Director of the National Empowerment Center and a practicing psychiatrist at Riverside Outpatient Clinic, Wakefield, MA. He received his A.B. from Princeton University, his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin and his M.D. from George Washington University. He is a board-certified psychiatrist who completed his residency at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Fisher is a person who has recovered from schizophrenia, having been hospitalized several times prior to becoming a psychiatrist. He is one of the few psychiatrists in the country who publicly discusses his recovery from mental illness. He is a role model for others who are struggling to recover, and his life dispels the myth that people do not recover from mental illness.
Sue Flanagan is a principal of the Westchester Consulting Group in Washington, D.C. She has over 27 years experience related to Medicare and Medicaid institutional and home and community-based (HBC) long-term care and disability programs, finance and quality assurance issues on the federal, state and corporate levels. Dr. Flanagan is a technical assistance consultant to the Robert Wood Johnson Cash & Counseling Demonstration and Evaluation and Next Steps Projects and the CMS Direct Service Workers Resource Center on self-direction and Financial Management Services (FMS). She also has provided technical assistance to 36 state and county government agencies related to designing, implementing and evaluating self-directed service programs using FMS.
Tom Foley is a Program Manager at the World Institute on Disabilities Access to Assets Program and works to bridge the gap between the asset-building and disability communities by providing training and technical assistance by advising asset-building organizations on how to include consumers with disabilities. Through policy analysis, public education and an information and referral service, the Access to Assets Project strives to fully engage people with disabilities in the asset-building process.
Nancy Fudge has years of first-person experience with mental health issues and policy formulation. She is one of five grassroots advocates who helped create the Florida Self-Directed Care Program (SDC), a nationally recognized Mental Health initiative based on recovery through self-determination, self direction and choice. Her present focus is on the statewide expansion of Florida SDC and advocating for a transformation of the mental health system toward a more person/family driven system of care.
Becky Gibson organizes her support from Allegan County Community Mental Health to assist in the operation of Rebecca’s Coffee Service. Becky has owned the specialty coffee business for two years located within a human services business complex and currently is developing plans for expansion. In addition to selling coffee and tea by the cup, Becky sells wholesale, unground beans because customers requested it.
Carole Glover is the President for the primary statewide consumer organization, Meaningful Minds of Louisiana. She also serves as President of the local chapter for Mental Health America and Co-Chair for the Regional Advisory Council, a member of the Steering Committee for National Coalition of Mental Health and the Planning Advisory Council plus five other state level committees in Louisiana. Carole was appointed by the Mayor of Lafayette to the Disability Awareness committee disabilities and conducts sensitivity trainings for the local police department.
Jackie Golden is the National Resource Specialist for the Angelman Syndrome Foundation and the co-director of “My Life Going Far’ (MLGF) where she co directs with Edward Willard on the roll out of the New Directions waiver through a grant from the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council Jackie formerly worked for DB Consulting Group, Inc where she was the project director of a national grant entitled Self-direction in Mental Health for the federal agency SAMHSA. Jackie is the former executive director for Inclusion Research Institute. Jackie is also a parent of two children with disabilities.
Mike Halligan is the Executive Director of Texas Mental Health Consumers, and is currently involved in establishing self-help and peer support groups for people with mental health issues, trying to establish consumer run businesses as well as becoming a consumer operated service provider. Mike is involved in peer support services and employment endeavors all while decreasing the demand for professional services and create a more self-determined approach to treatment and recovery more conducive to meeting basic needs and employment rather than psycho-social rehabilitation.
Dave Hammis is the Executive Director of Center for Social Capital; Senior Partner at Griffin-Hammis Associates, a full service consultancy specializing in building communities of economic cooperation and National Technical Assistance Co-Director for Self-Employment Technical Assistance, Resources, & Training (START-UP/USA) through a partnership between Virginia Commonwealth University and Griffin-Hammis and Associates, LLC funded by a cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP). At the Rural Institute at the University of Montana, Dave served as Project Director for multiple self-employment, customized employment and Social Security outreach training and technical assistance projects.
Dennis Harkins has worked on the big idea of Self-Determination and its systems implementation as self-determination or self-directed services for many years. He currently works with Wisconsin's Pathways to Independence on issues related to self-determination and integrated employment, and coordinates the efforts of Self-Determination Wisconsin, a project designed to support the growth of self-determination for all Wisconsin citizens who need long-term care.
Steve Harrington is a recovery advocate from West Michigan and is founder of the National Association of Peer Specialists. He has helped local and several state mental health systems explore and promote self-determination options for persons with psychiatric disorders. Steve is particularly interested in learning how peer specialists and other peer supporters can assist peers exercise self-determination options.
Sara Harrison was instrumental in establishing the Michigan Quality Care Council (MQC3) because she found that many citizens who use Home Help said they have trouble finding providers. At the same time, people who want to do the work (providers) said they have trouble finding work. Sara utilizes Home Help supports and by creating the MQC3, providers and consumers work together to promote and coordinate effective and efficient personal assistance services, including the objective of creating and maintaining one or more registries of providers in designated Michigan communities.
Johnette Hartnett is the Director of Research and Strategic Partnership Development for the National Disability Institute (NDI). She is also a senior researcher with the Law, Health Policy, & Disability Center (LHPDC) at the University of Iowa, College of Law. Dr. Hartnett provides national leadership in the development of traditional and non-traditional partnerships across Federal agencies, foundations, and the private and non-profit sector on a variety of public policy issues relative to the employment, asset development, and long-term service and support needs of Americans with disabilities.
Michael Head is the Deputy Director of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at the Michigan Department of Community Health. Mike previously served as Director of the office of Long Term Care Supports and Services. As a clinician, an administrator, a legislative specialist and as a leader in public policy and systems change at the state and local agency levels. He was extensively involved in shaping policy for Michigan’s community placement programs and with design and financing of Michigan’s community mental health system and the Robert Wood Johnson Self-Determination Initiative.
Patrick Hendry is a founding member and the Executive Director of the Florida Peer Network, a statewide organization of and for people who are recovering from psychiatric disabilities. He is the coordinator for the Florida Self-Directed Care program in Southwest Florida and has been involved in expanding the program statewide. Patrick has presented on Self-Directed Care and Personal Outcome Measures at state and national conferences and is the lead trainer for Florida’s Recovery & Resiliency Task Force.
Susan Hill is a Senior Policy Advisor in the Disabled and Elderly Health Programs Group at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). She has led policy and operational aspects of numerous programs for people with disabilities and elders in both the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Currently, she is leading the Group’s strategic planning efforts aimed at reforming the Medicaid long-term support system to be “balanced and person-driven” and provide real opportunities for quality supports in the community.
Jack Hillyard is the Director of the Bureau of Individual Supports with the Office of Long Term Living (OLTL) in the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare system. Prior to joining OLTL, Jack worked as the Director of the Employment Policy Group (EPG) at the University of Iowa’s Center for Disabilities and Development, nationally designated as Iowa’s University Center for Excellence on Disabilities. He is responsible for EPG’s overall management and leading its statewide activities to promote public policies that encourage a positive return on businesses’ human resources investment and lead to the economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities. Jack has 40 years of expertise in strategic planning; systems change advocacy; economic and community development; human resource management; and policy formulation.
Dohn Hoyle is the Executive Director of The Arc of Michigan and long-time advocate for the rights of people with disabilities. Dohn was appointed by the governor to establish the Michigan Quality Care Council (MQC3) that supports the home help (Michigan’s State plan Personal Assistants option) workforce in Michigan. He is also Past President/CEO of the Association for Community Advocacy (Advocating for people with disabilities since 1949). He convenes the Howell Group – an organization of people across Michigan who intend to see that people with disabilities have the opportunity to experience what we know is right and they desire.
Darlene Hunter is a parent, advocate and facilitator of the Arc's Making It Happen. She travels around the state to educate individuals with disabilities and families about Mi Via, New Mexico's self-directed program. Her family is the only people who live in what was once a small town, San Marcial. They area is very rural, so they are faced with the challenge of getting the services for her son needs. When he switched to Mi Via, the family was able to create a support network that overcame the rural challenges.
Ami Hyten is a licensed attorney and the assistant executive director of the Topeka Independent Living Resource Center (TILRC), a disability advocacy and human rights organization in Kansas. Prior to rejoining the disability rights movement at TILRC five years ago, Ami was a trial lawyer representing plaintiffs in civil and administrative matters, and spent several years as legislative counsel for the Kansas Supreme Court’s Office of Judicial Administration. Ami has provided presentations about court operations and procedures to groups ranging from court administrators to young attorneys.
Andy Imparato is the first full-time President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), a national non-profit membership organization for the political and economic empowerment of all people with disabilities based in Washington, DC. Prior to joining AAPD, Imparato was general counsel and director of policy for the National Council on Disability, an attorney advisor with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, counsel to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Disability Policy, and a staff attorney/Skadden Fellow with the Disability Law Center in Boston, Massachusetts.
Norine Jaloway is the Executive Director of Imagine Enterprises, a non-profit that supports people with disabilities to achieve employment and self-determination. Norine is a sibling, aunt and friend to individuals with disabilities. Currently working with a grant through the Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities to provide training on self-determination and coordination of the Self-Determination Medicaid Waiver trainings, Imagine Enterprises also provides Social Security Administration Work Incentive Planning and Assistance grant for 114 counties in West Texas, Youth Leadership training, and employment supports as an approved DARS Community Rehabilitation Provider.
Bob Kafka is one of the National Organizers of ADAPT. He helped shepherd in ADAPT's WE WILL RIDE victory for lifts on buses and the passage of the American with Disabilities Act. (ADA) Bob worked to support community services for people with disabilities instead of catering to the nursing home industry by participating in the design of the Real Choice Campaign and has served on US Department of Health and Human Services Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Home and Community Based Services Committee as well as the boards of TASH, National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems (NAPAS), and the Robert Wood Johnson Blue Ribbon Panel on Personal Assistance Services.
Marsha Katz is an activist with ADAPT, working daily to free people with disabilities from segregated and institutional settings. In partnership with her husband, Bob Liston, the State Organizer for ADAPT, Marsha presents on disability culture, and choice and risk as a necessary part of life for persons with disabilities. Her paid work is at the University of Montana Rural Institute where she assists people with disabilities to start their own businesses, and understand the impact of work on their SSI/SSDI benefits. She is the author of Don’t Look for Logic: An Advocate's Manual for Negotiating the SSI and SSDI Program and a member of the federal Social Security Advisory Board. Marsha has worked in disability rights for close to 30 years, training on alternatives to guardianship, disability law and policy, persons with cognitive disabilities in the criminal justice system, parents with disabilities and fetal alcohol syndrome/fetal alcohol effects.
Jeff Keilson has 30 years experience working with people with disabilities and their families. Currently Jeff is working as a consultant on implementing more effective ways to meet the challenges in supporting children and adults with disabilities and their families. He has been the Director of the Lindemann Mental Health Center in Boston and Assistant Commissioner for Community Programs and Regional Director for the Metro Region for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Retardation. Jeff spearheaded the self-determination initiative in Massachusetts supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; one of the cornerstones being supporting self-determination and control of resources in communities of color.
Kathleen Kovach is the Deputy Executive Director at the Oakland County Community Mental Health Authority. The Authority supports the advancement of social equity and improved quality of life for adults with serious mental illness, children with serious emotional disturbances, and people with developmental disabilities.
Jan Lampman has worked with individuals with developmental disabilities for over 22 years. She has been involved with the Self-Determination movement since the 1990’s, when the Robert Wood Johnson Project was initiated. Jan facilitates person centered, planning, individual budget creation and other activities that foster the inclusion of people with developmental disabilities in the community. Jan is also a resource guide for the Center for Self-Determination and a faculty member of the Michigan Academy for Self-Determination.
John Lancaster is the Executive Director of National Centers for Independent Living, an attorney and long time disability advocate. Among other positions John has held in his extensive career are Executive Director, Presidents Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities; Executive Director of the National Ocean Access Project; Director, Governors Office for Individuals with Disabilities (Maryland); Project Director, American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities; and Advocacy Director, Paralyzed Veterans of America.
Bob Laux has been involved for over 40 years in the creation of affordable housing for individuals with disabilities and others with limited incomes. Since the mid-80's, the concepts and values incorporated in self-determination have directed his efforts to provide individuals with choice, accountability, control and opportunity in housing. Through the collective efforts at Wild River Consulting Corp many individuals have been assisted to acquire their own properties and gain economically in ways never imagined.
Barbara LeRoy is the Director of the Developmental Disabilities Institute at Wayne State University. In her more than 30 years of experience in disability policy and program development, she has implemented systems change projects in supported employment, inclusive education, aging, and self-determination models for community support. She sits on more than 15 advisory panels and boards, including the Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities, the United States International Council on Disabilities, the Education Commission of Rehabilitation International, and the World Health Organization’s Special Interest Research Group on Disability and Aging. Dr. LeRoy has consulted on disability systems change with NGOs and governmental entities in New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong, Europe, and the United Arab Emirates. She is a policy consultant to OECD, Paris and the European Commission Joint Research Centre, Milan.
Bob Liston is an ADAPT advocate and was involved in some of the early efforts to move systems to more person-centered/self-determined processes. His involvement in self-determination is one of respect for persons he’s involved with, whether working with them or as a friend. He believes everyone deserves to be intimately involved in the decisions about their lives, including the services they receive and how service dollars are spent for them, whether or not they have a disability or a career experience. Bob has lived with a disability for over 37 years and has received services as well as assisted in providing services, and have received those services both in a respectful way (been involved) and in a "old, medical/social work" model (professionals chose what was "best for me" that would "fix me"), which probably fuels his desire for respectful service provision.
Margaret Lombe is an assistant professor at the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work. She is also a faculty associate at the Center for Social Development at Washington University. Her area of expertise is in international social development with an emphasis on social inclusion/exclusion and capacity building. Lombe has published book chapters and a number of articles on the issue of poverty and social inclusion, and has presented papers at both local and international conferences in this field.
Joe Longcor is the Project Manager for the Michigan Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG) received by the Michigan Department of Community Health/Office of Long-Term Care Supports and Services. The MIG is focused on reducing barriers to employment for individuals with disabilities. Joe has worked in the field of disabilities for over 15 years. He was formerly the Coordinator of Employment Development at Allegan County CMH and facilitated the closure of the workshop, initiated the conversion of the day program to full community inclusion, and led the Supported Self-employment initiative.
Terry Lynch has advocated for independent living since 1978, first in federal disability rights positions and now as a self-employed consultant. He obtained his self-determination credentials during 10 years as his mother’s advocate and caregiver. Terry’s book, “But I Don’t Want Eldercare!” is the platform for his campaign to expose the myth of inevitable dependency. He currently assists a Wisconsin care management organization with its self-determination initiative. 
The Ambassador Bridge spans the Detroit River linking the US and Canada
Kevin Mahoney is a Professor at the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work, Director of the Center for the Study of Home and Community Life, and the National Program Director for the Cash & Counseling Demonstration and Evaluation, a policy-driven evaluation of one of the most unfettered forms of consumer direction of personal assistance services. An expert on state government and long-term care innovation, Dr. Mahoney speaks and writes extensively on consumer direction and the roles of the public and private sectors in financing long-term care services.
Maria Marquez-McCrory is a Developmental Disabilities Peer/Self-Advocacy Coordinator for Protection & Advocacy Inc. in California. Since she became the first person in the State of California to have a budget because of self-determination, Maria has been more successful and independent and no longer receives public assistance for her daughters or Social Security for herself.
Angela Martin is a Community Support Specialist/Research Assistant with the Developmental Disabilities Institute at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Ms. Martin has a Master’s degree in Social Work with a concentration in Community Practice and Social Action. She has experience in family support resource development and curriculum design and training of programs on Self-Determination, Person Centered Planning, and Leadership/Self-Advocacy. Ms. Martin also has the unique perspective of being a sibling of a young woman who has a developmental disability.
Kathy Martinez is an internationally recognized disability rights leader specializing in employment, asset building, independent living, international development, and diversity and gender issues. She was appointed Executive Director of the World Institute on Disability (WID), based in Oakland, CA, in 2005. Kathy directs Proyecto Visión, WID’s National Technical Assistance Center to increase employment opportunities for Latinos with disabilities in the United States, funded by the Rehabilitation Services Administration and Access to Assets, an asset-building project to help reduce poverty among people with disabilities.
Connie McKnight has worked as the National Executive Director of the National Network for Mental Health (NNMH) since 1998. The NNMH is the only non-diagnostic specific mental health consumer/survivor driven organization that is national in scope and service in Canada. The organization is based on the philosophy of self-determination. Constance also works tirelessly as the Secretariat to the Canadian Coalition of Alternative Mental Health Resources which is a national coalition of consumer driven organizations and mental health consumer leaders in Canada. She is also Chairperson of the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health and the Chair of the Mental Illness Awareness Week campaign in Canada. Although she has worked closely and volunteered within the cross-disability sector in Canada, her primary involvement is in the area of self-determination of mental health consumer/survivors.
Shaun McNeil is from the West of Scotland and is the CEO of a Mental Health Advocacy Organisation, the Board Secretary of VOX-Voices Of eXperience (Scotland) the National Organisation of, for and by Mental Health Consumers/Service Users. As Consumer/Service User Activist Shaun works at developing policy, good practice and legislation to enable people with Mental ill health to be at the centre of their care, treatment and to be at the wheel of their recovery journey.
Catherine McRae is the Assistant Director and Registry Manager for the Michigan Quality Community Care Council (QC3). She has been with the organization since its opening, and has been instrumental in developing policies and procedures for the utilization of the QC3 Registry. Catherine has worked in education and non-profit administration, as an Aide to a State Representative, has held a number of managerial positions, and is a trainer for Adult Abuse and Neglect Prevention as well as Coaching Supervision.
Charlotte Morse & Ben Pelham Ben, Charlotte's son was the first person (in LD) in Essex (England) to receive an Individual Budget (IB). Charlotte is now an independent support planner and director of a social enterprise which offers advice, peer support & support planning to others going through the IB process. They both travel the UK giving presentations on the success of Ben's individual budget and tell of the ways it has changed both their lives.
Tari Muniz has served as the Project Coordinator for Self-Determination in Long Term Care, Michigan's Cash and Counseling grant for the past three years. She has led the efforts to initiate and implement Self-Determination as a service delivery option for the elderly and people with disabilities who rely on the MI Choice waiver for services.
Bob Neimiec is the Director of Employment and Community Supports for Community Involvement Programs in Bloomington, MN. Founding member of the Minnesota Employment First Coalition which is an association of people dedicated to establishing competitive employment as the first option for people with disabilities, including people with the most significant disabilities. As part of his duties with both organizations, Bob provides people with real information and options regarding employment in their communities.
Megan O’Neil is an Independent Asset Building Consultant who provides training and technical assistance to organizations to help ensure the economic empowerment of people with disabilities. She specializes in disability inclusion tactics, interaction of public benefits and building assets, and supplying information on a wide variety of poverty reduction programs. Ms. O'Neil is a PhD student at Southern New Hampshire University's School of Community Economic Development.
Lori Owen is a Self-Determination Coordinator for Genesee County Community Mental Health Services. She has experience with training and implementation of Self-Determination, Person-Centered Planning, Independent Facilitation and Creative Individual Budgeting. Lori is a faculty member of the Michigan Academy of Self-Determination, a board ember of the Michigan Chapter of AAIDD, and an advisor to a local self-advocacy group (VOICES of Genesee County) and a founding member of Michigan Partners for Freedom, a statewide coalition working to build statewide demand for Self-Determination.
Mike Oxford is the Director of the Topeka Independent Living Resource Center and an Organizer with ADAPT. He is an activist directly and via policy advocacy, involved with freeing people from facilities and institutions who don’t want to be in such places. Mike assists people directly and via policy advocacy with obtaining and self directing home and community services and supports. He has been involved with the disability rights movement for 23 years.
Kathryn Poisal is a licensed social worker and health insurance analyst with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Baltimore, Maryland. For the past nine years, she has served as a Federal specialist for Medicaid 1915(c) home and community based services waivers. She is also the lead subject matter expert for the new 1915(i) Medicaid State plan home and community based services benefit, as authorized under the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.
Russ Rankin works with the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities and is on loan to Kern Regional Center, one of 21 California agencies provide services to persons experiencing Developmental Disabilities. Russ coordinates the Kern Regional Center Self-Determination Pilot serving 34 families in rural eastern California. The Kern RC pilot participants report high levels of satisfaction combined with new employment opportunities and for some the ability to purchase homes and vehicles.
Anne Rider lives in Phoenix, Arizona and works as the CEO of Recovery Empowerment Network. REN has over three short years grown to a network of over 3,000 individuals recovering from psychiatric disability who have a visible presence at the state legislature, through offering position papers, regular visits, and frequent correspondence regarding issues. “My personal experience recovering from psychiatric disability and substance abuse (and struggling with physical disabilities) led me to pursue a career in social work. In addition to leading REN, which also provides peer-run services around the state, I teach social workers at Arizona State University, helping them understand the power of self-determination in overcoming disabilities of all kinds. Despite living in the desert, I manage to grow most of my own vegetables in my backyard.”
Andre Robinson is the Chair of the Michigan Developmental Disability Council (MDDC). He has served on the DD Council for six years and chair for two. He also is the co-chair of the MDDC Wayne County Regional Interagency Consumer Committee and involved with the Wayne County/Detroit Disability Network. As a Community Development assistant at Community Living Services (CLS), Andre promotes CLS Services through sharing his story about self-determination and currently is working at developing a coalition between CLS and the Michigan Housing Commission.
Doreen Rosimos teaches people how to create micro-enterprises at IncomeLinks in New Hampshire. She speaks and teaches from experience because she currently owns five businesses, including two small provider agencies, a consulting business, a designer clothing wholesale manufacturing business and an import business. Additionally, she has successfully started and sold more than a dozen businesses. Doreen is one of the founding members of the Center for Self-Determination.
Marcie Roth is the National Spinal Cord Injury Association’s (NSCIA) Executive Director and CEO. Previously, she served as the Director of Advocacy and Public Policy for the National Council on Independent Living, and prior to that, as the Director of Governmental Affairs for TASH, an international disability rights organization. Ms. Roth’s work in advocacy, disability services, human and civil rights, grassroots organizing, coalition building and public policy began in the early 1970’s as a high school volunteer. In addition to her own personal experience with disability, she is the parent of two children with significant disabilities and challenging support needs.
Brian Salisbury is the Director of Strategic Planning with Community Living British Columbia [CLBC]. Previously, Brian was a part-time faculty member in Kwantlen University College's Community Support Worker Program for 10 years. During this period, he also worked extensively as a consultant in Canada, the USA, Australia and the United Kingdom on various disability policy issues, including implementation of individualized funding and independent planning support. Beginning in 2001, Brian worked as a consultant in a variety of roles in support of BC's move to CLBC, a community governance organization established in 2005 that oversees delivery of supports and services to adults with developmental disabilities and children and youth with special needs and their families throughout the province.
Marguerite Schervish joined the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in July 2002. She works in the Division of Coverage & Integration within the Disabled and Elderly Health Programs Group in Medicaid. Her current areas of concentration are State plan amendments, including the new Section 1915(j) Self-Directed Personal Assistance Services (PAS) State Plan option, and the Program for All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). She has been a member of the CMS “Self-Direction” Team since becoming employed at CMS. Prior to coming to CMS, Marguerite lived and worked in Detroit, Michigan. She was the State Long Term Care Ombudsman, where she was responsible for systemic and legislative advocacy on behalf of elders in long-term care settings. She also worked as a Staff Attorney at the Michigan Protection & Advocacy Service (MPAS) for about 9 years and at Legal Aid & Defender Association of Detroit for almost 2 years. For 10 years, she served on the Board of Directors for Community Living Services (CLS), a provider of services to persons with developmental disabilities. For several years, she also served on the Board of Liberty Hill Housing Corporation, a provider and facilitator of housing for persons with disabilities. During her tenure on the CLS Board, CLS received one of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Self-Determination grants and Marguerite witnessed the success of self-determination in peoples’ lives.
Ray Schuholz works as an advocate for the Detroit Wayne County Community Mental Health Agency. He serves as a Local Leader with the Michigan Partners for Freedom, Chair of Westland Disabilities Council and Board member of the American Association of Intellectual Disabilities /Michigan and Community Living Services (CLS) Peer Support Leadership committee. Ray also is Gentle Teacher at CLS.
Judy Seaman is Immediate Past President of People First in Midland, Michigan. She is involved in community development in Midland, active in the Arc of Midland and works at Fazoli’s restaurant near Main Street in downtown Midland. Through the Community Volunteer Center, Judy serves as a volunteer reader for senior citizens.
Gary Shaheen is the Managing Director for Program Development at the Syracuse University Burton Blatt Institute Centers of Innovation on Disability. As a nationally recognized expert in the fields of supported employment, self-employment, and social enterprise development for people with disabilities, including people with mental illnesses, co-occurring disorders and people who are homeless, Gary has been instrumental in designing policies and programs, self-employment and social enterprise development at both the state and federal levels throughout the United States and internationally.
Phyllis Shingle is co-owner of a company that offers resource facilitation to individuals with disabilities who are participating in self-directing programs such as New Mexico's Self-Directed Waiver, Mi Via. She has also been an active stakeholder and team leader for the consultant contractor agency that worked to develop Mi Via. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for The Arc of New Mexico.
Alison Short works with Helen Sanderson Associates and the National Development Team. She has worked as a broker and as the national lead on support brokerage for In Control. She has co developed and delivered training and consultancy around Support Planning within the self-directed support effort in England. Alison delivered the National Development Team's training for independent brokers with Steve Dowson.
Rebecca Shuman is the Executive Director of The Arc of New Mexico. Through her leadership, stakeholders played a significant role in helping the state to develop Mi Via, New Mexico’s self-directed waiver program. She developed an intensive learning opportunity in self-determination for individuals with disabilities and their families, called the Institute on Self-Determination. Participants of the Institute have become leaders in the stakeholder community and are among the first people to become participants in Mi Via.
Lori Simon-Rushowitz is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public and Community Health at the University of Maryland and the Cash and Counseling Research Director in the Center on Aging. For the past 21 years, Lori’s research interest has been in aging and disability policy issues.
Verna Spayth is a long-time advocate and activist member of ADAPT. She is a Director on the Board of Partners in Personal Assistants (PPA); Legal Services of Southeast Michigan and Michigan Long-Term Care Consumer Task Force. Verna was a founding member of the Fair Housing Center and served on the Human Rights Committee and Zoning Board of Appeals in Washtenaw County, Michigan.
Jenny Speed is Deputy Director of the Australian Mental Health Consumer Network. She has an extensive background within the health sector, both government and non-government. She was Director of Planning for the Mater Hospitals complex in Brisbane, and also filled a number of senior policy positions in Queensland Health, including Director of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health. Jenny has a lived experience of mental distress, and knows firsthand the central role self-determination plays in recovery.
Tim Stainton is a parent of a son with an intellectual disability and Professor of Social Work at the University of British Columbia and Principal Investigator on the Community Living Research Project and author of numerous works on supports and individualized funding. He has researched issues around individualized funding in Canada and the United Kingdom.
Brenda Stinebuck has been the director of a center for independent living in Hot Springs, Arkansas since 1993 and has seen many changes in the way services are provided to people with disabilities in the community. She continues to work Arkansas to increase services which allow consumers to direct their own assistance.
Ellen Sugrue Hyman is an attorney who practices in the area of estate planning in Lansing, Michigan, USA. She is also a consultant to The Arc Michigan and the Michigan Department of Community Health, Office of Long Term Care Supports and Services (OLTCSS). In her work, Ellen focuses as alternatives to guardianship and self-determination as critical methods for supporting people with developmental and other disabilities.
David Taylor is a motivational speaker from Oakland County, Michigan. His presentations focus on empowering others with disabilities to make their own choices, advocate for themselves, and learn the power of Self-Determination. David is also very committed to advancing the rights of people with disabilities. He has provided public testimony at the state capitol related to potential cuts to Medicaid and mental health funding. David is a member of Michigan Partners for Freedom and is trained as a Local Leader to help advance Self-Determination in the lives of all people with disabilities.
Glenna Taylor is the mother of a son with a disability in Glasgow, Kentucky. She provides guidance from individuals/families perspective on Self-Direction design, implementation and improvements for system changes. and working with and educating cabinet officials, legislators, public officials, individuals and families encouraging changes to Medicaid, Social Security, and other systems to be more flexible toward a self-determination model. Glenna is part of the National Participant Network through Boston College Center for the Study of Home and Community Life and a Project Coordinator for the Arc of Kentucky Advocates In Action Program.
Shawn Terrell works as a Health Insurance Specialist in the Division of Coverage and Integration, Disabled and Elderly Health Programs Group, Center for Medicaid and State Operations, Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) in Baltimore, Maryland. Shawn works on State plan amendments, rehabilitative services policy, and self-direction. Shawn is also involved in developing strategic plan goals related to economic self-sufficiency, balancing the long term care system, and quality improvement.
Ann Thomas is a founding member of People First of Ohio and until 2005 helped start chapters all around the state. As a motivational and keynote speaker, Ann has traveled to 20 states. The Arc US sent Ann to Guatemala to open up a new Arc. She was a part of setting up a statewide criminal registry system, making it illegal for those appearing on the list to work with people who elderly or have disabilities.
Steven Tingus is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation/Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) at the US Department of Health and Human Services; Tingus is responsible for program planning, analysis, research, and the development of long-range policy in the areas of disability, aging, and long-term care and coordinating HHS activities to improve the planning and management of state and local government’s disability, aging, and long-term care resource programs. Also, Tingus is responsible for conducting program and policy analyses and development; the development of legislation; the review of administrative and legislative proposals; the operations; the assessment and the comparison of impact with target groups; needs assessment and the comparison of impact with needs; the examination of interactive effects with other Federal programs, and the implications of alternative strategies for policy in these areas.
Vickie Vining is currently an independent consultant providing consultation, training and coaching with people and organizations who are interested in making their services more values based and meaningful for the people who use them. Ms. Vining has over 40 years of experience in human services, teaching in the public school system, supervising a crisis team in a state developmental center, working as a behavior consultant, managing a day program for people with autism, supervising resource development and quality assurance in a California regional center and now as a private consultant, assisting people and systems across the country with self-determination, supported living, personalized day supports and other person centered services. She also works with community organizations to strengthen their capacity to welcome and include people with disabilities.
Dean Westwood is the Director of The Center on Self-Determination at the Oregon Institute on Disability and Development where he works on participatory action research (PAR), applied research development and University Program(s) improvement in the full participation of individuals and their supporters in research focus, design and implementation. He has consulted the Centers on Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS), as well as the Association of University Centers on Disability (AUCD) on how to move to this paradigm. He has authored articles on the culture of disability and the contemporary experience of disability in America as well as systems access and change.
Colleen Wieck is Executive Director of the Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities of the Department of Administration, a position she has held for the past 27 years. The Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities is a federally funded, Governor appointed group of 25 members whose mission is to provide information, education, and training to increase the independence, self-determination, productivity, integration and inclusion of people with developmental disabilities and their families. Dr. Wieck has produced over 135 publications with the DD Council, five videotapes and a two disk CD ROM winning several national media awards.
Josh Wiener is a Senior Fellow and Program Director for Aging, Disability and Long-Term Care at RTI International. He is the author or editor of eight books and over 100 articles on health care for older people, people with disabilities, long-term care, Medicaid, and health reform. He has conducted extensive research on consumer-directed home care and personal budgets in the United States and other countries, including England, the Netherlands and Germany.
Rick Wood is the parent of a long-term self-determination pilot project participant in California. He is an attorney and past mayor of Mammoth Lakes, CA. He has been a consistent advocate of self-determination, and participates in local and state-wide advisory panels for self-determination and self-directed services. He also functions as the service broker and fiscal management service under his child’s self-determination plan. He brings a wealth of experience and ideas about establishing and implementing the terms of a self-determination plan.
Doug Woollard has been involved in community living in British Columbia for over 20 years as a volunteer and as a paid staff person. Doug was involved in a leadership role in the various stages of creating Community Living BC. He is committed to ensuring adults with intellectual disabilities, their families, and families with children with disabilities have the power to make the decisions, through informed choice, that affect their lives. He has advocated for a system of supports that places individuals with disabilities and families at its centre. Currently in his role as Vice-president for Community Planning and Development he is working with his colleagues to re-shape the service delivery system so that it becomes person-centred, removing the existing barriers to self-determination.
This conference with important international perspectives is being presented by the
Center for Self-Determination.
