Oh the Places We Will Go:
Provider Transformation Boot Camp
APSE Regional Institute: From Workshops to Work Places
Day 1 Technical Assistance & Training
Supported through the Employment First State Leadership State Mentoring Program (EFSLMP)
Office of Disability Employment Policy, U.S. Department of Labor
November 17, 2015
AGENDA
8:30-9:30
ODEP Opening Remarks & Overview of ODEP’s Approach to Provider Transformation
Serena Lowe, Ph.D., Senior Policy Advisor)
Office of Disability Employment Policy, U.S. Department of Labor
Open Discussion with Subject Matter Experts
Moderator: Richard Davis, Policy Adviser
Office of Disability Employment Policy, U.S. Department of Labor
9:30-10:45
Concurrent Sessions Round #1 (Topics 1-5)
10:45-11:00
BREAK
11:00-12:15
Concurrent Sessions Round #2 (Topics 6-10)
12:15-1:30
LUNCH & Round-Robin Networking
1:30-2:45
Concurrent Sessions Round #3 (Topics 1-5)
2:45-3:00
BREAK
3:00-4:15
Concurrent Sessions: Round #4 (Topics 6-10)
4:15-5:00
Final General Session: Hitting the Ground Running Back Home
Breakout Session #1: LEADERSHIP & STRATEGIC PLANNING – Preparing for the Ride of a Lifetime
 Facilitator: Tom Wilds, Subject Matter Expert, EFSLMP
 Topics Covered: Mission/Vision Realignment; Board & Senior Leadership
Cultivation & Buy-In; Steps for Starting your Strategic Planning Process
 Resources Provided: ODEP’s Self-Assessment Tool and Strategic Action Plan Tool
Breakout Session #2: MEASUREMENT, ANALYSIS & KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT – How to Assess
whether What you Are Doing is Moving you Forward
 Facilitator: Nancy Gurney, Subject Matter Expert, EFSLMP
 Topics Covered: Benchmarking, Developing a Phased-in Approach to
Transitioning Clients to CIE & HCBS, Data Collection & Metrics
 Resources Provided: Gantt Chart Example, Checklist for Benchmarking/Scorecard
Measuring
Breakout Session #3: CUSTOMER FOCUS – Holistic Individualized Supports that Sustain Employment
 Facilitators: Gail Fanjoy & Jennifer White, Subject Matter Experts, EFSLMP
 Topics Covered: Wrap-around supports; Using Technology as an Equalizer
 Resources Provided: Checklist for Using Low/High Technology in Employment
Breakout Session #4: OPERATIONS FOCUS – Getting from Point A to Z: Supported Employment
Program Start-Up
 Facilitator: Jeannine Pavlak & Rick McAllister, Subject Matter Experts, EFSLMP
 Topics Covered: Program start-up, capacity building of front-line professionals,
staff decentralization
 Resources Provided: TBD
Breakout Session #5: WORKFORCE FOCUS – Building an Amazing Team of Employment Gladiators
 Facilitator: Dale Verstegan, Subject Matter Expert, EFSLMP
 Topics Covered: Customized Employment; Job Development Strategies & Core
Competencies; Ongoing Incentives and Professional Development for Employment
Staff
 Resources Provided: TBD
Breakout Session #6: LEADERSHIP & STRATEGIC PLANNING – Getting from Buildings to Match-making
 Facilitators: Gail Fanjoy/Tom Wilds, Subject Matter Experts, EFSLMP

Topics Covered: Capital Campaigns, Reconfiguring the Engrained Culture of
Segregation to One of Community, Individualizing the Service Delivery Model
(informed choice with fidelity, person-centered planning)

Resources Provided: 5 Principles of Person-Centered Planning
Breakout Session #7: MEASUREMENT, ANALYSIS & KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT – Building a
Sustainable Team to Implement True Transformation
 Facilitator: Rick McCallister, Subject Matter Expert, EFSLMP

Topics Covered: Tiered Professional Development Goals for every layer of your
organization; strategies for ensuring continuity and sustained focus on effective
practices/core competencies over time.

Resources Provided: Timeline/Phased-in Approach for Training &
Staff/Leadership Development
Breakout Session #8: CUSTOMER FOCUS – How to Message Change & Solidify Stakeholder Buy-In
focused on Employment
 Facilitators: Dale Verstegan, Subject Matter Expert, EFSLMP

Topics Covered: Stakeholder mapping, Audience messaging, Strategies for
Communicating Transformation Goals

Resources Provided: TBD
Breakout Session #9: OPERATIONS FOCUS – Funding Diversification
 Facilitator: Jeannine Pavlak & Nancy Gurney, Subject Matter Experts, EFSLMP
 Topics Covered: Generating new revenue streams, diversifying provider licensing
status across systems, Employment Networks, making the financials/numbers
work during various phases of transformation
 Resources: Funding Wheel
Breakout Session #10: WORKFORCE FOCUS – Building Strong Employee-Employer Relationships
through Technology
 Facilitator: Jennifer White, Subject Matter Expert, EFSLMP
 Topics Covered: Using hi/low technological tools to facilitate stronger, more
direct communications and relations with employees with disabilities and their
colleagues and employers.
 Resources: Able Opportunity Resources
FACILITATOR BIOS
Richard Davis is a Policy Advisor on the Workforce Systems Policy Team at the U.S. Department of
Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP). He also serves as President of the newly formed
Maryland APSE Chapter. Prior to ODEP, he was the Director of Public Policy for The Arc Maryland, as
well as the leader of Maryland's statewide Disability Response Team (DRT), a partnership with the
National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability (NCCJD). Richard was the 2013 Disability Policy
Leadership Fellow for the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), and also a
Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) fellow from 2012 to 2013 as part of
his graduate studies at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work.
Gail Fanjoy is the Executive Director of KFI where she has worked in a variety of positions for over 38
years. She is a member of the national board for TASH, New England TASH co-president, President of
Maine APSE, and a member of Maine’s Employment First Coalition representing a customized
employment service provider. She has provided leadership in Maine, New England, and nationally for
many years as KFI has transformed their services one person at a time to provide customized supports that
enable people to live lives as included, valued and respected individuals in communities in Maine.
Nancy Gurney, M.A., is the President and CEO of Opportunity Services in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She
is responsible for leadership, innovation and performance for multiple state services including Minnesota,
Florida, and Wisconsin. Services include Vocational Rehabilitation, Medicaid Waiver, Extended
Employment, Day Training and Habilitation, Ticket to Work Employment Network, and Project Search.
Services are provided in the community to a wide range of persons with disabilities including
developmental disabilities, TBI, CADI, hearing impaired and mental health. Opportunity Services has an
annual budget of eight million dollars with services to 1,000 persons annually. She has experience in
transformation of sheltered workshop, day services to community employment and diversion from
sheltered work, TANF reform employment demonstration, TTW employment network. Her education
includes expertise in education, psychology, business, leadership and Baldrige Quality Performance
measurements.
Serena Lowe is the Senior Policy Adviser at the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) within
the U.S. Department of Labor as a Senior Policy Adviser. In this capacity, Serena is responsible for a
number of Federal policy initiatives focused on promoting the socioeconomic advancement of citizens
with disabilities, including the Department’s Employment First State Leadership Mentoring Program.
Through this initiative, ODEP provides access to mentoring and in-depth training and technical assistance
to support states’ efforts to align public policy and funding toward an emphasis on integrated employment
as the preferred outcome for citizens with significant disabilities. Prior to joining ODEP, for the past
fifteen years, Serena worked in both government and the private sector as a consultant to over 35 national
corporate and not-for-profit entities in the areas of public policy, advocacy, coalition building, strategic &
commercial planning, and organizational development. Serena also served as the Executive Director of
the Collaboration to Promote Self-Determination (CPSD), a dynamic coalition of 21 national disability
organizations committed to promoting high-impact public policy reform aimed at ensuring that citizens
living with significant disabilities have access to opportunities for meaningful engagement in the areas of
education, employment, independent living, and community engagement. Earlier in her career, Serena
served as a senior policy advisor to a global pharmaceutical company and two Members of the U.S.
House of Representatives. Serena has a Master in Public Health Degree and a Master of Arts in
International Development Studies from George Washington University, and completed her PhD in
Public Administration from American University in 2014.
Rick McAllister has over 25 years of experience utilizing both strategic and operational expertise in the
provision of consultative services to non-profit organizations facing complex management and business
challenges. Rick served as the Director of New Hampshire's State-wide Supported Employment Systems
Change Project and was also involved in the Transition (I) Supported Employment Program in Vermont
and New Hampshire. Focusing extensively on organizations delivering or funding employment services,
he has provided technical assistance to Federal and State sponsored employment initiatives and has
successfully conducted over 500 training programs across 37 states in 4000 plus sessions. Rick has long
been an active contributor to programs such as RCEPs, TACE Projects and national/state professional
service organizations. Currently, Rick is active in KC@Work and is the Vice President, Consultative
Services for MA LLC. Rick has a B.S. in Business Administration and a Master’s degree in Adult
Education - Applied Behavioral Analysis.
Jeannine Pavlak is an innovator and leader in the field of employment for persons with disabilities. She
is currently the Executive Director of New England Business Associates, a community provider known
nationally and internationally for its work in supported employment. Ms. Pavlak has assisted hundreds of
individuals with disabilities become successfully employed and has been awarded the Massachusetts
Leadership award for her outstanding professional achievement, vision and direction. Jeannine has a
Master’s degree in Non-Profit Management and currently serves as the Secretary for National APSE. In
addition to her professional role, she is a parent to five children, one of which has a significant disability.
Dale Verstegen is a Senior Research Associate at TransCen, Inc. and is assigned to a range of research,
training and technical assistance projects related to transition and employment services in various parts of
the country. He provides consultation and training in the areas of program development, performance
management, marketing, job development, case management and employer consultation. Dale is Board
Vice President of the Association of Community Rehabilitation Educators (ACRE). He also develops
curriculum and provides training to a range of University Centers and state agencies. Dale has over 25
years of experience providing consultation and project management on various organizational, economic
and business development projects. From 1999 to 2007, he was the Assistant Director at the University of
Tennessee’s Center on Disability and Employment where he managed statewide organizational
development projects throughout the southeast region. From 1986 to 1999, Mr. Verstegen was Program
Manager in the Bureau of Minority Business Development in the Wisconsin Department of Commerce.
He established and managed various business development programs which have provided business
planning and financing for AFDC recipients, persons with disabilities and not-for-profit Organizations.
These statewide initiatives fostered systems change and employment for persons with a disability.
Thomas “Tom” Wilds, M.A., recently retired after 33 years as CEO/President of St. John’s Community
Services, a historical non-profit agency that provides both direct services and advocacy for people with
disabilities in the District of Columbia, Tennessee, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. With over 45 years in the
field, Tom started his career as a back ward attendant at a state school in St. Louis, MO. He has worked
with state agencies providing technical assistance to effect state change through the Universities of Texas
and Kentucky as well as Howard University, utilizing a variety of federal, state and private funding. He
was one of the founding members and president of the provider association in Washington, DC, and has
worked closely with a number of state agencies to effect systems change. He has participated in a wide
range of interagency efforts addressing class action litigation and legislative efforts that facilitated
community inclusion. He was instrumental in growing the St. John’s program from a small private school
program to a multi -state community based agency that consisted of eight corporations and eight boards.
He grew the agency and led a team of over 900 staff to create 100% community support and opportunities
for people of all ages living with disabilities. Under his leadership St. John’s was often requested by
government to assist other providers in the transformation of services that were facility based and
segregated to fully integrated ones focused on employment and meaningful life in the community.
Jennifer White has worked in the field of rehabilitation since her first paid job with the ARC of Bucks
County, PA. After a career as a special education high school transition teacher, she opened Able
Opportunities, Inc., a national consulting company. She works with a broad range of people, specializing
in vocational, education, and communication goals and programs for children and adults. She has worked
as a researcher at the University of Washington to develop accommodation strategies and tools to increase
integration for those with more severe disabilities. In Alaska she helped to design vocational, residential
and educational programs that serve First Nation People and communities, and has developed and trained
nationwide on non-linguistic communication strategies that promote self-determination and autonomy. In
2006 she created the Work Independence Network (WIN) Program, a replicable business model for hiring
and retaining employees with developmental disabilities in collaboration with Harrison Medical Center
and Kitsap County DD. Jennifer is known for innovative, business-minded strategies and for working in
minority populations where issues of privilege and cultural respect are vital to long-term success. In 2014,
she launched the Work Autonomy App, a person-centered accommodation tool. As a technical assistant
in Washington State, she works with schools, employers, families, county coordinators and vocational
rehabilitation providers offering training on low and high tech tools that lead to successful placement in
paid employment.