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National Advisory Board
The National Advisory Board of the CDS provides a global perspective on the direct care workforce in America. Representatives from major national organizations provide us guidance in the development of upcoming CDS curriculum and workforce development tools.
Gail Bottoms | Griffin, GA | Self-Advocate
Gail Bottoms is a native of Griffin, GA, and former president of People First of Georgia. In the mid 1990’s Gail became active in the disability rights movement and began speaking around the country on behalf of the rights of people with disabilities. From 1997 through 2000 she was president of People First in the Peach State. Her interaction with disability rights activists and her work with People First inspired her drive and desire to be a poet. She has recently published her first book of poetry, “from the inside out.” A CD comes with the book on which she reads her poems.
Gail is a mother, a daughter, a wife and now a grandmother who fills her poetry with her life and her feelings. She has spoken before the Georgia State Legislature as well as to members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on behalf of people with disabilities. Gail also has spoken and been a part of leadership workshops around the country. Gail recently became affiliated with the Institute on Human Development and Disability at the University of Georgia as part of the Institute’s speakers’ bureau.
Valerie J. Bradley | Cambridge, MA | American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Valerie J. Bradley is president of the Human Services Research Institute since its inception in 1976. As president of HSRI Ms. Bradley has overall responsibility for the development and management of all HSRI projects in mental health, developmental disabilities, drug and alcohol abuse and other human service programs. Her current responsibilities include:
·Principal Investigator – Technical assistance project funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to provide information and consultation to state developmental disabilities agencies and CMS regional offices regarding quality assurance and quality improvement in HCBS waivers.
·Project Director – National collaboration with the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services to collect and analyze national performance indicators for services to people with developmental disabilities.
She was president of the American Association on Mental Retardation in 2005-2006 and was chair of the President’s Committee on Mental Retardation, 1994-2000.
Ms. Bradley has a Master’s in Political Science, 1966, from the Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers, The State University, and a B.A. in Political Science from Occidental College in California.
Lisa Burck | Gautier, Mississippi | Private Agency Customer Representative
Lisa Burck has been the project director of the Direct Support Professional Opportunity and with The Arc of Mississippi for two years. She has 15 years of experience in the field of service to people with disabilities and her passion is making life better for people with disabilities by making the people who support them better.
Lisa has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Southern Mississippi, a master’s degree in public administration from Troy State University, and a Master’s degree in severe disabilities with an emphasis on deafblindness from USM. She is the Mississippi representative to ANCOR (American Network of Community Options and Resources) and is on the advisory board of the Mississippi Deafblind Project and Creative Community Living Options.
In addition to her work on the CDS National Advisory Board, she sits on the local boards of the Salvation Army and Gulf Coast Family Counseling. She is a member of the Pascagoula Rotary Club and teaches Sunday school and bible study to both high school age youth and elderly women. Lisa and her husband Charles have been married 30 years and have three grown children and two grandchildren.
Earl Foxx | Nashville, TN | DSPAT
B. Earl Foxx Jr. is executive director of the Direct Support Professionals Association of Tennessee – also known as “DSPAT.” Foxx became the full-time executive director of DSPAT in March 2004 and he has built this constantly growing organization into just over 1,000 members currently.
Foxx, 35, began his career in social service as a Direct Support Professional for R.E.M. Wisconsin in the early 1990s. He left there and worked for Dungarvin/Wisconsin as a DSP for 5 ½ years before he and his wife came home to Tennessee. Both are natives of Nashville. He came to Memphis to work for Dungarvin, but it never opened in Memphis so he went to work for the Arlington Developmental Center and later worked in Columbia and then at Cumberland County Options as a team leader for three years.
Foxx and his wife Christina live in La Vergne, TN., with their two children, Allison, 8, and Matthew, 7.
Charles Moseley | Alexandria, VA | NASDDDS
Charles Moseley is the Director of Special Projects for the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services. Prior to this position, he was the Co-Director of the National Program on Self-Determination, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, at the University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability (UCED).
Before coming to the university, Dr. Moseley was the Director of the Vermont Division of Developmental Services where he led the efforts to close the state’s institution, transition services to individualized community-based alternatives, and restructure service delivery to incorporate self-directed services.
Kathy Olson | Parsons, KS | Association of University Centers on Disabilities
Kathleen Olson is an Associate Research Professor (Associate Scientist) at the University of Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities, Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies, in Parsons, KS. She also serves as the Center’s Community Education Director. She has been at the University of Kansas since 1991.
Her work in the field of developmental disabilities includes two years as a Resident Counselor and three years as a house parent for youth with hearing impairments. From 1979 to 1987 she was a Behavior Analyst Supervisor/Unit Program Coordinator at the Cambridge (MN) Regional Human Services Center. During a six-year period she was a teaching and research assistant at the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota.
Olson earned her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Educational Psychology/Special Education from the University of Minnesota in 1992. In 1979 she received her Master of Social Work from the University of Minnesota and graduated with honors in 1974 with a B.A. degree in Psychology and Social Welfare from the University of Minnesota.
Kim Olson | Santa Barbara, CA | The Arc of the United States
Kim Olson is Executive Director of Alpha Resource Center of Santa Barbara and has served in this capacity since 1992. She moved to Santa Barbara in 1972 to attend the University of California, Santa Barbara, and graduated in 1976 with a B.A. in Psychology. She earned a teaching credential in 1977 in Social Science and English.
In 1976 she began working in developmental recreation and was employed as a recreation specialist by the City of Santa Barbara until 1979. In 1979 she joined the staff of Alpha Resource Center as an instructor in personal and social development for adults with developmental disabilities. From 1983 to 1992 she worked as residential project developer, business manager, and Director of Programs for Alpha Resource Center.
Since 2002 she has been a National Board Member of the Conference of Executives of The Arc of the U.S. and has been President, Vice President and member, California Conference of Executives of the Arc.
India Sue Ridout | Virginia | Public Agency Customer Representative
India Sue has served as the Workforce Development Manager for the Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services since March 2003. Prior to that she was the Human Resources, Training and Workforce Development Director for the second largest MR residential facility in Virginia for over five years. India Sue has over 20 years of experience in Human Resources Management, both public and private, which has been instrumental in developing the Workforce Plan for the Department in Virginia. Married and the mother of two, India Sue and her family reside in a small community outside of Richmond, VA.
Wendy Sokol | Tucson, AZ | American Network of Community Options and Resources
Wendy is the chief executive officer for SOREO In Home Support Services, L.L.C. in Tucson, Ariz. She is the principal and managing member of this innovative community-based support service for the elderly and people with disabilities. SOREO currently offers supports to approximately 700 people.
From 1995 to 2000 was the CEO of Arizona Integrated Residential and Educational Services. In addition to her service on the CDS National Advisory Board as the ANCOR representative, she is currently President Elect of ANCOR. She has been ANCOR’s Regional Director and Chair of the Management Practices Conference Committee and currently serves on the ANCOR/DOL Pilot Program, as ANCOR representative.
Wendy is an Australian and in 1984 earned her Diploma in Science Psychology. She did post-graduate study to qualify for entrance into the Doctoral program, University of Newcastle, N.S.W., Australia. In 1980 she received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Newcastle, N.S.W., Australia.
Tony Thomas | Rocky River, OH | National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals
Tony Thomas has an extensive experience in the developmental disabilities field. Tony began his career in the field as a direct care worker, and specialist in guardianship for persons with developmental disabilities (DD). He is a former board member of the AAMR, Ohio Chapter, and the statewide provider association in Ohio (OPRA). He has been actively involved in the development of the first ever statewide credentialing and certification program in Ohio for DSP’s working with persons with DD. This program called the Professional Achievement through Training and Education in the Human Services field (PATHS) just recently received a national award (the Moving Mountains Award) for its successes.
He has been a member of the Ohio Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (OADSP) since its inception. Recently, Tony has been working with others around the country to establish the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP) as a leading national advocacy group to benefit DSPs and enhance the image of this profession. Tony is one of the first trustees of this organization and will become its treasurer/secretary once the group is officially incorporated this year.
Wanda Willis | Nashville, TN | National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities
Education:
M.Ed., Mental Retardation
University of South Carolina
Wanda Willis has been Executive Director of the Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities since 1991, spearheading Council systems change initiatives in housing, employment, child care and other areas. She launched the Tennessee Partners in Policymaking Leadership Institute, Tennessee’s home-of-your-own initiative for individuals with developmental disabilities. Prior to that she was the Director of Planning for the State Division of Mental Retardation Services from 1986 to 1991. She was the administrator for community mental retardation services in Tennessee from 1977 to 1986. For six years prior to coming to Tennessee she was a school psychologist and classroom teacher in South Carolina from 1971-1977.
She has Masters of Education in Mental Retardation from the University of South Carolina and a B.A. in English from the University of North Carolina.
