Uplift is excited to announce that one of our Program Administrators, Chris Wells, was selected by ANCOR to participate in their two-year Leadership Academy. He is beginning his first year in the program this spring, joining Jason Featherson, another of our Program Administrators, as he begins his second year in the program! Acceptance into the ANCOR Foundation Leadership Academy is highly competitive, as they only select 25 candidates per year out of hundreds of applicants from across the country. Here is what the ANCOR Foundation website has to say about the Leadership Academy:
“The ANCOR Foundation launched the Leadership Academy on May 1, 2017 to nurture emerging leaders who are building their careers in services and supports for people with disabilities. Over the course of two years, the Foundation provides training and mentoring opportunities to support mid-career professionals in cultivating their areas of expertise and thought-leadership to build influence and reputation in the national I/DD community as the next generation of leaders.”
“Program participants will be expected to complete 50 units of learning activities that are completed over two years. Participants can earn the units through any of the ANCOR Foundation-sponsored activities, ANCOR-sponsored events, or completing external trainings…”
Eligibility criteria for the Leadership Academy include being a full-time employee of a service provider (such as Uplift), 5 to 10 years of experience in the I/DD or disability field, and a minimum of 1 year of supervisory experience. Applications to the program require short answers to a series of six application questions, submission of a resume, a letter of recommendation satisfying a couple of questions from the ANCOR Foundation, and a letter of commitment from the applicant’s organization indicating willingness to provide the support and resources required for the applicant to successfully complete the program.
Chris Wells, with the support and recommendation of Uplift, applied in late 2022 to the Leadership Academy and is set to start on the required courses. Meanwhile, Jason Featherson has completed the first year of the Leadership Academy and has begun the second year. It is both an honor and a privilege for Uplift to sponsor not just one, but two of our Administrators as they learn and grow in the Leadership Academy and look to moving forward to future roles of greater responsibility in the I/DD field. We are grateful to the ANCOR Foundation for recognizing both the current strengths, accomplishments, and potential of Chris and Jason, and for helping Uplift to demonstrate our commitment to the growth of knowledge and career advancement for our all of our employees.
Heidi Mansir, Executive Director at Uplift, is also looking forward to attending this year’s ANCOR Conference in Chicago alongside Chris and Jason in April 2023. The theme of this year’s conference is Possibility Unleashed, and will serve as a challenge to embrace creativity generated through intentional innovation. There they will reexamine past practices in the I/DD field alongside many other support professionals from all over the country in order to better design the services of the future. Congratulations Chris and Jason on the wonderful opportunity, and thank you for everything you do for your staff and supported individuals!