BPS parent and disability advocate Lisa Jeanne Graf is about to complete her Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Fellowship. A federal program designed for clinicians, self-advocates, individuals with disabilities, family members, and other professionals working in disability-related fields, LEND is provided through the UMass Chan Medical School.
According to its website, “Fellows are taught to rethink the ways in which healthcare, education, and social services are delivered, and the goals and quality of these services. They are taught how to analyze policy, the way in which policy affects and influences services and practice, and how to devise new policies to address service and systems gaps and inequities. The program equips Fellows with the knowledge and skills to bring about change within institutions, organizations, and communities.”
Lisa’s LEND Fellowship is connected to a master’s in public administration that she will be completing in spring of 2024 at Suffolk University.
She is hoping that the skills she is gaining will help her find employment doing equitable and organizational policy work. She is currently a member of the steering committee to ”reimagine school funding” at the Boston Public Schools. She enthuses, “I love this type of work and would like to work for an organization that helps organizations and community groups solve policy puzzles.”
Congratulations, Lisa Jeanne!
