LEND Alums Join Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies

For the past thirteen years, The Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCIDS) at the University of Maine has partnered with UNH’s Institute on Disability and the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine in the NH-ME LEND Program. With diverse projects and initiatives, CCIDS contributes to and advances the knowledge base in a wide range of disability-related areas through ongoing research, evaluation, and the analysis of public policy. Recent initiatives include the areas of inclusive childcare, literacy access for individuals with intellectual disabilities, universal design, autism, and early childhood mental health.

Through the years, the University of Maine LEND team has reached out to their alums with guest speaking opportunities, to access their expertise in disabilities and recruit them for research and analytical positions. Today, we will highlight the most recent NH-ME LEND alums to join CCIDS.

Michelle Fong, MPH (LEND 2023), first joined CCIDS as part of her LEND leadership assignment in 2023. She wrote a white paper and policy brief about Maine's missing COVID-19 outcome data for people with disabilities and made recommendations for improving data equity policies and practices. She is now working to implement those recommendations. As a public health policy analyst, Michelle collaborated on the project, Landscape Scan of Maine’s Public Health Data Equity Practices, with Jennier Battis from Disability Rights Maine (DRM). Together, they examined Maine's public health data policies, infrastructure, and practices related to the collection of disability status and type. Michelle is also developing a digital dashboard showing selected indicators for health data practices and health outcomes for Mainers with disabilities relative to those for Mainers without disabilities.

Karen Drew, BS, (LEND 2016) has recently joined CCIDS and has leveraged her creativity and background in graphic design in her role as the Coordinator of Dissemination and Accessibility.

She is especially excited to be doing a job that aligns with her passion for making things more accessible by making the CCIDS’s website and documents in formats that are accessible for everyone.

Research associates Tracey Miller, MEd, (NH-ME LEND 2021) and Shilo Goodhue, MEd, (NH-ME LEND 2022) have both joined CCIDS to provide technical assistance to Maine Roads to Quality – Professional Development Network (MRTQ PDN).  The Maine Roads to Quality – Professional Development Network is a coordinated early childhood professional development system that supports professionals in providing high-quality, inclusive early childhood programs. Their work includes research, consultation, and training for early childhood and after-school professionals in the implementation of developmentally appropriate practices that include children with diverse developmental needs.

Tracey’s professional experiences working in Maine’s early childhood special education system and in a Head Start program gave her firsthand knowledge about the barriers faced by the families of children with disabilities, as well as the providers who serve them. 

Shilo credits the skills she learned during LEND, combined with her special education background and experience in early childhood education and intervention, as the key to her success in leading peer-to-peer networks, facilitating trainings, and offering consultation to programs at CCIDS.

NH-ME LEND is proud to have these dedicated alums using their leadership skills to address the needs of children who have neurodevelopmental disabilities and their families in communities across the State of Maine.