Wisconsin Summer Leadership Institute & Development Program

Annette Downey, is the Chief Executive Officer and President of Community Living Services in Michigan. Previously, Annette worked as the Executive Director of the Oakland Community Health Network and the Executive Director of Community Living Services of Oakland County Michigan. Annette Downey is based in southeast Michigan but has worked on national projects as far away as Israel and Ontario to Wisconsin, Delaware, and several states in between. Most of her projects focus on Person-Centered Planning, Self-Determination, Real Life Quality Outcomes, and Community Focused Planning for people with developmental disabilities. She is a tireless advocate for systems change aimed at promoting people with disabilities’ right to choose their own life paths and to control who, what, when, where, and how their supports are provided. Annette is a graduate of the 2009 Summer Leadership Institute.

David is CEO of Makom, a community provider organization supporting people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) in Maryland and Virginia. With nearly 40 years in this space, David has extensive professional experience working in and/or consulting to organizations and governments in the US and abroad. He is a recognized subject matter expert in the field, is a published author with over 50 peer-reviewed and other journal articles, book chapters, and policy briefs primarily on health for people with IDD, and speaks and consults internationally on health and healthcare systems, organization development and transformation, and other areas of expertise. David is a graduate of the 2007 Leadership Institute.
David is a Fellow of The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, is Conscience of the Field Editor for Helen: The Journal on Human Exceptionality, is a consulting editor for three scientific/professional journals, and serves on a number of local, regional and national policy and practice committees, including the American Academy on Developmental Medicine and Dentistry Policy & Advocacy Committee and The Arc of the US Policy and Positions Committee. He is Chair of the Board of Directors for The Council on Quality and Leadership (CQL), is an appointee to the Board of Advisors to Project DIME (Disability in Medical Education) and was recently elected Vice President of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) Board of Directors. (Contact David at dervin@makomlife.org)

Joseph M. Macbeth is the Chief Executive Officer and President of the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP) and has worked in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities for 42 years – beginning as a direct support professional. Macbeth is recognized as an international leader in the advocacy & movement to recognize direct support as a profession and has been a highly sought-after contributor on the workforce challenges that affects our service system.

In the early 2000s, while working for a New York trade association, Macbeth helped the state lead the nation in direct support workforce initiatives. The impact of his work in New York led to Macbeth being hired as the first employee at the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals as a part time Executive Director in 2011. During the ensuing 15 years, NADSP has built a robust membership of more than 300 service provider organizations representing nearly 60,000 direct support professionals, partnered with other national organizations to influence public policy reform and created the first national certification program using a digital badge platform called the E-Badge Academy where tens of thousands of direct support professionals are receiving recognition for the demonstration of their skills. Today, the NADSP employs twelve full time employees and dozens of part time employees working across North America.

Macbeth was appointed by the Governor of New York as a Member of the Advisory Council for the New York State Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs and appointed by President Biden to serve two terms on the President’s Committee for Intellectual Disabilities where he co-chaired the sub-committee for workforce shortages. He lives in North Bennington, VT. (Contact Joe at jmacbeth@nadsp.org)

Sue Swenson, MBA, is the President of Inclusion International, the United Nations-recognized organization for children with disabilities, their parents, and adults with intellectual disabilities. She was appointed to senior leadership roles in the Clinton, Obama, and Biden administrations. Ms. Swenson’s middle son Charlie lived with profound disabilities for 30 years. Ms. Swenson is a graduate of Partners in Policymaking, was a Kennedy Fellow in the U.S. Senate, and has held the position of Executive Director at both the Kennedy Foundation and The Arc of the United States. She was educated at the University of Chicago and holds an MBA from the University of Minnesota. (Contact Sue at sue.swenson@gmail.com)