The Summer 2026 Leadership Institute

Gail Godwin is the Founder of Shared Support Maryland, Inc. and holds a Training Associate position at the Institute for Community Inclusion UMass (ICI). Gail’s MA is from the University of Pittsburgh, School of Education, Program in Severe Disabilities – educational, employment & community inclusion. For over 30 years, she has been an advocate in collaboration with people with disabilities and has worked in service provider organizations as a direct support staff, middle manager, administrator, and in training and development. She served 10 years as a member of the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council on the Executive and Cross-Cutting Issues Committee. She also served 10 years as a board member of The Maryland Association of Community Services. She is the co-founder of the New York Downstate Person-Centered Consortium and one of many Founders of the Alliance for Citizen Directed Supports. Gail has extensive experience in self-directed service provision, positive supports, training, development, person-directed planning, individualized supports, and organizational development. Gail has co-authored articles and presents testimonies on topics in support of the advancement of disability rights. Gail graduated from the 2009 Leadership Institute and has been a faculty member of the Consortium for over 15 years. (Contact Gail at gail@sharedsupportmd.org)

Jeanine Zlockie serves as the Director of Technical Assistance & Special Projects for the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services (NASDDDS). With nearly thirty years of dedicated service in the intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) field, Jeanine brings a deep foundational understanding of Medicaid policy, structural design, and system transformation to her role. She leverages this expertise to partner with states as they modernize their Medicaid-financed Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waivers, navigate complex Medicaid authorities, design Support Coordination change strategies, and advance competitive employment initiatives.
Passionate about fostering collaboration and innovation, Jeanine also leads the Expanding Technology Engagement Network (ETEN) at NASDDDS and serves as a faculty member for the National Leadership Consortium on Developmental Disabilities.
Before joining NASDDDS, Jeanine managed the policy office for the Pennsylvania Office of Developmental Programs (ODP). There, she guided the development of Medicaid waiver applications, policy bulletins, regulations, and training curricula, while serving as the primary liaison to negotiate and resolve complex policy matters with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Jeanine is a graduate of Kutztown University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice. (Contact Jeanine at jzlockie@nasddds.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)