The ANCOR Foundation Board of Directors: Forward-Thinking, Focused and Fired Up for 2023

The ANCOR Foundation Board held its winter retreat in Baltimore this month, covering many topics in a short time, as well as essential business – that all relate to where we’re headed in 2023. Here are some of the highlights from the winter retreat.

First, the Foundation welcomed (back) the newest Director to its Board, Robert Budd, who returns to the Foundation Board after serving the ANCOR community in many other capacities, including as President of the ANCOR Board of Directors. The Foundation is grateful to have Robert’s wealth of knowledge and depth of passion back on its Board, particularly since two long-term members, Lynne Megan and Terry Rogers, recently completed their terms of service. We are so grateful to Lynne and Terry for their dedication and commitment to the Foundation and its programs, and to developing the future leaders in I/DD services!

The Foundation Board centered the meeting with a review of the Foundation’s mission and vision. From there, the group took stock of the many highlights and accomplishments achieved throughout the Foundation’s first 22 years as the organization has furthered and expanded its reach and mission of supporting exceptional leaders and celebrating inclusive communities.

Next, the Foundation Board met with Kristen Loomis, Co-Director of the National Leadership Consortium on Developmental Disabilities, to discuss ways in which the ANCOR Foundation’s Leadership Academy and the National Leadership Consortium’s Leadership Institute (of which the Foundation is a founding sponsor) complement each other and create areas for collaboration and synergy.

For the remainder of the day, the Foundation Board reviewed strategies and goals for 2023, centering around leadership development, leadership recognition, and DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility). Overall, the winter retreat was an important time for the Foundation Board to strategize and plan for how to best impact and invest in the future of our field while recognizing and remembering those who led us to where we are today.

The coming months will prove to be an exciting time of growth for the Foundation’s programs, as we will welcome the next Leadership Academy cohort (class of 2025!), recognize new inductees into the Legacy Leaders Circle, and honor recipients of the Community Builder Award at the 2023 ANCOR Annual Conference.

Speaking of the Annual Conference, we are thrilled to be hosting this year’s ANCOR Foundation Reception while cruising along the beautiful Chicago River! To join, register for the Annual Conference and add on the Foundation Reception to your registration. We hope you’ll join us for this great opportunity to get to know the Foundation better—all while enjoying drinks and refreshments, taking in an architectural tour of Chicago’s world famous skyline, and supporting the ANCOR Foundation and its programs.

Gabrielle Sedor is ANCOR’s Chief Operations Officer and Director of the ANCOR Foundation.