State of the art leadership awards
We are now accepting nominations for our 2021 Awards:
- The George Jesien National Leadership Award: One who reflects significant work either at the federal level or across state lines, in terms of advocacy, assistance and/or research
- Institute of Higher Education Leadership Award: Administrator, program director, faculty or staff member within an institution of higher education who epitomizes leadership in the PSE field
- Laura Lee Leadership Award: A trailblazing self-advocate who currently attends or has graduated from a PSE program for persons with intellectual disability and whose advocacy significantly benefits individuals with disabilities.
2019 award recipients
(From Nomination Form):
It is not an overstatement to say that without the tireless and effective work of Stephanie Smith Lee, none of us would be attending the State of the Art Conference, because the conference may not even have been developed. Without her, there may still be some college programs for students with ID, but the federal funding and federal legislative support we all benefit from may not exist. The nationally coordinated efforts that has so positively impacted this field may not be available. Her leadership has undeniably led and continues to lead to changes at the federal level that positively impact college options for students with ID in innumerable ways.
Some of the ways Stephanie has demonstrated leadership at the national level (from nomination):
It is not an overstatement to say that without the tireless and effective work of Stephanie Smith Lee, none of us would be attending the State of the Art Conference, because the conference may not even have been developed. Without her, there may still be some college programs for students with ID, but the federal funding and federal legislative support we all benefit from may not exist. The nationally coordinated efforts that has so positively impacted this field may not be available. Her leadership has undeniably led and continues to lead to changes at the federal level that positively impact college options for students with ID in innumerable ways.
Some of the ways Stephanie has demonstrated leadership at the national level (from nomination):
- Stephanie was pivotal to the inclusion of language related to college programs for students with ID in the Higher Education Act of 2008, and since that time has worked tirelessly to assure its protection. She continues to work with key players in the ongoing efforts related to the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act to assure that needed improvements are included in any reauthorization.
- Stephanie leads the Accreditation Work Group for Think College and has utilized her excellent leadership skills to shepherd the effort to develop accreditation standards for college programs for students with ID
- As the leader of the Higher Education Expert Workgroup, Stephanie assures that the voices of experts in the area of higher education for students with ID are brought into the discussions related to the reauthorization of HEA and other relevant federal policy and legislation.
(From Nomination Form):
Rachel Mast is an outstanding young woman and a leader in promoting inclusion in school, college and the community through her personal example, motivational speaking, and public awareness work. Fully included in K-12, Rachel worked hard and achieved a regular high school diploma, while also acting in 24 theater performances and participating in a broad range of community activities. She is now a student in the Missouri State University Bear POWER Program and was elected to be a MSU Student Government Association Senator. When not in college, she works at Olive Garden as a hostess.
At 13 years old, Rachel became the youngest of three students with Down syndrome to be featured in the video documentary “Just Like You: Down Syndrome”(JLY) , which now has 520,000 YouTube hits, has been translated into other languages, and seen around the world. See: http://www.justlikeyou-downsyndrome.org/about.php. Rachel has been a part of JLY presentations over 50 times including teacher in-service trainings, University classes, a Bat Mitzvah, schools etc. She won an award from the City of Olathe, KS for her work on JLY. Rachel has been interviewed or featured in six television programs. She has also shared her message of “I Love My Life” with groups across the country in over 13 states. She says, “I have Down syndrome, but I am not Down syndrome. I am Rachel, and I REALLY love my Life.”
Some of the ways Rachel has demonstrated leadership in self-advocacy (from her nomination and letters of recommendation) are:
Rachel Mast is an outstanding young woman and a leader in promoting inclusion in school, college and the community through her personal example, motivational speaking, and public awareness work. Fully included in K-12, Rachel worked hard and achieved a regular high school diploma, while also acting in 24 theater performances and participating in a broad range of community activities. She is now a student in the Missouri State University Bear POWER Program and was elected to be a MSU Student Government Association Senator. When not in college, she works at Olive Garden as a hostess.
At 13 years old, Rachel became the youngest of three students with Down syndrome to be featured in the video documentary “Just Like You: Down Syndrome”(JLY) , which now has 520,000 YouTube hits, has been translated into other languages, and seen around the world. See: http://www.justlikeyou-downsyndrome.org/about.php. Rachel has been a part of JLY presentations over 50 times including teacher in-service trainings, University classes, a Bat Mitzvah, schools etc. She won an award from the City of Olathe, KS for her work on JLY. Rachel has been interviewed or featured in six television programs. She has also shared her message of “I Love My Life” with groups across the country in over 13 states. She says, “I have Down syndrome, but I am not Down syndrome. I am Rachel, and I REALLY love my Life.”
Some of the ways Rachel has demonstrated leadership in self-advocacy (from her nomination and letters of recommendation) are:
- Rachel’s leadership in training others how to be successful advocates, and especially her volunteer efforts training other advocates how to use social media for advocacy, is remarkable. She has assisted with advocacy training at the Buddy Walk in Washington, sponsored by the National Down Syndrome Society, three times and participated in ABLE trainings at the National Down Syndrome Congress (NDSC) Convention, Down Syndrome Guild conference and in Olathe, KS. Rachel is a member of the National Down Syndrome Advocacy Coalition and presented in advocacy and social media workshops and the Advocacy Boot Camp training at the NDSC convention. At that training this summer she did an exceptional job of demonstrating to the large group how to do an effective, articulate advocacy video for social media. Examples of her video messages include: an appeal to Sen. Moran to sponsor the ABLE Age Adjustment Act: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4e7koMFj-Y&feature=youtu.bex and a “No Cuts No Caps” to Medicaid appeal to Sen. Roberts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpxq0OYuVSk&feature=youtu.be. Rachel’s video messages about legislation impacting individuals with disabilities go viral on social media and play an important role in many advocacy efforts.
- It is fair to say that without Rachel Mast and her dream to go on to college, get a job, save money and buy her own house (a pink house specifically), the ABLE Act would have passed in 2014.She played a key role in [its] passage…through personal advocacy and the use of social media. Rachel developed relationships with each of her Senators and Representative and helped them understand how important it was to pass the ABLE Act so she could have her “pink house” and go to college, and so others with disabilities could save without jeopardizing benefits. Each became supporters of the bill and kept in touch with Rachel about its progress. She and her family were onsite for its historical passage after years of hard work and she continued assisting various states as they began to roll out their versions of the accounts. …She continues to this day as an ABLE advisor and ambassador with the ABLE National Resource Center.
- As a Senior in high school, our Board of Directors [of Inclusion Connections] invited Rachel to join the board, with the title Self-Advocate. WE are totally invested in seeing our young people succeed and really desire to “walk the talk” of inclusion. She provided the board with a voice for those IC serves, and continuously set an example for real inclusion in her community.