Kathy has been working in the field of developmental disabilities for 35 years. She is the Director of Development for Pharmacy Alternatives, a pharmacy that provides pharmacy services and medications systems exclusively for the I/DD population, with an emphasis on self administration of medication. She has worked in the DD field for the last 32 years, 17 of which have been with the pharmacy. She helped start the Northern Illinois DD  [ more ]

Kathy has been working in the field of developmental disabilities for 35 years. She is the Director of Development for Pharmacy Alternatives, a pharmacy that provides pharmacy services and medications systems exclusively for the I/DD population, with an emphasis on self administration of medication. She has worked in the DD field for the last 32 years, 17 of which have been with the pharmacy. She helped start the Northern Illinois DD Network in 1994 and has served as president for the past 15 years. She has attended the DDNA national conference for the last 14 years and has been an exhibitor there as well. She helped craft legislation for medication delegation in Illinois and taught the course for 7 years, training over 600 nurses. She is very interested in developing DDNA networks, increasing membership for DDNA, and increasing the number of nurses sitting for the certification exam. She has presented at several national conferences.

Karen Green McGowan is a clinical nurse consultant who has been working in the field of developmental disabilities nursing 1965 (really!!!). She has been an independent consultant working with individuals with complex physical and medical challenges since 1977. She has worked on a number of class action court cases, including Partlow in Alabama, Willowbrook in New York, and is currently a member of the Quality Review Panel for the state of Tennessee. [ more ]

Karen Green McGowan is a clinical nurse consultant who has been working in the field of developmental disabilities nursing 1965 (really!!!). She has been an independent consultant working with individuals with complex physical and medical challenges since 1977. She has worked on a number of class action court cases, including Partlow in Alabama, Willowbrook in New York, and is currently a member of the Quality Review Panel for the state of Tennessee. She is one of the developers of the Health Risk Screening Tool (otherwise known as the Physical Status Review), which is an eletronic instrument designed to identify and track health risk in persons with developmental and other disabilities that increase health vulnerability. She has also written extensively about health and other issues impacting services to persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Judy is a Nurse Consultant in the Wisconsin Department of Health Services Family Care program - an innovative Medicaid managed care program supporting individuals with physical and intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD) and frail elders. Judy chose the specialty of I/DD early in her 30 year nursing career and has served children and adults and their families in clinical, community, supervisory and teaching positions. In 1996, she co-founded the WI Chapter of DDNA. [ more ]

Judy is a Nurse Consultant in the Wisconsin Department of Health Services Family Care program - an innovative Medicaid managed care program supporting individuals with physical and intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD) and frail elders. Judy chose the specialty of I/DD early in her 30 year nursing career and has served children and adults and their families in clinical, community, supervisory and teaching positions. In 1996, she co-founded the WI Chapter of DDNA. She has served as its President, Secretary, and is currently Vice President. Judy also serves as Clinical Director of the Special Olympics Wisconsin Healthy Athletes Health Promotion program which has provided her the opportunity to not only raise awareness about the health disparities of individuals with I/DD particularly among public health colleagues, but to pursue her passion to promote and support self-directed prevention and wellness lifestyles for individuals with I/DD.

Richanne Cunningham has been specializing as a nurse in the field of I/DD for more than 12 years and has been passionately involved with the Special Olympics for almost 40 years. Currently a Nurse Service Coordinator and Qualified Mental Retardation Professional (QMRP) for ARCA, a non-profit organization providing residential supports for individuals with DD, Richanne oversees two ICF/MR homes. In 1999, Richanne helped to create the [ more ]

Richanne Cunningham has been specializing as a nurse in the field of I/DD for more than 12 years and has been passionately involved with the Special Olympics for almost 40 years. Currently a Nurse Service Coordinator and Qualified Mental Retardation Professional (QMRP) for ARCA, a non-profit organization providing residential supports for individuals with DD, Richanne oversees two ICF/MR homes. In 1999, Richanne helped to create the New Mexico Developmental Disabilities Nurses Association and has served as both Secretary and Treasurer for NMDDNA for many years. She is currently the President of NMDDNA. She is supportive of education, and has assisted in the development of various types of training, such as the copyrighted Certified Medication Aides training presentation.

Karen Hill has been a nurse with the IDD population for 14 years. She is currently the Program Nurse for Portage County Board of Developmental Disabilities. She is also the Delegating Nurse for Special Olympics and a member of the Continuing Education Units Committee for Nurses for the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities. She has been a proud CDDN since 2008.

Linda has been a member of DDNA since 1995. She is the current President of the Mid-Florida Developmental Disabilities Nurse Network and also served as Treasurer. She is a member of the American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (formerly AAMR) and an active member of the Health Action Group. She has served as Health Care Chair for the Southeast AAIDD and is currently the General Chair. With close to 21 years in the field of Developmental Disability nursing, she has worked in both facility and community settings. She currently works for Delmarva and is the RN Consultant for the Florida Statewide Quality Assurance Program for Individuals on the Home and Community Based DD Waivers. Linda is a frequent presenter at both local and national conferences and promotes the field of developmental disabilities nursing at every opportunity.