A
resource to the community that assists others to develop the knowledge,
skills, and abilities that enable people with disabilities to move from
clients to citizens.
Derrick Dufresne (to view Derrick's resume, click: PDF)
As founder and senior partner of Community Resource Alliance (CRA),
Derrick has been offering insightful training and consultation services
since 1982. Over the course of his career, he has delivered conference
presentations, trainings, strategic board planning retreats, workshops,
and management consultation to over thirty thousand people in
forty-nine states.
In 2003, Derrick was named President and CEO of the Institute on Public
Policy For People with Disabilities. The Institute is a
membership organization that focuses on promoting best practice and
quality community supports for people with disabilities throughout
Illinois.
Since entering the field in 1974, Derrick's dedication to the community
has been demonstrated through his involvement in a variety of
leadership positions in both community and institutional settings. His
experience in running community residential services included the
closing of nine ICF-MRs and eleven group homes and converting them to
supported living arrangements based on the personal choice of the
individuals served.
Derrick has served two terms on the Board of the American Association
on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIID – formerly AAMR).
He was co-founder of AAIDD's Community Living Division (now Community
Services) and served as chairperson of its Legislative and Social
Issues Committee (LASI) from 1988-1990.
His innovative approaches reflect his genuine compassion for helping
others. In 2002, he was recognized nationally as receipient of
AAMR’s Service Award for “unwavering service to people with
developmental disabilities in support of self-determined and inclusive
lives in communities across our nation.” That same year, he received
the Monsignor Elmer H. Behrman Award for outstanding contributions to
the field of mental retardation from the Missouri State Chapter of AAMR.
As a former real estate broker, Derrick possesses a wealth of knowledge
in the areas of real estate, financing, tax credits, and subsidies. He
uses this knowledge to establish affordable integrated housing
throughout the United States for people with disabilities.
Among his many recent projects, he has been involved in the
implementation of self-determination in a Medicaid environment. This
has included pairing person-centered planning with individual
budgets. He is deeply interested in systems change and has
presented frequently on “Changing the System One Person at a Time.” He
has also devoted increasing time to consultation with parents, school
systems, and young people to assist in transition planning for
individuals as they move from the educational system to adult services.
He is deeply committed to assisting providers, advocates, state
officials and others in the implementation of the principles of full
inclusion for all persons with disabilities into the mainstream of
community life.
Michael Mayer (to view Michael's resume, click: PDF)
Prior to joining CRA, Senior Partner, Dr. Michael "Mike" Mayer was
the Executive Director of the Institute on Complex Disabilities
for 12 years. He also has been providing cutting-edge training and consultation services internationally since 1990. Mike is an internationally known speaker, consultant, and trainer; his unique approach, compassionate drive, and enlightening and dynamic presentations have led over 400 local, state, and national organizations to pursue his penetrating and enriching training. He has trained over 40,000 personnel all over the world, including the United States, Canada, the Middle East, the Pacific Rim, Africa, Asia, and Europe. He has been directly responsible for overseeing the development of community residential, vocational, and other support and treatment services for over 500 people who have disabilities, specializing in individuals with more severe and/or complex disabilities. He has also overseen and/or consulted on the development, modification
to, and/or conversion of family and community services and supports for
over 5,250 people.
Mike has authored and edited over 50 publications including books,
chapters, and articles. He has developed numerous curricula, assessment
tools, and protocols that are used throughout the world to assist in
the diagnosis, treatment, support planning, service evaluation, and
training for people who have complex disabilities. He has served on the
faculty of several colleges, universities, institutes, international
forums, and boards of directors.
He also organizes and provides program design, development, and
management supports for organizations that support people with
disabilities. One of his major focuses is to facilitate organizational
implementation of systems transformation and service conversions
efforts. Mike's dedication to community supports has been a passion of
his since he was a young adult, and it clearly shows in his focus on
preventing institutionalization and supporting deinstitutionalization.
He has a strong desire to help all, especially those previously deemed
"too difficult" to support within the community.
Stephen C. Potts, CMP
Steve joins CRA as the Director of Operations following a 3 year appointment as the Special Projects Coordinator for the Center on Disability Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. During his tenure with CDS, Steve was directly responsible for the planning and execution of the Annual Pacific Rim Conference on Disabilities, an event attracting an average of 1,000 worldwide attendees to share best practices in the global disability community. Additionally he has planned two large scale fundraisers in conjunction with The Bubel/Aiken Foundation, founded by Diane Bubel and Clay Aiken, and ABILITY Awareness, a non-profit entity of ABILITY Magazine.
Steve brings with him more than 20 years of experience in the disability field including serving in such capacities as Advocate, Independent Living Specialist, a Recreation Therapy Assistant, and CQI Coordinator. Steve also served as the Director of
Operations at the Institute on Complex Disabilities for five years and
currently serves in advisory roles to several other disability focused
organizations.
In 1996 he stepped into the unknown when he agreed to take over as the
Conference Organizer of the 5th Annual Institute on Dual Diagnosis
Conference. Since that time he has planned and executed more than
15 national and international conferences and countless training
sessions involving more than 20,000 attendees from around the world.
In 2002 Steve gained national recognition as he completed the
requirements to earn his Certified Meeting Professional (CMP)
designation, which is recognized as the highest achievement bestowed
upon meeting and event planning professionals.
Among other duties in his new role for CRA, Steve will be responsible
for the day-to-day operations of the company including contract
negotiations, network development, product design and development,
marketing, collaborative agreements, branding, event logistics, and of
course conference planning and implementation.
Contact Steve at stevepotts@cra.cc
to book Michael Mayer, Derrick Dufresne, or any of our other highly
sought after professionals in the CRA Network. Steve can also be
contacted to discuss any of your training and conference needs and
partnering opportunities.
Community Resource Alliance
"There is only one community - One where everyone belongs."
Community Resource Alliance is a training and management consultation
firm that was founded in 1982. Our desire is not to be the biggest
company of our type, but rather the best. This means we carefully
select who we ask to work with us. Through our national team of
experts, we are committed to building the bridges necessary to enable
people who have disabilities, their friends, and their families to
fully participate in and benefit from, life within their communities
with the assistance they require and desire.
Our team of experts in their respective fields focus on training and
consultation that leads to service excellence and full citizenship for
people who have disabilities. We also design and develop supports and
housing that enable people with disabilities to thrive in the
mainstream of community life.
CRA has reached well over 1000 agencies and tens of thousands of their
staff. As a direct result of our involvement thousands of people who
have disabilities successfully live in communities with services and
supports that they, and those that love them, helped design to meet
their needs. We will gladly supply references upon request.
CRA has numerous general areas of expertise, and our individual team
members augment our areas of expertise with their own specific areas of
expertise. To learn more, visit the pages Key Areas of Focus and
Training and Consultation. Also, read below about the two Senior
Partners of CRA, Derrick Dufresne and Michael Mayer.


