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.
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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.
"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.
