CRA (About Us)


"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. In the following pages we hope you get to know more about the two Senior Partners of CRA, Derrick Dufresne and Michael Mayer.

	Michael “Mike” Mayer, PhD mikemayer@craconferences.com 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 500 local, state, and national organizations to pursue his penetrating and enriching training. He has trained over 70,000 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 700 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.

	Derrick Dufresne cra@aol.com 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. From 2003-2009, 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 recipient of !!MR’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. Behrmann 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.

	Collin Mayer Communications and Technical Assistance Manager collinmayer@craconferences.com Upon completing his education, Collin joined CRA in 2007 as our Communications and Technology Manager. In addition to assuring all equipment functions properly, he has direct responsibility for the design and updating of not only CRA’s websites but also the websites of advocacy and other organizations that contract with CRA for that service. In that capacity he also provides remote technical assistance and support for CRA’s contracted customers. He has primary responsibility for all aspects of CRA’s electronic commerce efforts – such as online conference registrations. He also is responsible for all of the electronic media development including videos, content CDs and DVDs, “news blasts”, and the design and implementation of CRA’s electronic marketing. He supervises the design and production of our print media items such as conference programs and handout booklets. He is invaluable in our conference services department where he takes an active role providing on-site administrative and technical support, making sure that all the audio and video equipment is functioning for each conference session.