Derrick Dufresne
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.
