Dana Yarbrough
Associate Director, Partnership for People with Disabilities
Director, Center for Family Involvement
What is your role at the Partnership?
I ‘wear many hats’ at the Partnership. I serve as the UCEDD’s associate director, direct the Center for Family Involvement, and support over a dozen projects as the principal investigator or project director.
How long have you been at the Partnership?
I started shortly before 2000 hired in an hourly position to provide a family perspective of disabilities. I moved into a full-time community engagement specialist position in 2005.
What does your job entail?
Currently, my energy is spread across over 14+ projects. I mentor staff for whom I supervise, represent the UCEDD in meetings externally on a variety of topics (e.g., family engagement, employment, community engagement, maternal & child health), and manage the work of projects including participating in evaluation activities, developing new products for families, writing reports, and ensuring we don’t overspend a project budget. I also spend time each week in meetings with the Partnership’s executive director assessing our organizational structure and writing grants and negotiating state contracts to grow and sustain important work.
What do you like best about your job?
What I like best about working at the Partnership is the variety of work I do each week. On any given day I am attending meetings externally and internally, grant writing, presenting at conferences on some of my specific work in compassionate engagement with families or the work of our cultural broker initiative, entering data and organizing files on my computer, and/or writing reports.
What is one thing you would like for everyone to know about the Partnership?
I want everyone to see how the Partnership models partnering. What I mean by that is we live our organization’s mission through our work here because of some connection to disability personally and/or professionally, we truly look to help one another in any way possible, and we don’t put expiration dates on our partnerships externally.
How do you define success?
To be successful, you must have your heart in your business and your business in your heart. I wish I could claim that quote, but it comes from an author, Thomas Watson. With COVID-19, social, racial, and economic upheaval, we need to rethink complex structures and rules and put people at the heart and culture of our work. When we have accomplished that, we are successful.
What inspires you?
We know the history of people with disabilities in Virginia is fraught with ugly treatment, some that still happens today. I am inspired when people with disabilities and parents share their stories of resilience that gives out rays of hope.
What’s one new thing you learned in the last month?
I love reading books and articles about leadership behavior development. With our changing environment – things being more complex, volatile, and unpredictable in our world – it is no longer just a leadership challenge about what does good leadership look like. It is a development challenge for how to grow bigger minds through horizontal development (mastering competencies) and vertical development (staff being responsible for their own development).
What are three things that are important to you?
Building at the Partnership a culture of acceptance, belonging, and fun!
Angela West
Multi-Cultural Specialist
What is your role at the Partnership?
I am currently transitioning into a new role as the Disability Engagement Specialist. Super excited about this new opportunity.
How long have you been at the Partnership?
Since 2015
What does your job entail?
In the new role, my job will help ensure the voices of people with disabilities are included in different projects at the Partnership.
What do you like best about your job?
I love connecting with different people with disabilities and learning from them. Every day is a different day and I learn how to be a better teammate.
What is one thing you would like for everyone to know about the Partnership?
We are people first. What do I mean about that? We come with our own lived experiences, and we try our best to collaborate with the community to better serve people with disabilities, family members, and professionals.
How do you define success?
Success is achievement of your goals and learning from your failures in order to accomplish future aspirations.
What inspires you?
Seeing people that I work with accomplish their goals and dreams.
What’s one new thing you learned in the last month?
It’s important to block out time in my work schedule to journal and dream about future work.
What are three things that are important to you?
My faith, my family including my two baby cats, and my friends.
Kayla Diggs Brody
Project Manager
What is your role at the Partnership?
Project Manager on projects relating to quality improvement and health related projects.
How long have you been at the Partnership?
I started working at the Partnership in October 2013, almost 10 years!
What does your job entail?
Data management
Developing processes to meet project deliverables
Troubleshooting when these processes do not work
Planning for future projects
What do you like best about your job?
I love the people I work with because everyone is willing to lend support and advice if called upon. I also appreciate the variety in the types of things I am able to work on. I get to be creative, analytical, inventive and social. It’s nice to be able to put on a different “hat” each day.
What is one thing you would like for everyone to know about the Partnership?
Everyone working at the Partnership is committed to improving or enhancing the lives of people with disabilities and their families. We all want to make some kind of impact whether it be directly with someone or on the systems and organizations that support people.
How do you define success?
I would probably split this into personal and project related. Project related success is defined as meeting the goals and objectives of the project and aligning them with the mission and vision of the Partnership. Personally, I would define success as knowing that I’ve done my best or created a product to my personal set of standards, which some say are too high, but that’s probably true for a lot of folks.
What inspires you?
What a tough question! When others don’t up give up because it’s hard. Seeing others determination will always make me want to do better or try harder.
What’s one new thing you learned in the last month?
I learned a really cool function that allows you to merge multiple Excel sheets together based on one common factor.
What are three things that are important to you?
Professionally: working efficiently, collaborating with others and creating a community, developing products that add to the positive reputation at the Partnership
Personally: my family (including my 2 dogs), staying active and staying connected in the Richmond community
Adrienne Quarles-Smith
Program Specialist, Early Childhood Special Education
What is your role at the Partnership?
Program Specialist, Early Childhood Special Education
How long have you been at the Partnership?
Since August 2018
What does your job entail?
I provide training and technical assistance for school divisions within superintendent’s regions 1 & 8 to support infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities across all educational settings.
What do you like best about your job?
The best part of my job is having the opportunity to work with and promote the amazing work that Early Childhood Special Educators (ECSE) do everyday to support our youngest citizens with disabilities and their families.
What is one thing you would like for everyone to know about the Partnership?
As an adult with a disability it's important to be a part of an organization that centers and celebrates differing abilities through a commitment to education, advocacy, and community engagement.
How do you define success?
I define success by the meaningful connections and relationships I am privileged to have with my family, friends, colleagues, and the communities I have served as an educator.
What inspires you?
I am deeply inspired by individuals with disabilities who serve as mirrors for students, families, and communities by openly sharing their lived experiences and celebrating their differing abilities.
What is one new thing you learned in the last month?
Last month, I learned the value of reflection and making peace with change by beginning a meditation practice.
What are three things that are important to you?
- Elevating the voices of families of students with disabilities.
- Creating spaces for courageous conversations about the impact of equitable practices.
- Maintaining my community connections.