Bio: 

Dana grew up outside of Boston, moving to the Washington DC area as a senior in high school. She came to the Partnership with lived experience and wisdom from being in a disability club-sandwich supporting a young adult daughter with intellectual and disabilities, siblings with learning disabilities and serious mental illness, and formerly a mother with Alzheimer's Disease. Dana hopes to retire back in the New England area near her twin brother and nieces and nephews.

Professional Experience:

• Associate Director, Partnership for People with Disabilities, Virginia Commonwealth University (1999 - present)
• Executive Director, Parent to Parent of Virginia (1997 to present)
• President, Parent to Parent USA (2005-2017)
• Court Appointed Special Advocate, Henrico County Juvenile Court (1998-2015)
• Inclusion Specialist, Carole and Marcus Weinstein Jewish Community Center Preschool (2000-2006)
• Domestic Violence Paralegal, Central Virginia Legal Aid Society (1995-1998)
• Juvenile Services Specialist, Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (1993-1995)

Partnership Projects:

• Over the past two decades I have overseen more than 30 early childhood, family support, self-advocacy and post school transition projects. I currently serve as the Principle Investigator and Director of the Partnership's large Center for Family Involvement that incorporates over 10 state and federal contracts and 20 staff.

Expertise:

• Employment Services
• Family Engagement
• Family Support
• Intersectionality and Cultural Agility
• Long Term Supports & Services
• Multiple Disabilities
• Special Education
• Secondary Transition
• Supported Decision Making

Education:

• A.S. Pre-Veterinary Science, Ferrum College
• B.S. in Criminal Justice, Radford University
• M.S. in Transformational Non-Profit Leadership, New England College
• M.A. in Special Education Secondary Transition, The George Washington University

Research Interests:

• My current research interests are in family support, family engagement, family resilience, cultural brokering and employment of people with disabilities

Accomplishments:

• I'm most proud of growing the Center for Family Involvement from $500,000 in funding and 4 staff to over $1.6 million and 20+ staff.

Publications:

• Dinora, P. & Yarbrough, D. (2023). Family Support and Students with ID. Research-Based Practices for Educating Students with Intellectual Disabilities. In Publication. Yarbrough, D. & Sewell, S. (2023). Family Support. Handbook for Employment Specialists. In Publication.
• Pang Y. & Yarbrough, D. (2023). The Promising Practice of Cultural Brokering Support with Culturally Diverse Families of Children with Developmental Disabilities: Perspectives from Families . Developmental Disabilities Network Journal. 3(1) 58-77.
• Xu, Y., King, A., Price, S. K., Spence, C. M., De Arment, S., Nelson, B. B., Wyatt, M., Yarbrough, D., & Prohn, S. M. (2023). Supporting Children with High-Intensity Needs Through Interdisciplinary Personnel Preparation. In D. Slanda, & L. Pike (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Interdisciplinary Preparation for Equitable Special Education (pp. 1-20). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-6438-0.ch001
• Y Pang, P Dinora & D Yarbrough (2020): The gap between theory and practice: using cultural brokering to serve culturally diverse families of children with disabilities, Disability & Society. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2019.1647147
• Pang, Y., Yarbrough, D. & Dinora, P (2019). Cultural Brokering Intervention for Families of Children Receiving Special Education. Family School and Community Partnerships for Students with Disabilities (pp. 127-138). Singapore: Springer
• Yarbrough, D., & Brandt, J. (2019). Peer support approaches for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities [White paper]. Virginia Commonwealth University Partnership for People with Disabilities.
• Yarbrough, D. (2019, November). Expectations of Young Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities for College. Exceptional Parent Magazine. 49(11). pp 40-41.
• Dodds, R., Yarbrough, D. & Quick, N (2017) Lessons Learned: Providing Peer Support to Culturally Diverse Families of Children with Disabilities. Manuscript, National Association of Social Workers Press and the Journal of Early Intervention. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swy019

Professional Affiliations:

• Virginia Title V Family Delegate, Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs
• Member, the Council for Exceptional Children and its Division on Career Development and Transition
• Member, American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

LinkedIn Profile: 

• LinkedIn