AUCD | About Emerging Leaders Community

About Emerging Leaders Community

Every year, AUCD welcomes thousands of Emerging Leaders to the Network that share all AUCD members’ commitment to empowering rising professionals in the disability field. We are excited to have this space just for you! The Emerging Leaders Community is a space dedicated to current and past trainees from AUCD member centers and programs, early career professionals from health and related disciplines, including self-advocates and family members. This group of passionate individuals from every U.S. state and territory grows by the thousands each year. Together, this Emerging Leaders Community shares a passion to serve, research, and educate to make positive changes with and for people with disabilities and their families.

Visit the Emerging Leaders Community Website

Learn, Connect, Get Involved, and Grow

The AUCD Network is proud to be your professional home—a place where you can learn about the issues, connect with others, get involved, and grow as a leader, with the goal of positively impacting the lives of people with disabilities and their families.

ArizonaLEND Fellow Gabriel Martinez: Advocacy in Action, a Speech on the Hill

ArizonaLEND trainees and faculty group photo pictured in front of the U.S. Capitol building, holding the Arizona flag from left to right: (Back Row) Celeste Vega, Mark Marcos, Fedra Calderon, Maritza McCabe, Vanessa Macamo, Gabe Martinez, Jennifer Arenas-Cárdenas, Cristina Sisneros, Jennifer Haggerty. (Front Row) Jenny Savage (Faculty), Sabina Itullerade, Anna Zreda.

April 16, 2026

ArizonaLEND Trainee, Mark Marcos, EdD Teaching with Heart on the Tohon O'odham Nation

A group of players—wearing matching blue “Babiquivari Warriors” jerseys—are posing together with medals around their necks, suggesting they’ve just competed in (and likely done well at) a tournament. They’re holding a large banner that reads “Babiquivari Warriors – Sells, Arizona,” along with words like “Skill • Courage • Share,” which aligns with the values of the Special Olympics—also visible on the backdrop behind them.

ArizonaLEND trainee, Mark Marcos, EdD, BCSE, is a Special Education teacher on the Tohono O’odham Nation in Sells, Arizona. He first began his teaching career in the Philippines nine years ago where he served in Last Mile Schools. Last Mile Schools are located in geographically isolated or remote areas, as Dr. Marcos can attest, “reaching my students was not always easy—there were days I crossed rivers on a bicycle, rode a carabao cart, or walked barefoot just to get to the classroom” — experiences he says "shaped my resilience and deepened my commitment to education and to the students who depend on it the most."

ID: A group of players—wearing matching blue “Babiquivari Warriors” jerseys—are posing together with medals around their necks, suggesting they’ve just competed in (and likely done well at) a tournament. They’re holding a large banner that reads “Babiquivari Warriors – Sells, Arizona,” along with words like “Skill • Courage • Share,” which aligns with the values of the Special Olympics—also visible on the backdrop behind them.

April 16, 2026