Sonoran UCEDD's Susan Voirol honored with the Rebecca McDonald Chapter Leader Award!

August 2, 2018

Susan Voirol, Sonoran UCEDD Program Manager for AZ Employment First Initiatives was presented with the 2018 Rebecca McDonald Award at the Association of People Supporting Employment First (APSE) National Conference this June in Florida. Susan serves as the Arizona APSE Chapter President. Her work in disability, transition, and employment brings together multiple stakeholders - education, state agencies, local government, community provider agencies, advocacy groups, self-advocates, and family members as well as the broader public - to support and promote the belief that community-based, integrated employment should be the primary day activity for working age youth and adults with disabilities.

Susan took the lead in establishing the AZ APSE Chapter and was instrumental in the development of the Employment First executive order signed by Arizona's Governor Doug Ducey last year. Jennifer Baier, Vice-President of the AZ APSE, writes: "Susan goes out of her way to make herself available as much as possible in order to put a voice to the importance of integrated, competitive employment for all working individuals in Arizona." She envisions a state where all people with disabilities have inclusive competitive employment.
   
The award's namesake, Rebecca McDonald, was a tireless advocate for supported employment and dedicated friend and promoter of APSE. She was one of supported employment's greatest advocates, serving APSE in various ways for 11 years. She was the organization's founding Vice-President, served as its President for three years, and was an officer for the APSE Foundation until a few months before her death.

To honor Rebecca's contributions to APSE and the employment of people with disabilities, this award is offered to APSE chapter leaders who demonstrate exceptional leadership, tireless volunteerism and extraordinary commitment to the mission and vision of APSE in their work with their state chapters. Susan truly embodies the exceptional leadership and commitment to the mission and vision of APSE that the Rebecca McDonald Award recognizes.