Executive Director

The Executive Director (ED) is charged with leading a dynamic team of professionals to accomplish DRI’s mission to educate, advocate, investigate, and litigate to protect and advance the rights of Idahoans with disabilities.

Executive Director

Congress created a nationwide Protection and Advocacy System for People with Developmental Disabilities in the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 1975. Today, there is a protection and advocacy system operating in every state and territory of the United States, in Washington D.C., and for Native Americans. Congress has expanded the authority of the Protection and Advocacy Systems to serve all disabilities.

Disability Rights Idaho is Idaho’s designated Protection and Advocacy System for people with disabilities.

In 1977, Co-Ad, Inc. was established as the Protection and Advocacy System to carry out this new federal mandate in the State of Idaho. In 2009, Co-Ad, Inc., a.k.a. Comprehensive Advocacy, Inc., changed its name to Disability Rights Idaho.

Educate, advocate, investigate, and litigate to protect and advance the rights of Idahoans with disabilities.

DRI respectfully promotes the human and civil rights of individuals with disabilities. In doing so, DRI staff are expected to incorporate DRI’s core values of integrity, quality, dignity of risk, teamwork, and inclusivity through the following associated behaviors:

• We are accountable for our actions, accountable to clients & each other.
• We are bound by the Idaho Rules of Professional Conduct & Rules of Civility.
• We are honest, truthful & transparent in our interactions.
• We comply with all confidentiality provisions in our grants & ethics rules.
• We are respectful in our interactions & act with humility.

• We act professionally & respectfully in our internal teams, with clients & with partners.
• We provide quality services for our clients. We are relentless in our pursuit of results.
• We are responsible for interactions inside the agency & in the community.
• We do the research & have expert knowledge of laws & issues that impact our clients.
• We are responsible for our work product.

• We ask clients for what outcomes they want.
• We provide client choice/self-determination.
• We apply a client-driven approach to all advocacy services.
• We ask clients for their most preferred terms & language, & we use those terms & language in our notes & interactions.
• We assist persons with disabilities to access programs that they qualify for, allow them maximum independence & integration into their community of choice.

• We understand how our work fits the overall agency & team goals.
• We offer to help before being asked (pitch in).
• We humbly ask for help when we need it.
• We give 100% effort.
• We show up & do what we say we are going to do.
• We treat our coworkers with respect & honor each other’s individuality.
• We have a positive outlook.

• We value diversity – honoring people’s history & experiences.
• We are respectful of & acknowledge past trauma.
• We recognize intersectionality of disability, i.e., race, gender identity, culture, age, sexual identity, sexual orientation & socio- economic status.
• We are compassionate, empathetic & non-judgmental when working with or on behalf of people with disabilities.

The Executive Director (ED) is charged with leading a dynamic team of professionals to accomplish DRI’s mission to educate, advocate, investigate, and litigate to protect and advance the rights of Idahoans with disabilities.

The ED is responsible for the strategic leadership and organizational direction of DRI, ensuring high-performing service programs,…