Tara Conley has been working in the field of ID/DD for more than 25 years. She started as a support worker, QIDP, and has been an Independent Service Coordinator. Through her work as a QIDP and Independent Service Coordinator, she helped people with disabilities and their families understand and navigate the state and national service system.

Mark has a brother who is dually-diagnosed with an intellectual disability. He is passionate about helping others understand the challenges faced not only in advocating for their siblings, but also finding the resources and tools to help brothers and sisters become educated in the resources available to help them and their families thrive.

Lea Whitney, MA is the caregiver and legal co-guardian to her younger sister, Rhiannon, who has Down syndrome. Throughout her career, Lea has pursued work in the developmental disabilities field. She has a master’s degree in Journalism from Columbia College Chicago, with specializations in website design, content management, and HTML.

Katherine Hamann grew up not knowing one of her sibs. Margaret Doering had lived in state institutions since she was two years old. Their unfolding story made Katherine an advocate for people with I/DD and their families.

Sunita has a younger brother, Shankar, who has physical and intellectual disabilities. She is a registered nurse and additionally holds an MBA. Her work as an RN has broadened her desire to help people. Professionally, she has worked to support workforce diversification by implementing Project Search in the areas she supervises.

Nora Fox Handler is a committed sister to her three brothers with intellectual disabilities. She is a passionate advocate for people with disabilities and their families and shares her family’s experience in the published work, Thicker than Water: Essays by Adult Siblings of People with Disabilities.

Theresa is a speech-language pathologist who considers herself a disability advocate and ally, inspired by her younger sister with Down syndrome. Theresa earned her B.S. in Speech and Hearing Science and M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.