Mary Lou Bourne has been committed to learning about effective person centered practices. She designed and implemented a model for establishing Person Centered Service systems, including aligning person centered practices across all operations. She is a founder of The Learning Community for Person Centered Practice and developed the organization’s first PCP Mentor Trainer requirements. Her focus is leadership’s role in implementation of systemic person centered practices. She has developed organizational and statewide assessment tools for PCP, and supported PCP facilitators, Trainers and Mentor trainers in their learning journey.

Tanya RedRoad is the Parent Coordinator at the North Dakota Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health. She has worked in the Fargo community for 15 years, previously through F/M Native American Center and Sacred Spirits. She is a mother of children with mental, emotional, and behavioral challenges. She feels honored to use her lived experience to be of value in all she does, and advocates for lived experience as a key factor in decision-making whenever she can.

Hi, my name is Jake Anderson, I am the president of the group “Advocates Leading Their Lives.” I have been part of self-advocacy for myself for over 4 years. I have been working hard with my job and work with people finding their voice in advocacy. I take pride in helping others find their place in self-advocacy.

Jake Reuter is the Money Follows the Person Grant Program Administrator with the Aging Services Division of the North Dakota Department of Human Services.

Ganesh Suryawanshi was born and raised in India. He earned his master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and works for a multi-national company as a software supervisor. He is also a passionate advocate for disability supports and services as a parent of a child with special needs. Ganesh, his wife and 2 children live in Fargo, North Dakota.