The Boggs Center Celebrates Graduates of Partners Advanced Leadership Academy

Friday, May 16, 2025

The Boggs Center on Disability and Human Development, New Jersey’s federally designated University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD), celebrated the graduation of the inaugural cohort of the Partners in Policymaking Advanced Leadership Academy on April 5, 2025. New Jersey Partners in Policymaking and the Advanced Leadership Academy are conducted through a collaboration between New Jersey’s Developmental Disabilities Act partners— The Boggs Center, The New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities (NJCDD), and Disability Rights New Jersey— and funded by the NJCDD.

The Partners in Policymaking Advanced Leadership Academy engaged in 8 months of advanced learning and training. The cohort was comprised of 24 previous Partners in Policymaking graduates from as far back as the 1990s. The curriculum included sessions led by national experts, interactive leadership exercises, and strategies for educating and collaborating with other advocates in New Jersey and beyond. The program empowered participants to take on more influential roles in shaping disability policy and building more inclusive communities.

The Advanced Leadership Academy culminated on April 4th and 5th with a series of leadership development activities, including group and individual presentations during which the graduates explored their future vision for people with developmental disabilities, strategies to achieve this vision, the evolution of their advocacy journey, and the impact of their Partners experience.

The following are graduates of the New Jersey Partners in Policymaking Advanced Leadership Academy:

Learn more about NJ Partners in Policymaking