Kristen Connolly

Kristen has been with IDHD since 2004 serving as a liaison with the community, coordinating activities within IDHD and in collaboration with the community. She has a range of experience including: leading the redesign of the department website content; Co-Director of the Illinois LEND interdisciplinary leadership training program; support and collaborative work with a national self-advocacy specialist and the Illinois Direct Support Professionals (IDSP) coalition; Project Coordinator of the Family Support 360 collaborative initiative to address unmet needs of Latino families in Berwyn and Cicero; projects and trainings on arts and disabilities. Kristen was introduced to the Illinois Developmental Disabilities Network through an internship with our sister agency, Equip for Equality, the Illinois Protection and Advocacy agency. She has a Master of Social Work degree with a disability concentration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.