The Boggs Center Celebrates the Graduation of the 2020-2021 NJLEND Fellows at the 5th Annual Maternal and Child Health Leadership Symposium

Friday, May 7, 2021

On May 7th, 2021, The Boggs Center celebrated the graduation of the 2020-2021 NJLEND Fellows at the New Jersey Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (NJLEND) program’s 5th annual Maternal and Child Health Leadership Symposium. Held virtually this year in response to COVID-19, the event featured a keynote address, “The Meaning of Resilience: Building Self-Healing Communities,” by Dave Ellis, Founding Executive Director, The Office of Resilience, New Jersey Department of Children and Families, and was attended by those from the Rutgers community, New Jersey’s Department of Children and Families and Department of Health, SPAN Parent Advocacy Network, and other state and community organizations. There were brief video presentations by each of the 20 graduating NJLEND Fellows sharing their personal definitions of leadership, the culmination of the year-long Defining Leadership: Charting Your Trajectory Learning Exercise.

NJLEND Fellows presented their Leadership Project Posters at a separate virtual session on Friday, April 30, sharing the culmination of their year-long projects with each other and the NJLEND Faculty.

Congratulations to the 2020-2021 NJLEND Fellows and Boggs Center Interdisciplinary Trainees: Alexandra Gil, MA; Alexis M. Morgan, BS; Ana Carolina Ford, BSN, RN; Angela Otto-Ryan, BSN, RN, CBC; Angela Alberti, MEd, BSN, RN; Brie Marisa Latini; Isabella Massaro, BA; John Palatucci, MPA; Karen Stanfar MPH, RDN, LD; Kelly McGrath BA, CSW, LSW; Lena Qasem, BSN, RN; Michelle Shulman-Repole, MSN, MPH, APN, CPNP-PC; Nadejda Tomarev, MD; Norna P. Jules, BS; Odeilis Dominguez, MD; Samantha Breitbart, BSN, RN; Sharon Plafker Artz, PsyD; Stephanie L. Michael, BA, IMH-E; Susan Colacello; Tara Palamarik; Ariana Gover-Chamlou; Dillon Reitmeyer, MSW; Morgan Neumann; and Marina Khrizman, DO.

Part of a national network, The Boggs Center’s NJLEND program provides graduate-level interdisciplinary training aimed at preparing the next generation of health and allied health leaders to address the needs of children and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), related developmental disabilities, and other maternal and child health populations. Funding for LEND programs is authorized by the Autism CARES Act and is administered through the federal Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau.

To learn more about the NJLEND program, view the NJLEND 2020-2021 Annual Report.