Description

Leading self, leading others, and leading systems: for parent leaders wanting to take the baton, that is the leadership journey. For those who support families with Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) children, family leaders need tools to measure progress in partnership development with organizations in this world of shrinking resources and higher demands. Partnerships don’t develop without intention, and they don’t all need to reach the same destination. Yet EHDI programs and family-based organizations are increasingly asked to demonstrate meaningful family engagement, shared leadership, and sustainable collaboration.

This webinar introduces the revised Partnership Continuum Annual Rating Tool, a practical framework designed to help family leaders, EHDI staff, and partner organizations assess their current relationships, identify strengths, and set realistic goals (if needed) for growth. Participants will explore the six stages of partnership development, from coexistence to co-production, and examine five key dimensions of effective collaboration: relationship building, communication, data sharing and referrals, decision-making, and sustainability.

Using real-world examples and guided reflection, participants will learn how the tool can support authentic conversations, strengthen accountability, document progress over time, and help organizations move from good intentions to meaningful partnership practices.

Participants will leave with practical ideas for using the tool within their own programs, agencies, and family-based organizations to support stronger outcomes for children and families.

Presenter

Sara Kennedy was an occupational therapist when her third child was born at home and not screened for hearing loss. She began volunteering with Colorado Hands & Voices and H&V HQ in 2001, and eventually became a parent guide, an educational advocate and trainer, and worked her way toward the director position of the Colorado Chapter from 2011-2022 along with part-time work at Hands & Voices HQ. Since 2022, she has served as the technical assistance advisor for the western states and all U.S. territories, is a core member of the O.U.R. Children’s Safety Project, remains a program trainer, and a co-chair of the EHDI Parent to Parent Committee, and continues her work since 2002 as editor of the quarterly newspaper, the Hands & Voices Communicator. She has advocated for hearing aid legislation, meeting the needs of low-income families, and supporting families of late-identified children. Topics of publications and presentations include navigating the educational system, grant writing, safety from abuse and neglect, grooming, giftedness, progressive loss and late identification, pragmatic language, sections of the Virtual Waiting Room, and the genetics webpage for families at Hands & Voices. Her favorite is mentoring new parent leaders as part of the L2L program in the EHDI system. While she prefers one-on-one discussions and book clubs, presenting and teaching are necessary, even for an introvert.