2023 AUCD Annual Report

In this year’s Annual Report, we share stories of our Emerging Leaders and showcase the impact of their work alongside AUCD and its Network members.

AUCD Emerging Leaders are a part of a community that includes current trainees from AUCD Network sites; former (i.e. alumni) trainees; early career professionals from all health and related disciplines, including self-advocates and family members; and others that are relatively new to the disability field. This group of passionate individuals from every U.S. state and territory grows by the thousands each year. Together, this Emerging Leaders Community shares a passion to serve, research, and educate to make positive changes with and for people with disabilities and their families.

“I want to use research to step into people’s shoes and see how they explore and how their brains might respond differently,” she said. “That’s where the lessons from LEND come in—in not just assuming how someone with autism might see the world differently than you do. It’s been a great experience for me.”

Sanju Koirala, LEND Fellow at the Institute on Community Integration, MN