Grow your leadership skills! Partners in Policymaking Applications Open March 1-31, 2022

A group of 7 diverse people sitting around a round shaped table with a blue cloth. The man on the left is in a wheelchair.
  • Are you a person with a developmental disability?
  • Are you a parent/guardian/family member of someone with a developmental disability or other combined disabilities?
  • Would you like to work for real change for people with disabilities in your community and the state?

Then Partners in Policymaking® – from the Council on Developmental Disabilities – may be what you need!  Partners in Policymaking® is the Council’s free leadership and advocacy training program for adults with disabilities and family members of people with disabilities.  We’ve provided this 7-month series since 1993. Hundreds of graduates have gone on to do big things all across Tennessee.

You’ll learn from state and national experts on topics like:

  • Disability services and how to access them
  • New and innovative programs and ideas
  • Disability polices and practices and how they affect our lives
  • Storytelling and media skills

The next class will run from September 2022 – April 2023.  Most classes will be virtual, with the possibility of opening and closing the class in person.

We especially want to reach:

  • people with intellectual and developmental disabilities
  • people of color
  • dads/brothers/grandfathers
  • folks outside of Middle TN

For more information and to apply, visit our website: tn.gov/cdd/engage-with-us/partners-in-policymaking

Image of zoom meeting with a group of 17 diverse individuals
The Partners in Policymaking class of 2021 poses with Partners director Cathlyn Smith and Council staff.