A Message From the Director – Winter 2021

In December 2021 we say farewell to Jennifer Kupiszewski as she leaves the Raising Special Kids board of directors after many years of dedicated service to the organization. Jennifer began her journey with Raising Special Kids in 2013 and quickly became involved with fundraising, governance and financial oversight. Jennifer has been at the center of many, if not all, of the major Raising Special Kids initiatives during her time with the organization. 

  • Jennifer served as a Raising Special Kids core team member of ATLAS Project, a project funded by Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust to support capacity building of nonprofit organizations and through that work: Jennifer served on the Executive search committee, led and supported the formation of four functioning board committees, implemented annual board strategic planning, and actively managed an executive director transition. 
  • Jennifer was the serving board president in March 2020 when COVID-19 closed our doors and moved us into the virtual world and, in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, she led the formation of the organization’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion Task Force, made up of board members, staff and parent leaders which continues its important work to this day.
  • She upheld her responsibility of ensuring organizational sustainability by actively recruiting and mentoring new board members and leading by example. 
  • To support the organization’s philanthropic activities, Jennifer’s signature gift baskets for auctions and raffles have become legendary over the years. With just the right mix of things everyone wants and likes, they draw a lot of attention and interest.
  • A highly respected attorney in the field, Jennifer always makes herself available for Raising Special Kids staff. Just recently Jennifer helped our staff with information which resulted in a young man successfully advocating for himself in the Arizona court system for a positive resolution.

Personally, I would like to thank Jennifer for her dedication and service to the organization, for her unwavering advocacy on behalf of the disability community, and for her partnership in furthering the Raising Special Kids Mission: strengthening families and systems of care to improve the lives of children who have disabilities.

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