Nancy Brooks-Lane

Nancy Brooks-Lane (NBrooks-Lane@thegao.org) is the director of Employment First Georgia hosted by the Georgia Advocacy Office. She has assisted persons with significant disabilities obtain customized employment or start their own business through work on U.S. Department of Labor Customized Employment and WorkFORCE Action Grants. She is affiliated with Training and Technical Assistance for Providers through Virginia Commonwealth University and the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Mass/ Boston providing her the opportunity to train other providers in the processes of system change and conversion. She serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation and is an associate of Griffin-Hammis, LLC. She has co-authored chapters in the book Real Work for Real Pay: Inclusive Employment for Individuals with Disabilities edited by Dr. Paul Wehman. She has presented extensively throughout the country on conversion, system change and customized employment including self-employment, resource ownership, and business within a business. She is a mentor collaborator for START-UP / USA providing technical assistance and resource dissemination nationally to individuals interested in pursuing self-employment (www.start-up-usa.biz). She has worked extensively in Georgia in collaboration with others developing new strategies to improve systems for individuals with disabilities through conversion, best practices and evidence-based supports.