Virtual "Make it Monday" forum - A Creative Approach to Personnel Recruitment and Retention for Service Nonprofits

In partnership with the Anchorage School District and the University of Alaska Anchorage Human Services Department, the Arc of Anchorage is developing a way to create greater awareness of human services employment opportunities in the field and provide learning and training components for sustainable recruitment and retention. This will benefit human service nonprofits with a way to address current labor/human resource challenges in the human services industry.

Presented by...

• Barbara Rodriguez-Rath, CEO, The Arc of Anchorage
• Anne Adasiak-Andrew, Coordinator, Secondary, Career & Technical Education, Anchorage School District
• Seta Kabranian-Melkonian, Ph.D., MFA, Assistant Professor, Department of Human Services

Barbara Rodriguez-Rath is the CEO of The Arc of Anchorage which has worked to provide services and advocate for individuals who experience intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families in the Anchorage Area for 65 years.

Barbara has twenty-five plus years social work-related experience in both micro and macro settings and holds a Master’s in Social Work.  Her experience includes working directly with severally emotionally disturbed youth and their families, adults who experience mental health disorder, chronic homelessness, substance abuse addiction and a developmental and/or intellectual disability.  Barbara also has over 15 years of administrative supervisory experience that is both  programmatic and operational with direct oversight of obtainment of national accreditation, quality assurance reviews, enforcement of regulatory standards, audits and training, medical records supervision, training foster parents and direct service providers on non-violent crisis intervention and residential childcare standards, staff development, and program management.   Furthermore, Barbara has extensive experience and knowledge of the regulatory and compliance requirements that agencies operate under at the State and Federal levels.

As the CEO of The Arc of Anchorage, Barbara is very active with the National Arc and has attended specialized leadership training and annual conferences for Arc CEOs.  Barbara and The Arc also have ties to the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals and she has  active member in ABHS, APSE, the Anchorage Coalition on Homelessness, and serves on the DSP Workforce Committee of the Alaska DD Shared Vision Workgroup.
 

Anne Adasiak-Andrew, Coordinator, Secondary, Career & Technical Education, Anchorage School District
Anne was born and raised in Alaska. She worked in the Alaska Tourism Industry for 13 years before shifting careers to Education. After teaching high school French for 10 years and facilitating student exchanges, Anne is now a Curriculum Coordinator for the Career and Technical Education department and uses her business background to support CTE programs and coordinate internships for juniors and seniors. For fun, Anne loves to travel, hike, read, cook, and meet new people.
 

Seta Kabranian-Melkonian, Ph.D., MFA, Assistant Professor, Department of Human Services
Seta Kabranian-Melkonian is a writer and an Assistant Professor/Practicum Coordinator in the Department of Human Services. She teaches Practicum Seminar and leads the Human Services Writing Lab. Before moving to the US, she led a non-governmental organization to assist victims of war and refugees in her birthplace Lebanon and Armenia. Her interest remains to be migration due to war and social justice.