Loads of Exciting Training Opportunities!

Kick off Your Conference with a dynamic speaker!


Empowerment Network offers training on many subjects for diverse audiences, such as consumers, families, advocates, professionals, policymakers and others. Training sessions focus on values, vision and creative ideas that include humor and motivational messages. Presentations range from conference keynotes or multi-day custom workshops. Speaker fees and expenses are required and based upon specific requests.

Our training sessions include many topic areas, such as: 

• _{The Wizard of Empowerment (An entertaining creative re-telling of Wizard of Oz)}
• _{Changing Values in a Changing the World}
• _{Self-Advocacy/Self-determination}
• _{The Charm and Challenge of Choice}
• _{On Becoming Real Leaders}
• _{Value-Driven Programming}
• _{Person-Driven Planning}
• _{The Power of Empowerment}
• _{Attitudes Are Everything}
• _{Motivating Staff By Motivating Yourself}
• _{Surviving and Thriving After Trauma}
• _{Unleashing Creativity}
• _{Letting Go: Recapturing Who We Are}
• _{Customer-Responsiveness}
• _{Best-Practice Supports}
• _{Mobilizing for Change}
• _{The Power of Laughter}
• _{Excellence in Advocacy}
• _{Disability and Poverty}
• _{Impacting Systems}
• _{Offenders, Witnesses and Victims with Disabilities}
• _{The Link Between Violence toward Animals and People}
• _{Healthy Staff/Board Relationships}

Empowerment Network offers a group of experienced, entertaining presenters who share professional and real-life experience on a broad array of topics, with well over a century of collective expertise!

An impassioned advocate, Ms. Sullivan is committed to strong human values and inclusive lifestyles for everyone. As the founder and lead consultant for Empowerment Network with headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas, Ms. Sullivan has presented to hundreds of local, state and national audiences ranging from self-advocates and families to law enforcement officials, policymakers, and the judiciary throughout the country and in Canada on topics noted above ane more. Ms. Sullivan combines a zeal for empowerment with a firm belief that learning should be FUN whenever possible! Ms. Sullivan was the guardian for a young woman with an infectious giggle and profound challenges for nearly two decades and is a person with disabilities herself.

An expert in the real life experiences of people with developmental disabilities. Mr. Meadours has become a leader in the national self-advocacy movement and has worked on a local, state and national level as an effective advocate for people with disabilities. Currently serving as the Coordinator for the Peer-to-Peer Project of Texas Advocates, Mr. Meadours compassionately and candidly shares stories about his life including experiences in services, as a victim of crime, encountering the criminal justice system, and the journey to empowerment. He serves as an excellent role model to motivate self-advocates, families, professionals and others to expand their horizons in self-advocacy and full citizenship.

Entertaining with a powerful punch, Ms. Adcock presents practical solutions to a multitude of challenges. She has been a classroom teacher, school principal, direct service provider and advocate. She has served as surrogate parent for education purposes for over 100 children and has trained thousands of parents on how special education works. She has served on a Special Education Advisory Committee for a school district and as a consultant to several school districts on special education and behavior. Ms. Adcock  is co-author of five books for parents on how special education works, two training curricula based on the book, an effective practices manual on special education for schools and a toolkit for administrators. She is currently a Behavior Consultant for Williamson County Schools in Tennessee and a Community Educator for Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands.

Dr. Bersani's renowned personable and powerful presentation style gets rave reviews from audiences from consumers to policymakers. Chair of the Division of Special Education at Western Oregon University and founder of Community Integration Associates, his expertise covers a wide range of topics surrounding community living for people with disabilities. Dr. Bersani has published extensively on issues from self-advocacy to quality assurance. Professor, researcher, consultant, expert witness, evaluator, and motivator, he has presented keynotes, workshops and training sessions on a wide array of issues to diverse disability groups and service agencies across the world. In his "spare" time he currently serves on the Board of American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR).

A dynamic presenter who has a zeal for inclusive education, Mr. Remus has been a general education teacher, special education teacher, school principal, college instructor, special education director for a school district, state special education director for the State of Kansas, and is also the parent of four children, two of whom have disabilities. Most of his professional career has been spent in the field of education and in training parents and educators on how special education works. As Director of Student Services in Williamson County, Tennessee, he eliminated segregated special education classes and included all students in general education classrooms.  Mr. Remus is currently Director of Special Education for Deer Valley Unified School District in Phoenix, AZ where he is working to eliminate segregated schools and classes. He also continues to consult with school districts, provide individual assistance and training to parents and educators on special education issues, and serves as a consultant to other school districts. He is co-author of five books for parents on how special education works, two training curricula based on the book, an effective practices manual on special education for schools and a toolkit for administrators.