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Walker to Serve as SPADD President Elect
Client News Date: 08-16-2006
Contact: Natalie Rittle - 706.549.2119

(Athens, Ga.) Michael D. Walker, the executive director of Hope Haven of Northeast Georgia, has been elected to serve as the president-elect for the Service Providers Association for Developmental Disabilities (SPADD). SPADD�s mission is to improve the quality of services in Georgia by education of providers on Best Practice and Advocacy and Education Regarding Public Policy.

SPADD was organized in the spring of 2002 and works as an inclusive association of both public and private providers of any community based mental retardation/developmental disability service. Leaders in the provider community created the organization to assist providers in education and advocacy efforts in order to improve services for persons with developmental disabilities in Georgia. Providers throughout the state were introduced to SPADD and its mission, and the first group meeting was held in Atlanta in August 2002. Since then, SPADD members have continued to meet bi-monthly in various cities throughout the state. SPADD held its first annual meeting in Unicoi, Georgia in June 2004, hosting educational seminars and announcing its establishment as a non-profit organization.

Currently, SPADD has almost 50 members statewide and offers support to providers and the persons they serve through on-going legislative efforts, as well as advocacy and public awareness activities in an effort to help improve availability and quality of services in Georgia.

Walker has served as Hope Haven's executive director since 1993. He completed his undergraduate work at Shorter College in Rome, Georgia, and earned two Master of Education degrees at West Georgia College and the University of Georgia. He has completed all requirements for Management In State Government Level I, II and III � a part of the Certified Public Manager�s Program jointly provided by the Georgia State Merit System and the University of Georgia Institute of Government.

In addition to his involvement with SPADD, he has served as a member and chairperson of the Athens-Clarke County Commission on People with Disabilities, as well as a member of the Center Directors Association of Georgia, Georgia Association for Persons for Supported Employment, and the American Association on Mental Retardation.

He participates in Athens Rotary and attends Briarwood Baptist Church in Watkinsville, where he lives with his wife and two daughters.

Hope Haven of Northeast Georgia is a private, nonprofit corporation whose primary purpose is to provide services to individuals with developmental disabilities who reside in Barrow, Clarke, Elbert, Greene, Jackson, Madison, Morgan, Oconee and Walton Counties. Hope Haven is privately governed by its own Board of Directors, which is comprised of private citizens and constituent representatives. Hope Haven believes in the uniqueness, worth, dignity and right to self-determination of every individual and strives to prepare, empower and support individuals with developmental disabilities and their families to participate fully in the community.

For more information, visit www.hopehaven.net or call 706.548.4361.