Karrie Shogren, (Principal Investigator) Ph.D. is Director of the Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities (a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities), Senior Scientist at the Schiefelbusch Life Span Institute, and Ross and Marianna Beach Distinguished Professor in the Department of Special Education all at the University of Kansas. Dr. Shogren’s research focuses on assessment and intervention in self-determination and supported decision making for people with disabilities. Dr. Shogren has led multiple grant-funded projects, including assessment validation and efficacy trials of self-determination interventions in school and community contexts. 

Benjamin Edwards (Co-Investigator) is a self-advocate research aide at KUCDD who leads the Kansas City League of Autistics. He has expertise in self-determination and delivering virtual learning, and is most excited to help people with disabilities learn self-advocacy and self-determination! 

Baylee Kilburn is a research project specialist at the Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities (KUCDD) and the project coordinator for the Kansas Navigator Series. Baylee graduated from the University of Kansas in 2018 with a Bachelors degree in Environmental Studies, and has been employed at KU since 2020. She can't wait to meet new people and learn about their goals through the Kansas Navigator Series! 

Rebecca Townsend is a doctoral student in special education at the University of Kansas and research trainee at the Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities. She has over 8 years of experience working with people of all ages with IDD as a Board-Certified Music Therapist.

Families Together, Inc. is the Kansas Parent Training and Information (PTI) & Family-to-Family Health Information (F2F) Center. They will draw on their broad network of families and self-advocates to support marketing and recruitment efforts and provide guidance on content development and delivery.

The Coalition for Truth in Independence (CTI) is a self-advocate led, disability rights organization made up of 120 members with and without disabilities based in St. Louis, MO but engaged in initiatives across the country. CTI is focused on issues of marginalized groups with intersectional identities. CTI's mission is to break down physical and attitudinal barriers for people with disabilities and their allies through direct-action campaigns, radical education and training, and mentorship. 

The Self-Advocate Coalition of Kansas (SACK) is a statewide advocacy group of adults with I/DD, that engages local grassroots chapters across Kansas to advocate to ensure that people with DD and their families participate in the design of and have access to needed community services, individualized supports, and other forms of assistance that promote self-determination, independence, productivity, and integration and inclusion in all facets of community life. SACK has provided KUCDD with support on multiple grant projects through technical assistance and evaluation.