Wendy Sokol, CEO, has over 25 years’ experience in senior management of social service agencies that offer community based supports to people with disabilities and the elderly in Australia and the US. Wendy is from Australia where she earned a Diploma in Science-Psychology and received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Newcastle, N.S.W. She worked as a Research Psychologist with the School of Education at Macquarie University in Australia developing innovative training methods to support community based employment for people with disabilities.

Wendy is currently Vice President for ANCOR, the American Network of Community Options and Resources, the largest provider association in the U.S. She co-chairs ANCOR’s Performance Excellence Project. She is a member of the Coordinating Committee for the Arizona Non-Medical Home Care Licensure Coalition. This Committee is working with all stakeholders to introduce licensure for all agencies that provide home care services in the state of Arizona. Wendy is a member of the Direct Care Workforce Policy Subcommittee and Direct Care Workforce Steering Committee who have worked over the past 5 years to develop training curriculums and competencies for all direct care workers in Arizona. The policy committee is currently working with AHCCCS (Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System) to modify regulations to ensure that workers who offer personal care, respite, housekeeping and attendant care are trained to this standard.

Wendy is a strong proponent of community based self-directed services and passionately believes in an individual’s right to choose where they live, who provides their care and to specify the standard of quality for that care.