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| Brittany McNeill, Hadiyah Muhammad, Daniella Simon, & Richard Ronder |
One recent spring morning, Richard Ronder, an HBHE alumnus who,
on a trip to Ann Arbor, took time out of his schedule to mentor a group of
current HBHE students at SPH. Richard founded the Columbus Organization, which
provides clinical staffing and consulting nationwide to state and local
agencies and school districts serving people with disabilities.
I was fortunate to be among the group to receive his
mentoring. I wanted to write to say Thank You to Richard and
share a little about what was helpful about the session.
To start with, Richard joked that he hadn’t come to bore us as
another talking head. Instead, he insisted on an interactive session where he
tasked us to develop a business pitch for a program, project, or product that
we may be interested in pursuing once we graduate.
I signed up for the session because just the thought of pitching
my program ideas makes me incredibly nervous - so it seemed like a good
learning experience. I am invested in continuing my work with autistic
individuals. Specifically I am interested in developing a teacher/parapro
training and case consultation model for school districts and for mental health
professionals in community mental health settings.
While it’s easier for me to recognize the difficulties of
developing a program from the ground up, what I struggle most with is how to
"pitch" this idea to potential partners or funders. Since
Richard is an alum of the program, he knows that this is where HBHE graduates
often struggle.
With years of experience blending HBHE and business, Richard
helped us see how to frame our training and ideas within contexts outside
academia. Hearing Richard’s feedback about how I can better pitch my program
was incredibly helpful! His time with us was especially meaningful to me
because I don't know anyone in the department who is familiar with my field of
expertise.
I know that HBHE alumni do an incredible diversity of work. Yet,
for those of us in highly specialized areas, we don’t often find alumni who do
almost exactly what we’re interested in. We benefit a great deal when
someone like Richard takes the time to connect with us. It was affirming
for me to find someone with an HBHE degree who is very successful in the field
of mental health and developmental disabilities.
The session with Richard Ronder was a unique and valuable
experience that I continue to benefit from today!
Thank you, Richard, for your generosity with your time and
expertise!
Sincerely,
Daniella
Simon, BCaBA, MPH/MSW Candidate 2013
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