What Success Really Looks Like

For Amy, success isn’t necessarily measured in spreadsheets, growth charts or organizational milestones. Sometimes it is a child taking their first steps. Sometimes it is feeding themselves for the first time. It might be a person working in one of Abilis’s training cafés, developing new skills and ultimately landing a first job.

And sometimes success is much quieter.

It is a parent finally feeling that their child’s future is secure. “Over the years, I have come to deeply understand how important the entire family is—and how transformative our role can be in shaping outcomes,” Amy says.

The question she hears most often from parents is one that carries enormous weight: What will happen to my child when I’m gone?

“Being able to look at a parent in the eyes and say, ‘It’s going to be okay’—that is what success truly means to me.”

That responsibility is one Amy never takes lightly. She describes the families she serves as incredibly resilient and fiercely loving, navigating a journey that can change dramatically from childhood to young adulthood and again through the later years of life. “No two journeys look alike,” she says. “Families are constantly advocating, planning and worrying about the future. With the right support system around them, both the individual and the family can truly flourish.”

The Power of Being Given a Chance

One of Abilis’s most important areas of growth has been employment. The organization now works with more than 125 local businesses to create competitive employment opportunities for the individuals it serves. For Amy, the importance of that work goes far beyond a paycheck. “Employment is about so much more than a paycheck. It is about dignity, purpose and belonging.” She has watched individuals walk into a workplace, greet their coworkers and contribute to a team—and then begin to see themselves differently. “Our business partners have been incredible,” she says. “They do not just offer jobs; they open doors and change lives.” Time and again, she has seen people discover strengths they never knew they possessed simply because someone was willing to give them an opportunity. “Every person deserves to know the pride of a hard day’s work.”

Inclusion Is a Daily Commitment

Amy has also witnessed significant changes in Fairfield County during her years at Abilis. Businesses are more open, communities are more aware, and conversations about inclusion are happening in places where they once did not. She believes there is still work to be done. “True inclusion means more than accessibility ramps and awareness months,” she says. “It means that a person with a disability can walk into any space in our community—a restaurant, a workplace, a neighborhood—and feel genuinely welcomed and valued.” For Amy, inclusion is not a campaign or a moment on the calendar. It is something that has to happen every day—in housing, employment and, perhaps most importantly, in the way people think about disability. “Inclusion is a daily commitment, and one that Abilis will never stop working toward.”

Leading With Heart

Running a growing nonprofit requires more than compassion. It requires strategy, resilience and the ability to make difficult decisions while never losing sight of the people behind them. Amy says she thinks intentionally about that balance every day. “The emotional weight of this work, the individuals and their families, is actually what drives me,” she says. “But I have also learned that I do not carry that weight alone.”

She credits her talented team of colleagues, who share the same passion and commitment to the mission, with helping Abilis balance heart with strategy. That leadership perspective is also informed by Amy’s experience teaching graduate students at Fordham University’s Graduate School of Social Services. Although she stepped away from teaching when she became CEO, one message remains particularly important to her: social workers possess the empathy, leadership skills and expertise to move into supervisory and executive positions—and, by doing so, expand the impact they can have on their communities.

The Moments That Still Take Her Breath Away

After all these years, there is still one experience that gives Amy goosebumps. “Watching a person find their voice for the very first time through our supported typing program,” she says. “Every single time, it takes my breath away.” It is perhaps the perfect illustration of what has kept Amy committed to this work for so long: the belief that there is always another possibility, another door that can open, another way for someone to express themselves and participate fully in the world around them.

And that belief extends to the future of Abilis itself.

Amy is excited by the momentum the organization has built and by its continued expansion of housing, employment programs and community partnerships. But what excites her most is something larger—the changing narrative around disability. “People are beginning to see what we have always known—that individuals with disabilities have so much to offer, so much to contribute and so much to teach the rest of us.”

Her ultimate vision is surprisingly simple: a future in which Abilis is no longer needed in quite the way it is today because the community has fully embraced every one of its members. “We are not there yet,” she says, “but every day we get a little closer.”

For Amy, that future begins with something she has understood since she was a teenager: every person deserves to be seen, valued and given the opportunity to live a meaningful life.

“Abilis matters because people matter. Every single one of them.”