ideal graduate wins national leadership award

jason rogers (ideal ’18) advocates for those with disabilities through his home, jobs and community activism.

janel shoun-smith| 615-966-7078 | 08/07/2024

whether it’s presenting to a board of directors or reading to kindergartners, developing lessons on workplace skills or analyzing harvard research, jason rogers, a 2018 graduate of lipscomb’s ideal (igniting the dream of education and access) program, can tackle the job with enthusiasm and dedication.
this past fall, rogers, a paraprofessional at the chattanooga christian school and the coordinator of workplace readiness and inclusion at special olympics international, was awarded with the laura lee leadership award for his zeal, excellent work ethic and leadership skills in advocating for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (idd).

the award is a national honor presented at the annual state of the art conference (sota), an event devoted to the current state of research and practice in the field of inclusive postsecondary education.

rogers, of chattanooga, has down syndrome and was a member of the fourth cohort to complete the ideal program’s certificate of career exploration. ideal is a two-year certificate program that provides education and workplace training to students with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. launched in  2014, the ideal program includes academic and skill-building classes, exercise sessions, daily internships, leisure time and a daily study period.

“jason was one of our first residential students in ideal. he actually deferred his admission for  two years so he could live in the dorm,” said misty parsley, executive director of the office of accessibility and learning supports and founder of ideal. “the ideal program, including the residential component, launched him into adulthood ready to live on his own, work two jobs, and advocate for others with idd to go to college! we are so proud of what he continues to do to impact his community and now the world!”

the laura lee leadership award is presented to a graduate of a postsecondary education program for persons with intellectual disabilities who is “a trailblazing self-advocate… whose advocacy significantly benefits individuals with disabilities—in their college, community, regionally or nationally.”

rogers certainly fits the bill. even during his college years at lipscomb, rogers was an enthusiastic annual participant in tennessee’s disability day on the hill. he drew on his own personal relationship with state senator bo watson, who represented his hometown, to encourage him to learn about the issues that prevented people with idd from working and contributing to their communities. 

rogers was the first individual with an intellectual disability to secure an internship in the governor’s office during gov. bill haslam’s administration, while he was still in college. in his role there, jason focused his efforts on sharing advocacy skills with others with idd by filming videos to teach lessons in advocacy when working with elected representatives. he also interned at tennessee’s department of education when current lipscomb president candice mcqueen was the state commissioner of education.

“he is always looking for ways to improve himself and his impact,” wrote natalie campbell newell, senior manager of leadership development and workplace readiness at special olympics international and rogers’ supervisor, in her nomination letter.

rogers is also a graduate of the tennessee council for developmental disabilities’ partners in policymaking leadership institute, a statewide advocacy training program, where he spent one weekend each month for seven months, while still in college, honing his advocacy skills and knowledge of the important issues to the idd community.

“i was a good director, and partners was an excellent program, but we only added about 6% to this man’s ability to do great work, make instant friends and advocate for himself and his peers who may not have as powerful a voice in our state,” said ned andrew solomon, retired director of the partners institute, wrote in his recommendation letter.

as a working professional, rogers has worked with special olympics international’s collaborative research project with harvard university to define the components of inclusive mindsets and behaviors towards individuals with idd. rogers’ task was to use reports from harvard to identify findings that resonated or not with his own lived experience of inclusion and exclusion and report to a group of 30.

in his job duties for special olympics international, rogers works on the organization’s initiative called unified leadership. through resource development, delivery and thought leadership, rogers educates special olympics’ corporate partners about how to grow their inclusive mindsets and behaviors towards people with idd, and he educates youth with idd to help them build their workplace readiness skills through special olympics unified champion schools® programming, said newell.

at a special olympics north america national leadership conference this summer, rogers presented a seminar to youth leaders with idd that taught them how to create their own linkedin page for job hunting. 

“the quality i prioritize most in colleagues is a constant drive to learn and grow and improve oneself. jason has that in spades and has demonstrated it in tangible ways,” said newell. “jason’s determination, skill and motivation all set him apart from his peers and warrant such recognition.”
inspired by his work at special olympics international and his father’s position as a board member of the down syndrome community of greater chattanooga, rogers developed and delivered a presentation for the board of the organization, urging them to create a position on the board for an individual with down syndrome.

after consideration, the board enacted the recommendation and invited rogers to be the first such board member. through this position, rogers has already started initiatives to grow the social inclusion of adults with down syndrome.

through his job and his community work, he travels the nation as an expert speaker on inclusive education, workplace readiness and inclusive employment, including an opportunity this july to be the keynote speaker at the national down syndrome congress convention in phoenix, arizona.

he has also spoken or cultivated relationships at the american association of intellectual and developmental disabilities conference, neurodiversity in the workplace conference, the southeast postsecondary education alliance conference and the disability: in global conference and expo, wrote emily klinger, chief of leadership and organizational development for special olympics international in her recommendation letter.

in addition to his work at special olympics and his community advocacy, rogers works part-time as a paraprofessional at chattanooga christian school, a job that he specifically prepared for through lipscomb’s ideal program. since joining the school staff, his duties have included distributing mail, working with kindergartners, staffing the extended care and summer camp programs.

rogers currently works in the learning center at the school, where he teaches middle and high school students life and workplace readiness skills such as washing laundry, hanging clothes, sorting mail and delivering packages, gardening and first aid skills.

“anybody who meets jason would know that he is an amazing person who was put here for amazing things,” said chattanooga christian school’s carie roncin, director of extended care and summer camp, in a 2021 video. “everything he touches is joyful and wondrous.”