Penn-Mar Prioritizes Educational Investment for Team Members

Nurturing growth, learning, and professional excellence across the organization.

By Jackie Stevens 
Penn-Mar Chief Operating Officer 

Jen Skelly at her ANCOR Leadership Academy graduation.

I vividly remember the day I met and interviewed Jen Skelly in 2002 for a Residential Program Manager position. When I asked her the tried-and-true question, “Where do you see yourself career-wise in 5 or 10 years?” she answered, “Truthfully, I’d like to be a stay-at-home mom.” 

That unexpected answer told me everything I needed to know about her integrity and transparent nature. Fortunately for Penn-Mar, Jen has been with us for 24 years and counting! 

Last October, Jen transitioned from Director of PA Operations to a newly created position as Director of Talent Development. She is now responsible for designing, planning, and implementing Penn-Mar’s team member and leadership development strategy and programs for the organization. 

For years, Penn-Mar has made a strong investment in the Career Ladders Program for Direct Support Professionals (DSPs), which Jen helps lead. The program creates a clear path for team members to grow through training, certification, increased pay, and new opportunities. 

A few years ago, we started to expand that focus. Guided by Greg Miller’s belief that “everybody deserves a great boss,” we built on existing leadership programs like Coach Approach and began creating more consistent training and support for team members in supervisory roles. 

Currently, Jen and the Learning and Development team are putting the final touches on a two-day personal leadership training series built on the premise that you can’t expect to lead others well if you don’t have a solid foundation in leading yourself. This course will soon be available to all Penn-Mar team members. 

Jen’s passion and commitment to continuous training have made her a tremendous role model for the people she supervises. She eagerly embraces new ideas that she gets from external training classes and workshops and applies them where the people she supervises can be more successful in their own roles.  

Most recently, she graduated from the ANCOR Foundation Leadership Academy, which she said “offered fresh perspectives and new insights, challenged me to think differently, and deepened my appreciation for the importance of connecting with others.” 

Jen is now serving as a Mentor for other Academy participants. This experience continues to shape how she leads, evolves internal programs, and how Penn-Mar thinks about the future of investment in our team. 

While her new role is focused on investing in growth and development internally, Penn-Mar as an organization is very intentional about pursuing outside educational investments for team members as well. Below are just a few recent examples of these networking, mentoring, and professional development programs. 

Ally Comerci stepped into Jen’s former role as Director of Operations PA and participated in several internal training development programs to prepare her for this new position. A recent graduate from the PAR Excellence Leadership Program, she shares one of her biggest takeaways: 

Ally Comerci (second person to left of PAR logo) poses with her graduate class.

“Historically, I have felt the need to have one or the other: either a business mindset, or a person-first mindset. This program, specifically the business acumen, exposed me to how I can have both simultaneously: a business mindset while always keeping people and mission at the center of the mindset. It has helped me develop my broader operational perspective, allowing me to focus less on daily execution and more on oversight, coordination, and organizational impact.” 

Vanessa Whitman, Director of Operations MD, has worked under Jen for many years and was recently accepted into the ANCOR Foundation Leadership Academy which will kick off April 21st at the ANCOR Connect ’26 Conference in Boston. She shares why Penn-Mar’s investment in team members’ continuing education is important to her: 

Vanessa Whitman (first row, third from right) poses with her ANCOR Leadership Academy class.

“Personally, continuing education motivates me to stay current, improve my skills, and grow within my role. Knowing that Penn-Mar encourages advancement and provides opportunities to learn makes me feel supported and invested in, which increases my dedication, job satisfaction, and long-term commitment to the organization. Ultimately, a team that is continually learning is better equipped to empower the people we serve, and being part of that kind of environment is something I value.” 

Jes Blais, LISS Manager, graduated a month ago from the Dale Carnegie Build Confidence and Leadership Skills program, picking up two additional awards along the way:

“I ended up winning two awards during the Dale Carnegie course — the Crashing Through Award and the Breakthrough Award. What made them really meaningful is that the participants vote for the winners each week, so it felt good knowing the people in the room saw that growth in me. My biggest takeaway from the training was learning to step outside my comfort zone and get comfortable with being uncomfortable. It’s already helped me have more open, honest conversations with the people around me.” 

Whitney Levy, DSP, has been accepted into the DSP Ambassador Program and is headed to Salt Lake City in May to train and network in this national initiative aimed at empowering DSPs to become effective advocates for the direct support workforce: 

“I aim to expand my capacity to lead with clarity, empathy, and purpose while making a meaningful difference in the communities I serve. Penn-Mar’s investment in continuing education and career development is meaningful to me because it shows a genuine commitment to its team members both personal and professional growth. It reinforces that this is a place where I can build a career, not just have a job.”  

Brandi Jones, DSP, has been accepted into ANCOR’s DSP Ambassador Program and will be joining nearly 40 of the nation’s leading DSPs in Washington DC this fall to enhance their ability to tell their stories about the vital role they play in the communities they serve:

“My field of study in college was Law. Having the opportunity to learn how to properly advocate for the people we support is amazing. I learned so much through the Career Ladders program, and I’m excited to be able to dive deeper into person-centered supports through advocacy. I am passionate about working with the people that I support and if I could ever lobby/advocate on their behalf with lawmakers, it would be an honor.” 

All these investments in professional development allow us to deliver on our mission to support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). If team members have supervisors invested in their development. the more likely the people we support will have consistent people in their lives to help them Live Courageously!