CEO Archives - Penn-Mar

Penn-Mar Human Services’ Greg Miller Wins “Most Admired CEOs” Award Second Time

ggorham — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 20:46:54 +0000

– Maryland’s Top Leaders Recognized Annually by Maryland Daily Record –

September 29, 2025

Baltimore – Penn-Mar Human Services, the region’s leading provider of services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), is proud to announce that President & CEO Greg Miller has been named one of 2025’s Most Admired CEOs by the Maryland Daily Record for the second time, having won the award in 2023. The recipients of this prestigious award are exceptional Maryland business leaders who have not only achieved remarkable professional success but show a strong commitment to community service. Their visionary leadership has earned praise from co-workers, board members, and community leaders alike.

“I am delighted to receive this award for a second time, but it truly belongs to the entire Penn-Mar team,” said Miller. “Our success has always been a collective effort. It is the unwavering dedication of our team and boards, the trust and generosity of our partners, and the courage of the people we support that allows us to constantly innovate and advocate for meaningful change. This is a team that strives to be better every day, and this award is a recognition of what we can accomplish together.”

Since beginning his career as a direct support professional (DSP) over 30 years ago, Greg has built an impressive career in human services, culminating in his role as CEO of Penn-Mar in 2012, and has overseen remarkable growth for the organization. Under Greg’s exceptional leadership, Penn-Mar has flourished, now serving over 2,000 adults with IDD annually through the nonprofit’s diverse programs. He has directly influenced the human services industry by helping to lead the shift from outdated “sheltered workshops” and sub-minimum wages to equitable, community-based employment opportunities within local businesses via Penn-Mar’s Customized Employment program. This commitment extends to person-centered initiatives, ensuring services are tailored to individual needs.

His insight was also evident in establishing the nationally recognized “career ladders” program for DSPs, offering education, credentialing, and wage enhancements, resulting in a staff retention rate 30% higher than the national average. In July 2023, under his leadership, Penn-Mar made a historic, $3 million investment in team members, increasing Direct Support Professional (DSP) wages, which continue to climb well above the national average. He also co-led Penn-Mar’s Building Bold Futures campaign, the group’s most successful capital campaign, raising an impressive $7.6 million, despite the global pandemic.

Greg spearheaded Penn-Mar’s Belonging Initiative, a culture-building campaign focused on fostering a workplace where every employee feels truly valued and supported. The program is designed to leverage the unique experiences of the entire team to create a more inclusive and connected environment and further bolster recruitment and retention while improving services for the people Penn-Mar supports.

“It’s hard to imagine a more fitting recipient for the Most Admired CEO Award,” says Penn-Mar Human Services Board Chair Beth Pitts-Madonna. “Greg is a true leader who has a deep understanding of the intellectual and developmental disability community. His profound commitment to the people he serves and their families, coupled with his strategic vision and compassionate approach, makes him an exceptional leader worthy of this recognition.”

Greg’s lifelong commitment to the disability community began in college with an introduction to Target Community & Educational Services. As a DSP, he worked directly with people with IDD to empower them to live life on their own terms. This mission became so personal that he and his wife, Terri, took a significant step and opened Maryland’s first home for children with significant disabilities.

This foundational experience shaped a career trajectory that saw him rise through every level of leadership at Penn-Mar. He spent years in various roles before stepping into the Chief Operating Officer position in 2000, and then becoming CEO, bringing decades of frontline experience to the top leadership role.

Media can contact Roger Mecca at roger@vitaminisgood.com to set up an interview or learn more about Penn-Mar.

About Penn-Mar Human Services

Penn-Mar Human Services is a nonprofit that supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to Live Courageously, whether that’s securing a job, being an active member of their community, building independence, or developing new relationships. Penn-Mar accomplishes this by supporting people on their own unique personal journeys. Founded in 1981, Penn-Mar operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in northern Maryland and southern Pennsylvania. They support 400 adults with disabilities daily through an array of customizable services. www.penn-mar.org.

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Pilot Programs Designed to Transform Talk into Action

nvenn — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 16:00:51 +0000

By Gregory T. Miller, President and Chief Executive Officer, Penn-Mar Human Services | Chief Executive Officer, Penn-Mar Foundation

Gregory Miller
President/CEO Penn-Mar Human Services

For the past 18 months, our Belonging Initiative has challenged us to dissect how the culture we envision and promote at Penn-Mar reflects the actual day-to-day experiences of our team members.

After extensive research and lots of interviews throughout the organization, three specific areas requiring a more intense focus rose to the surface. So for this Phase 3 stage of our initiative, we recently launched three Pilot Programs that will enable us to further address these areas of concern and improvement. They include:

Our Connection
Leadership Engagement
Consistent Practices

We have 64 team members from a cross-section of our organization participating in these Pilot Programs who will be working in sub-groups to give each area the attention it deserves.

If I could choose a single word that percolated up from the dialog during this initiative, it would be around the idea of “connections.” Specifically, how our team members are connected to each other and the larger part of the whole organization.

At Penn-Mar, each team member works in a specific area, a space where they have a certain level of comfort and camaraderie. But when you expand that circle, things have a tendency to break down a bit. Each is “doing their own thing” but they would like a way to interact with people here doing something different.

Facilitating Our Connection discussions will be Megan Murphy, with Jackie Stevens and Kathy Rogers serving as Leadership Sponsors. The goal of the dialog will be to work together to find ways to make this type of interaction possible, satisfying and an ongoing part of our culture and community.

I will lead the Leadership Engagement Pilot and have a two-fold approach in mind for our discussions. The first half of our sessions will involve listening, followed by a personal vision of how our culture needs to evolve to become even more inclusive and more dynamic.

My intent is to help our folks across all programs better understand this vision without getting bogged down by all the details. With that vision in place, Penn-Mar can become the place where people want to make their career.

Heading up the Consistent Practices discussions will be Paul Schiavone and Jen Skelly. Their group will attempt to ascertain if our people and being led consistently throughout the organization or does it depend on their supervisor or program?

This will be a great area where the team can roll up their sleeves to find ways to ensure that every team member is treated with dignity and respect and that all our leaders are curious about what they can learn from those around them and what they need to do to improve outcomes and morale.

It’s important to know that the Pilot Program Leaders are managing, not setting, the agenda and listening intently to what the group is saying.

Many of our challenges stem from the fact that we have multiple divisions and locations throughout the organization. But now is the time to figure out how we can connect to something bigger than where we work and what we do each day. We need to create a process for it.

Much of what we learn through this initiative will find its way into our new Three-Year Strategic Plan. I can assure you, based on our new-found knowledge, that it will look fundamentally different than anything we have developed in the past. Expect to see very strong culture and information technology components included in the plan.

If we can get the day-to-day right for the people we support and our team members, we will be able to create more opportunities and innovative best practices.

It will impact everyone for the better when we do.

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2023 Provided a Strong Foundation for Building Our Bold Future

nvenn — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 17:28:12 +0000

By Gregory T. Miller, President and Chief Executive Officer, Penn-Mar Human Services | Chief Executive Officer, Penn-Mar Foundation

As 2023 comes to a close, so many things come to mind that we as an organization have achieved to build on our mission to help the people we support Live Courageously.

This year we have made significant strides in our efforts to create and sustain a dynamic workplace at Penn-Mar. I am most proud of how our leadership and team members have embraced the six principles from “The Culture Solution.” The book’s subtitle — A Practical Guide to Building a Dynamic Culture so People Love Coming to Work and Accomplishing Great Things Together — perfectly describes the vision I have for our organizational culture.

It is so important that our team members feel truly valued and supported in their efforts. Our Belonging Initiative gave them the opportunity to describe the realities and challenges of their work environment, to express their need to be more connected to leadership, and to identify areas for improvement that could go a long way in ensuring the dynamic culture we all want.

We have taken all this information to heart and are using it to create the foundation for delivering on our brand promise.

Prudent financial decision making has certainly helped us address many of these concerns and suggestions in a more meaningful, immediate way. This is the year we reached and exceeded our historic Building Bold Futures campaign goal, raising $7.6 million to really set the cornerstone for the future of Penn-Mar for the next 20-30 years!

This financial strength has freed up capital for our daily operating funds and wages, allowing us to make great progress in terms of addressing the workforce shortage that has plagued us since COVID.

Of late we have been very successful in attracting and hiring new team members to help lighten the workload of our staff. And in July our Board dedicated $3 million toward wage increases for our Direct Support Professionals (DSPs), signaling our commitment and investment in the workforce that is essential to the delivery of our services. Together these efforts are advancing our vision of providing competitive wages and a healthy work-life balance for all our team members.

To advance our vision of ensuring quality supports we were able to replace a 37,5000 sq. ft. roof on our headquarters building in Freeland; embark on a 10-year community home replacement project; and complete 100% of this year’s defined capital projects.

Our Building Bold Futures campaign secured much of the resources necessary to begin renovations at our Far Hills Day Learning facility which is nearing 100% completion. We look forward to celebrating a Grand Opening with our community partners in early Spring.

These external improvements are a testament to our responsible financial stewardship and more importantly, help us to improve the quality and breadth of the work we do and the enhanced opportunities we can now provide inside our facilities. Even more important is the commitment of our amazing team and we continue to see an increase in the number of our DSPs receiving national accreditation.

I am grateful to all those who have already contributed to our Year End Giving Campaign and encourage all those who have the means to consider including Penn-Mar in your charitable donations.

We certainly don’t worship money, but we do get excited about how financial resources can transform the work we do and the people who deliver our services. Ultimately, it gives the people with disabilities we support the opportunity to live the life of their choosing and provides a comfortable environment for our extremely valuable team members.

Over the course of the next few weeks, there will be holiday celebrations and a gift to once again let our team members know how much we appreciate all they do for Penn-Mar. But because we are a 24/7 operation, some of our DSPs will be sacrificing time with their own families to lend support to the people staying in our residential homes during the holidays.

For them, and all our team members, leadership, Board, and generous donors, I hope you know how grateful I am for our amazing successes in 2023 and the honor of working alongside you today, and every day.

Happy Holidays!

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Creating a Culture that Gives Team Members a True Sense of “Belonging”

nvenn — Thu, 19 Oct 2023 20:25:42 +0000

By Gregory T. Miller, President and Chief Executive Officer, Penn-Mar Human Services | Chief Executive Officer, Penn-Mar Foundation

Gregory Miller
President/CEO Penn-Mar Human Services

My thanks to all of you who have contributed invaluable insights for our “Belonging” initiative by completing questionnaires and participating in a series of “Why” sessions, giving us a more accurate picture of what is going on in the workplace from our team members’ perspective.

Our project partner, Dr. Martin N. Davidson, has issued his final report from these findings to highlight what we are doing well, and to identify those things our team members perceive we can do better.

I’d like to use this blog to briefly address the five areas cited that require further discussion and ways to improve.

Connection…We have 600 employees at Penn-Mar, our services are spread out geographically, and of late, we have on-boarded many new hires. Team members want the opportunity to connect and form relationships with more of their peers and leaders outside of their day-to-day work environment. While we are already addressing some of that, we will be looking into providing more activities and team building opportunities to make those stronger connections happen.
Leadership Engagement…There is a very strong desire from team members to connect with leaders throughout Penn-Mar, including senior managers, directors, administrators and the many folks who provide support throughout the organization. They also want leaders to understand what is actually happening day-to-day on the ground. I personally welcome each new team member on their first day of training but this should not be the last interaction they have with me or with any other of our leaders. We have been trying to lean into this for a while to ensure our leaders support and have more exposure to the daily work of our team members.
Structural Divide…This is the visual perception when people feel they are being treated differently because of where they work and what they do. We are a large, complex organization but that is no excuse for having a structural divide. We need more consistency in how our team members are managed and in their actual day-to-day experience. This consistency needs to extend across all of the organization’s programs, regardless of the department or site location.

People Practices…Our team members want more opportunities to improve their compensation and professional development. We have taken a number of steps in this area, with new compensation structures and our Career Ladders program for Direct Support Professionals (DSPs). But there’s more to do. We need to continue to keep our compensation scales competitive and support our team members in creating career paths.

Communications..There is a perceived need for better communications across the organization relating to tasks, expectations, activities, and working relationships. But it’s more than just about communications. The bigger issue is how to get team members engaged with the communications. We have to explore new and better ways to get our messages across, and noticed.

It’s important for all our team members to know that we are taking this feedback to heart. It’s not a “check-off-the-box” and move on exercise. My challenge will be to work with our leadership team and directors to take what we’ve learned, continue to listen to team members and develop a successful “Culture Solution” around each issue to create and sustain a dynamic workplace at Penn-Mar.

Only then can we hope to create a consistency in our culture designed to respect and support team members, helping them to be successful in their job — regardless of where they work or whom they work for — and providing a place where they can live their best life that gives them a true sense of “Belonging.”

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Penn-Mar Human Services’ CEO Greg Miller Named One of 2023’s “Most Admired CEOs”

nvenn — Mon, 02 Oct 2023 19:59:01 +0000

- Maryland Daily Record’s Annual Award Honors Maryland’s Top Leaders -

October 2, 2023

Baltimore – Penn-Mar Human Services, the region’s leading provider of services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), is proud to announce that President & CEO Greg Miller has been named one of 2023’s Most Admired CEOs by the Maryland Daily Record. This prestigious award is presented to exceptional Maryland business leaders who have demonstrated remarkable achievements in their professional endeavors, a strong commitment to community service, and have garnered accolades from co-workers, board members, and community leaders for their exemplary leadership and visionary contributions.

Greg has served as CEO of Penn-Mar since 2012 and has an illustrious career in human services spanning over three decades. Under Greg’s visionary leadership, Penn-Mar has experienced remarkable growth. What once began with a handful of families operating out of a church basement, has evolved into an organization with over 500 dedicated employees providing essential services to more than 400 individuals each year across Maryland and Pennsylvania through its three locations. Additionally, over 1,000 individuals with IDD benefit from Low Intensity Support Services (LISS) provided by Penn-Mar.

“Greg is the epitome of humble servant leadership that impacts people’s lives,” says William T. Yanavitch II, Chair of the Penn-Mar Human Services Board of Directors. “As Greg would acknowledge, this recognition reflects the amazing team of Penn-Mar people with whom he has surrounded himself to help the people that we support live courageous lives. His inspiring and passionate leadership is contagious in empowering our community to become partners in our mission.”

Greg’s dedication to the disability community was ignited during his senior year at Shippensburg University when he was introduced to Target Community & Educational Services Inc., a nonprofit committed to supporting people with disabilities in Westminster, Md. His professional journey began as a direct support professional, working closely with individuals with IDD to empower them to lead lives of their choosing. Soon after, with his wife Terri, Greg opened Maryland’s first home for children with significant disabilities as part of this pioneering initiative. He gradually worked his way up the leadership ladder at Penn-Mar, assuming a wide range of positions along the way, before becoming Chief Operating Officer in 2000 and ultimately, CEO 12 years later.

“I am honored and humbled to receive this award. Any success I have achieved is due to the dedication of each member of the Penn-Mar team,” says Miller. “As an organization, we are constantly looking for new ways to improve the supports we provide while advocating for sound public policy that will create additional opportunities for those in the IDD community. Our amazing team members continue to exceed expectations and while we are not perfect, we strive to be better each day. Due to the collective efforts of all our partners, private and public, we continue to forge new ways to achieve the goals of our organization and more importantly, the goals of the people we support.”

In 2022, Greg oversaw the launch of Penn-Mar’s most ambitious fundraiser to date, the $7.5 million Building Bold Futures campaign, which was successfully completed in March 2023. In July 2023, Penn-Mar made a historic, $3 million investment in team members, increasing Direct Support Professional (DSP) wages – which are limited due to government funding constraints – and positioning Penn-Mar to attract and retain talented DSPs, who are the frontline professionals providing vital services to people with disabilities.

Greg has also played a pivotal role in Penn-Mar’s Belonging Initiative, an internal culture campaign aimed at fostering a workplace where every employee feels valued, heard, and supported. This initiative seeks to harness the collective life experiences of Penn-Mar’s team members to create a more inclusive and connected work environment.

Penn-Mar congratulates Greg on this well-deserved recognition and looks forward to continued growth and success under his leadership.

Media can contact Roger Mecca at roger@vitaminisgood.com to set up an interview or learn more about the organization.

About Penn-Mar Human Services

Penn-Mar Human Services is a nonprofit that supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to Live Courageously, whether that’s securing a job, being an active member of their community, building independence, or developing new relationships. Penn-Mar accomplishes this by supporting people on their own unique personal journeys. Founded in 1981, Penn-Mar operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in northern Maryland and southern Pennsylvania. They support 500+ adults with disabilities daily through an array of customizable services.

www.penn-mar.org.

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Remembering Jon Kinsley: An Incredible Ambassador for Penn-Mar

Fri, 03 Feb 2023 22:30:08 +0000

By Gregory T. Miller, President and Chief Executive Officer, Penn-Mar Human Services | Chief Executive Officer, Penn-Mar Foundation

Our entire Penn-Mar community has been in mourning since last week when we learned that our dear friend and tireless supporter Jon Kinsley, 59, and his brother Tim, 57, died together in an avalanche while on a ski trip in British Columbia, Canada.

Jon was an executive at the York-based Kinsley Enterprises, the parent company of Kinsley Construction and Kinsley Properties, and Tim was the president of the real estate development company, Kinsley Properties.   

Most recently, Jon and Beth Pitts-Madonna co-chaired Penn-Mar’s $7.5 million Building Bold Futures Capital Campaign and it is heartbreaking to know he won’t be with us when we celebrate this historic achievement at our March Gala.

Truly, we have lost one of Penn-Mar’s most passionate advocates.

To my knowledge, prior to his relationship with Penn-Mar, the disability community was not part of Jon’s life experience which made his commitment to our organization that much more impressive.

His first exposure to Penn-Mar was when he was a guest at one of our events in 2008. Our mission immediately captured him and from that moment on, he never looked back.

Jon joined our Board of Directors in 2008, served as Vice Chair for three more years, and was our Board Chair from 2016-2019. I know Jon was presented with an unlimited amount of opportunities to serve on Boards in our community and yet he chose to stick with us for 15 years and counting. He was an incredible ambassador for Penn-Mar.

I think what I always appreciated most about him was his thoughtful approach to anything he said or did. Emotionally he was never too high or too low. He was always rock solid.

When we had challenges, Jon preferred action to hand wringing. He was always about keeping the focus on how we could get to the “next step.” He understood at a very deep level how all of our Board actions impacted the men and women we support and why it was imperative to be financially strong and forward thinking to alleviate any risk to them, our team, or our business strategy.

Jon loved our mission and always wanted the people we support to be full participants in the community. He appreciated the legacy implications of our capital campaign and the resources it would provide to ensure that our organization can continue our tradition of innovation. And most importantly, he embodied the leadership qualities that were so necessary to create the energy and generosity that would propel us to fulfilling our financial and strategic goals.

I believe Jon’s commitment to Penn-Mar was borne out of gratitude for all the blessings and good fortune he experienced in this life. The Kinsley family is known for their generosity to countless charitable causes in the community. That is why we chose Jon’s parents, Bob and Anne, to be our first honorees at our 2017 Gala.

Just the way Jon carried himself was so inspirational. When you engaged him in conversation, it was like talking to an old friend. He was the most down-to-earth guy you could ever meet. Jon never had an agenda other than what was best for Penn-Mar and he was always 100 percent attentive and interested in the issue at hand.

Although he was a very busy man with many family commitments, Jon was always there for me in my role as CEO and made many personal sacrifices to guide us on the path we are on today. Jon was my friend and I already miss him.

I’m sure there were many times when Jon’s commitment to Penn-Mar kept him from his family, especially his wife Pam, who was so gracious in sharing Jon with us. All of all us at Penn-Mar are so grateful for the precious time he spent with us over the years. Our hearts go out to Jon’s family for their tremendous loss.

We are so honored that gifts in Jon’s memory are being directed to The Penn-Mar Foundation. His commitment and leadership to our organization did not die with him on the mountain. His immeasurable contributions in building bold futures for people with disabilities will be with us for generations to come.

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2023: Resolute in Achieving Our Mission

Tue, 24 Jan 2023 18:24:42 +0000

By Gregory T. Miller, President and Chief Executive Officer, Penn-Mar Human Services | Chief Executive Officer, Penn-Mar Foundation

Gregory Miller
President/CEO Penn-Mar Human Services

I would like to begin my New Year message with a shout out to those team members who worked long hours during the holidays with the men and women at Penn-Mar who needed your support. While many of us, including myself, had the luxury of getting away during this time, many of you did not.

Our business is not a typical one where things come to a crawl in late December. The people we support depend on us every day, no matter what the season. I cannot thank our DSPs enough for the commitment they bring to their jobs every day and the sacrifices they make to advance our mission to help people live courageously.

Now it’s time for all of us to recharge our batteries and be resolute in fulfilling that mission.

In 2023 we will be focusing on three prongs of our strategic plan that fit together in a way that is most beneficial for the people we support, the team that supports them, and best demonstrates to those who support us how effectively we run our organization.

These strategic drivers focus on:

Our team member experience and how we continue to recruit, retain and develop the best in them.
Our commitment to a person-centered support process to help people gain control over their lives as much as possible.
The development and management of a technology infrastructure to improve the experience of the people we are supporting.

When people ask what is most important to me as the leader of Penn-Mar, my answer is always our mission: to support people to live courageously in pursuit of their best life.

Nothing supersedes that priority. But its success depends on our team members being healthy, well trained and motivated. If we are not firing on all cylinders, our ability to meet our primary mission effectively is compromised.

Our person-centered approach to employment, community inclusion, residential choice and so much more requires our team members to be fully engaged in their area of expertise. We all need to work purposefully to assist the people we support with what they need, when they need it.

In 2023, technology will be playing an ever-increasing role in helping us to run our business and advance our mission. You know what they say: Technology is not a problem until it is. Then it’s a big problem (just as Southwest Airlines)!

We have always recognized the value and importance of how we utilize technology. Our challenge is that we have so much information living in so many different places. The goal is not necessarily about getting more information, rather, how to manage and utilize the information we already have to be more effective and streamlined.

Technology will never be a replacement for person-to-person human contact but it is a catalyst for moving the value of our supports further, faster.

My hope is that this year we will be able to manage COVID instead of being managed by it. Let’s instead put the focus on looking ahead, prioritizing what we need to accomplish:

Ensuring a Person-Centered culture in all of our supports
Celebrating our differences through our new “Belonging” initiative;
Enhancing our technology infrastructure;
Continuing our advocacy for meaningful DSP wage increases.
Closing out our $7.5 million “Building Bold Futures” Campaign” at the 31st Annual Penn-Mar Gala in March

All of these endeavors are necessary to support courageous living for the people we interact with each day. We can never lose sight of that goal.

My thanks for all of your contributions to Penn-Mar’s success in 2022 and a wish for good health, prosperity, and a balanced life in the New Year for you and your families.

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A Good Place to Learn & Grow Together

Fri, 16 Dec 2022 20:48:45 +0000

By Gregory T. Miller, President and Chief Executive Officer, Penn-Mar Human Services | Chief Executive Officer, Penn-Mar Foundation

Gregory Miller
President/CEO Penn-Mar Human Services

It’s interesting to me that there are parts to every year that feel similar to the last and yet each year is so fundamentally different than the one before.

The COVID years took us to a whole new level. So many decisions were adapted to the vagaries of the pandemic. And while it’s important to keep an eye on that experience, it’s definitely time to move on and look forward.

I’m happy to say that we are now in a good place as an organization. Our team knows what the challenges are and we are addressing them with a number of strategies to help us do better where needed.

We’re confident that the programs, advocacy and activities we have in motion right now will give us the strong platform we need to build a successful 2023.

There have been many changes in the past few years as to how we are regulated and paid but I see these areas as being somewhat normalized now.

Staffing remains a challenge but we have a good handle on what we need to do strategically to resolve this.

You may recall that we introduced our “Belonging” initiative in the late summer to help us get an accurate picture of what is going on in our organization from the perspective of our team members.

The first phase of this three-part venture was a discovery process that involved sending questionnaires out to all employees to gather their feedback on a variety of work-related issues. We had a 70 percent participation rate and are currently reviewing all of the responses.

I would be concerned if I thought we were trying to go from a 2 to an 8 improvement rating but from the responses so far, we are more likely looking at a 7 to 10 leap.

Our team is committed to ensuring a posture of learning and understanding on this journey and we recognize that while this work is not easy, the right attitudes with a strong dose of humility will make us all better.

To stay true to our mission to work more effectively, it’s important for us to continue to learn and grow together and respect all the differences among us.

Change is not always about just fixing bad things but more often than not about improving on things that could be even better.

It is my personal goal that everyone at Penn-Mar feels free to contribute fully to this process and knows they are valued.

To ensure that we are continually able to expand and enhance new and existing services at Penn-Mar, we launched our largest-ever fundraising endeavor this year, a $7.5 million Building Bold Futures Campaign. We are coming down the home stretch and fully expect to cross the finish line at our 31st Annual Gala in March.

There are just so many good things happening throughout the organization right now including our laser focus on person-centered processes, the recovery of the employment market with many more work opportunities for people with disabilities, and the improved lines of communications and understanding with our families.

Our Consulting Group is now serving clients in six states with their training and technical assistance programs for providers. They are also speaking at national conferences, positioning Penn-Mar as a leader in the field. All this at no additional expense to the organization.

In the coming year, I am very excited to work with our new Board Chair, William T. Yanavitch, II, and thank outgoing chair Doug Rein for supporting the team and me with steady leadership and clear thinking in the midst of the pandemic.

I look forward to engaging with our entire team in 2023 and welcome your counsel to help us chart the organization’s next steps towards an even greater New Year.

My very best wishes for a happy, healthy holiday season.

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“Building Bold Futures” Campaign Barreling Down the Home Stretch

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 16:03:52 +0000

By Gregory T. Miller, President and Chief Executive Officer, Penn-Mar Human Services | Chief Executive Officer, Penn-Mar Foundation

Gregory Miller
President/CEO Penn-Mar Human Services

When Kathy Rogers, Penn-Mar’s Chief Advancement Officer and I presented the idea of launching a major capital fundraising campaign in the midst of the pandemic to our Board of Directors, they were understandably skeptical of the timing. As we shared the vision of our campaign, that skepticism evolved quickly into very strong support. After researching what we believed was possible, their reaction when they heard that our fundraising goal was $7.5 million also evolved quickly from wondering if we were a bit too ambitious to asking, “how can we help?”

Yet less than two years later, our “Building Bold Futures Campaign” is nearing 90 percent of this audacious goal.

At stake is nothing less than the future of Penn-Mar Human Services. We need to ensure its growth and survival for the people we support today, and for those children born today who will need our services 18-21 years from now. With that as a guiding principle, the Campaign addresses key elements that government funding does not support but are necessary to secure the organization’s future.

Penn-Mar’s essential services rely on our ability to attract and retain a critical workforce of Direct Support Professionals (DSPs). Our nationally recognized Career Ladders Program for DSPs offers much-needed credentialing and performance-based incentive pay, funded through the growth of the Michael James Pitts Endowment.

To better enhance our service delivery and support our team members, we recently launched a “Belonging Initiative” to help our current and future workforce experience a gratifying career path. To improve the quality of life and increase independence for the people we support, there is a continuing need for accessible transportation vehicles and new technology.

Finally, the Campaign funds are earmarked for the completion of construction at our Far Hills site to greatly reduce the expense and challenges of running multiple locations, and to our General Endowment Fund that is used to support innovation and emerging needs that fall in line with our mission of supporting Courageous Living.

Personally, I have never been tasked with raising money to this degree, but I was well aware that as the primary leader for Penn-Mar I couldn’t approach folks asking for their generosity if I wasn’t prepared to step-up myself in a meaningful way.

My wife Terri and I have made a 5-year sacrificial pledge to support the Campaign and we have subsequently increased our donation. As a family, it is the largest pledge we have ever made to any cause. This investment in Penn-Mar was not as easy as just dashing out a check; it is a financial sacrifice for us. Yet we believe strongly in the impact this donation will have for the organization and feel fortunate that we are able to make the commitment.

Our board of directors, community partners and many of our team members have also stepped up in a big way in making sacrificial gifts to our campaign. We have done so, not seeking credit, but seeking the strongest future for Penn-Mar which affects lives each day.

A friend of mine working on a Church fundraiser says, “God shovels in and we shovel out and He has a bigger shovel!” I can’t top that line and while I’m not good at asking for money, I am good at sharing stories and encouraging people to invest in our future.

My satisfaction during this fundraising period has been about much more than the dollar amounts we’ve secured. It comes from being able to tell compelling stories that have created a contagious energy and excitement around our passion for our mission. It’s heartening to see so many people wanting to Live Courageously with us.

Our “Building Bold Futures Campaign” will culminate at the March Gala. Your donations, large and small, will help us meet our $7.5 million goal to successfully cross the finish line.

If you are a Year End Annual Appeal contributor, your donation will help us raise that additional $500,000 to meet our Campaign goal and strengthen our organization both now and in the future. 

We are grateful for whatever you can invest to help us make both of these fundraising initiatives a success.

From our family to yours, we wish you a Thanksgiving holiday filled with an abundance of happiness and good health!

For more information about Penn-Mar’s “Building Bold Futures Campaign,” visit https://buildingboldfutures.penn-mar.org/

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5 Leadership Skills I Learned Along the Way

Thu, 13 Oct 2022 17:27:35 +0000

By Gregory T. Miller, President and Chief Executive Officer, Penn-Mar Human Services | Chief Executive Officer, Penn-Mar Foundation

Eric Pines from Authority Magazine asked me “What are the 5 things you wish someone had told you when you first started your career?” I’d like to share the lessons I learned over the years that might serve as a guide for you as well.

# 1: Cultivate the habit of reading.

Gregory Miller President/CEO Penn-Mar Human Services

It wasn’t until much later in my career that I fell in love with reading and learning. Through the encouragement of a mentor, I began reading to grow as a leader. This discipline has changed the way I process information and has given me an understanding of viewpoints I would never have considered. Reading a variety of books from multiple perspectives has allowed me to empower others who don’t think the way I do, but are equally, or in some cases, more effective than I am. One of our largest restructures as a company was fueled by a great book I read and shared with our team.

#2: Don’t fear endings

In looking back over my career and my life in general, I can see that I wasted time being afraid to bring tasks, projects, and sometime relationships to a healthy ending. At Penn-Mar, we had a line of business that needed to be closed and my growing understanding of necessary endings allowed me to pull the plug. This decision was greeted with much gratitude, as no one else was willing to stop trying to save something that was not worth saving. Rarely do endings come too soon.

#3: Lead with values instead of beliefs

As a strong, decisive leader, I also have very strong beliefs. Many times this has served me well and in most cases, it has served my leadership well. There have been some instances, however, where I came to understand that my strong beliefs could shut down conversation or offend someone who doesn’t share the same beliefs. So I am still learning to lead with my values, and our organizational values, which provides a better platform for considering multiple perspectives and for ultimately reaching better outcomes. Despite the political environment we find ourselves in, compromise is not a dirty word. And when we are discussing values, there is usually a better likelihood of finding common ground.

#4: Pay attention and attend to others especially when I really don’t want to.

As a leader with a touch of Attention Deficit Disorder, I tend to reach conclusions very quickly, sometimes before the person I am talking with has even finished talking. My wife has been my biggest cheerleader in helping me to stay attentive with a few timely kicks under the table. In all seriousness, my pace is not an excuse for ensuring respect and empathy in a conversation and I know I have hurt people by appearing rude or unengaged once I got what I thought I needed out of the conversation. In the role of leader, I am my best when my team is fully engaged. I share the responsibility of ensuring this and I have shared this weakness with my team and given them permission to call me out on this if necessary.

#5: Faith is a leadership weapon, not something to avoid or be afraid of.

As a Christian, there is nothing more important to me than my faith. It took me a few years to figure out that there really is no separation between the Church Greg, the Home Greg and the Work Greg. Leadership is a calling, and within that calling, the power of my leadership has been fueled by my faith. Psalms 37:4 says, “Trust in the Lord and do good, dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.”  While my faith is not to be expected or ever imposed upon others around me, I cannot be expected to abandon it when I go to work. In fact, it is what provides me the catalyst to do my work at the highest level. Cultivating faithfulness matters to me and is a help to others.

In my work at Penn-Mar, I have performed more funerals and counseled more people that I can count. In these vulnerable moments, my faith has allowed me to affirm the value and dignity of life for all those we support as well as our team members.

To read the complete Q&A with Eric Pines of Authority Magazine, visit https://medium.com/authority-magazine/disability-inclusion-in-the-workplace-gregory-t-a6a9a5ef0409

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