Patti Hackett serves as the Co-Director and Project Lead of the MCHB funded Healthy & Ready to Work National Center headquartered at the Academy for Educational Development (AED) Disability Studies and Services Center in Washington, DC. This progressive agency allowed her to telecommute with benefits from Florida to meet the needs of her family.

For the past decade she has been active on the national level promoting inclusive employment opportunities for youth who have a disability or chronic illness. Patti is widely recognized as one of the most visionary, respected, and productive leaders in our Nation’s ongoing efforts to provide and promote family-centered care and self-determination for children and youth with special health care needs. Effective “behind the scenes”, she has gained the trust and respect of many staff from numerous federal and state agencies through her commitment to “customer-service” and her content expertise in child health policy.

In her current position she provides technical assistance to Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), their funded Projects, American Academy of Pediatrics, state Title V Programs and family and youth leadership organizations. Patti brings an over 30 year commitment to inclusive education, leadership in implementing legislative initiatives and innovative problem solving.

A former teacher in Orlando, FL and Cincinnati, OH, she initiated inclusion and assistive technology classes for elementary and middle school students. She credits her adult son, Glen Gallivan who was technology dependent with providing her with insight and creative vision. Patti earned her MEd in Special Education from Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH and her BS in elementary education from Worcester State College, Worcester, MA.

“Healthy & Ready to Work”, by the way, is a phrase that she coined.