Mark Klaus has dedicated his career and life to the intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) field – starting as a high school volunteer, then a direct support professional, and eventually an executive leader at some of its most respected organizations.
Mark’s path began when a family friend – CEO of a provider agency in Illinois – introduced him to the work. “Like most people in this field, working with individuals with I/DD was something I never thought of as a career and not something I would do for 45 years,” Mark shared with GB Magazine.
In 1981, he took his first direct-support job at 18, when the day program model he joined was considered cutting-edge for its focus on life skills and vocational training. “Vocational training consisted of many things, but one job bothered me: clients were tasked with counting nuts and bolts, then bagging them to pass on to another individual who would dump them out. The cycle continued for hours! I knew more could be done, and I wanted to be involved,” Mark explained…