For questions regarding Young Adult Transition Corps, please contact either of the following people
Dr. Fish is Director of Family and Employment Services at the Nisonger Center. He is founder of the Next Chapter Book Club and has extensive experience developing programs that promote community inclusion, independence, and productivity for individuals with intellectual disabilities and their families. He is the co-founder of the What’s Next? program that was recently recognized as a model transition program.
Dr. Fish has authored or co-authored over two million dollars in external grants and contracts. He was a 1999 recipient of a Mary Switzer Merit Research Fellowship from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. Dr. Fish is a Fellow in the American Association on Mental Retardation and is a member of the Awards and Fellowship Committee. Dr. Fish received his Masters in Social Work from Boston University and Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Counseling from The Ohio State University. His clinical and research interests center on family support, employment, independence, and community inclusion for individuals with disabilities and their families.
Jillian graduated Summa Cum Laude from The Ohio State University in 1999 and received her Master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling in 2004. She is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, member of the International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals, and serves on the Board of Directors of United Cerebral Palsy of Central Ohio.
At the Nisonger Center, Jillian manages programs that emphasize community inclusion and lifelong learning for adolescents and adults with mental retardation and developmental disabilities (MR/DD). These programs include the Next Chapter Book Club, a community-based literacy program for adolescents and adults with MR/DD with over 70 clubs in 13 states, and the Ohio AmeriCorps Inclusion Project, a statewide initiative to increase the number of people with disabilities participating in national and community service. She directs Young Adult Transition Corps, an AmeriCorps program of the Nisonger Center, which promotes community service, community access, and social skill development for youth with disabilities who are transitioning from school to adult life. Jillian also instructs the Nisonger Center’s online Orientation Program for new employees in the field of MR/DD.
Jerra graduated from Muskingm College with a Bachelors degree in History and concentration in Political Science. She has been doing research under the direction of Tom Fish for the Next Chapter Book Club since January of 2007.
Jerra has spent many years as an EMT/Fire Fighter with the New Concord Fire Department. She spends most of her free time volunteering in activities such as organizing fill-the-boot for the New Concord Fire Department, answering phones for the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s telethon, and overseeing residential concerns on the Committee Board of the Evergreen Retirement Village.
Visit the YATC Member page for more information on the 2007-2008 YATC Members.
To contact any of our Advisory Committee members, please visit our Advisory Committee Page.
To contact any of our Sponsors or Partners, please visit our Sponsor and Partners page for links to their Websites and other contact information.
