An Excellence in Civic & Community-Engaged Partnerships Awardee

Tuesday, September 1st at 1:00 PM ET (12:00 PM CT / 11:00 AM MT / 10:00 AM PT)

Join us this summer for a deep dive into the 2026 Campus Compact Programming & Partnership Impact Award winners. This session, you will hear from the Inclusive Research at the Kansas University Center on Disabilities Partnership.

The Kansas University Center on Disabilities (KUCD) is an innovative community-engaged disability research center at the University of Kansas. All of their research projects and contracts embed a focus on partnering with the disability community in co-developing critical research directions, co-establishing accessible and inclusive research approaches, and co-disseminating findings in plain language for immediate adoption in the disability community and the systems that support them.

KUCD currently operates over 40 federal grants or state contracts to advance meaningful outcomes in education, employment, and community and family support for people with disabilities aligned with our mission to strengthen communities so that everyone can learn, work, feel included, and thrive. Their approach to inclusive, community-engaged research seeks to (a) build employment pathways for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities on research teams at KUCD and beyond and (b) engage the broader disability community in all parts of our research activities and outcomes.

Foundational to their approach has been a strong and longstanding, community-engaged partnership with the Self-Advocacy Coalition of Kansas (SACK). SACK is a statewide advocacy organization led by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities across Kansas that brings together and empowers people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to speak up for their rights. SACK is an essential partner in the work at KUCD.

Brad Linnenkamp

Brad Linnenkamp is an Assistant Researcher at the KU Center on Disabilities and previously worked for the Self-Advocate Coalition of Kansas for 20 years. Brad has led and contributed to nationally funded research on Supported Decision Making, self-determination, and community engagement for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Brad sits on many state and national committees including the Disability Rights Center of Kansas, Employment First Commission, and the Self-Advocate Resource and Technical Assistance Center (SARTAC) National Advisory Board.

Heidi Akers

Heidi Akers joined SACK in April of 2025 after a decade of volunteering at the Annual SACK Conference. She currently serves SACK as the Advocacy Coordinator. She brings a fresh perspective and lots of technology related skills to the table for SACK. Heidi grew up only knowing advocacy even if she didn’t know that’s what it was called. It’s the right thing to do! She enjoys playing video games and napping with her bulldog, Aggie, who also happens to be an unofficial SACK employee!

Karrie A. Shogren

Karrie A. Shogren, Ph.D. is Director of the Kansas University Center on Disabilities (a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities), Senior Scientist at the Schiefelbusch Life Span Institute, and Ross and Marianna Beach Distinguished Professor in the Department of Special Education all at the University of Kansas. Dr. Shogren’s research focuses on assessment and intervention in self-determination for people with disabilities. Dr. Shogren has led multiple grant-funded projects, including assessment validation and efficacy trials of self-determination interventions in school and community contexts.

Francis Mackinnon

As part of the KUCD Communications and Dissemination team, Francis supports the translation of research into accessible, engaging materials. Using principles of universal design, they create web pages, infographics, reports, and multimedia content to summarize and share the knowledge and resources generated by KUCD research projects. Drawing on their background in library science, Francis supports the Center’s National Information and Reporting System (NIRS) database reporting process to catalog Center activities and impacts. They are proud to co-lead KUCD’s Plain Language team, working to ensure that everyone can access information and participate in the research process. 

Phillip McGruder

Phillip McGruder joined SACK in June of 2020. He is a Kansas City, KS native. Phillip graduated from Washington High School in 2010 and the University of Kansas in 2017. During Phillip’s time at the University of Kansas, he created the campus group “Believe Autism Matters” (BAM). BAM was created to bringing awareness and education about autism. He has also been a member of the Kansas Disability Caucus since January of 2021. Before Phillip arrived at SACK, he spent the last 2 years working for the Kansas City Chiefs. He currently works for them during the NFL season as an Event Services team member. Because of his personal experience with being on the spectrum, his focus is to support families with individuals on the autism spectrum and to work with community partners to build understanding and find ways to better support these individuals and families in the community.