Jason Caputo  0:00  
Hello and welcome. You are listening to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development podcast series, where you'll hear about how the department helps Alaskan workers, job seekers, businesses and communities. I'm Jason Caputo, and we're going to be talking with Division of Vocational Rehabilitation director, Duane Mayes today about a very special person. Gary Donnelly, Alaska recently lost Gary Donnelly, he's a was a relentless advocate for individuals with disabilities named the 1991 American hero in education, by Reader's Digest for making a difference in the lives of his students and for being an inspiration to people everywhere. After a long career as an educator where we started the ACE program, he went on to work as Associate Director of the arc of Anchorage, and he's made many significant contributions along the way. Today I'm speaking with Department of Labor and Workforce Development, DVR directed way Mays who knew and work with Gary Donnelly for large part, both their careers, Dwayne, thank you very much for being here.

Duane Mayes  1:05  
You're welcome. Thank you. Thank you, Jason.

Jason Caputo  1:09  
Director Mayes as an Alaskan who has long worked in the disability field. When did you first meet Gary Donnelly,

Duane Mayes  1:16  
it was actually in 1989. In September, I actually joined the state of Alaska division of vocation rehabilitation. And I think it was about a month later, I got a phone call from Gary Donnelly, and he wanted to have a meeting. So I remember that. So September of 1989, is when I had my first interaction with Gary Dodd.

Jason Caputo  1:40  
And did you have any first impressions when you when you first met him and started working with him?

Duane Mayes  1:47  
Well, he sounded great on phone. And so when he actually came to me, so he came over to my office at that time, for the divisional vacation rotation, we had an office on the campus at the University of Anchorage, Alaska. So he showed up, and I remember that I actually was impressed. He has great eye contact. I thought he came with a sense of purpose. He was very articulate and describing why he was there, and why he wanted to meet with me. So he, he really had a great presence. So when he walked into a room, you knew, you know, once you talk to him, you knew that he really cared.

Jason Caputo  2:27  
And you know, that was a long time ago, still, to still remember that really says something. And of course, now we know, Gary went on to make a lot of significant contributions to Alaskans with disabilities, especially youth. But at that time, do you remember seeing any early signs that that this person you're just meeting here might go on to make such significant contributions?

Duane Mayes  2:54  
Actually, what I appreciated about Gary is I thought, we really connected we, we communicated well with each other, we knew exactly what our objectives were. So I just kind of, in my mind, I'm thinking, this is another gentleman that I've met, that's going to help me in terms of service delivery for Alaskans with disabilities, but in particular, would be youth with disability. So I never in my wildest dream, could predict the impact that he would make on this community, you know, the differences that we can make for Alaskans with disability. So I started to pick up on that as we evolved in our relationship or professional relationship. But in the very beginning, we were just two guys trying to make a difference for students with disabilities.

Jason Caputo  3:45  
And I do want to talk about those significant contributions that he made. But But first, I also just wanted to talk a little bit more about who Gary was, because, you know, when it was announced recently on social media that he had passed away, many people commented positively about it and emotionally about it. And there was a very clear theme. He didn't just work in the disability field. And then, you know, that turned off when he went home when he when the day was that the work day was done. Helping and being an advocate for people with disability seemed to be really a part of his DNA. It was his passion. Many people use that word. Is that right?

Duane Mayes  4:25  
Yes, absolutely. You could definitely see his commitment, his dedication, his derived, you know, very passionate, as a professional, but the one thing that I remember, Jason, is that I had been working with him, you know, from 1989. I think it was probably 1991 or 92. We have at that time that had at least 100 meetings. And one of the staff came to a meeting with him with me. And so Gary had to leave because he had another commitment another obligations. So the staff person, as we were talking said, Do you know that Gary has nine children, though? Wow, nine children? Well, that's great, big family. She goes, No, he adopted every one of the Every Child was adopted into this family. And he has special need kids. I'll never forget that. Wow, you know, oh my gosh, so not only do you work at you, you know, during the day, but when you go home, you have these nine kids. So I had the opportunity to really get to know one of his kids who really does kind of fall Gary's tracks, Sarah Conroy. And, you know, Sarah, had worked, you know, work for the access Alaska, and I'll center Independent Living Center in Fairbanks. And so I got to spend some time with her. But I could see that he had an impact on his on his today, they would be his adult kids. So I was really impressed with the fact that they, him and his wife adopted nine kids, nine children.

Jason Caputo  6:08  
That's, that says a lot and about what who he was what he was about. Now, of course, wanting to make positive change for people with disabilities is one thing. But actually getting those changes to happen. That is not always or ever really an easy task. And, and Gary was able to do that. What do you think were the keys to his success? What allowed him to get those changes made?

Duane Mayes  6:44  
Well, I, I remember a colleague, a long time ago, he was talking about, we were talking about our professionals that we work with, and we, Gary Donnelly came up. And he said, you know, Gary Donnelly is principally based. Never heard of that before, but boy, but a powerful accolade to give someone like Gary, Gary was very driven, you know, he was always about the consumer, the student with a disability really wanted to make a difference for that student. So I remember we were at a meeting. And we, the time Gary had, unfortunately, he acquired a disability referred to as ataxia, the cerebellum, where it starts to impact your speech and your gait. So walking a direct straight line can be very difficult. And this was in Anchorage, and we were at a meeting at a hotel with these other colleagues and talking about trying to improve service delivery for students with disabilities. And we had to go from the second floor down to the first floor to the lobby area. And I remember he were about two thirds of the way down. And he fell in he flew and landed on to the lobby floor. And he was belly down. And so I quickly got down next to him. And he kind of looked at me and he said, Dwayne, if you would mind, could you stay here on the floor with me? I said, Absolutely. He says, you know, this is something that I that I've had to adjust to, you know, I follow a lot. And I don't want people to assume that I'm a drunk. So just stay with me. And give me five minutes. And then I'll be able to gather myself and let's get up and let's get to that meeting. I'm thinking, if that was me, said, you know, that I'm done for the day, I need to go home and lay down because it was quite a fall. But he wouldn't have anything of it. Wow. So I remember laying there with him and this Bellman came over, and I'm certain he was thinking, you know, you guys have probably had too much to drink. And I looked up at him, I asked him if it was okay to tell him the truth. And he said, Absolutely. And I said, this is a friend of mine. He has a disability he fell. So I was able to articulate that to make sure that they understood this. This is not to guys who just got out of the bar at the hotel. We were on our way to a meeting so I'll never forget that story.

Jason Caputo  9:24  
That's amazing perseverance after falling down a flight of stairs. I certainly would have probably called it a day as well at that point, but he it's almost like he he got energy from from from doing what he was doing. I mean, I don't know how you could you could get through that without without getting energy from from your mission. And I think that's that's also interesting. That's just that it. I've heard that problem from a lot of people with different types of disabilities that might affect their gait, their walk or their talking Maybe they slurred their speech because of a disability, but that people often often think that they might be drunk. And they don't realize that, that it's a disability that's causing that. And so, in addition to the difficult work that he was doing, throughout his life in the latter years having a disability and having to deal with those additional challenges and still charging on that's, that's quite an inspiration.

Duane Mayes  10:28  
Well, he was determined, for sure. So

Jason Caputo  10:32  
let's talk about, you know, I think that that paints a very clear picture of some of his shining attributes, let's talk about his shining work. And now, going way back, back in the 1970s. We know that many high schools across the country not just in Alaska, high school age students with moderate cognitive disabilities were separated from other high school students. And an Anchorage School District. It was it was similar, and they were actually located in the Denali, elementary school building. So high school students located in an elementary school building separated from other high school students. So I think we all know now looking back that that has some serious negative implications. Now, when Gary started working at the Anchorage School District in 1975, things were just starting to change, and he was able to work in an important program that was part of that change. Can you talk about that program?

Duane Mayes  11:42  
Sure, a little bit based my sharing with you would be conversations I had with him, because when I first met him, as I said, it was in 1989. So 1975, that would be back in my high school days. So but what he told me, you know, it was all about the student to know, he didn't really care for the the the environment, the structure that was in place. You would rather that students be integrated to mainstream, not just students, but in general adults with disabilities, you know, working alongside with others that are not disabled in the workforce, and so forth. So I think the success that he was that he had with that program really led to changes going forward. So when I met him, he was no longer with the with that component, he was with another component. So I think some of the success that he had with the Denali school system, lead to the next step in his career.

Jason Caputo  12:47  
Right, and I know that that he, that program actually had several steps along the way it started as one program, and then it which made some advancements, but then it it kind of needed another big push to get that more full integration and make the significant changes so that high school students really had the skills to transition after high school into into an integrated setting. And my understanding is that that then became the ACE program.

Duane Mayes  13:28  
Correct. That led to a very powerful program that Gary was directly responsible for setting up the ACE program. Yes.

Jason Caputo  13:38  
And and is the ACE program still going today?

Duane Mayes  13:42  
Yes, I believe it is. It may be called something differently. I was planning on sometimes through time, you know, they they come up the funkier more fancier name, but the the ACE program, a part of the King Career Center. And that's where I actually met Gary. So when I think about that, I think about the the passage of the Workforce Investment Opportunity Act back in 2014. They mandated to you know, public focus rehabilitation program throughout the country, that states who received their federal allotment, are required to take 15% off the top and apply that towards youth, students with disabilities in the educational system, with the intent that we help them to get ready and prepare them for life after school, that they they come out of the educational system with some work based learning experiences, that they have some ideas to what they want to do, maybe a career or trade and so forth. And so at the national level, they felt that was important to apply that so when I when I heard about this, so it's very diverse. started that back in 1989. He did all of that, you know, with the ACE program and getting students with disability, especially those with developmental disabilities, the opportunity to understand what work is like work based learning experiences, exposure to different possibilities in terms of careers. So by the time they didn't graduate from high school, they had an idea. And so it was definitely well worth the investment. And that's where the partnership came, we were able to assist in helping the ACE program, make that difference, investing some of our funds and to giving them those kinds of opportunities, career opportunities. So Gary Donnelly, actually, when I think about the Workforce Investment Opportunity, Gary Donnelly started that back in 1989, when at least when I was there, he was doing we were doing that in 1989.

Jason Caputo  15:56  
So that's that's probably not a big leap to say that, that those early he was an early pioneer of something that then became adopted. And I'm sure there were other pioneers across the country, Gary Donnelly was one of them here in Alaska, that became adopted as the wisdom that that became the workforce WIOA. And, and the ACE program, I should say, is the the title is the alternative career education program. So so after he had so Gary, we've talked about, he had a long career in special education, many accomplishments, we talked about just a few. And then he retired, but he wasn't done. After he retired. He became the associate director of the ark. Did you work with him when he was in that position?

Duane Mayes  16:52  
Absolutely. Yeah. In fact, I remember getting a phone call from a colleague at the ark, who was a part of the the the interview team, or the group that was contemplating Gary and asked me what I thought, of course, you know, I think I thought of, and I still do to this day, think the world of Gary, so he went to work for the ark. And then I go over to see him in his new his new position. And we work together on a variety of service delivery type of components and systems between the Division of Vocational rotation and the arc. So he was the one that encouraged me to become a board member of the arc. And so I did. So I served on their board. And I remember, this is probably I mean, there's so many success stories with Gary but the one that really stands out for me is that the deaf community, the was looking for a place a home, a place where they could park their program and then get the support that they needed in order to serve that community deaf, hard of hearing and deaf line. So Gary and the director and I spoke about that and to make a long story short, we they agreed to and we moved the the deaf program, the nonprofit over to the ark of Anchorage, and gave them a home, gave them away within the building. And so def services were being served out of the ark of Anchorage. And a big reason for that was Gary Donnelly, Gary Donnelly working with me and with the director to make that happen. So, like I said, many accomplishments, but that's the one that stands out for me.

Jason Caputo  18:44  
Wow, yeah, we would have to have a part two to the show, I think to get all of the accomplishments in there because there have been so much lately. Um, you know, thank you so much for for joining us. Did you have any final comments that you want to share?

Duane Mayes  18:58  
I just, you know, unfortunately, he lived a good life. He did great. He was a great father, a great husband, great professional. And to me, you know, a great friend. So I know I when I heard that he had passed on. He had moved down to Oregon in his retirement years. I was quite shocked and devastated thought keep it in my mind. Jason. I thought this guy would live forever. So he's going to be missed.

Jason Caputo  19:32  
We certainly, he certainly has made the lives of many Alaskans, those with and without disabilities so much better for his work. And thank you for sharing some of your memories about Gary with us today. This has been the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development podcast series. Thank you, Director Mays, for talking with us about Gary Donnelly today. And thank you listeners News for joining us we hope you found the show informative and that you'll join us for our next podcast

Transcribed by https://otter.ai