The mission of Opportunity Development Centers, Inc. (ODC), is to empower people with disabilities to achieve their work and life goals. After more than half a century, the not-for-profit agency has evolved to remain a community resource for countless individuals, employers and businesses to help make this mission a reality.
When ODC was founded in 1965, employment opportunities after graduation from high school for people with disabilities were less common. At the time, ODC’s model primarily involved contacting businesses and securing contract work for participants, who were trained at ODC facilities in everything from woodworking to packaging and bulk mailing services, and even computer and electronics recycling in recent years.
While participants still engage in some contract work to this day, ODC President Pam Ross reports that the agency has transformed its services to be significantly more community-based than facility-based. In 2019 alone, ODC helped more than 900 people become employed and engaged in their local communities.
“How we do what we do has changed, but at the core we are the same.”
Pam Ross, President of ODC
Ross explains that this shift can be attributed, in part, to a number of new services offered by ODC that assist with on-the-job training and education for people with disabilities. This includes partnering with high schools and the international Project SEARCH initiative to teach soft skills in the classroom, including work and independent life readiness. Through coaching and internships at host business locations, this school-to-work transition service for young adults with disabilities helps them to prepare for and secure competitive employment. According to Ross, the goal is that when students graduate from Project SEARCH, they will be employed or ready for employment in the community. The Division of Vocational Rehabilitation of Wisconsin’s Department of Workforce Development is the funding partner that supports the Project SEARCH sites.
Milkweed Market is a home décor and custom sign business.
For Ross, witnessing participants’ growth and transformation over time—developing friendships, confidence and experience—makes ODC one of the most impactful programs she has ever seen. “How we do what we do has changed, but at the core we are the same,” said Ross.
Throughout the years, ODC has grown in both size and scope, with facility locations in Wisconsin Rapids, Marshfield and Stevens Point that serve nine counties in Central Wisconsin. Each location offers a variety of services for participants, such as employment services, employment training, day services, school transition services and mental health services.
In addition to maintaining several contract services for area businesses, ODC also recently established two of its own social enterprises: Milkweed Market, which is a home décor and custom sign business with products handcrafted by people at all levels of ability, and Ink Splash, a full-service apparel printing business. Both of these businesses operate within ODC’s Wisconsin Rapids location.
Q&A with Pam Ross
Pam Ross, President of ODC
Pam Ross, president of ODC, originally joined the team in 1986 when she was hired as the first job coach for ODC’s emerging Supported Employment program. After devoting more than 33 years to the agency, read what she has to say about lessons learned throughout the years, ODC’s progress and goals for the future.
What are some things you know now that you wish you knew when you first started as a nonprofit leader?
I have always believed that having the right people on your team is essential to success as a leader and as an organization. Now that I have been in the role a long time, I would say it is absolutely the single most important thing—to have the very best people on the team, who are passionate about your organization’s mission, who work well together and are effective in getting things done.
Whether you run a “for profit” business or a not-for-profit organization, it is all about the people. I believe the quality of the organization has everything to do with the quality of leadership and people within the organization.
I would also say it is extremely important to have a great board—people with connections, diverse expertise and people who are excited about the mission of the organization. The executive director has a key role in board development and leadership to keep the board informed and engaged.
What has been your biggest source of pride as executive director?
Without a doubt, I am the most proud of the accomplishments of the people we serve. ODC’s mission is to empower people with disabilities to achieve their work and life goals, and I am always so proud of people when they experience something new, learn new skills, make progress toward a goal, make new connections in the community and get a job that interests them.
At the same time, I am so proud of our team at ODC that supports these individuals on their journeys. We have an amazing team of people who really believe in the people we are serving and put their hearts and souls into helping individuals achieve their goals.
Finally, I am proud of how well our team has done in establishing great relationships with so many people, businesses and organizations in our community. Our community supports us in so many ways, and we are ever grateful for how they help us to achieve our mission.
What are your three biggest accomplishments in your career as a not-for-profit leader?
Custom signs like this are handcrafted by people at all levels of ability for Milkweed Market.
It is not so much about my personal accomplishments, but the accomplishments of the organization that matter. I am proud of ODC’s progress under my leadership—I could not have accomplished anything without great people on the team. We really have incredible people working here!
I am proud of ODC’s strong reputation within the community—with the families of people we serve, our funding sources, employers, donors and the many organizations that partner with us to accomplish our mission. It is so important to have great partners!
I am also proud of the significant transformation we have made as an agency during the past several years, in creating many more opportunities for people to be involved and working in the community.
What are the dominant challenges that you see nonprofit organizations facing and what do you think would be viable solutions?
Funding is always challenging for any not-for-profit organization. For our organization, it has been important for us to diversify our funding streams and supplement the funding with donations and revenue from our social enterprises.
I also think that having an endowment fund to provide stable income on a year-to-year basis is crucial, as funding can fluctuate based on a number of factors. In order to accomplish your mission and retain good staff, money is vital, so anything an organization can do to supplement their funding is a plus.
The other challenge is governance; having an effective, engaged and strategic board requires identifying the right people, and then making sure that the board is well-trained to do its job. It is so important to provide the board governance training, and often not-for-profits may lack the time and resources to provide the training. Having free or inexpensive governance training, materials, videos, etc., would definitely be helpful to many organizations.
How do you see the organization changing in the next two years, and how do you see yourself creating that change?
ODC and our industry, which provides employment services for people with disabilities, has changed significantly throughout the past several years from a primarily center-based model of services to a primarily community-based model of services. We are focusing our efforts on finding opportunities for people to be connected to people and opportunities of interest to them in the community, actively engaged in the community and ultimately employed in the community. We will continue to support people wherever they are at in their personal journeys, and help them to grow and achieve their goals.
We will also continue to respond to emerging needs, and look for ways to serve additional people or ways we can provide different types of support. For example, in the past few years, ODC has added youth transition services to our offerings, to work with younger individuals (14 and older) as they prepare for life and work after high school.
In addition, we are now offering mental health services to support people in the community in reaching their goals to maintain their mental health.
There are many other opportunities to serve people in our communities, and we look forward to continuing to meet those needs.
