We are so pleased to welcome Shelby Bates to the National Coordinating Center team! She provides critical administrative support to the whole team and their many projects, and we can’t wait to see all she can help us accomplish.
For the last four years, Shelby has worked as the outreach coordinator for Colorado’s consortium for inclusive higher education, IN! where her job centered on raising awareness of college options for students with ID in Colorado. She worked with K-12 teachers, state partners, and prospective families and students from across the state. Her background is in social work, with specific interests in community organizing and civic engagement. Through this experience Shelby has gained skills and experiences that will greatly benefit the NCC.
In her personal life, Shelby loves spending time with her family. She has 5 siblings (!); the youngest has autism and really impacted her experiences growing up. Shelby tells us she enjoy puzzles (jigsaw, crossword, and the like), knitting (anything that’s warm), reading books, and hiking. During the pandemic, she picked up some new hobbies including sewing costumes, social bicycling, and baking cakes. Shelby lives in Boulder, Colorado with her partner, Nick, who is a PhD student at University of Colorado.