Meet the Team
Academy Program Director
Melanie Moore
Melanie provides oversight and guidance to the Academy, including developing curricula and serving as an instructor. She is a member of the Maryland DSP Training Consortium and helped develop the DSP II and Frontline Supervisor trainings. Melanie is a certified trainer for Mandt, DSP II, Coach Approach, and Sociocracy.
Prior to joining Jubilee in 2018, she taught in South Korea, New York state, and Montgomery County Public Schools. Melanie holds a master’s degree in the art of teaching, is a Society of Human Resources Certified Professional (SHRM-CP), and is the recipient of Jubilee’s Exceptional Customer Service Award and Respect and Human Dignity Award.
Nurse Supervisor
Azah Afon
Azah oversees Jubilee’s team of nurses who provide personalized care to approximately 150 adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She teaches the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Administration’s required Certified Medication Technician course at the Academy, ensuring all direct support professionals are trained and qualified to administer medication.
In addition to being a registered nurse, Azah has completed the Maryland DDA Certification Package. She received her Bachelor of Science, Nursing from Marymount University, has clinical experience in the hospital setting, and has worked with people with I/DD for more than a decade. Azah is a member of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. She is fluent in French.
Academy Instructor
David Bond
David serves as one of the Academy’s lead instructors, teaching courses that build skills for Direct Support Professionals. His work helps learners deepen their understanding of human rights, human behavior and crisis intervention, and leadership development.
David came to Jubilee in 2024 after a more-than-three-decade career in teaching and serving as a team leader. He provided enrichment opportunities, ran county-wide and school-based initiatives, and presented at national, state, and county conferences and meetings. He also has experience coaching high school football, basketball, and lacrosse.
Academy Coordinator
Haley Clemmer
Haley works to ensure a seamless training experience for learners by overseeing the Academy’s day-to-day operations. She began her career as a direct support professional supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
In 2024, Haley joined Jubilee with more than 15 years of clinical experience in the human services field. Haley holds master’s degrees in occupational therapy and nonprofit management and philanthropy.
Training Coordinator
Benies Gyedu
Benies teaches CPR/First Aid, Mandt, and DSP II at the Academy. She joined Jubilee in 2022 and oversees new hire orientation and training. Her background in human resources management includes helping adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities develop job skills and find employment. Benies is also a Registered Behavior Technician.
Breaking Barriers Senior Manager
Lisa Lorraine
Lisa leads Jubilee’s Breaking Barriers program, launched in 2021 to help underserved communities learn about and access disability services. She designed the Cultural Humility training offered at the Academy, which helps learners explore how to be more skillful and curious in their interactions with people from other cultures. Lisa holds a master’s in education, is fluent in Spanish, and serves as board vice president for the nonprofit Direct Support for Immigrants.
Director of Community Engagement
Julia McCune
Julia provides leadership for Jubilee’s vibrant programs that create opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to build friendships and engage in the broader community. In collaboration with Melanie Moore, she developed the curriculum for a 12-part series based on Jubilee’s core values. The series includes Transformative Communication, which she co-teaches in the Academy. Before joining Jubilee in 2014, Julia worked in the disability field at Friendship Community in Pennsylvania and L’Arche Kilkenny in Ireland.
Employee Navigator
Amy Taylor
Amy’s work builds a positive workplace culture and provides opportunities to increase employee input into organizational decision-making. She joined Jubilee in August 2022 with broad experience in HR, psychiatric rehabilitation, and high school admissions. Amy is a certified trainer for Coach Approach and holds a master’s degree in industrial and organizational psychology.
Training Coordinator
Sadé Thompson
Sadé is a certified trainer for DSP II and Mandt. In addition to teaching at the Academy, she helps Jubilee’s DSPs stay in compliance with DDA trainings. Sadé joined Jubilee in 2011 and served as a DSP for nine years, and then as a staff recruiter. She brings her lived experience as a support professional to her training sessions for current DSPs.