2025 John F. Kennedy Jr. Award for Direct Support Workforce Advocacy & Leadership Honoree: Bonnie Jean Brooks
The John F. Kennedy Jr. Award for Direct Support Workforce Advocacy & Leadership
Bonnie Jean Brooks (2025)
The National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP) is honored to announce Bonnie Jean Brooks as the recipient of the 2025 John F. Kennedy Jr. Award for Direct Support Workforce Advocacy & Leadership. This award recognizes individuals who have shown exceptional leadership and long-standing commitment to advancing the knowledge, skills, and values of direct support professionals across the country. Bonnie Jean will be recognized in Buffalo, New York at the 2025 NADSP Conference: ELEVATE on September 8th, 2025.
Bonnie Jean Brooks has spent over four decades championing the rights, recognition, and professional development of direct support professionals. Her work has shaped local, state, and national initiatives, always with a focus on justice, equity, and the dignity of those who receive and provide support.
A tireless advocate, Bonnie helped lead groundbreaking efforts to professionalize the direct support workforce, guiding initiatives that embedded competency-based standards, credentialing, and frontline leadership into systems that once overlooked these essential professionals. Her influence has reached training institutions, provider agencies, and state policy tables—ensuring that direct support professionals are no longer viewed as an afterthought, but as the backbone of quality services for people with disabilities.
Bonnie Jean’s advocacy goes far beyond policy. She is a mentor, collaborator, and fierce believer in the power of community. Whether helping families navigate complex service systems or working directly with self-advocates and providers to improve practices, she brings compassion and clarity to everything she does.
Her role in shaping systems change—while keeping the humanity of direct support professionals and the people they support at the center embodies the legacy of John F. Kennedy Jr., who believed deeply in promoting the value of our direct support professionals by advancing their knowledge and skills.
In honoring Bonnie Jean Brooks with the 2025 John F. Kennedy Jr. Award, we not only recognize her lifelong contributions, but we reaffirm the importance of elevating direct support professionals as vital to the fabric of our communities.
Please join us in celebrating Bonnie Jean’s remarkable leadership and lasting impact during the 2025 NADSP Conference.
For more information on previous John F. Kennedy Jr. Award for Direct Support Workforce Advocacy & Leadership Honorees, click here.