Leigh Monichon

About Leigh Monichon

An experienced Advocacy professional who works collaboratively with the student’s best…

Experience

1. Special Education Advocate, Co-founder

   Aspire Advocacy

   Sep 2013 — Present

   The special education maze is difficult to navigate - most people can’t do it alone. The stakes are high, the path convoluted and confusing. Advocacy Associates exists to help families obtain the individualized services their child needs to receive what is rightfully theirs - a free and appropriate public education. Aspire Advocacy can help. Susie and I each have 20 years of professional and personal experience with negotiation and conflict resolution in special education. It began when my son with autism entered the service delivery system. He did not fit into standard programs, and there were challenges getting appropriate services, including a way to communicate. From finding him a functional mode of communication, persuading the school to use it, negotiating for him to be moved from the most restrictive environment to full-time inclusion with his peers, I pleaded/cajoled/negotiated. AND the result? Today, he attends college full time. I was able to persuade agencies that \"individualized” simply meant adapting the teaching process to facilitate his learning. The next task was to organize parents to negotiate with Santa Clara County Office of Education to close an unsafe special day classroom. All the children in that classroom needed new placements, and I helped many parents in the group prepare for attending Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings to negotiate new placements and services for their children. Area Developmental Disabilities Board VII recruited me in 1994. I served four terms; a board member for eight years, and another 4 years as Chair. During that time, I helped hundreds of families and individuals add measurable goals to their IEP’s, negotiate appropriate services with districts, and worked with individuals to promote self-advocacy

Education

• COPAA

  Special Education Advocacy Training, Special Education and Teaching

  2013 — 2014

• Northcentral University

  Bachelors, Business, Marketing

  2007 — 2009

Skills

• Sales Process
• Product Marketing
• Sales Presentations
• Social Networking
• Sales Operations
• Customer Retention
• Lead Generation
• Customer Service
• Sales
• Online Advertising
• Leadership
• Advocacy
• Technical Recruiting
• Coaching
• Time Management
• Account Management
• Talent Acquisition
• Social Media
• Negotiation
• Event Management
• Key Account Management
• Cold Calling
• Teamwork
• Strategic Planning
• Management
• Team Building
• Recruiting
• Business Strategy
• Solution Selling
• Business Planning
• Program Management
• Team Leadership
• Online Marketing
• Nonprofits
• Product Management
• Leadership Development
• Business Development
• Small Business
• Strategic Partnerships
• Competitive Analysis