Aspire serves neurodiverse children and adults who are discovering their passions, unlocking potential, and thriving. We recognize that it’s the dedicated and well-trained employees who assure the quality of the services we provide. Their dedication and compassion are at the very heart of the Aspire community. The employee spotlight series highlights employees from across the organization and the impactful work they do.

Meet Hannah Durepo, the regional director of clinical services for Massachusetts and New Hampshire. From the moment she joined Aspire right after undergrad, she knew she had found her professional home. Though she briefly explored other opportunities, it didn’t take her long to realize that the support she received at Aspire made it where she wants to be. Read on to discover why Hannah says she’s here to stay, and how Aspire empowers her to pursue her passions.

How would you describe the culture at Aspire?

“I think the culture is interesting because up until the strategic plan that went in place in 2020, each state kind of had their own culture and we’ve merged into this melting pot of the culture from each of the different states into one. It’s been exciting to start working more closely with people across all the states, and now in my new role I have the chance to immerse myself in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. I think it’s a very collaborative environment.”

What do you think sets Aspire apart from other agencies?

“Aspire does many things well, first and foremost supervision. Supervision is such an ingrained practice for me. I receive supervision every single week, my supervisees receive supervision every single week. It’s an opportunity to connect with your supervisor, to talk about the things that you’re doing at work, but also to create a relationship and ability to grow professionally. Because you’re talking about your goals and your aspirations and things like that on such a regular basis. And your supervisor is truly trying to help you.”

What parts of the Aspire mission do you connect with the most?

“I most connect with the ability to improve a person’s quality of life and give meaning to the folks that we support, regardless of their cognitive abilities, their race, ethnicity or gender. There are so many different people that we’re able to support to live better, access the community and have happier, healthier lives. It’s remarkable if you look at the types of people we support across all locations and service lines, we can make a difference regardless of what the person is experiencing.”

What do you love most about what you do?

“Obviously, helping people and seeing the difference we can have in a person’s life from such a young age through the lifespan is impactful and important to me. I also really love the ability to work with people from all different types of disciplines, all sorts of cultural backgrounds, whether that be the people we support or the other employees. It’s really expanded my capacity to understand and work with people and just be a better human.”

How do you think Aspire has helped you grow, personally and professionally?

“I started here right out of undergraduate, so I’ve grown immensely. My leadership skills have really developed, and I’ve grown in my confidence to not only trust my instincts and my voice, but to be vulnerable and practice humility with the people that I supervise, the people that I work with and not be afraid to be myself and acknowledge when I may be having a hard time with something or when something’s outside of my comfort zone.”

Is there an accomplishment you’re most proud of since working here?

“It’s one of the earliest things that I did working here. A colleague and I had been talking one day about how there’s a lot of activities that are provided for people during the day, but once they go home to their residential programs or their shared living providers at night, there’s not a lot that as an agency we provide as far as activities or community events that we’re sponsoring or hosting. We started a group called the Program Engagement and Participation Committee, “PEP” committee for short. We started hosting different events like dances, karaoke nights, dinner with friends. We did a kickball league and started partnering with the community to go to the movies or do different things with friends outside of the 7am-3pm day programming hours. I really noticed a huge shift in the agency. Not only were the people supported happier, more fulfilled, had a better quality of life, but the staff started to intermingle across different programs. There was a better collaboration between people working in different departments because everyone was coming together in these events and they were able to see clinicians working outside of their typical 8am-4pm, 9am-5pm hours and spending time at night with the people that we support to have fun and access their community in a different way.”

What’s a piece of advice you’ve gotten from a mentor that you carry with you from Aspire?

“To not be afraid to be vulnerable or ask for help is probably a piece of advice that I’ve taken with me. There’s just so many amazing smart people who work at Aspire and if you’re able to step out of your comfort zone and just say, ‘I’d really love your support in this,’ there’s always someone who’s willing and someone that you can learn from and grow with.”

Outside of work, what are some hobbies or interests you have?

“I enjoy spending time with my daughter and my dogs and like to be outside. I do a lot of hiking and running. I do like to read and cook as well, but don’t have as much time for those things lately.”

What’s a cause you’re passionate about?

“I think I’m most passionate about human rights, particularly for people with disabilities and kids. And there’s just a lot of different minorities or groups that are just sometimes in poor situations that I just want to be able to make a difference in as many people’s lives as possible. I’m also very passionate about the health and fitness space. I actually got certified as an Autism Fitness Trainer.”

Feel like you could make an impact as part of the Aspire team too? Visit the Aspire job board to see what opportunities are waiting for you.