PEAL strives to partner with parents and guide them into leadership roles within their communities. We offer two intensive leadership training programs each year that cover several months for parents that are ready to reach out beyond their own family situation to work with other families, their schools and their policy makers from the local to the state level. The first leadership training project is called the Parent Leadership Institute which began in 2008 as an outreach under PEAL’s Family to Family Health Information Center grant. This leadership cohort focuses on children with special health care needs and helps parents better understand the medical system in our state. The second leadership training project is called the Project for Parents Engaged in Advocating for Change in Education (PEACE) which focuses on the education system in PA for children with disabilities and is funded through the State Personnel Development Grant work done at PEAL. Both projects require an extensive time commitment and some travel for parents to gather regionally with other attendees. Click this link to watch You Tube videos of some of our past graduates as they present their final personal policy stories as part of their graduation project: www.youtube.com/User/PEALCenter/featured