Inform USA Standards Refresh

Jennifer is the Accreditation Director for Inform USA, where she is honored to work with agencies as they raise the bar on their I&R programs. Prior to that, she served as the organization's Information Management Director. Her work in I&R began answering phones part-time at 211, which then grew into helping in the database. Her love of the database grew and she ended her career by managing the database, having achieved 100% updated 6 years in a row, creating HelpSheets and a mobile app for the agency's resources. She has a Masters in Community Counseling, a Bachelors in Social Work, and is Inform USA certified (CRS and CRS-DC) Jennifer lives on a small acreage with her husband, 2 daughters, 3 cows, 2 cats, a dog and a bearded dragon.

Sandra Ray holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Master of Science in Psychology from Angelo State University. She was hired by Casa de Amigos of Midland, TX, Inc. in 1996. She built the one-county information and referral program into a regional 211 program by 2002. She joined United Way of Greater Houston’s 211 Texas/United Way Helpline program in 2006. She developed training and refined procedures to help meet the AIRS Standards for the program’s ongoing accreditation. She implemented the agency’s first dynamic reporting for the Helpline’s activity through her work. She also led the deployment of the agency’s first Virtual Assistant to help people locate much-needed community resources. She has been a frequent presenter at AIRS/Inform USA and Texas AIRS conferences and a site reviewer for accreditation.  She joined Inform USA in March 2023 as the Program and Education Director; she leads webinars,  develops and refines training materials, and assists in program development efforts for the agency.  She has four children and two grandsons. She writes fiction and nonfiction and enjoys crocheting and rock polishing.