2020 ISSUE 1
2 01 9 I L O TA AWA R D R E C I P I E N T S
Kelsey Ranneklev
At the 2019 ILOTA Annual Conference this
past fall in Tinley Park, IL, ILOTA recognized seven
individuals for their contributions to the organization
and the profession. Read about the award recipients
below, and consider nominating a peer for the 2020
awards! You may submit award nominations through
the ILOTA website: https://ilota.memberclicks.net/
awards-content.
Lisa Mahaffey: Board Award of Merit
The Board Award of Merit
honors a board member
that has made outstanding
contributions toward facili-
tating board business and
advancing the practice of
OT in the state of Illinois.
The recipient, Lisa Ma-
haffey, has served on the
ILOTA Board in many ca-
pacities. She was the Di-
rector of Finance for five
years and President-elect
and President for five
years. ILOTA’s member-
ship grew under her lead-
ership. Much of her time
and effort has been spent learning more about lead-
ing a professional organization, and she spearhead-
ed revising ILOTA's mission and vision. She support-
ed several creative endeavors, such as advertising
OT month on billboards. She was instrumental in
building ILOTA’s social media platforms and was key
in the process to hire work study students to assist
with social media posts. She is very passionate about
developing leaders in OT; currently, she is involved
with the ILOTA Leadership Development Program. In
addition to her work with ILOTA, she is currently a
member of the AOTA Board of Directors. Upon re-
ceiving the award, Mahaffey reported, “Truth is, the
team of dedicated folks that served ILOTA are what
made my tenure on the board successful. When I
look at the award I think about all those Saturdays
when we hashed out the challenges and planned
new initiatives and chewed our nails. I learned a lot
about non-profit leadership and the power of being
willing to take a little (mitigated) risk. The award I was
given is, in my mind, for everyone who gave up pre-
cious time in very busy lives for ILOTA.”
Krecia Sweeney: OTA Student Award
The OTA Student Award
honors an OTA student
who has demonstrated
leadership and excellence
in academic or clinical per-
formance and has demon-
strated exceptional ability
to promote OT through
their activities. The first
ever recipient was Krecia
Sweeney, a student at
McHenry County College.
As a student with signifi-
cant low vision, she has
had unique challenges in
a classroom setting. To be
a successful student in the
OTA program, she has restructured her life; under-
standing study time would take increased intervals,
she allowed herself rest breaks and the use of adap-
tive equipment. She co-authored a motion to the AO-
TA Board of Directors, which was presented at the
2019 April meeting and accepted. Her viewpoint has
led to a new look at all products, services, events,
and facilities provided by the AOTA. She has also
proposed the startup of a support group for individu-
als with visual impairments in McHenry County and
surrounding areas. The idea was used as an assign-
ment for the McHenry County College OTA Program
this past Spring Semester as a community project. In
addition, she is involved in the Student OTA Club at
McHenry County College, the ILOTA Student Con-
clave, and volunteers at Animal Rescue. On receiving
her award, Sweeney reported, “Being a student, still
learning about the profession, and receiving the
ILOTA Student of the Year Award is an honor. My
hope is that this inspires other students to know that
change begins with them, even as students we can
make a difference. We have learned that collabora-
tion is important in this profession and I could not
have done this without my instructor, Abi Swidergal.”
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