Jan 5, 2026

What happens when a VR agency stops leading with compliance—and starts leading with trust?

In this episode of Manager Minute, Carol Pankow sits down with Lea Dias, Director of the Hawaii Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, to talk about rebuilding an agency from the inside out. Facing high vacancies, low morale,...

Dec 1, 2025

In this powerful new episode of Manager Minute, host Carol Pankow sits down with renowned researcher and educator Dr. Jim Herbert to unpack one of the most urgent challenges in vocational rehabilitation today: counselor turnover and retention.

Drawing from his brand-new national study on RSA-funded personnel, Jim breaks...

Nov 6, 2025

In this episode of Manager Minute, host Carol Pankow welcomes Dr. Chaz Compton and Dr. Meera Adya, co-directors of the new National Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center (NVRTAC). They discuss how the Center builds on decades of innovation in vocational rehabilitation (VR) to unify training, evaluation,...

Sep 2, 2025

In the final episode of Manager Minute, host Carol Pankow closes out the series with a powerful conversation featuring Chanda Hermanson, Director of Montana Combined Vocational Rehabilitation (VR). Chanda’s lifelong passion for the field—shaped by family connections and early volunteering—has guided...

Aug 1, 2025

Finance doesn’t have to be scary. In this episode of VRTAC-QM’s Manager Minute, Kat Martin, Finance Director at the Oregon Commission for the Blind, joins Carol Pankow to break down the complexities of government finance in vocational rehabilitation.

Kat shares her journey from the private sector into VR, the...