Mark Emery retired as the CEO of Imagine! in 2019. His work at Imagine!, a not-for-profit organization serving people with intellectual disabilities and their families, began in 1983. Over several decades, he held nine positions of increasing responsibility, culminating as chief executive officer.
As a visionary with an ability to analyze, plan, and forecast environmental forces on families and people with intellectual disabilities, Emery has established long-term relationships with families, providers, advocates, and federal, state, private and political leaders. He is a critical thinker with in-depth knowledge of government funding and complex regulations for disability services for infants, adolescents and adults.
Emery received a lifetime achievement award from Alliance, a Colorado association of providers of service for people with intellectual disabilities, where he had served as president of the board of directors for two years.
No stranger to adventure and stepping outside of his comfort zone, Emery is an avid hiker who has climbed many of Colorado’s 14ers and Mount Kilimanjaro, completed a rim-to-rim day hike in the Grand Canyon, and completed an Ironman 140.6 triathlon and several national and international bicycle tours.
He earned a Master of Arts from Vermont’s Johnson State College in special education, specializing in residential administration, research procedures, behavior analysis, and career planning for people who have intellectual disabilities. He earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of New Hampshire in mathematics education as part of a well-rounded education with courses in physics, chemistry, astronomy, anthropology, sociology and educational psychology.