What People Are Saying

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Brooke Wright embodies what it means to “fan the flames of hope.” She has devoted much of her life to helping individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their families, and people navigating mental health challenges feel seen, supported, and never alone.

Brooke and I worked together at Thrive International Academy, where she served in a leadership and advisory role, and we have remained close friends for years. She has also personally supported me through my own mental health journey, including my experience with Bipolar I and anxiety. As my Job Coach when I was working in the community and now as an advocate helping me navigate the SSDI process, Brooke has consistently shown me the same compassion, patience, and determination that she gives to so many others.

Brooke’s advocacy is deeply personal. As a mother of two sons with nonverbal autism, she understands firsthand the challenges families face when trying to navigate complicated systems and find appropriate services. Rather than keeping that knowledge within her own family, she has spent more than a decade turning her lived experience into service to others through organizations and efforts including Parent to Parent of Georgia, the Marcus Autism Center, Autism Speaks, Our World School, and advocacy surrounding Ava’s Law.

She has mentored parents, led support groups, provided one-on-one navigation assistance, and helped families understand systems that can otherwise feel impossible to navigate. Much of this work happens quietly and, often, without compensation. She continues to provide pro bono advocacy to families who cannot afford services because she believes everyone deserves access to support and the opportunity to thrive.

Today, as the ExOPS Executive Director and former Program Director for a day program serving adults with I/DD, Brooke continues to create opportunities for people to live, learn, work, and participate meaningfully in their communities. Her professional expertise as a Mental Health and Developmental Disability Professional is strengthened by her lived experience, allowing her to meet people with both knowledge and genuine understanding.

What makes Brooke extraordinary is not simply the number of organizations she has served or causes she has advocated for. It is the way she makes people feel. She listens without judgment, explains without condescension, advocates without expecting anything in return, and keeps showing up when people are overwhelmed.

Brooke has been a source of hope in my own life, and I have witnessed her bring that same hope to countless other individuals and families across Georgia. She doesn't simply talk about hope—she creates it through compassion, advocacy, service, and an unwavering belief in the dignity and potential of every person she serves.

Brooke Wright truly fans the flames of hope, one person and one family at a time.

Evelyn