The Inspire Award is given to an exemplary leader who improves the lives of people living with disabilities through leadership, stewardship and collaboration. The recipient does not have to be a MOHR member or work for a MOHR Member Organization.
The 2026 MOHR Inspire Award Winner is Karen Herman, Executive Director of Udac, Inc. in Duluth
MOHR President Robin Harkonen, left, presents the 2026 MOHR Inspire Award to Karen Herman, Executive Director of Udac, Inc.
St. Paul, Minn. - Karen Herman, Executive Director of Udac, Inc. in Duluth, Minnesota, was named the 2026 MOHR Inspire Award winner at the MOHR Annual Spring Training Conference. The Inspire Award recognizes an exceptional individual whose leadership, commitment, and community collaboration have made a lasting impact in disability services and measurably improved the lives of people with disabilities. Throughout her decade of service at Udac, Herman has consistently championed innovative approaches that expand choice, independence, and inclusion for the people the organization serves. By fostering a culture of creativity and collaboration, she has empowered her teams to pursue bold ideas that raise the standard for disability services.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Herman led a transformation of Udac services, redesigning them from the ground up to continue meeting the needs of her community in an unprecedented time. Emphasizing flexibility and meaningful engagement, Udac made all of its services community-based. These changes have continued as its standard of service, offering personalized and empowering support. “The service models of today are dated and outdated; they don’t have opportunities for people to be included in the community in the way they want to be,” says Herman. Udac’s community-based services seek to break dependency on service providers and focus on providing networks and communities to help people with disabilities support their own growth.
One example is the Business Internship Model. This avenue for experiential learning fully integrates people served into a business. There, they develop employment and communication skills while Udac takes a deliberate step back. Rather than looking to career coaches and DSPs for guidance and advancement opportunities, participants turn to their colleagues for training and assistance. The 3-year-old program boasts a 100% job offer rate with sustained employment at Essentia Health. Beyond employment success, the Business Internship Model has also improved work culture, inclusivity, and participants’ independence.
More recently, Herman has led Udac through a first-of-its-kind Technology Beyond an iPad program, exploring how advanced technologies can transform traditional disability supports for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities through Nao, an AI-powered socially assistive humanoid robot. “Technology is an important tool in today’s society, and its use will continue to impact all aspects of our society. Our work, with this advanced technology, seeks to have people with disabilities in the driver’s seat of how these new technologies are used to benefit them. We are integrating best practices, creativity, innovation, and feedback from people with intellectual developmental disabilities to develop a tool that actually works for them,” shared Herman.
Developed in collaboration with the University of Minnesota Robotics Institute (MnRI), College of Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota and the University of Minnesota Institute on Community Integration, Nao has proven effective in a range of support areas, including social interaction, communication skills, emotional regulation, and job-specific learning. Nao is also being integrated into the Business Internship Model as another resource for participants. “Nao provides neutral feedback. Equipped with facial recognition, it can recognize them individually and know what they are working on, offering personalized support.” Anecdotal evidence suggests that some participants may prefer advice from Nao. As a non-parental, non-authority figure, some regard Nao’s responses as easier to integrate than feedback from their career and life coach. The Udac team sees Nao as a bridge towards participants’ complete independence. MOHR recognized the Technology Beyond an iPad program as a 2026 MOHR Choice Award winner.
Herman is also a respected mentor for others within disability services. She has generously shared her knowledge and experience with the next generation of executives, encouraging innovation and demonstrating leadership grounded in integrity and respect. “Each one of us has gifts with which we can help other individuals develop skills and abilities,” says Herman. “The best thing we can do as an individual, and as a colleague, is to mentor.” Her ability to inspire confidence, cultivate future leaders, and drive meaningful change has improved lives well beyond her own organization. Committed to sharing knowledge, Herman ensured that the major projects Udac has undertaken are designed to be replicable and has worked to make the documentation and experience accessible to other providers nationwide.
Herman is humble in her achievements: “While my name is on [this] award, it represents the Udac team. I may be leading the team, but the team has said yes at every step… It is the highest honor to be honored by one’s colleagues.” For her leadership, mentorship, and trail-blazing innovation in the field, we are pleased to honor Herman as this year’s Inspire Award Winner.
