Lisa Finney was a psychology student at UNLV when she saw a flyer posted on campus for a tutor. This led to her working as a behavior technician providing one-on-one assistance to a child with autism.
“Watching a child make progress to reach their developmental milestones was inspiring and addicting,” Finney said. “I knew that I wanted to continue down this path but effect change on a greater scale.” It was then that Finney was introduced to the world of early intervention and became a developmental specialist.
“I knew I found my niche. I was not only able to directly help the child but was also able to help the families by empowering the parents to be their child’s therapist as well as their advocate for the future,” Finney said.
In her current role, Finney has grown Capability Health and Human Services’ early intervention program to serve more than 700 children. The program provides children—from birth to age 3—and their families with pediatric therapy and service coordination, free to all families whether or not they have health insurance.
Finney has been instrumental in propelling Capability’s mission forward and providing children and adults diagnosed with developmental delays access to services to enhance their capabilities and enrich their lives.
Finney has partnered with groups such as District Artz and the HandsOn project to provide children in the early intervention program an opportunity to create art and express themselves. She also works with the Shade Tree to provide free playgroups for children at the shelter.
While Finney has worked to establish Capability as the largest community provider of early intervention services, her work is not done. She looks forward to achieving their “big crazy dream” of ensuring that all children in need of early intervention services in Nevada receive them.