President's Initiative 2026: The Century Ahead

Empower, Implement, Evolve

As ASHA enters its second century, 2026 ASHA Board President Linda I. Rosa-Lugo, EdD, CCC-SLP, ASHA Fellow, is spotlighting members and students who Empower each other, Implement innovative ideas, and Evolve our professions with purpose.

The Century Ahead is a community-driven movement to lift each other up, support meaningful work, and shape the future of research, education, and practice in communication sciences and disorders (CSD).

Your stories are the heart of this movement.

Share your story

How are you shaping The Century Ahead?

We’re celebrating the work of ASHA members and CSD students on ASHA’s social media channels and website. Tell us how you:

• Empower: ASHA members who uplift others. Members inspiring high school students or mentoring early career professionals, fortifying our future.
• Implement: Mentees and students shaping the future of the professions and making an impact in their programs and communities.
• Evolve: ASHA members or students leading transformational change through advocacy, developing tools and resources, or other initiatives.

Your experiences help show how our community is building the next century of ASHA and the professions—together.

Chelsey Louw, MS, CCC-SLP

“We’re piloting Delta Pathways, a peer-to-peer mentoring program connecting San Joaquin Delta College SLPA students with University of the Pacific SLP graduate students to strengthen the SLPA to SLP pipeline. Delta Pathways seeks to demystify the ‘hidden curriculum’ of becoming an SLP—applications, readiness, professional identity, access to shadowing/exposure—and to build a sustainable, scalable pathway model for students who enter SLPA pathways but are interested in becoming SLPs.”

Angela Riccelli, EdD, CCC-SLP

“The transformational change I am making begins with reshaping how students see themselves within the profession. I work to move students from being passive learners to becoming active advocates, collaborators, and emerging leaders who recognize the broader influence they can have on systems of care.”

Adriana Gonzalez, Graduate student, NSSLHA member

“One of the most influential mentors in my journey has been a former SLP supervisor from my time working as an SLPA. Through her mentorship, I learned to slow down and truly listen to families, to think about the cultural values shaping decision-making, and to understand clients whose communication may not fit traditional expectations.”

Melissa Denning, MS, CCC-SLP

“I have built a therapist-owned organization focused on ethical staffing, collaboration, flexibility, and sustainable service delivery. We partner with schools to provide virtual and in-person speech-language pathology and occupational therapy while emphasizing compliance, communication, and strong clinical support systems for therapists.”

Brittney Gniedziejko, AuD, CCC-A

“I manage a team of 19 audiologists and encourage them to provide the best and safest care, practice at top of scope, and advocate for audiology voices to be heard in conversations. We have made significant changes in my hospital's audiology department by pushing through with innovative ideas and solutions to barriers.”