ROSELLE, NJ — Inroads to Opportunities, a Union County–based nonprofit human services agency that provides programs and services to individuals with disabilities, recently announced the retirement of Nancy Laporte. August marks 40 years of service at Inroads for Laporte.
Laporte has retired from Inroads as its director of operations, contract packaging services. Laporte is also a STAR — Stress, Trauma, Anxiety and Resilience — Lifetime Career Award nominee.
According to Michele Ford, Inroads’ president and chief executive officer, “Nancy is someone I consider a colleague and a friend. One of the traits I admire most in Nancy is that she meets every challenge with a positive, can-do attitude. Everyone at Inroads wishes Nancy much happiness and success in her next chapter. We will all miss her quick wit, caring nature and how she shared her love for cooking by providing homemade treats for every holiday.”
With Inroads, Laporte worked to ensure that individuals with disabilities have a training facility that prepares them for the competitive assembly and packaging industry.
Laporte began her career at Inroads as the coordinator of operations. She has been responsible for overseeing the agency’s time study process, which ensures everyone is paid fairly using Department of Labor Wage and Hour regulations. She stepped into the position of director in 2017.
Directing a million-dollar assembly and packaging social enterprise that is involved in training some 400 individuals annually is no easy feat. The pandemic posed some significant challenges for Inroads. Laporte immediately recognized that the agency must be able to meet their assembly and packaging commitments as well as balance participants schedules to work in person. Laporte and her team continued to work and put out products during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was accomplished without any trainees.
Laporte is a resident of Roselle Park. She is the wife of Jack and mother of Megan.
Photo Courtesy of Amy Delman