Non-Profit Names Lakeville Resident 'Advocate of the Year' for People With Disabilities

Lakeville resident Diane Wells was named "Advocate of the Year" by Lifeworks Services, a non-profit that serves people with disabilities in communities across the metro area.

Wells, a manager of intake operations in integrated health management at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, received the award during Lifeworks' annual gala on April 25. About 950 people came to downtown Minneapolis for the event.

"I struggle with the word disabilities," Wells said in a statement. "From my years of partnering with Lifeworks Services, I find their clients full of talents, strengths and abilities. My role is to understand what those strengths are and marry them to job tasks we have at hand."

Wells has been volunteering with Lifeworks for 13 years. Currently Blue Cross employs ten Lifeworks clients, who are aided by a job coach.

"The personal growth I have seen in the Lifeworks employees is very rewarding," Wells said. "They are helping us get our work done every day."

Lifeworks' president, Judy Lysne, praised Wells' and Blue Cross' work with the organization.

"They are helping us get our work done every day," she said in a statement. "Diane Wells is a remarkable person who sees everyone with one face. She doesn't see disability; she sees only ability and possibility. We are so fortunate that she works at Blue Cross where we have had a wonderful partnership for 26 years. She is a model manager in a model company."