Barb Kleist
Lead Consultant
Email: kleis041@umn.edu
Phone: +1 612-624-1297
Address: Institute on Community Integration, Room 2-322 MIDB, 2025 East River Parkway, Minneapolis, MN 55414
Barbara Kleist directs entrepreneurial and business development programs at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration. She co-directs DirectCourse, a competency-based, online suite of curricula for professionals working with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Barb leads teams that create training and technical assistance initiatives that improve stability and professionalism in the direct support workforce, primarily within state and federally funded systems, including Medicaid. She oversees ICI’s entrepreneurial projects, external sales, and system innovation efforts for programs and services that promote inclusion for people with disabilities. A licensed attorney, Barb chairs the Legal Process and Public Policy network of the American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and is a member of the advisory committee to the Minnesota Disability Law Center, The Learning Community for Person Centered Practices, and WINGS Minnesota. She is a Person-Centered Thinking trainer who is also trained in participatory facilitation methods. Barb holds a Juris Doctor degree from Hamline University School of Law and a master’s degree in education from the University of Minnesota.