By Daryl Buchanan | News & Views

The AACVPR Leadership Development Academy (LEAD) is a new training program designed to help cardiopulmonary professionals enhance their skills while gaining invaluable experience. The 2025 cohort has been working its way through eight modules that offer training and learning opportunities in several areas, and News & Views has been following three participants along that journey.

Kasey Jepsen-Large, MA, CEP, CCRP, FCSCR, Supervisor of Cardiopulmonary Rehab at NorthBay Health; Vanessa Pahlad-Singh, MS, CCRP, CRPR Program Director – Lead Clinical Exercise Physiologist at Montefiore Medical Center; and Gregory Scharf, BS, CEP, CCRP, Cardiopulmonary Rehab System Manager at MyMichigan Health, are nearing the finish line for LEAD. Despite rigorous coursework, on top of their usual professional responsibilities, they agree that participating in the 2025 cohort has been a truly rewarding experience.

An Experience Unlike Any Other

Jepsen-Large says the program has had an immense impact on her professional career through the learning opportunities and collaboration with peers. “Participating in the LEAD Academy has been one of the most valuable and transformative professional development experiences of my career. Unlike any other cardiac rehab continuing education program I have completed, the Academy delivered a curriculum that seamlessly blended leadership theory with practical application,” she explains. “Among the most impactful elements for me were the deep dives into team leadership and operational efficiency. I gained practical, easy-to-implement strategies for managing people, fostering engagement, and improving programs.”

During her time in LEAD, Jepsen-Large also transitioned into a new professional leadership role. While this presented new challenges, it also came at an opportune time. “This required focus, adaptability, and careful time management. However, the timing also provided the unique benefit of being able to apply the tools and concepts from the Academy immediately in my day-to-day leadership responsibilities,” Jepsen-Large notes.

She gives the program a glowing review and believes it will have lasting benefits. “I highly recommend the Academy to CR/PR professionals who are motivated to lead and inspire others. For me, the knowledge, strategies, and professional connections gained will remain invaluable resources that I will continue to draw upon throughout my career,” states Jepsen-Large.

Positive Learning and Reinforcement From the Start

Pahlad-Singh says the 2025 cohort has encouraged personal and professional growth. She adds, “From the beginning, every module offered practical tools I could immediately implement, making it hard to single out only one valuable aspect.  However, the opportunity to connect with a group of like-minded leaders, sharing ideas, challenges, and insights through ongoing conversation in our chat threads, and virtual meetings following each module stands out as particularly impactful.”

Pahlad-Singh finds particular value in the LEAD curriculum, a learning opportunity that came at a serendipitous moment in her career. “For me, the timing of this program aligned perfectly with a period of program and staff expansion within my institution,” she elaborates. “The Academy guided me through this growth with real time skills that enhanced my leadership capabilities.”

She also offers valuable advice for the 2026 LEAD participants. “To the next cohort, my advice is to use this Academy to learn all you can and leverage it to shape your leadership in ways you may not have thought of and hopefully shape your leadership journey for years to come,” Pahlad-Singh advises.

Overcoming Challenges Through Collaboration 

Scharf says LEAD has been a fulfilling experience due to the program’s goal of addressing barriers that have plagued cardiac and pulmonary rehab programs. “For me I truly enjoyed seeing many in this group trying to push through the barriers that continue to plague Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehab programs,” he adds. “Being able to work collaboratively with those that are truly striving to be subject matter experts in their field, many of whom are working in health systems with little understanding or support of these programs” has been highly rewarding.

Scharf continues, “This group highlighted many of these barriers for program success. One of my goals of this program was to gain further understanding of some of these challenges and look for opportunities for how as leaders in the industry we can better construct and strategically provide the valuable information and tools to those that can in fact facilitate change.”

The 2025 LEAD graduation ceremony will be held at the AACVPR 40th Annual Meeting September 17-19 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Be sure to check back on News & Views for the last segment in this series, which will share the details of Kasey, Vanessa, and Greg’s capstone projects: a final assignment that puts what they've learned through LEAD into practice through real-world application of their new skills and knowledge.