Amy Jo Lamb, OTD, OTRL, FAOTA
AOTA Vice President
Dr. Lamb is the Vice President of the American Occupational Therapy Association, Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy at Eastern Michigan University, and owner of AJLamb Consulting. She is the immediate past chair of the American Occupational Therapy Political Action Committee (AOTPAC). She brings with her the valuable combination of clinical practice as a registered occupational therapist combined together with health care policy experience at the state and federal levels. Dr. Lamb’s expertise includes health policy, prevention and wellness, and occupational therapy as a career.
Dr. Lamb received both her Bachelors of Science in Occupational Therapy and her post professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.
Dr. Lamb got her policy start in the Minnesota House of Representatives working with the Health Policy committee. She was the paid lobbyist for the Nebraska Occupational Therapy Association from 2000-2008.
Dr. Lamb’s clinical practice spans from private practice, school based pediatrics, acute care, and elders. Prior to her current position she was an Outpatient Director with Brookdale Senior Living managing the outpatient therapy clinics and home health rehabilitation services in assisted living and independent living communities in the Denver Colorado area.
In 2012, Dr. Lamb was selected to join the AOTA Roster of Fellows. In 2011, she received the Lindy Boggs advocacy award from the American Occupational Therapy Association for her leadership in advocacy and political action in the profession of occupational therapy. Therapy Times included her on their Most Influential list for 2007 for her contributions at the state and federal level in advocacy and health policy development.
In her volunteer leadership positions, Dr. Lamb is part of the team that helps occupational therapy professionals understand the policy agenda of the association and the role they as health care professionals play in advocacy, she organizes the grassroots, educates others on issues, and spends time on the hill with members of Congress to meet the needs of the Association. Dr. Lamb speaks regularly to groups on health policy issues impacting practice and benefits of consumers and provides participants with practical ways to get involved in the process and make their voices heard. She currently resides outside of Dexter, Michigan with her husband Nathan and their two children Gabby (11) and Josh (9).
I have been honored to serve the profession of occupational therapy as a volunteer leader with AOTPAC for the past six years. As I conclude my second and final term as Chair of AOTPAC, I have been doing a lot of reflection on our successes, challenges and opportunities as a political action entity and our Association as a whole. Service has been a key theme in my career and I am grateful to good mentors who saw something in me before I knew it was there and invited me into networks, opened doors, and supported me along the way. I’m grateful that I am now at a point in my career where I can give back with my support and mentoring of our profession’s future leaders.
In the last year and a half, I’ve found my vision and ideas growing from its base in advocacy and political action to greater issues facing our Association. Looking at the opportunities to continue serving the profession I was drawn to the Vice President position in large part because of strategic planning. Strategic planning and implementation has been a theme in my professional career both in my employment and volunteer leadership positions. I have been fortunate to have a wide variety of experiences that have allowed me to use my strategic planning abilities ranging from the clinic to business ownership/development to academia, as well as state and national professional association leadership. I work diligently to identify alternatives to problems and believe the answers are waiting to be found we just need to keep looking and find them. I’ve also been privileged to serve as an organizational advisor to the AOTA Board of Directors since 2007. In this role, I had access and reviewed the Boards meeting materials and reports providing me a good organizational history to hit the ground running in the role of Vice President and begin to work with the membership to answer the real “What’s Next” question.
The next Vice President of AOTA must confidently lead the effort to answer the question: where will occupational therapy go after 2017? The Centennial Vision is not the end, but the beginning to AOTA’s next 100 years. What an amazing opportunity to serve the profession and ensure occupational therapy’s vitality for future generations.
I am honored to be on the slate for Vice President of AOTA in the 2012 Elections. I look forward sharing more with you about my experience, my ideas for the future, and I look forward to dialoguing with the membership about how AOTA can better serve you.