Preliminary Scores / Pending partner validation · Internal research use only
Terri Ross
Queens Centers for Progress

Terri Ross

Executive Director

1989
Year she joined QCP, rising from quality assurance to Executive Director in 2017
1,264
LinkedIn followers
2
Recent media appearances: a 2025 podcast and a 2026 PIX11 segment
Strongest assetThirty-seven years inside one agency, and she has already been invited to tell its story on air.
Biggest gapHer LinkedIn has no About section, no Featured items and three original posts since 2017.
Open questionWhat does Terri Ross believe about disability services in Queens that she would say on any stage?
The 7 on 7+ Assessment

Professional Brand 7 on 7+ Score

Profile Score
11 / 49
Profile effectiveness as evidence of leadership thinking. Seven criteria, each scored 1 to 7. Built on methodology developed by Alan Power and Gair Maxwell.
IDEA Score
16 / 49
Power of your complete digital presence, including social, search, gen-AI - to generate PULL.
Profile Score
11
Tracks your profile effectiveness.
+
IDEA Adjustment
2
Adjusts for your complete digital footprint.
=
7 on 7+ Score
13
Your legend-building signal.
Category Leader
Marco Damiani, AHRC NYC
25
Profile
24
IDEA
A first-person About that opens with a belief, an origin as a direct support professional, a named principle (Equalism) and a NY Daily News op-ed on DSP pay.

Executive Takeaway

Terri Ross has the record a leader voice is built on: 37 years at Queens Centers for Progress, a path from quality assurance to Executive Director, and invitations onto PIX11 and a philanthropy podcast. Her LinkedIn profile scores 11 of 49 and her IDEA score is 16, because the profile shows a title and almost nothing of her own words. DiGo's B.H.O.Q. asks who she is beyond the title. Her June 2024 reshare on DSP wages suggests where the answer starts, and a first-person About plus a regular post on that issue would put it in front of donors, families and lawmakers.

Profile Score: By Criterion

Seven criteria, each scored 1 to 7 by Alan Power and Gair Maxwell. The sum is your profile score out of 49. Vistage room average: 13 to 14. A score above 20 is genuinely strong.

2
First Impression
Immediate 2-3 sec WOW factor. Instant clarity on who this profile speaks to.
A current headshot is in place and the role is clear. The headline reads "Executive Director at Queens Centers for Progress" over the default LinkedIn banner, the same construction any agency head would use. A headline that names who she serves and what changes for them is the next step.
1
Impact
A signature asset. Genuine human connection, story-based rather than promotional.
The profile has no Featured section and no video, graphic or designed piece. Her PIX11 segment and podcast episode already exist and could sit at the top of the profile. Today a visitor meets written entries only.
1
Originality
A distinctive point of view. Instantly recognizable. Not category-standard advice.
Her own posts on the profile are two job notices and a 2017 link opposing a tax bill. No idea, phrase or point of view in her own words appears there yet. A leader with 37 years of agency history has room to fill that space.
1
Culture
Real personal material indicating a full human. Not a credential list.
The profile has no About section, so a visitor learns nothing about her beyond job titles and ten skills. The top Experience entry still reads "Director of Adult Services" with no dates. A first-person About, even a short one, is the clearest next build.
2
Consistency
Track record of publishing current, original content in a recognizable format.
She has posted under her own name three times: November 2017, March 2018 and March 2025, with reposts in between. The gap between the second and third post is close to seven years. A visible rhythm has not started yet.
2
Audience Reach
Numbers indicating a growing community. Evidence of genuine engagement.
1,264 people follow her, more than many peers in the role. The profile shows no recommendations, no services section and a standard contact link. A second, older profile under her name also appears in search.
2
Visuals
Cohesive visual elements reflecting personal brand. Distinctive design language.
The headshot is current and approachable. The banner is the LinkedIn default, and the older duplicate profile shows a different title. A custom banner using QCP's own participant photography is a quick improvement.
IDEA Score: The Signal Before the Click

How She Shows Up in the World

The IDEA Score measures what happens before someone reaches her profile, the off-site signal that shapes perception from the first search, the LinkedIn scroll, the founder post.

16
out of 49
IDEA Score: Digital Footprint

The Idea That Changes Everything

Seven axes. Each one measures a different dimension of how your off-site signal lands, not what your profile says, but what the world hears before anyone clicks.

Pull vs. push. Category of one vs. category of many. A founder voice vs. a corporate signal. These are the levers that determine whether a prospect arrives already interested, or arrives already skeptical.

2
Pull vs. Push
Content creates gravity vs. broadcast/promotional
In June 2024 she reshared a post on fair wages for direct support professionals, the issue closest to her agency. Her own posts are hiring notes (the March 2025 one drew 4 reactions and 3 comments) and her other activity is reposting QCP events. Content that gives people a reason to come to her has not started.
2
ONLY vs. Category
Proprietary language/named POV vs. sounds like every competitor
On the podcast she spoke about the changing world of disability services and QCP's 75 years, in the standard language of the sector. No recurring phrase of her own appears in her posts. Her 2017 remark about engaging the political system on QCP's behalf is a starting point for one.
2
Audience Building
Clear who it's for AND building following beyond buyers
Her posts draw between 0 and 5 reactions, so reach stays inside her network. No post names a reader, and there is no newsletter or series. Reach beyond her existing circle is the next build.
2
Different-er vs. Better
Competes on distinctiveness/belief vs. features/specs/price
Her record is built on tenure: QCP since 1989, Director of Adult Services from 1997, Executive Director since July 2017. That is a rare record of loyalty and depth. The only positions she has stated publicly are a 2017 tax vote and political involvement, so experience still carries the argument.
2
IDEA vs. Best Practices
Organizing belief visible across all channels vs. channel-by-channel
Everything published stands alone: two job posts, a tax link and scattered reposts across nine years, all on LinkedIn. The DSP and advocacy thread runs underneath them. No repeatable format a reader could expect exists yet.
2
Founder/Leader Voice
Named human with consistent opinionated first-person presence
On the Philanthropy in Phocus podcast and on PIX11 she speaks in her own voice. On LinkedIn, three original posts in nine years sit beside her reposts of employer and partner content. The first-person presence exists off the page; it has not reached her own channel.
4
Cultural Relevance
Signal connects to a larger shift in the world vs. exists in isolation
She has real outside visibility: a PIX11 "Monica Makes It Happen" segment in February 2026, a Philanthropy in Phocus episode in August 2025 and local coverage of QCP's $550,000 state grant in 2024. No panel, board or association role turned up in a name search. A seat on a sector body would build on this.
Digital Footprint Scan

Where She Can Show Up Next

LinkedIn
Weak
1,264 followers. Three original posts since 2017, the latest a March 2025 hiring note, plus reposts of QCP events.
Podcast and TV
Active
Philanthropy in Phocus episode "Progress with Purpose" (August 2025) and a PIX11 segment with Wendy Phaff Gennaro (February 2026).
QCP website
Weak
Listed on the Senior Staff page by name, title and phone extension, with no photo or bio.
Sector boards and panels
Absent
No board, panel or association role turned up in a name search.
Instagram and X
Absent
No personal accounts found.
Op-eds and bylines
Absent
No published commentary under her name found.
Strategic Opportunity

How to Build Her Legend

Short Term

Answer her B.H.O.Q. (Clarify)
Settle the one sentence Terri Ross stands for beyond her title. The DSP wage issue she has already shared and her 37 years of continuity are the raw material.
Choose her one issue (Clarify)
Decide the single topic she will speak on publicly, so every post, panel and interview points the same way.
Retire the duplicate profile (Clarify)
Decide whether to merge or close the older "director of adult services" profile so search returns one Terri Ross.

Medium Term

A first-person About (Identity)
Rebuild the profile around her answer: a short About in her voice, a headline naming who she serves, and the PIX11 segment and podcast in Featured.
A short leader film (Identity)
Record a two-minute piece of her talking about why she stayed at QCP since 1989, built to sit on her profile and the QCP homepage.
A regular post on her issue (Growth)
Start a dated monthly post on what DSP staffing means for Queens families, so readers learn to expect her view.
One seat on a sector stage (Growth)
Pursue a role on a body such as the Queens Council on Developmental Disabilities or a CP State panel, where her view reaches peers and lawmakers.
Competitive Landscape

Who's Setting the Pace

Marco Damiani
CEO, AHRC New York City
5,730 followers. His About opens with a belief about inclusion and his start as a direct support professional, he posts commentary several times a month, and he names a guiding principle, Equalism.
Lisa Veglia
CEO, QSAC
104 followers. Her profile carries a QSAC-branded banner and a professional photo, with no About section and no recent posts.
Linda Laul
CEO, ADAPT Community Network
308 followers. No photo or About section; three posts in the past 18 months, mostly shares of ADAPT events.
Where Terri Can Lead
The open lane
Among the heads of Queens and NYC disability providers reviewed, only one speaks regularly in his own voice. Terri Ross already has broadcast and podcast credits and a long record inside one agency. A clear view on DSP staffing, told in her own words, would put her in a lane few of her peers occupy.
Market Context

Why This Is Harder, and Easier, Than It Used To Be

Donors, lawmakers and job seekers decide whom to trust before they ever call. Leaders who share a clear view in their own voice earn that trust faster than organizations that speak only in announcements.

$592.5B
Total US charitable giving in 2024, a record in current dollars
Giving USA, 2025
66%
Share of that giving that came from individuals
Giving USA, 2025
76%
Adults who trust their own employer, the most trusted institution
Edelman Trust Barometer, 2025
95%
Decision makers who say strong thought leadership shows value better than traditional marketing
Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Report, 2025

What Keeps You Up at Night

The forces shaping Terri Ross's competitive environment, and why standing still is not an option.

⚠
Trust in leaders is thin

Seven in ten adults believe business leaders deliberately mislead them, so a polished announcement earns less belief than a leader speaking plainly.

Edelman Trust Barometer, 2025 Headwind
👥
Peers are starting to speak up

Larger NYC agencies already have chief executives publishing op-eds and regular commentary on DSP pay, which sets the bar donors see.

Headwind
📉
Faith in leaders has slipped

Lack of faith in business leaders has risen 21% since 2021, so trust now has to be earned in public, one clear statement at a time.

Edelman Trust Barometer, 2025 Headwind

Where the Opportunity Lives

The same forces creating pressure are also creating openings for those willing to lead.

💰
Individuals still give most

Individuals gave about $392 billion in 2024. People give to people, and a known leader voice is a direct line to them.

Giving USA, 2025 Tailwind
🎤
Hosts are already calling

A podcast and PIX11 have invited her on, so the hardest step, being asked, has already happened.

Tailwind
💡
Readers reward a clear view

86% of decision makers favor perspectives that challenge their assumptions, which is room for a leader with a firm stance on DSP staffing.

Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Report, 2025 Tailwind
🔒
Unlock Your Full Roadmap

Her Future-State Professional Brand

The full roadmap turns Terri Ross's answer to the B.H.O.Q. into a rebuilt profile, a short leader film and a regular voice on the issue that matters most to QCP.

Phase 1
Clarify
Settle her one sentence, her one issue and a single clean profile.
Phase 2
Identity
Build the first-person About, the Featured section and a short leader film.
Phase 3
Growth
Start a dated monthly post and secure one sector stage for her view.
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