Leadership
Guiding a statewide provider organization with a focus on person-centered care, accountability and steady operational excellence.
Executive · Researcher · Advocate
Building systems that serve people with dignity.
LuAnn Leighton leads Chesapeake Developmental Support Services, a Maryland DDA-certified provider supporting people with developmental disabilities across the state. Her work joins human services, technology and research to strengthen the systems families rely on.
- Leads
- CDSS, Maryland DDA-certified
- Since
- 2019
- Serves
- Statewide, Maryland
- Research
- Drexel DBA candidate
Focus
Three commitments that guide the work.
Innovation
Applying a background in information technology to make human services more connected, measurable and humane.
Impact
Researching how Maryland's systems can better support the caregivers who navigate them every day.
Leadership & Ventures
Where the work happens.
Chesapeake Developmental Support Services
A Maryland DDA-certified provider supporting people with developmental disabilities statewide.
Founder, CEO & Program Director
Maryland Charitable Foundation Initiative
A planned charitable effort intended to expand support for individuals and families in Maryland.
Initiative lead
Behavioral Health Ventures
Exploring ventures that could broaden access to behavioral health support alongside developmental disability services.
Founder-led exploration
Memberships & Community
Connected to community, at every level.
National association
ANCOR
National advocacy · Provider innovation
Maryland association
MACS
Maryland policy · Provider collaboration
Service sorority
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated®
Sisterhood & scholarship · Volunteerism
Research · Doctoral candidate · Research in progress
Supporting the caregivers who hold the system together.
LuAnn's doctoral research examines the experiences of caregivers navigating Maryland's Community Pathways Waiver, and how service systems, providers and policy can better support them.
Explore the researchIn brief
Short biography
LuAnn Leighton is CEO and Program Director of Chesapeake Developmental Support Services, a Maryland DDA-certified provider she founded in 2019. With a background in human services and technology, a B.S. in Computer Science and Information Technology, an M.S. in Information Technology from Towson University, and doctoral candidacy in Drexel University's DBA program, she researches how Maryland's systems can better support caregivers.
“I believe leadership is defined not by titles, but by the lives we touch, the opportunities we create, and the barriers we help others overcome. As an entrepreneur, executive, and doctoral scholar, I am driven by a passion for empowering people, challenging limitations, and creating meaningful, lasting change. My purpose is simple: to lead with vision, serve with compassion, and leave every person and community better than I found them.”
Connect
Invite LuAnn to your next conversation.
Speaking invitations, research collaboration and partnership inquiries are welcome.