Employee of the Quarter

3rd Quarter 2024

Zoe Surprise-Murphy, Support Services Lead TCM

Zoe exemplifies Cottonwood’s values daily in her interactions with staff, families/guardians, support team members, and persons served. Her commitment to Cottonwood’s mission is evident by her willingness to lend a hand in any situation and the warmth and energy she brings to work each day.

Zoe is invaluable to the Support Services department. She quickly stepped into her role as Lead TCM and has provided support, assistance, encouragement, and advice to fellow case managers, in addition to maintaining her own caseload. Zoe often completes additional work that benefits the rest of the case managers, such as creating useful tools to help us better navigate our increasingly complex job requirements. She also played a crucial role in managing a difficult situation involving multiple consumers, while administrative staff were out of the office. Team members looked to her for guidance, and although she later stated that she was “mostly winging it”, you would never have known it from her calm demeanor and the efficiency with which she had everyone on the right track.

Zoe also recently attended a special legislative session in Topeka to advocate for the rights and freedom of choice for consumers across the state of Kansas. She wrote and presented an impactful and thoughtful testimony to a room full of legislators and looked like a boss doing it!

Zoe’s knowledge of Cottonwood and other affiliated service providers, as well as rules and regulations handed down by the state, have made her a well-rounded and competent employee in all regards. The individuals on her caseload (and her team members) can take comfort in knowing that she has their best interests at heart and will go above and beyond to make sure they are living their preferred lifestyle.