Erzsébet Szekeres, a ceramist by profession, acquired all the knowledge needed to help her son and other disabled people through trial and error. She later received a diploma in social assistance and worked for the European Union for three years on an initiative to address the segregation and struggle of the disabled. As head of the Alliance for Rehabilitation, she knows every employee, their names, life stories, disabilities and problems, and often refers to them as “my children.” She is planning to remain the head of the organization as long as she can before retiring to the home she has created for the members. She is the recipient of: Ashoka Fellowship, 1997; Gold Medal of the Hungarian Republic, 2000; and the Essl Social Prize, 2009.