Brian Abery
Brian Abery, Ph.D, is the Coordinator of School-Age Services at the Institute on Community Integration (ICI) and an adjunct faculty member within the Institute on Child Development and School Psychology Programs at the University of Minnesota. He has been Principal Investigator of numerous projects designed to enhance the educational outcomes, social inclusion, and self-determination of persons with disabilities both at a national and international level. Dr. Abery holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology and has an extensive background in research, assessment, program development, and evaluation related to children, youth, and adults with disabilities.
Emily Ackerland
Emily M. Ackerland is a dedicated professional in the field of higher education disability services, currently serving as the Assistant Director of the Disability Services Office at Western Washington University. Equipped with a Master's in Adult and Higher Education from Western Washington University, Emily brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to her role. With a passion for inclusivity and accessibility, Emily has demonstrated a tireless commitment to empowering students with diverse needs. Her expertise lies in developing tailored support plans, advocating for inclusive practices, and fostering a welcoming environment for all students. Emily's proactive approach and collaborative spirit have been instrumental in creating an inclusive educational experience for students. She is known for her ability to bridge the gap between students, faculty, and administration, ensuring that every student has the resources and accommodations they need to thrive academically. In addition to her professional achievements, Emily is an avid advocate for disability rights and is actively involved in community initiatives that promote inclusivity. Her work is not just a profession, but a personal mission to break down barriers and champion the potential within each student.
Olivia Acuff
Olivia Acuff (she/they) is an Access Coordinator at the University of Washington-Seattle. She began her work with student accommodation directly after graduate school at 22 years old. They are an achondroplastic dwarf, and are heavily involved in their national organization, Little People of America. She has worked as a volunteer & mentor to folx within her local chapter. She loves to volunteer as a mentor to students at the university LGBTQIA+ center on campus. Her career is just beginning, but she looks forward to continuing work within disability & LGBTQIA fields.
Rachel Anderson
Rachel Anderson (she/her), MA, is a Senior Access Consultant at the Disability Resource Center at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She has worked in the disability higher education field for 7 years. Her role includes working with UMN’s Law School and Veterinary Medicine. She has interests and liaison roles with students both studying abroad and international students studying on the UMN campus and the intersection of disability.
Karen Andrews
Karen Andrews is an aspirational, inspirational, and transformational leader in higher education disability services, with deep roots in diversity, equity, and inclusion. With more than 13 years of higher education disability experience and more than 12 years in K12 special education as a teacher and special education administrator, Karen brings a passion to the work that is rooted and grounded in a social justice model of disability services that focuses on participation, access, equity, diversity, and rights. Karen has a level of experience in the field that could benefit any organization. She has done the accommodations work and has been a visionary director at small and large, public and private universities. Karen’s commitment to inclusivity goes beyond disability to bring awareness to provide well-rounded support by recognizing the intersectionality of diverse identities. With a passion for legal work, case law, and policy, she enjoys teaching and collaborating with those who share an interest in supporting the intersectional needs of those who identify as having a disability. Karen’s work extends nationally as she serves on the Board of the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) as a Director-at-Large, is the current AHEAD Board liaison to the Knowledge and Practice Communities, and is the former chair for the organization’s Race, Ethnicity, Diversity and Disability (REDD) Special Interest Group. She is the 2022 awardee for the AHEAD Duraese Hall Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award. Every day, Karen and her service animal, Dooley, show up to serve the Brown University community in advancing the cause of disability as diversity. Karen earned a BS in Elementary and Special Education from Northern Arizona University and an M. Ed. in Adult Education and Development from Strayer University.
Katherine Aquino
Katherine C. Aquino, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Administrative and Instructional Leadership for the School of Education at St. John’s University. Katherine received a B.S. in Psychology, M.A. in School Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership, Management, and Policy. Katherine also has an advanced certificate in instructional design and delivery. Katherine’s research interests include the socio-academic transitioning into and within the higher education environment for students with disabilities and post-traditional students. Katherine is dedicated to investigating the complexity of disability in the postsecondary setting. Her work has been published in the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Journal of College Student Development, and the Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, among others.
Nawal Arshi
Nawal Arshi is a Research Assistant in the Department of Disability Studies at King’s University College. Her interest in disability advocacy began in high school while volunteering at an independent learning program, where she became acutely aware of the environmental and social obstacles faced by disabled students. Completing a minor in disability studies helped her develop a deeper understanding of disability, institutionalization, and intersectionality and sparked her interest in research within the Disability Studies field.
Shannon Austin
Shannon Austin, a visionary leader with over two decades of transformative experience in Human Resources, Workforce Development, and Vocational Rehabilitation, is dedicated to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion. Currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Instructional Management and Leadership at Robert Morris University, Shannon holds a Master of Science in Rehabilitation Counseling and Bachelors' of Science in Business Administration, Organizational Leadership, and Social and behavioral Science. She possesses certifications as a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, Certified Workforce Development Professional, and Global Career Development. Serving on the PA Governor's Workforce Development Board, she excels as a Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (WIOA) policy specialist, fostering collaboration in government. With a remarkable career in Vocational Rehabilitation, culminating as the Executive Director of the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, Shannon has driven the employment of thousands of individuals with disabilities annually. Committed to shaping inclusive workplaces and forging impactful partnerships, Shannon Austin stands as a beacon of change and progress with an unwavering dedication to an equitable professional landscape.
Bea Awoniyi
Bea Awoniyi, Ph.D., is the Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs and College Ombuds at Santa Fe College, in Gainesville, Florida. For almost four decades, Bea has provided leadership for disability support services at the community college and the University levels. She enjoys working and forging policy alignments, policy changes, and developing interagency collaborations/partnerships, things she has done successfully across the country (Colorado, Iowa, and Florida). In addition, Bea has served the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) in many capacities—as a Director on the Board, Standing Committee Chair, and is a Past President (President 2014-2016). Bea currently serves on other boards. She is the Treasurer for the Johnson Scholarship Foundation (JSF) Board, the Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities (FCSUA), and currently the Board President for the Center for Independent Living of North Central Florida (CILNCF). Bea continues to consult with colleges and universities and is highly engaged at the regional affiliate level (FL-AHEAD).
Jamie Axelrod
Jamie Axelrod, M.S. is the Director of Disability Resources at Northern Arizona University and a past-president of the Association on Higher Education And Disability (AHEAD). Jamie is a sought after speaker on topics related to disability access and higher education, having expertise in disability law and policy, communication and information technology (ICT) access, and the reasonable accommodation process. Jamie is a respected contributor to professional listservs, having received the Fink-Ryan Award for the quality of his guidance, and a go-to consultant for complex issues. He has worked for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s athletic department, as a mental health therapist, and for Protection and Advocacy Systems, Inc., a disability rights advocacy law firm where he served as an advocate for individuals with disabilities who were claiming that their civil rights had been violated. Jamie has served as co-chair of Northern Arizona University’s Commission on Disability Access and Design, AHEAD’s Board of Directors and the Board of Directors of the Coalition for Disability Access in Heath Science Education. He is a contributing author to the recently published Two Key Analytic Tools for Addressing Postsecondary Disability Law Questions (AHEAD 2023).
Emily Babb
Emily Babb is the Associate Vice President for Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance at Northwestern University where she oversees the University's Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance and serves as the University's Title IX Coordinator. Prior to joining Northwestern she was the Associate Vice Chancellor for Equal Opportunity and Title IX/Title IX Coordinator at the University of Denver. Emily also served as the Assistant Vice President for Title IX Compliance at the University of Virginia and oversaw the University's compliance with Title IX. While at the University of Virginia, Emily also served as the Interim Associate Vice President for Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights, leading a 15-person team responsible for the University's broad civil rights compliance, including Title IX, the ADA, and employment equity. Prior to joining higher education, Emily was a Senior Attorney at the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Dallas Regional office and the Program Manager and Acting Regional Director at the Cleveland Regional office. She is a graduate of DePauw University and earned her J.D. from the University of Oklahoma College of Law.
Bruce Bailey
Bruce Bailey has lead responsibility for the Access Board website and with providing technical assistance on Section 508, especially as that regulation relates to websites, software, and hardware. Bailey supports Access Board members serving on Election Assistance Commission (EAC) boards and committees. Bailey serves as the Access Board 508 Program Manager. Bailey has worked for thirty-five years in the field of digital accessibility and assistive technology, with the last fifteen years at the Access Board. Since 2001, Bailey has been an invited expert active in the W3C WAI Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AG WG). Prior to joining the Access Board, Bailey worked at U.S. Department of Education OCIO and, prior to that, with the State of Maryland, Division of Rehabilitation Services.
Amanda Bailey
Amanda Bailey is an Ontario Certified Teacher (OCT) and a recent graduate of the M.A. in Applied Disability Studies at Brock University specializing in Applied Behaviour Analysis. Her research interest is the perception and application of the universal design of learning in online higher education.
Jonathan Band
Jonathan Band, J.D.: Jonathan Band will review all project documents to ensure that they are consistent with the existing legal provisions for BVIPD services at IHEs. Mr. Band is a copyright attorney who has represented libraries in connection to the Marrakesh Treaty and the Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act. He has developed materials concerning the Marrakesh Treaty and its implementation for organizations such as the United Nations Development Programme, Electronic Information for Libraries, and the U.S. Library Copyright Alliance (consisting of ALA, ARL, and ACRL). Mr. Band runs a private consulting firm based in Washington, DC. More details about Mr. Band's work is available here: http://www.policybandwidth.com/ . Additionally, Mr. Band is an adjunct professor with Georgetown University Law Center, a position which affords him experience with the university system and accessibility practices for BVIPD students.
Maria Barraza
I am a University of Arizona DRC Access Consultant. My bachelors is in Psychology from the University of Arizona. I currently work with Graduate and upper-division students, across several colleges at the University. I am a liaison for Study Abroad in DRC and volunteer on philanthropy events for adaptive athletics. I am a single mother of two.
Malibu Barron
Malibu Barron (she/her) is a Strategic Support Specialist with the National Deaf Center. She identifies herself as a Deaf Multiracial ciswoman, a second-year doctoral student in School Improvement at Texas State University. She received her BA in sociology and MA in School Counseling from Gallaudet University. She has provided numerous training, workshops, keynote, and spaces in the past ten years, focusing on multiple issues with different employment and roles in the community. She is known to focus on integrating various issues in her work: education, mental health, interpreting, DEI-A, and community works in a trauma-invested space.
Kirsten Behling
Kirsten Behling is the Associate Dean of Student Accessibility & Academic Resources at Tufts University, where she oversees all academic support, including the accommodation process. Kirsten and her colleagues recently published Disability Services in Higher Education: An Insider’s Guide, which offers best practices to disability service providers. Kirsten also focuses her research on Universal Design for Learning and its impact all students and the instructors teaching them. Her book, Reach Everyone Teach Everyone: UDL in Higher Education, shares practical applications for instructors to begin “doing” UDL immediately. Kirsten frequently consults around disability service efforts and offers workshops and trainings on UDL, through Access2Insiders. She can be reached by email at: kirsten.behling@tufts.edu.
Rachel Behrmann-Fowler
Rachel Behrmann-Fowler (she/her) is the Disability Specialist at Georgetown University in the Academic Resource Center. In her role, she advises students with disabilities as well as advocates for accessibility and disability inclusion on campus. She received her BA in Business Administration from McDaniel College and her Master of Science in Student Affairs Administration from Binghamton University where she focused her studies on disability in the college setting.
Joanne Benica
Joanne Benica currently serves as the Senior Director of Student Disability Services for the East Baltimore Hub at Johns Hopkins University. With over 20 years of experience in disability services coordination in higher education at a range of institutions, Joanne has worked directly with students to create and improve access as well as partnered with various academic units to problem solve complex situations. She spent nine years at American University as the Director of Disability Services and most recently she served as the Director of Disability Services at the University of Southern Maine. For the past several years her focus area has been related to improving digital accessibility and implementing Universal Design, both with an emphasis on partnering with faculty and staff to improve access. Joanne received her undergraduate degree in social work from Penn State University and graduate degree at the University of Arkansas in rehabilitation counseling.
Jennifer Biggers
Jennifer Biggers is a disability specialist at the Student Disability Resource Center at University of California-Riverside. Jennifer works with students with psychological disabilities, chronic health conditions, and learning disabilities. Jennifer also has experience of working in the K-12 setting with students with disabilities as a teacher and an administrator. Jennifer’s expertise lies in post-secondary transition readiness and has taken this experience to UC-Riverside to develop programming for first year, transfer students, and students that may acquire a disability during their college experience. Jennifer currently oversees the SDRC Peer Mentor Program, Time Management Workshop Series, Accountability Study Groups, and SDRC Bootcamp for new and transfer students.
Chianti Blackmon
Chianti Blackmon, M.S. (she/her/hers) has over 15 years of experience in higher education and currently serves as the Vice President of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion at AMDA College of the Performing Arts. She is a member of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) and a qualified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI). Her work includes, but is not limited to; campus climate assessment, understanding non-inclusive language and conflict, addressing implicit bias in leadership and hiring, strategic planning, as well as facilitating Ally/accomplice and co-conspirator assessments. Chianti earned her undergraduate degree in interpersonal/public and business/organizational communication from the University of Akron (OH) and her master's degree in clinical pastoral counseling from Loyola University, Maryland. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Higher Education at Morgan State University.
Annastashia Blesi
Annastashia (she/her) received her B.S. degree in physics from the University of Tennessee and M.A. in College Student Personnel from Bowling Green State University. Annastashia currently serves as the Assistant Director of the Miller Center for Student Disability Services where she works closely with students and the broader Miami community to ensure disability access within the university experience. Annastashia brings her lived experience as a disabled woman both into this space and in the classroom where she teaches DST 272: Introduction to Disability Studies. Utilizing the lens of the biopsychosocial model of disability, Annastashia’s praxis focuses on forging meaningful relationships with students and supporting their identity development as a disabled student. Her research interests include weaponized resilience and how people with acquired disabilities develop a disability identity.
Christy Blew
Christy Blew is Disability Specialist in Alternative Media Production for Accessible Media Services (AMS) in the Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She joined AMS in July of 2021 after 15 years as an IT Accessibility Specialist at DRES, finding her greatest success in helping to eliminate stigmas and myths that have been associated with IT Accessibility through advocating and educating. Among courses in Word, PPT, and PDF, Christy has developed a free online course, IT Accessibility 101, which is used by instructors as well as their classes to learn about the basics of Digital Accessibility. She has worked with converting music for assistive technology for one and a half years now. Christy has held memberships with the W3C Protocols and Formats working group and the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP). She serves on several campus initiatives including the Technology Accessibility Review Committee (TARC) on the University of Illinois Campus. You will also find her collaborating with other Big10 Universities to develop IT accessibility solutions to make the U of I campus a better place for everyone, including those with disabilities.
Jamie Bojarski
Dr. Jamie Bojarski is the Director of Student Access Services, at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Bojarski aims to promote an inclusive community for students with disabilities by providing trainings, workshops, and one-on-one meetings to students, faculty, and staff. Jamie earned a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a Master’s of Education in Postsecondary Administration and Student Affairs from the University of Southern California. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Research and Policy Analysis from North Carolina State University. Her research interests focus on transitions to college for individuals with disabilities. Prior to joining Vanderbilt, Jamie served as the Assistant Director of the Disability Resource Office at NC State providing access to students with disabilities and working with the campus community to engage in implementing Universal Design of Learning principles.
Julie Bradley
Julie Bradley has a Master's Degree in Rehabilitation as well as 30 years serving the Deaf community as a certified interpreter, interpreter coordinator, and for the last 18 years as a community college counselor working in the DHH office at Mt. San Antonio College which serves 160-180 DHH students annually.
Erin Braselmann
Erin Braselmann (she/her) is the Dean of Disability Resources and Accessibility and Lecturer in the Disability and Accessibility Studies Curriculum Initiative at Bard College in New York. She has worked in disability offices in higher education for eleven years, and in student support offices and lecturer roles at a variety of colleges and universities for fifteen years. Erin is currently a doctoral candidate at Northeastern University, focusing her research on disability studies and educational policy.
Scott Brown
Scott Brown, Ed.D. is a Professor of Counseling and Learning Disabilities at Riverside City College. He has over 25 years of experience in disability service in K-12 and post-secondary education. Dr. Brown serves as a learning disabilities consultant to the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office and sits on the board of the California Housing Foundation, which develops and provides housing to college students with developmental disabilities. His current passion project is to facilitate better transitions from high school to college to employment and independent living. Dr. Brown is on the Executive Board for CAPED.
Ellen Bunn
Ellen Bunn currently serves as an Assistant Director for the Appalachian State University Office of Access & Equity: Disability Resources (ODR). Having served in multiple student-support positions at App State, Ellen Bunn worked as the director of the As-U-R Program before transitioning to the Office of Access & Equity: Disability Resources in 2021.
Melissa Butler
Melissa Butler has 23+ years of leadership experience in postsecondary disability services and currently serves as the Director of Student Accessibility Services at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. As a one-person office in a private liberal arts setting, Melissa wears the multiple hats necessary to meet diverse student access needs and build collaborative relationships with faculty, staff, parents, and community partners. She leads an Advisory Group for Accessibility, Disability, and Universal Design as one method for advancing access and inclusion efforts on campus. Melissa is a TN-AHEAD past-president, and she spent the first eight years of her career focused on the intersection of disability and career. Melissa earned her M.S. in Rehabilitation Counseling degree from the University of Memphis.
Bree Callahan
Bree Callahan is the ADA Coordinator at the University of Washington and provides leadership, coordination, and oversight to advance the University’s strategic priorities relating to access and accessibility. She has over 20 years’ experience in higher education, determining accommodations and providing consultation on ADA compliance matters of digital, physical, and program access. Bree has presented at local, state, and national conferences on a variety of topics relating to disability and access, transition of students with disabilities to postsecondary education, and systemic change toward more inclusive campuses.
Ella Callow
Ella is an alum of UC Berkeley College of Letters & Sciences and of UC Berkeley Law School. She has had a long history of advocacy as an attorney for the rights of disabled people before joining UC Berkeley. Ella is open about having disabilities herself and as a member of the Bay Area American Indian/Alaskan Native community, her understanding of disability in the United States is as an identity that is deeply intersectional with race, class, gender, sexuality, and educational privilege. Ella is responsible for coordinating and leading efforts to ensure that the campus is in full compliance with the ADA, other applicable disability-related laws and all university policies related to disability.
Kathleen Camire
Kathleen Camire has 11 years of experience in the field, in addition to several years as a teacher at the high school level. This varied experience allows her to help families making the transition to college better understand the differences between accommodations in the K-12 environment versus higher education. Kathleen has served as Director of Student Disability Services and 504 Coordinator at Butler University since 2021, having first started as the Assistant Director in 2015. In her time as Director, her focus has been on creating streamlined processes and procedures, in writing, to assist in the department running smoothly, improve student experience, and support the ease of transitions as students and staff change over time. Kathleen received a B.A. in English, B.S. in Secondary Education with a concentration in English, and an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Connecticut. She went on to receive an M.A. in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Western Michigan University, where she first got into the field disability in higher education.
David Cammarata
Experienced Special Educator with a demonstrated history of working with students with learning differences across grade level, disability type, and service need. Skilled in Coaching, Communication, Administration, Conflict Management, and Team Leadership.
Margaret Camp
Margaret has worked with students with disabilities for more than 20 years, with most of that time spent on higher ed campuses. Currently at Clemson University, Margaret began as a School Psychologist and found her home on college campuses. Margaret has served in several positions at AHEAD and has presented at 15 different AHEAD conferences. As part of Project ShIFT, Margaret’s work is rooted in social justice foundations, with interests in many areas.
Janelle Capwell Giles
Janelle Capwell Giles, M.A. (she/they) is a queer Taiwanese, hard of hearing, and disabled PhD candidate in English Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English at the University of Arizona. Their research focuses on accessible pedagogy, accommodations for student-workers, disability justice through an intersectional lens, audism, and archival rhetorics. Throughout their B.A. and M.A. programs they advocated for disabled tutors and have designed training workshops for equitable tutoring policies for disabled students. In addition to teaching first-year composition, they are now an Access Consultant at the Disability Resource Center at the University of Arizona. Janelle has also presented at various regional and national conferences on disability care webs, disabled tutoring praxis, and accessible pedagogies. Outside of academic work, Janelle enjoys playing and relaxing with their two dogs.
Lindsay Carr
Dr. Lindsay Carr has been working in the field of education for over 20 years. She holds a PhD in Special Education and two teaching licenses in the state of Ohio. Lindsay has provided professional development training throughout her career related to data-based decision making, self-determination skills, non-academic learning opportunities, and transitioning students with disabilities to higher education. She is the Director of Student Accessibility Services at Muskingum University working with students with disabilities to obtain and utilize accommodations to support equal access. Her research focus is on transitioning students with disabilities to college and adulthood, specifically related to self-determination and self-advocacy skills.
Thea Chhun
Thea is an alum of UC Berkeley College of Letters & Sciences and of UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare, with a concentration in Strengthening Organizations and Communities. As a first generation Cambodian American and bilingual woman of color, Thea’s lived experiences have driven her long history of community advocacy work. As part of the DAC team, Thea coordinates campus access programs across UC Berkeley; including increasing IT accessibility under the UC Information Technology Accessibility Policy and Emergency Evacuation Planning to establish standards of emergency preparedness with campus stakeholders for people with disabilities.
Irena Chiang
Irena is the EAC Manager of Academics and is passionate about advocating for equity and access in education. She was formerly a credentialed classroom teacher with experience in public, private, and charter schools, and has worked with diverse student populations in Philadelphia and Nashville prior to moving to San Diego. She is an alumnus of Vanderbilt University with a Bachelor of Arts in English, Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education, and minor in Visual Arts.
Daryn Christenson
Daryn Christenson (he/him) is a Senior Access Consultant at the Disability Resource Center at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Daryn has been at the DRC since 2010 and serves as the only Access Consultant that works with both Students and Employees. Daryn serves as the point person for University of MN Medical Residents and Fellows, and is a liaison to the University Athletics and the Veterans Center.
Ashley Ciccolini Erickson
My name is Ashley Ciccolini Erickson and I serve as the Associate Director of Student Accessibility Services (SAS) at Florida Atlantic University. I have worked in the disability services field for over 10 years and have operated on both small and large campuses. This has given me the perspective and understanding of how a one-person office functions versus a larger office and allowed me to work with non-traditional and traditional students. I received my bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Central Florida and my master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Florida Atlantic University. I facilitate the Southeast Consortium Group and am a member of Florida AHEAD.
Gabrielle Clark
Gabrielle Clark (she/her) is the Associate Director of Student Accessibility Services at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. She has served on the Board of New England AHEAD as Membership Chair for 2 consecutive years, and teaches a graduate course on inclusive education at Simmons University. With a Master of Science in Education from Simmons and a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from UMass Amherst, her previous work and volunteer experience includes roles in inclusive education and services for individuals with disabilities. While previously enrolled at Simmons, Gabrielle won the 2021 Kennedy Award in Special Education for excellence, leadership and “making a difference in the lives of individuals with disabilities”. Gabrielle can be reached at gclark@holycross.edu.
Ed Clausen
Ed was President of Daemen College in New York from 2011-2013. He was the President of Board of Directors for Clausen House from 2014 to 2019. Ed is currently working to help secure federal support for innovative projects to better serve people with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
Grace Clifford
Grace Clifford is the Director for Disability Services at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine and a current board member for the Coalition for Disability Access in Health Science Education. She has authored and co-authored several publications and pending publications regarding disability accommodation determination and disability access; including chapters in: Principles and Practice of College Health (Vaughn, Viera 2020), Equal Access for Students with Disabilities: The Guide for Health Science and Professional Education, Second Edition (Meeks, Jain, Laird, 2020), and Disability as Diversity (Meeks, Neal-Boylan, 2020).Her current research focuses on developing group models to support students with executive functioning and psychological based disabilities, barriers to seeking accommodations for under-resourced students, and improving disability access in health science and professional education.
Emily Cluen
Emily (she/her) is a new professional working in the Disability Services office at Miami University. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Recreation Management from Appalachian State University and a Master’s Degree in Student Affairs in Higher Education from Miami University. Emily’s experience includes working with disabled people in a recreation setting, working in residential life on college campuses, and as an accommodations specialist for college students. Emily is particularly interested in the process of disability diagnosis and formation of disability identity, as well as the intersection of disability and other identities.
Derek Coates
Derek Coates has a Master’s Degrees in Sociology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and the California State University, at Fullerton. In 2003, Dr. Coates received his Ph. D in Sociology from Wayne State University and was hired as an Ed Roberts Postdoctoral Fellow in Disability Studies at U.C. Berkeley as part of a National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research grant. Dr. Coates began his career at U.C. Berkeley in 2004 when he was hired as the campus Disability Resolution Officer, resolving and investigating allegations of discrimination on the basis of disability filed by students and serving as the campus-wide primary point of contact for disability-related program and physical access issues. In 2010, Dr. Coates was hired as the Discrimination Complaint Resolution Coordinator for the Central Human Resources unit, tasked with resolving and investigating allegations of discrimination on all protected classes (except Title IX) filed by U.C. Berkeley employees. In 2014, Dr. Coates was appointed to be the campus Interim Disability Compliance Officer reporting to Associate Chancellor. In 2018, Dr. Coates joined the Disability Access & Compliance office at its founding.
Julia Cohen
Julia Cohen is the Director of the Disability Resource Center at Samuel Merritt University in Oakland, California. At SMU, Julia serves students in a variety of health science programs including Nursing, Physician Assistant, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Podiatry. During her time at SMU, the population of students with disabilities has more than tripled, which Julia sees as a source of great campus pride.
Jordan Colbert
Hailing from South Jersey, he identifies as and is proud to be a biracial first-generation and low-income graduate. He received his B.A in Classical Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and a Masters of Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Southern California (USC). He started in disability services in 2015 as a Graduate Counselor and transitioned to working as an Assistive Technology Specialist for USC in 2017. He earned his Assistive Technology Professional certificate from RESNA in 2020. Prior to working in the field of accessibility, Jordan served as a psychotherapist with high school students and provided Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy to substance abuse populations. At Yale, he provides accommodations to graduate and professional level students, and oversees the Student Workers in Assistive Technology (SWAT) Team, which coordinates the delivery, training, and accessibility for assistive technology on campus. Outside of his role, Jordan can often be found debating philosophy with friends, writing poetry, and watching professional sports.
Victoria Colella-Larizza
Victoria Colella-Larizza, M.Ed (she/they) serves as the Assistant Director for the Office for Disability & Access at Oberlin College & Conservatory. Victoria has five years of disability experience in higher education, with an additional seven years of experience as an Intervention Specialist Moderate/Intensive K-12. Victoria oversees the Student Accessibility Coordinators in the office and works directly with students to provide equitable access to all aspects of the college experience. Together with the staff, Victoria has worked to implement Student Academic Support Sessions (SASS) for students with disabilities who need additional academic support. Services included support with executive functioning skills, communicating with professors, learning self-advocacy, and more. Victoria earned her undergraduate degree in Special education and her graduate degree in education with a transition to work endorsement from Kent State University.
Clayton Copeland
Dr. Clayton A. Copeland is the director of the Laboratory for Leadership in Equity of Access and Diversity (LLEAD) at the University of South Carolina’s School of Information Science. Much of her research focuses upon equity of access to information for people with disabilities. Copeland also pursues research interests in universal design and Universal Design for Learning, literacy, facilities planning, technology, and materials and programming for children and young adults. She manages the Linda Lucas Walling Collection for Disabled Children and recently co-authored and edited Disabilities and the Library Fostering Equity for Patrons and Staff with Differing Abilities.
Alex Cordain
Alex Cordain has been providing captioning, text and music conversion services to students with disabilities through the University of Illinois’ Accessible Media Services unit since 2019. He has helped develop AMS' music conversion process, modernize their text conversion training including developing a training program for student workers which is being adapted to online training modules. Alex serves as an IT Accessibility Liaison, being a point of contact for anyone in Disability Services who may have questions about digital accessibility. He has helped to grow the Educational Materials Made Accessible (EMMA) initiative to share remediated materials between Disability Services Offices.
Lyla Crawford
I have been with the DO-IT program at the University of Washington since 1997. DO-IT works to promote the inclusion of students with disabilities in challenging academic and career programs. I have been involved in developing print and electronic resources for students, educators, parents, career advisors, employers and other support personnel who work with students with disabilities as they pursue educational and career goals. In addition to developing materials and programs for students, parents, educators and employers and conducting research on best practices and strategies. I have served on the National Science Teachers Association Special Education Advisory Board. I also served as the Secretary (for ten years) and later as the President for the Washington Association on Postsecondary Education and Disability (WAPED) Board.
Samantha Cuillier
Dr. Samantha Cuillier is a Senior Investigator at the University of Southern California. Samantha has conducted Civil Rights investigations at higher education institutions including the University of California-Berkeley, California State University-San Bernardino, and Adtalem Global Education for over 8 years. Samantha studied Psychology at the University of Texas at Dallas and has a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Arizona State University.
Amy Beth Dambeck
Amy Beth Dambeck is vice president for legal and corporate affairs and general counsel at the Law School Admission Council. In this capacity, she provides legal advice to the board of trustees, its committees, senior leadership, and management in all areas of LSAC operations. A key focus of her work is to ensure that LSAC operations — such as accommodated testing — align with the organization’s mission to promote and further the quality, access, and fairness of the law school admission process. Previously, Dambeck served as LSAC’s vice president of human resources and deputy general counsel. Prior to joining LSAC, she was a partner at a national labor and employment law firm. She was also a frequent speaker on employment law and nonprofit governance issues and provided pro bono legal services for various nonprofit organizations. Dambeck has also served on the board of trustees of several nonprofit organizations, including, most recently, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Coastal and Northern New Jersey and Nonprofit Connect. She earned her BA in English from the University of Richmond and her JD from Seton Hall University School of Law.
Shelbie D'Annibale
Shelbie D’Annibale has been the Director of Accessibility Resources at Shippensburg University since January 2019. She received her BA in Sociology and MS in Organizational Development and Leadership from Shippensburg University. She was first introduced to this field as a student worker during her undergraduate degree. Since then, she has worked at both a community college and a private liberal arts college. She has found immense joy in returning to her alma mater and leading the Office of Accessibility Resources. She lives with her husband, 3 daughters, and many pets in south central Pennsylvania.
Dan Darkow
Dan (he/him) received his B.S. degree in management information systems from Wright State University and M.S. in Student Affairs in Higher Education from Miami University. His experience includes working in residence life and serving disabled students in the field of disability services. Ensuring disability access and inclusion is at the forefront of his personal and professional lives. He views disability as a powerful identity and recognizes the sociopolitical nature of claiming disability. Dan values his connection with disabled and non-disabled students, faculty, and staff and actively works to create a culture of access. He is currently Director of Cleveland State University's disability and testing services and adjunct instructor in the disability studies program at Miami University. Outside of work, Dan serves on the board of directors for a nonprofit called NMD United, a peer-led organization supporting adults living with neuromuscular disabilities. His research interests include disability access and disclosure, assistive technology, accommodation usage, and the experiences of disability services professionals and disabled college students.
Abigail Davis
Abigail Davis received both her Bachelor's degree in English Education and her Master's degree in Educational Leadership from Biola University. She holds a Masters of Divinity from Gateway Seminary and the Ph.D in Higher Education from Azusa Pacific University. She started her career as a 7 - 12 grade English teacher in public schools in California. She transitioned to working with college students when she moved to China and taught English at the Sichuan College of Education. After two years working abroad, Abigail returned to the states and continued working in higher education, specifically in Student Life. Her previous jobs have provided her with experience in Residence Life, Housing, Student Conduct, Title IX, and Retention. She is the Director of the ACCESS Program at Lipscomb University which allows her to help educate the whole student, helping them to find success both in and out of the classroom.
Everett Deibler
Everett has his degree in Special Education and Human Development from George Washington University. Prior to joining JBC he spent five-plus years as a Learning Specialist at Lehigh Carbon Community College (LCCC), Where he provided training to faculty and staff around the concepts of diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and disability sensitivity. Everett has over 10 years of experience in facilitating programs and discussions on the local, state, and national levels around student empowerment, person-centered approaches, inclusion, disability awareness, and disability sensitivity. Audiences include students, family members, state agencies, service providers, employers, secondary and post-secondary school faculty and staff.
Antonia DeMichiel
Antonia DeMichiel currently serves as a Disability Specialist in the Student Disability Services office at the University of San Francisco, where she also earned her Master’s in Higher Education and Student Affairs. Antonia has worked in Disability Services for five years at a variety of institution types including a public university and a small, private arts college. Her professional practice is deeply informed by her lived experience as a physical disabled woman and the principles of the social model of disability. She has previously presented at the NASPA Western Regional Conference and AHEAD on topics related to provision of services as well as disabled identity. Her chapter on her lived experience of tokenization among Disability Services staff appears in the book DISABLED Faculty and Staff in Higher Education: Intersecting Identities and Everyday Experience, edited by Dr. Mary Lee Vance and Dr. Beth Harrison."
Leann DiAndreth-Elkins
Dr. Leann DiAndreth-Elkins is the Executive Director of Disability Resources Services, Associate Professor of Education, and Coordinator for the Center of Teaching & Learning at Muskingum University in New Concord, Ohio. Dr. Elkins has significant experience working with college students with disabilities and supporting their transition to college. She also has been a special education faculty member at three universities and has focused her research on transition supports and college services for students with disabilities. Dr. Elkins received her Ed.D. and M.Ed. in Special Education from Texas Tech University, and her M.A. in Student Affairs in Higher Education and B.S. in Elementary Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Lisa Diekow
Lisa Diekow currently serves as the Assistant Director for Testing Services at the University of Florida, Disability Resource Center. Throughout her time at the University of Florida, Lisa has served in a variety of student-facing roles within Student Life, none more enjoyable than the last seven years at the Disability Resource Center, supporting students with disabilities. Lisa’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech and Reading Education and Master of Science in Education degree from Potsdam College.
Ida Dilwood
Ida Dilwood, Director of Disability Services and University Testing Center at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. In 2007, Ida was appointed as Director of Disability Services. In 2009 Co-Chair for AHEAD Conference in Denver, CO. She has served on numerous campus committees, including Emergency Preparedness Advisory Committee (EPAC), Diversity Advisory Committee (DAC), Inclusive Campus Action Team (ICAT), Staff Luncheon Committee, Parking Committee, Housing/Meal Plan Petitions Committee, ADA Compliance, CU-System wide Digital Accessibility Committee and other ad hoc committees as needed. She also served in several roles on both UCCS Staff Association and System Staff Association from 2006-2018. Ida served as Secretary on the James Irwin Charter Academy School Board from 2013-2015. Since 2019, Ida has participated on the Higher Education Special Projects Disability Committee with Colorado Department of Higher Education.
Sarah Dimick
Sarah Dimick is the Director of DSPS and WorkAbility III at Feather River College in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of rural Northern California. She has worked in higher education for 12 years at the community college and university levels. Sarah has been in her current role for four years. FRC has a long standing correspondence program in 28 correctional facilities throughout the state. She is working on a new project with the California Department of Rehabilitation (WorkAbility III) to bring vocational services to incarcerated students.
Latoya Dixon
Latoya Dixon serves as an Accessibility Resource Specialist at NDC. With extensive experience in disability services in higher education, she has established herself as a dedicated advocate for accessibility, focusing on transition-age youth and college students with disabilities. In her previous role, she worked in a disability services office in higher education, providing accommodations to students with documented disabilities. Latoya holds an M.A. in Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling and is actively pursuing her doctorate in Deaf Studies/Deaf Education, with a concentration on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the disparities within the deaf community. Ms. Dixon is a strong believer in equal access for the deaf community, which is the central focus of her doctoral research.
Teressa Eastman
Teressa Eastman earned an MBA from Wichita State University in 1992 and has served as the Director of Disability Services at Butler Community for 20 years. She has previous experience working in Special Education in the public school system. At Butler Community College, Teressa serves as the chairperson of the college’s CARE Team, as well as, a member of the college’s four-person Threat Assessment Team. Teressa also serves on the college’s Inclusion Council, Textbook Affordability Team which works on open educational resources for students, and Satisfactory Academic Progress Review Team for Financial Aid. Teressa is also active nationally with the Association of Higher Education and Disability by serving as a co-chair of the Community College Special Interest Group. As a person with a disability, Teressa strongly believes in the value of the Americans with Disabilities Act and advocates for the rights and responsibilities of the disabled population.
Krystal Edmead
Krystal Edmead is the Director of Accommodations and Accessibility at Northern Virginia Community College since 2021. In her role, Ms. Edmead manages faculty and staff who approve accommodations for students with disabilities across six campuses and online. Ms. Edmead also oversees the Interpreter Services Office and the Assistive Technology Office; develops and facilitates trainings on the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), the interactive process of working with a student with a disability, and other relevant topics; co-chairs the college’s Accessibility Working Group in addition to being an active member on various committees; and reviews student grievances and course substitution requests for students with disabilities. Previously, she served as a Disability Services Counselor and a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor providing support to youth in transition, college students, and adults. She has been serving individuals with disabilities for the past 15 years and is committed to working in the field. Ms. Edmead holds a Master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University at Buffalo, Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Temple University, and an Associate’s degree in Paralegal Studies from Northern Virginia Community College.
Hannah Enenbach
Hannah Enenbach, M.A. (she/her/hers) serves as the Director of Accessibility Services and ADA Coordinator at AMDA College of the Performing Arts, where she led the creation of the Accessibility Services Office in 2018. Hannah has ten years of experience in higher education and private organizations, where she has provided direct student support and accommodation assessment, built, and given faculty, staff, and student trainings on disability inclusion and justice, created and instituted campus policies related to accessibility, and more. Hannah earned her undergraduate degree in psychology and anthropology from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and her master’s degree in political psychology from the University of California at Irvine.
Heather Evans
Heather is a socio-legal scholar who focuses on the ways in which institutions such as the law, higher education, and the medical field interact with marginalized populations. She has conducted statistical analyses, ethnographic fieldwork, and evaluation research. Heather’s current work is in the field of Critical Disability Studies examining disclosure, identity management, and workplace accommodations among people with physical, mental, and sensory differences that are not readily apparent. She is also committed to community based research and does consulting work for local social justice organizations, primarily focusing on disparities within the criminal justice system.
Christina Fabrey
Christina Fabrey is the Director of the Student Success Center at Virginia Tech, having previously served as the Associate Dean for Advising and Academic Achievement at Prescott College. With a passion for promoting college student success and organizational excellence, Christina has been a higher education administrator and disability provider for over 15 years. Christina earned a Master’s in Education from the University of Vermont, Professional Credentialed Coach (PCC) certification from the International Coach Federation, Board Coach Certification (BCC) through the Center for Credentialing Education Global, and Appreciative Inquiry Facilitator Certification through Champlain College. As a Coach Trainer and Mentor, Christina has trained hundreds of higher educational professionals in coaching skills for over the last decade. Having developed coaching programs at several institutions, she is grounded in coaching all students, including students with disabilities and students working towards academic recovery. Christina is active in the Association for Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) by co-chairing their Coaching Knowledge and Practice Community and their Coaching Evaluation Community of Practice. Christina is a contributing author of Becoming Self-Determined: Creating Thoughtful Learners in a Standards-Driven, Admissions-Frenzied Culture and Becoming Self-Determined: Practical Strategies for a Changing World, Field & Parker (editors). Her recent works focus on embedding holistic student care into faculty development and include “Careers, Advising, Teaching: A Holistic Approach to Student and Faculty Development.” in Re-imagining Teaching to Maximize Student Learning: Case Studies of Faculty Development Centers (Neisler, Looker, and Newman eds.) and “Resilient and Flexible Teaching (RAFT): Integrating a Whole Person Experience into Online Teaching” in Resilient Pedagogy (Thurston, Lundstrom, and Gonzalez, eds.). Her edited anthology, Coaching in Disability Resources: From Transactional to Transformational, was published in the spring of 2023 and co-edited with Master Certified Coach, Jodi Sleeper-Triplett.
Nathan Failing
Nate completed his EdD in Instructional Leadership to work towards being a college administrator. Currently, he is the Coordinator/Counselor for the Student Accessibility Services Department at Laney College.
Nicholas Faranda
Nicholas Faranda (he/him/his) has been the Director of Student Disability Services at The New School since January, 2017, and has recently assumed the role of Senior Director for Student Equity, Accessibility, and Title IX Services, overseeing both Student Disability Services and Student Title IX Services. Previously, he served as Director of Accessibility Services at Mount Ida College and as the Student Services Coordinator at Boston University's Office of Disability and Accessibility Services, where he also started his career as a graduate intern.
Nick earned his undergraduate degree in history from Binghamton University, a Master's in Teaching of Social Studies from Teachers' College-Columbia University, and Master's Degrees in School Counseling and in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from Boston University.
Meri Faulkner
Meri Faulkner serves as the Assistant Coordinator for Student Disability Services at Spartanburg Community College in South Carolina. She earned her undergraduate degree from Clemson University in 2014 and a Masters degree from Gallaudet University in American Sign Language Interpretation in 2018. Prior to transitioning to her current role in 2019, Meri worked as an interpreter for k-12 and post-secondary institutions. She has served on several boards including the South Carolina Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf and the National Association of Interpreters in Education. Meri currently serves as President of her state chapter of AHEAD in South Carolina.
Björn Fisseler
Dr. Björn Fisseler has a background in special education. He has been in the field of higher education since 2004, working in various positions. Since 2012, Dr. Fisseler is with the FernUniversität in Hagen, where he currently works as an educational technology specialist with the Faculty of Psychology.
Accessibility in higher education and the academic success of students with disabilities is his main research topic. He gave numerous presentations at international conferences and also published papers and book chapters on these topics.
Colleen Floyd
Colleen (she/her) is a new professional working in disability services as an Access Specialist for neurodivergent students, staff, and faculty at Michigan State University (MSU). She holds a master’s degree from Miami University in Student Affairs in Higher Education with concentrations in disability and gender. Colleen’s praxis is dedicated to accessibility and implementing critical disability studies into the accommodations process, problematizing medical understandings of disability and cultures of compliance. Academically, their research focuses on the temporal experiences of disabled college students, disability disclosure, and the intersections of disability and queerness. After the mass shooting on MSU’s campus on 02/13/2023, Colleen’s work as an Access Specialist has uniquely been impacted. Nearly a year later, the impacts are felt with a two-fold increase in affiliation for students with psychological disabilities and rise in remote learning requests. Colleen aims to discuss the effects of this event and provide insight on how accessibility work will and needs to shift with emergency management in mind.
Brandy Fox
Brandy Fox is a MLIS candidate with the University of South Carolina's School of Information Science. She has completed a certificate in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She is in the process of starting a non-profit devoted to reducing wait times and other accessibility barriers faced by students who require course materials in audio formats.
Ann Fredricksen
Ann Fredricksen has her BA in Physics from Carthage College and her MS/LIS degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She has been working for Disability Resources and Educational Services in the Accessible Media Services Office since 2008. She now serves as the Coordinator of Accessible Media Services, which provides accessible learning material for courses being taught within the University’s system. Ann has been focusing her career on media accessibility which includes accessible print material, closed captioning, as well as audio description. . She has created a captioning training course to serve as a resource for the University of Illinois’ faculty and staff on how to meet accessibility standards with free to low-cost software already available to this population and is currently working on a similar course for audio description.
Hannah Ganzel
Hannah is the Coordinator of Disability Services at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa. She has been at Cornell in her current role since June of 2022. Her career has included a variety of Student Affairs roles before settling into her chosen path of Disability Services. Mt. Vernon is Hannah’s hometown, so she is thrilled to be working within her community to broadly improve accessibility and provide individualized support to students at Cornell. When she is not working, Hannah enjoys exploring the hidden treasures of Cedar Rapids, playing Dungeons and Dragons, and spending time with her family and partner.
Kathleen Geddes Jay
Kathleen Geddes Jay is a Learning Specialist and Academic Advisor for Commonwealth University – Mansfield in Pennsylvania, serving first-generation, low-income, and students with disabilities in the TRiO Student Support Services program. Having spent over 20 years in K-12 education, primarily in a therapeutic high school setting, the last seven years she has continued to work collaboratively with a therapeutic high school on transition supports for graduates of their program while working at the university level. Having earned her EdD in Special Education in 2022, she has continued to work on research projects and presentations focused on student transitions and supports for a variety of underrepresented and traditionally marginalized students.
Catherine Getchell
Catherine Getchell has served as the Director of Carnegie Mellon University’s Office of Disability Resources since 2016. In her role, she works with students with disabilities to develop accommodation plans, teaches and promotes students’ self-advocacy skills, and provides training and advocacy on disability and accessibility to all members of the CMU community. Prior to coming to CMU, she was a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor and then District Administrator at the Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation for twelve years. She has a master’s degree in Rehabilitation Science from the University of Pittsburgh.
Rachel Gibson
Rachel Gibson brings over 13 years of experience in disability services in higher education. She’s served in various positions within UCCS Disability Services from main office Program Assistant to Accommodation Coordinator to the Assistant Director. Her education includes a Master of Arts in Leadership in Education, Student Affairs in Higher Education emphasis from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Her focus within UCCS Disability Services is around policy creation, facilitation of accommodation services, management of main office operations and accommodation software management. She lives in Colorado Springs, CO with her husband and two daughters.
Karla Giese
Born hearing, Karla began losing her hearing as an infant and became profoundly deaf at a young age. Throughout her career, Karla has worked with Deaf and Hard of Hearing people of all ages, from birth to age 21, across all educational settings, utilizing all communication approaches. In addition, Karla has been an active participant in a variety of organizations and advisory councils and has attended numerous trainings, conferences, and workshops on topics related to deafness. In addition, Karla has given several presentations on various topics including ASL, Cued Speech, language acquisition, the educational impact of hearing levels, IEP advocacy, self-advocacy, and service dogs for the deaf. Her passions include advocacy, knowledge, teacher development, early intervention, and literacy. Her philosophy revolves around the idea that there is no one deaf experience and educating a student who is Deaf, DeafBlind, or Hard of Hearing requires a committed team effort that includes the home, school, and community. Accessibility is a key factor in success and it is important for the student’s team to be able to support that process in a variety of ways.
Chester Goad
Chester Goad, Ed.D. is the Director of the Accessible Education Center at Tennessee Tech University, and also teaches in the graduate school for the College of Education, and he also serves as one of Tennessee Tech’s Diversity Champions. He is the current AHEAD President-Elect, and is also a member of the Editorial Review Board for JPED. He is a former TNAHEAD President and is a recipient of the Dona Sparger award for professional service, TNAHEAD’s highest honor. Chester has only missed one AHEAD Conference since 2009, and ironically, it was the virtual conference. In addition to having presented Conference Sessions for AHEAD, Chester has also led Pre-Conference sessions. In 2013, he co-authored Tennessee’s “Dyslexia is Real” law. He has also served as a consultant and presenter to Missouri’s Partners in Policymaking, on “How to Pass Meaningful Legislation.” He is also a former K12 principal and teacher.
Jenna Gonzalez
Jenna Gonzalez is a proud triple graduate of the University of Florida. Her Bachelor’s degree is in Elementary Education and her Masters and Specialist degree are in Special Education. She is currently finishing her doctorate in Special Education from the University of Florida. Jenna started her education career in K-12 system in public and private settings. She went from classroom teacher to ESE Coordinator, to administrator. From there, Jenna ventured into higher education, where she truly feels at home. Jenna joined the University of Florida (UF) Disability Resource Center (DRC) in 2017 as an Assistant Director/Learning Specialist. In February 2022, she was named Director of the DRC where she currently leads her department to be a pillar of accessibility and inclusion on campus. She works with faculty, students, and staff daily to promote a universally accessible campus culture. Outside of her role as Director of the DRC, Jenna continues to promote accessibility through her adjunct faculty position at the UF College of education where she continues to share her disability knowledge with the next generation of accessibility advocates. Jenna currently serves as the President of Florida AHEAD.
Christine Goodwin
I am an experienced Institutional Researcher with over 25 years of experience in higher education. In addition, I have been studying how institutions can support students with chronic illnesses and the research in this presentation is based on my findings from my doctoral dissertation. I am also a kidney transplant recipient and have had firsthand experience living with a chronic illness.
Tiffany Gray
As the Director of the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion at Davidson College, I work in partnership across campus to identify needs, create and sustain equitable and accessible spaces for belonging, and develop programmatic opportunities to support and celebrate the intersectional experiences of students. Throughout my career, I have worked to support the holistic wellness of students with a variety of identities and experiences, and assist students as they enhance their leadership, growth and learning. My experiences in higher education range from working in multiple LGBTQIA+ cultural centers, multicultural affairs, and residential life. As a leader within these spaces, I facilitated social justice trainings and workshops, worked on policy development, conducted assessment, provided crisis intervention and support, and collaborated with campus and community partners to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
Bridget Green
Dr. Bridget Green is an Assistant Professor and the Director of the Special Education program in the Department of Educational Foundations & Leadership in the School of Education. She is also an advisor for Kappa Delta Epsilon. Her research focuses on understanding the needs of students who have disabilities transitioning into college and employment, transition assessment, and developing best practices to ensure students with and without disabilities have access to meaningful career-based assessments in the general education classroom. Other interests include disability rights, accessibility for all, and self-advocacy for the disability community.
Mandie Greiwe
Jewls Griesmeyer-Krentz
Jewls is the Assistant Director of Accessible Education Services at Willamette University / Pacific Northwest College of Art. Previously, she was Associate Director of Learning Support Services at Linfield University School of Nursing overseeing dis/ability services, academic coaching, and tutoring. She enjoys finding creative and collaborative ways to promote equity and inclusion for students and university communities. Before joining Linfield in 2022, she had been an Access Counselor and Consultant at the Disability Resource Center (DRC) at Portland State University (PSU) for over nine years. Jewls serves as the President of the Board of Directors of the Oregon Affiliate of the Association of Higher Disability (ORAHEAD) and serves as a mentor for the Association of Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) Start Academy for new(er) dis/ability services professionals. She is a frequent presenter at both regional and national conferences. Jewls received her Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling from PSU in 2008 and is a PhD candidate in Adult and Higher Education at Oregon State University. Her doctoral work focuses on international and immigrant students with dis/abilities, dis/ability identity, and intersectionality. Jewls is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC).
Meg Grigal
Meg Grigal is Senior Research Fellow at the ICI, UMass Boston. Meg’s work focuses on research, policy, and practice in inclusive higher education for people with intellectual disability (ID). She is the principal investigator on multiple federally funded projects focused on transition to college, inclusive higher education and employment for students with ID. She has co-authored three books and over 80 peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and briefs on transition, college access, and employment. In addition to research, Meg has provided professional development to thousands of professionals and families around building expectations and expanding opportunities for students with ID to go to college.
Paul Grossman
Paul Grossman, J.D. is the Executive Counsel of AHEAD with over 40 years of service at OCR in Washington and San Francisco, most of them as a Chief Regional Attorney. Paul also taught disability law for over 20 years at University of California, College of Law. Paul remains a frequent guest lecturer for AHEAD, CAPED, UC College of Law, UC Berkeley, the California Community College System and the National Association of ADA Coordinators. Paul served multiple terms on AHEAD’s Board of Directors and remains a member of the AHEAD Public Policy Committee as well as the Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) Expert Advisory Board. Through investigation, decision writing, and negotiations, Paul has addressed every form of discrimination in education including race, national origin, sex and disability, often developing new approaches for protecting the civil rights of students. Paul is the author of AHEAD’s publication, The Law of Disability Discrimination for Higher Education Professionals. Paul joins Jamie Axelrod, M.S. and Mary Lee Vance, Ph.D. in two book chapters on analytical tools and procedures for DSS officers when they face their most complex and challenging questions, recently published by AHEAD.
Enjie Hall
Enjie Hall serves as both the Director for the Disability Resource Center on the Twin Cities Campus and the system-wide ADA Coordinator for the University of Minnesota. As a disabled individual, Enjie has passionately advocated for civil rights and full participation of disabled people through inclusive design and practices for 25 years. Enjie previously worked in the disability office at The University of Toledo serving as director and ADA/Rehabilitation Act Compliance Officer, and prior to that, worked in the disability office at The Ohio State University. She served as a director at large on the AHEAD national board, led the revision process for the AHEAD Professional Competencies, was a past co-chair for the Blind and Low Vision Knowledge and Practice Community, and is a mentor for the AHEAD Start program for new/er professionals. Enjie has presented locally and nationally on a variety of topics related to disability access, DEI, leadership/influence, digital accessibility, the role of the ADA Coordinator, assistive technology, and navigating the interactive process. She was a co-author for a white paper and articles pertaining to navigating and documenting the interactive process; best practices for emotional support animals; and the role of third-party documentation.
Zebadiah Hall
Identifies as a Black man and uses he and him pronouns. He is the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the University of Wyoming (UW). He is the Title VI and ADA Coordinator for UW. Prior to his appointment at UW, he was the Director of Student Disability Services (SDS) at Cornell University. He shifted SDS to a civil rights for social justice model instead of the medical model approach to determining accommodation. Zebadiah has worked in higher education in various departments such as Admissions, Academic Support, as an Assistant Men's Basketball Coach, and Disability Support Services. He served as the President of the State of Indiana’s Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) chapter from 2013-2014. He served a three-year term from 2019 - 2023 as a board member of AHEAD's national organization as the Equity Officer. Zebadiah was named the 2023 award winner of the AHEAD's Duraese Hall Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion. He is a regular speaker and facilitator on topics around diversity, equity and inclusion and includes disability in the inclusion conversation.
Mandy Hambleton
Mandy Hambleton serves as the Vice President of the Association of Title IX Administrators (ATIXA) and as Senior Director of Content Development for TNG Consulting. As an educator with over a decade of progressively responsible behavior management experience, she has held roles in student conduct and academic integrity, behavioral intervention and case management, and Title IX compliance at multiple higher education institutions. She has extensive experience in policy and process development, including both public-facing policies and internal standard operating procedures, templates, and forms. She often teaches courses on informal resolution, DEI, and the intersection of BIT and Title IX.
Valerie Hamilton
Valerie worked as a special education and history teacher in the K-12 setting for over 15 years and then transitioned to work in offices that support college students with disabilities in 2011. For the last 13 years she has been in leadership roles in disability service offices for the Connecticut State Community Colleges: Tunxis, Central Connecticut State University, the University of Washington, University of Colorado, Boulder, and North Seattle College. During that time, she has found passion in supporting teams of decision makers who solve hard problems of accessibility and equity. She is also an instructor for the Master of Arts in Higher Education at the University of Colorado, Boulder where she teaches courses in accessibility and disability. Valerie has presented at various local, state, and national conferences on topics related to team development and disability access. She earned a BA in History from the University of Santa Cruz, an M.Ed. in Special Education from the University of Minnesota, and a professional diploma from the University of Connecticut in Postsecondary Education and Disability.
Jerry Hand
Jerry is a graduate of Rutgers University School of Law. He has been an attorney with the Office for Civil Rights for over 20 years. Before coming to OCR, he worked extensively in the field of entertainment, representing numerous entities in music, radio and television, including recording artists, on-air personalities, producers, promoters and record labels. He currently works on broadcast media projects in the Philadelphia area.
Justin Harford
Justin (he/him/his) is a Program Specialist with the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange, working to increase the participation of people with disabilities in international exchange by providing information and resources to both individuals with disabilities and higher education professionals. Previously, Justin worked for two years in disability community organizing and policy in the foothills of Northern California. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Latin American History and Spanish Literature from University of California, Berkeley. He studied abroad at the Pontifical Catholic University in Santiago Chile, where he researched and wrote a thesis on the history of the blind in Chilean society. In 2008, he spent 10 weeks immersing himself in the culture and language of Michoacan, Mexico.
Pamela Harris
Dr. Harris is the Associate Dean of the EAC and an Associate Professor of Education. She has over 30 years of experience educating and advocating for people with disabilities. She worked as a special education teacher and testing specialist for 15 years before she became a professor of Special Education. Her research focuses on students with 'invisible' disabilities. Prior to joining the faculty at PLNU, Dr. Harris trained hundreds of general and special education teachers to utilize high-impact instructional strategies in inclusive educational settings.
Christopher Harris
Dr. Christopher L. Harris is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology in the Department of Educational Foundations and Leadership. His research interests include examining the self and identity development of students, particularly K-12 Black and Brown students, and understanding how those identities develop over time to better inform both practice and theory. He is also interested in re-examining educational psychology theories and bringing them into the 21st century by including the diversity of our learners and their experiences. Dr. Harris recently graduated from the University of Toledo where he earned his Ph.D. in Educational Foundations: Educational Psychology. His dissertation explored the impact that the K-12 curricula has on the racial identity development of Black college students."
Elizabeth Harrison
Retired in 2020 after more than 30 years in higher ed. She served as faculty in East Asian Studies, then Associate Director of the University Teaching Center and then Director of the University Learning Center at the University of Arizona. At the University of Dayton, she directed the Office of Learning Resources, which encompassed disability services and learning center-type support for all students. Her position at UD also included faculty development. She is a long-time, active member of AHEAD. Throughout her career, she has focused on supporting student learning from many directions—her own teaching; helping faculty improve their teaching and thereby better support all their students, including those with disabilities; and providing direct support for students. She has led workshops focusing on universal design at institutions across the US, has given numerous sessions at AHEAD and for the Professional and Organizational Development Network, and serves on the review board for JPED. In 2006 Beth received the AHEAD Professional Recognition Award. Beth is co-editor of DISABLED Faculty and Staff in Higher Education: Intersecting Identities and Everyday Experience (AHEAD, July 2023).
Priscilla Harrison
Priscilla Harrison works in the Office of Access and Equity and serves as the Director of ADA Services & Compliance and the ADA Coordinator for Clemson University. She oversees and provides guidance related to the University’s programs, policies and procedures to ensure compliance with federal laws including the Americans with Disability Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. She assesses disability accommodation needs for employees and visitors and provides training and programing in areas including leadership development, organizational effectiveness, compliance, equitable treatment, and diversity.
Paul Harwell
Paul Harwell is currently the Associate Director of ADA/504 Compliance in the Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity at Dartmouth. Paul is nationally recognized for his work in higher education and disability. His work is grounded in the principles of civil rights and barrier removal being shared responsibilities across institutions. A 16-year higher education and disability resource professional, Paul has extensive experience supporting students, faculty, staff and public access and accommodation. He is passionate about supporting the development and growth of others and serves as a mentor to colleagues and students at Dartmouth and around the country. Currently, Paul is responsible for leadership on campus-wide disability access via policies, procedures, and training. Paul is a doctoral candidate in Higher Education Administration at Texas A&M University, with a focus on higher ed law, policy, and finance. His dissertation topic is about university faculty experiences teaching students with disabilities.
Emily Helft
Emily Helft is the assistant director of professional development at the Landmark College Institute for Research and Training. Following her undergraduate work at Wheaton College (MA), she earned her M.Ed. and Ed.S. from the College of William & Mary with an intense focus on psychoeducational assessment and evaluation. After working as a school psychologist and seeing the impact of regularly incorporating technology into her everyday field work supporting students, she transitioned into higher education as an assistive technology specialist, eventually expanding her skill set into accessible media production, accommodation support, faculty consultation, academic skills development, and community education regarding accessibility and the disability community. She has experience in higher education at both large-scale public universities and well as small-scale private colleges, and ultimately served as the director of a Disability Resource Office before transitioning into her current role. Once she realized her true passion within the field was clearly tied to education and training, she joined Landmark’s LCIRT team to both narrow her focus and broaden her outreach.
Clare Hennigan Raftery
Clare Hennigan Raftery (she/her/hers) is the Associate Director of the Academic Resource Center at Georgetown University. A Maryland native, Clare earned her BA in History Secondary Education from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC in 2015. She taught high school Social Studies and coordinated a program for students with disabilities for four years. She earned her M.Ed in Special Education at University of Maryland, College Park in 2019. She has worked in the Academic Resource Center at Georgetown University since 2019.
Jackie Heymann
Jackie (she/her) is a Coordinator role within University of Michigan's Student Accessibility and Accommodation Services. Prior to joining the U of M team, Jackie was an Access Consultant in Purdue University's Disability Resource Center and coordinated the intergroup dialogue program at Michigan State University. She has earned a Master's in Student Affairs Administration from Michigan State University, and an Advanced Certificate in Disability Studies from CUNY School of Professional Studies. Jackie identifies as disabled and is passionate about working with disabled students as they navigate their higher educational experiences. She is also passionate about applying an intersectional lens to disability services work and working in partnership with faculty, staff, and students to create campus communities that are equitable, inclusive and accessible.
Sarah Hiebert
Sarah Hiebert is a Senior Accessibility Coordinator with Student Accessibility Services at the University of Manitoba. She has worked as a disability service professional for ten years, primarily working with students who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing, students with chronic medical conditions, and students with learning disabilities. She has a Bachelor of Education from the University of Winnipeg and a Bachelor of Commerce from Carleton University.
Kate Higgins
Kate Higgins, Ed.M., is the Associate Director of Harvard's University Disability Resources and serves as the Programming Coordinator of Harvard’s employee resource group for faculty and staff with disabilities. Additionally, she is a Board of Trustee and Chair to the Education Program Committee at Perkins School for the Blind, where she worked for nearly a decade as the Associate Director of College Success and teacher in the Secondary Program. Kate holds a seat on her local Commission on Disability and has a Master’s Degree in Education and Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.
Bryan Hilbert
Bryan Hilbert serves as the Director of the Disability Resource Center at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) Co-Founder and President of the Nevada Association on Higher Education and Disability (NV-AHEAD). During his time at UNLV the program has grown from serving 750 students to over 2800 students. He has worked with students in numerous medical and health science programs including: Medicine, Nursing, PT, OT, Dentistry, Kinesiology and Radiology.
Crystal Hill
Mya Hooks
Mya Hooks serves as an Academic Coach and Counselor in the Services for Students with Disabilities office. Mya is very passionate about education and advocating for students. Her primary responsibilities are to provide individual coaching and disability-related counseling with identified students to facilitate academic progress and student learning outcomes. Mya holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Wingate University, and a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy from Appalachian State University. Prior to coming to Virginia Tech, Mya worked as a Therapeutic Day Treatment Counselor with at-risk youth at an alternative school in Salem, Virginia and in the Roanoke City public school system. She also served as a graduate mentor to undergraduate students at Appalachian State University. Mya has experience assisting students with a wide range of social, emotional, and academic challenges."
Michael Houdyshell
Current full-time Associate Professor and Program Coordinator for the M.A. Educational Leadership program-higher education concentration in the College of Education at Florida Gulf Coast University. Over 25 years of experience working and teaching in higher education at six institutions. Research interests include academic advising, college student mental health, international comparative higher education, and curriculum design.
Hannah Huey-Jones
Hannah (she/her) holds a master’s degree in special education and elementary education, and has six years of experience teaching in various special education settings in public elementary schools, prior to becoming a disability resource professional at the college level. Hannah’s philosophy of education centers around the idea that access to education should be universal, and that all educators should be well-versed in the nuances of access and disability.
Michael Hughes
Dr. Michael S. Hughes is a Retired Bowie State University, Coordinator of Disability Support Services, of 21 years, who is a two-time graduate of Bowie State University with BA in Psychology; University of the District of Columbia MA in Clinical and Community Psychology; Howard University, Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in Educational Psychology, and Bowie State University Ed D Educational Leadership. Professor of Human Growth and Development and Psychodynamics of Psychopathology. Presently a Psychotherapist (LCPC)
Trudie Hughes
Dr. Hughes is the Associate Director of Disability Services and Title IX with the North Carolina Community College System Office (NCCCS). She is responsible for providing consultation and professional development as it pertains to disability services and Title IX to staff, faculty, and students across the 58 community colleges. Prior to her employment with the NCCCS in September 2014, she was an Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, where she taught special education in the College of Education and Human Service Professions Department. Dr. Hughes has over 15 years of teaching in Higher Education at both the University of Minnesota-Duluth and at Georgia State University in special education. Dr. Hughes earned her doctorate at Georgia State University in Atlanta Georgia, where she worked as a faculty in the Educational Psychology and Special Education Department.
Grace Hunter
Grace Hunter is an Accessibility Specialist in the Student Accessibility Center at Loyola University of Chicago. Grace has previous experience as a special education teacher in the K-12 public school setting and as a direct care aid in several community and residential programs. She graduated from the University of Kansas with a Master of Science degree with an emphasis on inclusive education for students with moderate to severe disabilities. In her current role, Grace supports students with a wide variety and severity of disabilities in the university setting, where she enjoys creating resources and cultivating relationships with faculty and staff to promote continued access for all students.
Rita Inman
Rita Inman is a double Knight, earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education and a Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instructional Design from the University of Central Florida. After spending a decade in the classroom, she transitioned to higher education at the University of Florida. Rita works directly for UF Levin College of Law and the UF Housing Department. The majority of her days are meeting with faculty, staff, and perspective students with their parents to discuss access at the University of Florida. Rita is currently serving as the serving as the President Elect of Florida AHEAD.
Chelsea Iobst
Chelsea Iobst earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Special Education from High Point University and a Master of Education in Student Personnel in Higher Education from the University of Florida. She has been with the University Athletic Association for 6 years and is approaching her second year as the Associate Director of Learning Services in the Hawkins Center at the University of Florida. When she is not meeting with her student caseload, Chelsea can be found screening and accessing student-athletes for academic support, scheduling psychoeducational evaluations, and communicating with multiple campus partners such as the Disability Resource Center, Hawkins Center Student-Athlete Advisors, Student-Athlete Mental Health Counselors and Sports Health Personnel. She also oversees all Assistant Learning Specialist professional development, Disability Awareness Month programming, Mental Health Awareness Month programming and the @GatorsLearn X account. Chelsea has previous experience as a special education elementary school teacher in the Alachua County school district. She has a passion for providing access and consistent support to students and professionals in the space of education and athletics.
Holly Irwin
Dr. Irwin serves as the campus ADA Coordinator and is also the Vice Provost of Academic Administration. Dr. Irwin is committed to equal access for all PLNU students. Dr. Irwin seeks to continue PLNU’s mission of developing students in the educational setting, in a vital Christian community, for the purpose of serving others in their respective professions.
Tia Ivanko
Tia Ivanko, M.S.,NIC, ADAC, is the Co-Director and Co-principal investigator at the National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes, is committed to improving systems and increasing the professional capacity of people and entities who provide services for deaf communities. As a certified ADA Coordinator (ADAC), and nationally certified interpreter (NIC), she brings a deep knowledge of accessibility and professional practices from the interpreting field to the technical assistance work. Ivanko is passionate about addressing inequities in education for deaf learners, she is an experienced trainer and mentor to professionals working in education settings. She is particularly interested in increasing opportunities and representation of Black and Brown professionals in fields serving deaf communities.
Brittany Jackson
Dr. Brittany L. Jackson serves as the Director of Training and Technology for the College Autism Network and is the Online Learning Manager in Learning Technologies at Hiram College. Brittany has an Ed.D. in educational leadership studies from Ashland University (Ashland, OH), which she earned in 2022. Her research focuses on autism and neurodiversity in higher education, Universal Design for Learning, leadership, higher education, technology, training, and disability studies. Brittany received her bachelor of arts in theatre and communication in 2004 and her master of arts in interdisciplinary studies with a focus in education and psychology, specifically autism in higher education, in 2015 from Hiram College (Hiram, OH). She earned a certificate in autism spectrum disorders from Kent State University (Kent, OH) in 2019. Brittany also serves on the Board of the Hiram Living and Learning Community.
Jane Jarrow
Jane E Jarrow, Ph.D., is the founder and President of Disability Access Information and Support (DAIS). Through her consulting company, Jane provides technical assistance and professional development activities to various segments of the higher education community surrounding issues of accommodation and support for students with disabilities. Jane received her academic training in Speech Pathology at Purdue University (BS, MS) and Wichita State University (Ph.D.), and taught at Ohio State University before beginning her 14-year tenure as the Executive Director of the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD). In 1996 she became a private consultant, providing support and training to colleges and personnel in their efforts to support students with disabilities. The parent of a daughter with a significant disability, Jane knows these issues from both personal and professional perspectives.
Steve Johnston
Steve is an alumnus of the University of Aberdeen, Scotland and is originally from Northern Ireland. He has over 20 years’ experience as an investigator, including crime scenes, major crime, and financial crime, in the UK. He moved to California in 2018 and after almost two years at UCSF investigating privacy incidents and potential HIPAA violations, he moved to DAC at UC Berkeley in October 2020. As well as reviewing allegations (by students, staff, faculty, and visitors) of discrimination based on disability, and dealing with any issues of concern, he gives presentations on the work of DAC and how our Department can assist departments in being compliant with the ADA.
Davi Kallman
Dr. Davi Kallman (she/her/hers) is a Mexican, Jewish Disabled woman. Her intersecting identities help bring a voice to traditionally marginalized communities. She is a published author, award winning speaker, and an institutional change maker. Her keynotes, speeches, and presentations include topics such as equity, diversity, and inclusion; intersectionality; disability and education; disability advocacy, and leadership and organizational growth. She is the Interim Co-Dean of Retention and Student Success and the Director of Access Services at Tacoma Community College (TCC), where she applies her research on disability in higher education to help students get the accommodations they need and deserve. Kallman also serves as TCC’s 504/A.D.A. Coordinator. In this role she works with TCC students, faculty, and staff to ensure that student disability rights are upheld. Previously, she worked as Assistant Director, Access Advisor, and Awareness Coordinator for the Washington State University (WSU) Access Center. While at WSU, she used disability awareness programming to help normalize disability across the WSU system. She received her Ph.D. in Health Communication from the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at WSU and her master’s in communication theory from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). Kallman uses media literacy and other media-based interventions to break down prejudices and stereotypes in institutional settings.
Adam Kasarda
Adam Kasarda is the Director of the Disability Services Center at University of California, Irvine. Prior to UCI, Adam served as the Disability Director at California State University Dominguez Hills and Alliant International University. Adam has served college students with disabilities for over 12 years. Adam is an active member in AHEAD, serving as a mentor to new professionals and one of the co-founders of the Correctional Education Accessibility KPC. Current interests include medical school accommodations, correctional education, and equity gaps.
Erika Katzman
Erika Katzman is an Assistant Professor of Disability Studies at King’s University College at Western University in Ontario, Canada where she teaches classes on disability theory, policy, health care and systems navigation. A neurodivergent occupational therapist and former personal care attendant, Dr. Katzman learned about disability through experience before formal education. Her research focuses on the everyday ‘work’ disabled people perform to survive life in inaccessible spaces and in pursuit of rights and justice. Dr. Katzman strives to create safe and equitable spaces in teaching, research and beyond by centering disabled knowledge.
Danielle Kaufman
Danielle Kaufman, LMSW, (she/her/hers), currently serves as the Student Accessibility Services Coordinator and a Staff Therapist at the New York Film Academy. She brings a decade of healthcare experience, during which she passionately advocated for individuals with disabilities across the age spectrum. Danielle holds a BS in Psychology with a minor in Child and Family Studies from Stony Brook University, and earned her MSW degree from Hunter College. In her current role, and as an active member of the DEI committee at NYFA, she works to foster an inclusive environment and empower students to overcome academic barriers, striving for equal opportunities for all.
Dick Kawooya
Dr. Dick Kawooya’s current research interests focus on the role of information (intellectual property) in fostering innovation. He is specifically looking at the role and impact of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in the exchange of innovation between formal institutions (universities, research centers, libraries, etc) and informal businesses or sectors in Africa. Kawooya’s research interests fit the broad theme of access and flow of information. He has particular interest in the ethical and legal barriers to information access and flows often with the library institution as the backdrop.
Kristin Juhrs Kaylor
Kristin Juhrs Kaylor, M.A., is the Senior Accessibility Instructional Designer at The University of Alabama, College of Continuing Studies. She has over 23 years of experience in education accessibility, 15 years of experience as an educator (online learning, publications, and teaching), and 10 years of instructional design experience. For the past 5 years, she has led The University of Alabama Online’s course accessibility efforts, making UA is a national leader in online course accessibility. She is a Certified Adobe PDF Accessibility Trainer. She holds Section 508 web standards and authoring accessible documents certificates through the Office of Accessible Systems & Technology, Department of Homeland Security. She recently authored the chapter, “The University of Alabama Online’s Digital Accessibility Course Development Process, Practices, and Tools,” for the QM book, A Guide to Digital Accessibility: Policies, Practices, and Professional Development. Kristin has presented/been selected to present on online course accessibility at OLC Accelerate, Accessing Higher Ground, CSUN Assistive Technology Conference, QM Connect, and Alabama Instructional Design Network (AIDN) Conferences.
Kitt Kelleher
Kitt Kelleher is a Learning Specialist with the Office of Disability Services at Bristol Community College in Massachusetts. She currently works and collaborates with students and faculty within the Occupational Therapy Assistant program at Bristol. Her 36+ year career has spanned from working with infants, toddlers and K-12 students with disabilities, providing executive function coaching, to national training and professional development for special education teachers. Kitt has worked with neurodiverse adult learners for over 20 years in various settings and for the last 7 years, has worked at both public and private universities/colleges as an adjunct professor or learning specialist focusing on universal design and access for students with disabilities. She has also developed online training modules for teacher certification related to Universal Design and Differentiated Instruction, Mathematics Development, as well as foundational training resources for educators working with students identified with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Kitt has also authored and co-authored several articles related to Universal Design, access, and accommodations for neurodiverse learners.
Maria Keller
Lore Kinast
Dr. Lore Kinast is a change agent working to address accessibility barriers that deaf students face in higher education settings. Her interest in education and employment access for deaf people initially began when she worked as an employment development specialist and experienced the struggles her deaf clients endured with finding a job. It was further propelled while managing programs and coordinating services including interpreting, captioning, and other accommodations for deaf students at several colleges. She has spent over 25 years collaborating with stakeholders on all levels, designing accessible opportunities using short and long term goals, implementing systemic benchmarks, and spearheading program development projects. Currently, Lore is the Co-Chair for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Knowledge and Practice Community with the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD). She received her master’s degree from California State University, Northridge in Educational Administration, and an EdD in Higher Education Administration from Texas Tech University.
Carsen Kipley
Carsen Kipley, Assistant Director for the University of Arizona’s Disability Resource Center, oversees the Accommodations Services and First-Year Experience Access Consultant teams, which ensure curricular access for disabled students in the areas of first-year student experience, housing, exam administration, and lecture content access. Carsen actively collaborates with faculty to identify and eliminate disability-related barriers by recommending the incorporation of Universal Design principles throughout various teaching modalities. His previous work with Disability Resources includes time as the Exam Administration Coordinator, Manager of Accommodation Services, and an Accommodations Consultant in which he met with students to determine reasonable accommodations through an interactive process. He has been a member of AHEAD since 2014 and often presents nationally regarding equitable access and best practices in exam administration.
Alyssa Klenotich
Alyssa Klenotich (Her/She) serves as an Associate Director of the Center for Disability Resources. She previously served as Assistant Director, Student Accessibility & Accommodations at St. Catherine University. She graduated with her Master of Science in College Counseling and Student Development at St. Cloud University, which was grounded in social justice teachings, student development theory, and helping skills. During this time she completed her thesis exploring students with disabilities experiences with faculty. Her prior experience stems from her bachelor degree in psychology, where she primarily worked at a Day Training Habilitation site for adults with disabilities as a case manager and direct support professional. Alyssa currently lives in Inver Grove Heights, MN with her two dogs.
Ann Knettler
Ann Knettler, Ed.D. is the Vice President of Consulting for GrackleDocs, a world leader in digital accessibility. An accessibility strategist with over 16 years of experience as an ADA and 504 Compliance Officer and Director of Disability Resources offices at both HBCUs and PWIs, Ann is a sought-after speaker, educator, and consultant. She is also an active faculty member in the Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Master of Public Administration Programs at Delaware State University. Ann is a past conference Program Chair, and represents the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) as a member of the Council of Representatives for the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) where she has co-authored and updated policy and standards for the entire field of higher education and currently sits on their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. A published researcher, she regularly presents and consults globally on topics such as the depth and breadth of digital accessibility, disability rights, assessment and the use of data as an advocacy tool, disability policy and policy reform, strategic planning for organization-wide access, creating and using policy and accessibility standards, program review, ableism, and the social justice model of disability.
Juliet Komisarcik
Juliet Komisarcik is the Director of Disability Services and Catalog Management at American Public University System (APUS). She began her career at APUS in January 2009 and has held positions of increasing responsibility, within the Disability Services office, and was promoted to her current position in May 2014. Julie earned a B.S. in Public Administration from George Mason University and a Master of Public Administration, with a concentration in organizational management, from American Public University.
Daniel Koster
Daniel Koster, Psy.D. is a licensed psychologist in Maryland and the Veterans Integration to Academic Leadership (VITAL) coordinator for the VA Maryland Health Care System. He completed his doctorate (Psy.D.) in clinical psychology at Loyola University Maryland. Dr. Koster completed both his predoctoral internship and his postdoctoral fellowships in clinical psychology with the Department of Veterans Affairs. In addition to expertise in the provision of evidence-based psychotherapy and assessment for conditions such as PTSD and depression.
Karen Krainz Edison
Karen Krainz Edison, MSW, LSW is the Program Manager for Autism College Experience (Ace!) at The Ohio State University Nisonger Center, supporting academic and social success for Autistic college students at OSU and Columbus State Community College. Karen’s previous business experience enables her to provide career direction, design new programming, and develop community partnerships focused on Autistic adults.
Amanda Kraus
Dr. Amanda Kraus serves as Assistant Vice President for Campus Life and Executive Director for Disability Resources at the University of Arizona. She is also Associate Professor of Practice in Higher Education. Dr. Kraus is Immediate Past President for the Association of Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) Board of Directors and has had the privilege of delivering keynote addresses and facilitating workshops at institutions such as Duke, Wake Forest, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, and the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA). She also has extensive international experience, working with institutions and organizations in Singapore, China, Japan, Canada, France, and Kenya. Outside of work, Dr. Kraus previously served on the Board for the United States Tennis Association Southwest Section to elevate the visibility of wheelchair tennis and she currently serves on the Board of Visit Tucson. Dr. Kraus earned her MA and Ph.D. at the University of Arizona in Higher Education.
Katherine Krieger
Katherine (Katie) Krieger, M.A., C.A.G.S., is the Director of the Disability Resource Center at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW). She has a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Post-Secondary Disability Services, and a Master of Arts in Education Psychology. Katie started her career as an elementary special education teacher, but quickly made her way to higher education disability services. She started out at Western Connecticut State, and then established the inaugural Accessibility and Accommodations office at St. Francis College before moving to North Carolina and serving as Associate Director at East Carolina University. She became Director at UNCW in 2023. Katie has experience in policy development and disability service provision across a variety of institutions. In her spare time, Katie enjoys crocheting and trips to the beach. If you see her around at the conference, ask how much yarn she packed for this trip!
Rachel Kruzel
Rachel Kruzel, ATP, is the Higher Education Specialist for Texthelp where she supports higher education institutions across the United States and Canada as they explore, adopt, and implement technology based literacy, STEM, and accessibility based solutions to help create more inclusive, equitable, and accessible campuses and learning spaces for all students and campus members. She is a RESNA Certified Assistive Technology Professional and spent over ten years working as an Assistive Technology and Accommodations Specialist in Disability Resource Offices prior to coming to Texthelp. During her time in higher ed, she built and developed assistive technology programs at both schools she worked at, as well as coordinated the provision of accommodations. Rachel is a national expert in the areas of assistive technology, digital accessibility, accessible course materials, and accommodation provision around testing and notetaking. Rachel presents both regionally and nationally on these topics and others and is s a member of AHEAD and MNAHEAD.
Trayle Kulshan
Dr. Trayle Kulshan is a collaborative servant leader dedicated to creating inclusive organizational cultures and learning environments. She is a disabled researcher focusing on disability subcultures in higher education and recently completed her EdD in Organizational Culture in Higher Education. Currently, she facilitates faculty development (communities of practice) and first year experience courses focused on DEI, belonging, and social justice. Her broad experience in education and international humanitarian aid fosters unique insights and sensitivity into cultural diversity.
Ian Kunkes
Ian Kunkes has over 15 years of experience as an educational leader, with a career focused on advancing access, equity, inclusion, and opportunity for all students. He earned his Ed.D. in Leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University, M.S. in Clinical Psychology from Loyola University, Maryland, and his B.A. in Psychology from The University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His primary focus has been in the area of disability-related support and accessibility, particularly in higher education. He is the co-founder and CEO of EdPros, a consulting agency focused exclusively on supporitng the efforts of postsecondary disability resource and accessibility offices. Until recently, he served at Virginia Commonwealth University as the Director of Student Accessibility and Educational Opportunity (SAEO). He has also woorked at such institutions as The Catholic University of America, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry), and across additional K-12 and postsecondary spaces. Ian is a nationally recognized leader in the field of accessibility and disability-related support. His work as co-founder and chair of VCU’s Transforming Accessibility Initiative has reached thousands of professionals and individuals in multiple countries through hosting conferences, speaking engagements, and webinars. Programs and initiatives he spearheaded now serve as national best practices and are regularly highlighted in educational publications. Additionally, he has served as a speaker and consultant for organizations including The Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD), Educational Testing Services (ETS), and at conferences including the Postsecondary Training Institute. He is particularly proud of his work in 2022 revamping AHEAD’s professional competencies to move from a compliance-based approach to one with a social justice focus. Outside of his professional work, Ian is a dedicated father and husband. He emphasizes wellness and self-care through seeing as much live music as possible, regular exercise, staying active with his family, and balancing that with a healthy love for BBQ and finding the best local food options anywhere he travels.
Laurie Laird
Laurie Laird is a Program Manager with the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange. She has lived experience with a disability and her career includes positions in higher education, international engagement, philanthropy, and non-profit management, with a focus on advancing human rights and social justice as the constant thread in her work. She has managed programs at the Global Fund for Women, Santa Clara University, and the University of Portland. Laurie earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and her Master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
Terri Lakowski
Terri Lakowski, Esq. is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer for Active Policy Solutions. A well-known and respected expert on youth sports policy in the United States, Terri has created and implemented strategic policy planning, lobbying, coalition building and education and outreach to renowned organizations working on issues relating to sports, youth development, education, health and fitness, Title IX and gender equity, disability rights, and civil rights. Terri has worked with clients for over a decade to advance sports-related issues for youth among policymakers. She earned her Juris Doctorate from American University Washington College of Law, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude. She received her bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Social Thought and Analysis and a concentration in Women’s Studies.
Zahra Lalani
Zahra is a profoundly Deaf cochlear-implant user who has grown up in the UK, Pakistan and Kenya. She is currently a physical sciences major and environmental studies minor at Yale-NUS College Her passion is geared towards ensuring that the quieter voices in society are heard - from pioneering inclusivity for those with additional needs to advocating for marginalised communities affected by climate change. Zahra loves celebrating diversity, and in her free time, she enjoys dancing, learning different sign languages and travelling.
Adam Lalor
Adam Lalor, Ph.D. is Vice President for Neurodiversity Research and Innovation at Landmark College. With nearly 20 years of experience in higher education, his research focuses on the transition of students with disabilities to and within higher education and the preparation of faculty, administrators, employers, who work with them. Recent publications have appeared in LD: A Multidisciplinary Journal, the Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, and the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. He teaches in Landmark College’s online Learning Differences and Neurodiversity certificate program and is co-author of From Disability to Diversity: College Success for Students with Learning Disabilities, ADHD, and Autism Spectrum Disorder and the forthcoming volume The New Accessibility in Higher Education. A nationally known speaker on disability and neurodiversity, Dr. Lalor received his doctoral degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Connecticut.
Alexis Lambert
Alexis Lambert (she/her/hers) is a white, first-generation college student who identifies as an individual with multiple disabilities. She currently works as a Graduate Academic Advisor at Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University. Alexis is pursuing her Educational Doctorate (Ed.D.) at Northeastern University with a research focus on improving a sense of belonging for graduate students with disabilities in STEM disciplines. Alexis also works as a Lecturer of Psychology at Gordon College, focusing on topics of human development and developmental disabilities.
Chiara Latimer
Chiara Latimer, MFT, is the Co-Director of the Center for Neurodiversity and Program Coordinator of the Autism PATH Program at Rowan University. She has dedicated 10 years of her career to supporting neurodiverse students in clinical and educational settings. She is an adjunct professor with a focus on career readiness and educating employers, Chiara continues to promote the importance of empathy and inclusion in higher education and the workplace.
Chris Lawlor
I love my job. I get to co-lead an amazing team as we craft custom study abroad programs for our clients. Every program we develop is unique, so every day is interesting and exciting. At an early age the wanderlust took hold and never let go. I’ve lived and worked on four continents, including North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. It’s tough for me to travel as a tourist now, because I know the depth of culture and the people I’m missing out on when I can only visit for a few weeks. I embrace education in all its forms, but I believe that the best learning experiences happen when you journey outside of your own backyard. I believe “travel is education”, and I gain a deep satisfaction when helping organizations and individuals enjoy those same life changing experiences. The combination of my travels, studies and professional knowledge helps me work with my team to develop international education programs across the continent of Europe. Our services include: institutional internationalization and relationship building, partnership development and management, program ideation, development and implementation. I especially enjoy working together with university groups and consortia to craft programs designed specifically to support their unique goals and objectives.
Alyssa Lawson
Dr. Lawson, Ph.D. received her doctorate in Psychological and Brain Sciences with a focus on Cognitive and Educational Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Lawson’s work focuses broadly on understanding the cognitive basis of learning. More specifically, she has worked on projects investigating the role that individual differences in executive function and working memory have in learning, how technology (i.e., immersive virtual reality) can be integrated most effectively into learning, how to incorporate generative learning strategies into online, self-paced lessons, and how emotions (both those of an instructor and of a student) can influence learning in a classroom.
Stacy Lee
Dr. Lee has over 20 years practice as a licensed professional social worker. She has presented at State and local conferences regarding self-advocacy workshops and marginalized populations. Her current research agenda includes housing and residence life staff members’ attitudes and perceptions of students with disabilities. Her previous research has been published in the Journal of Higher Education and Disability.
Donna Lee
Donna was born and raised in the Bay Area. She is an alum of UCSC with a BA in Business Management Economics. From 2014-2020, she supported the Disabled Students' Program as the Business Services Admin. In 2020, she joined UC Berkeley administration and now supports both offices of DAC and Office of Sustainability as their Executive Assistant.
Craig Levins
Craig joined Broward College in 2017 where he currently holds the role of Associate Vice President for Institutional Accessibility & ADA Coordinator. In this role he serves as the college’s ADA Coordinator and oversees the Accessibility Resources, Electronic Information Technology and Assistive Technology Departments, as well as the college’s neurodiverse initiatives and programs, including its Comprehensive Transition Program, Seahawk NEST Academy. Craig is the immediate past president for the Florida Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) and co-founding member of the Florida State EIT Consortium. Prior to his arrival in Florida, Craig worked within the State University of New York System where he served on the executive board of the NY AHEAD affiliate and served on multiple committees and consortiums throughout the state. Craig holds a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Antioch University, a Bachelor of Arts from Elmira College, and a Certificate of Advanced Assistive Technology Applications from California State University at Northridge. Craig has 25 years of higher education experience within the accessibility field and as an adjunct professor of Psychology.
Christine Lew
Christine Lew (she/her) is a disabled/Neurodivergent-identifying queer Asian-American woman, who grew up with Deaf parents. She currently serves as the Program Coordinator for Professional Development at AHEAD, the Intake Coordinator for the University of Washington (UW) Seattle Disability Resources for Students office, and an instructor in the UW Disability Studies Program. She is the co-founder of Crip Riot (a disabled-owned and led company committed to bringing expressions of disability pride to the world) and Myers Fork Consulting (HR and DEIA Consulting in the Pacific Northwest). Her career has weaved in and out of psychology research, HR and DEIA, disability justice activism, event planning, and disability services.
Kate Lewandowski
Kate Lewandowski has over 14 years of experience advising and coordinating access for deaf students in the postsecondary environment. Kate’s passion for outreach on topics of disability justice, access, and inclusion is a deeply personal endeavor which stems from her experiences navigating systems as a deaf student. Kate earned her master’s degree in Disability Services in Higher Education from the City University of New York’s School of Professional Studies in 2019.
Pamela Lindsay
Dr. Pamela Lindsay, EdD/CI serves as Co-Founder and Director of Research and Programs at the College of Adaptive Arts (CAA), developing models for curriculum, instruction, and community-based collaborative programs. Awards and commendations include recent recognition in Washington D.C. with AARP Purpose Prize honors, presented at the National Portrait Gallery. Other awards include multiple recognitions from the State of California Senate and Assembly, the Service Above Self Award from the San Andreas Regional Center, the University of Phoenix Bay Area Leadership Impact/Sperling Alumni Achievement award, a CACSE Special Education Recognition Award, a Lifelong Learning award from the Silicon Valley Down Syndrome Network, a Contributions to the Profession award from Delta Kappa Gamma International Society of Key Women Educators, and has been featured in national podcasts and publications such as Bay Area Women and AARP magazine. Her doctorate from the University of Phoenix and personal research work include national and international published studies. Dr. Lindsay serves annually on a mentor panel in Stanford University's Department of Human Biology, is an alumnus of the prestigious Royal National Theatre Summer Programme (London, UK), and a veteran of professional theatre, dance, film, television, and music work within the United States, Europe, and Japan.
L. Scott Lissner
Scott Lissner is The Ohio State University's ADA Coordinator and 504 Compliance Officer. Scott is also an Associate of the John Glenn School of Public Policy and serves as a lecturer for the Moritz College of Law, the Knowlton School of Architecture and Disability Studies. Scott is a Past President and Public Policy Chair for AHEAD. He is a regular and popular presenter both nationally and internationally.
Clay Littrell
Clay has been at the Univ of CA, San Francisco since 2017 and is current Co-Director and Assistive Technology Specialist for Student Disability Services. Since 2006, he has worked in disability services across the spectrum of education, in K-12, community colleges, undergraduate, and graduate levels. He previously served in roles ranging from coordinator, associate director, to AT specialist in the California Community College system (MiraCosta College), the Cal State system, as well as at Northwestern University's main campus in Evanston, IL.
Christine Low
Christine Low is the Director of Disability Services for the Icahn School of Medicine leading disability initiatives, policy development and program oversight for the medical and graduate school. Christine has presented nationally on topics such as: Professional Communication Around Disability Status, Building a Robust Disability Office On A Health Science Campus and Utilizing The ADA and Case Law In Determining Reasonable Accommodations. She has co-authored several publications including, The Performance and Trajectory of Medical Students With Disabilities: Results From the Pathways Project (Meeks LM, Plegue M, Swenor BK, et al, Academic Medicine, 2021) and chapters in Disability as Diversity (Meeks, Neal-Boylan, 2020), and Equal Access for Students With Disabilities: The Guide for Health Science and Professional Education, Second Edition (Meeks, Jain and Laird, 2021). Christine served on the Board of Directors for the Coalition for Disability Access in Health Science and Medical Education from 2016-2023. She is also faculty member in Environmental Medicine and Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Adjunct Faculty for the Bank Street College of Education Graduate School and Columbia University, School of Social Work.
Dani Lucchese
Dani Lucchese, M.A., (they/them) is a disabled, non-binary and queer doctoral student in higher education and graduate assistant at the Disability Cultural Center (DCC) at the University of Arizona. Their research focuses on higher education access for disabled students. They hold two masters degrees. The first in disability studies from the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Professional Studies (June 2016). Their second masters is in sociology with a minor in design studies from the New School (May 2020). They received their bachelors degree from Wagner College in sociology with a double minor in journalism and english literature (2014). In addition to holding a graduate assistantship at the University of Arizona’s DCC, they are also adjunct faculty at CUNY Lehman College where they teach courses for the school’s disability studies minor. Prior to their work at Lehman College, they have taught disability studies courses at CUNY School of Professional Studies, CUNY College of Staten Island and William Paterson University. They also have a history of disabled student activism. While they were a graduate student at the CUNY School of Professional Studies, they served as a delegate for the CUNY Coalition for Studies with Disabilities (CCSD). During their time with CCSD, they advocated on the City and State levels for funding for numerous access needs for disabled students. Furthermore, they also served as a faculty representative on the CUNY School of Professional Studies’s Disability and Access Coalition (DAC), mentoring disabled students and working with other departments in the school to ensure event access. As an undergraduate student, they co-founded and served as the first president of Exceeding the Expectation (ETE), Wagner College’s first student club dedicated to disability education and activism on campus.
Jessica Lutz
Jessica (she/her) has recently joined the field of disability services at MSU and primarily works with neurodivergent students and employees. Prior to this work, she has six years of special education teaching experience, primarily with middle school students. Jessica holds a master’s degree in Special Education.
Karen Lynch
Karen Lynch is the Director of Student Accessibility Services at Simpson College. She has been with Simpson since July 2022. Prior to working at Simpson, Karen was an executive function coach to high school and college students across the country and a classroom teacher for 22 years. Karen brings a wealth of professional, educational and personal experience to her role in Student Accessibility and is passionate about making all students as successful as they can be.
Katherine MacDonald
Katherine MacDonald, Ed.D, has worked in higher education disability services for almost a decade and currently serves as the Director of Disability Services and Adjunct Professor of Education at Randolph-Macon College. A former middle school special education and English teacher in west Philadelphia, Kate began her career in higher education disability services at Salisbury University. She is passionate about diversity, access, and equity in education and working with students to develop the skills, competencies, confidence they need to meet their personal and academic goals. Outside of her role at Randolph-Macon College, Kate serves on the Board of Directors for Delta Alpha Pi, international disability honors society and enjoys serving as an executive functioning coach for local middle, high school, and college students.
Kate earned her Ed.D in Contemporary Curriculum Theory and Instruction: Literacy from Salisbury University and her research focuses on the intersection of literacy and disability identities and experiences of college students with reading disabilities.
Cathy Malcolm Edwards
Cathy Malcolm Edwards is a leader in accessibility and inclusion. She brings with her more than two decades of experience working in research and educational environments. Cathy is passionate about helping people understand the value of their work through strategic planning, design, and effective communication. Her approach to relationship management fosters open dialogue, promotes collaborative engagements, and results in high-impact stakeholder relationships. In her current role, Cathy leads action projects, participates in research, and is active in knowledge mobilization. Cathy holds a master’s in design for which she researched the relationship between the built environment and student mental health. She hopes to continue this research to address systemic inequities in physical environments, particularly for those with non-visible disabilities."
Susan Mann Dolce
Susan (Sue) Mann Dolce, Ph.D. is an Associate Director of University at Buffalo Accessibility Resources. As Co-chair of the AHEAD Disability Studies Special Interest Group (DSSIG) at AHEAD since 2010, and now part of the Leadership Team of the Disability Identity Studies and Culture (DISC) Knowledge and Practice Community (KPC), which emerged from the DSSIG, Sue is committed to working from a Disability Justice Transformational Model and working with others to facilitate change in higher education for disabled students, faculty and staff.
Julia Marcus Johnson
Julia Marcus Johnson (she/her), PhD, is a Senior Access Consultant at the Disability Resource Center at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She has worked in and/or researched disability in higher education for 11 years. Her current role includes working with UMNTC’s College of Pharmacy, School of Public Health, and Housing & Residential Life. Areas of interest include twice exceptionality and neurodivergence in higher education.
Larry Markle
Larry Markle is the Director of the Gregory S. Fehribach Center at Eskenazi Health in Indianapolis, IN. This program provides college students with physical disabilities paid internships in fields related to their major and professional development training to improve their employment outcomes. Prior to that, Larry was the Director of Disability Services at Ball State University for 13 years. During Larry’s tenure, Ball State was recognized nationally as a leader in physical accessibility for students with disabilities. A 2019 recipient of the Association on Higher Education and Disability’s Meritorious Contribution Award, Larry has co-authored multiple articles on disability and higher education that have been published in peer reviewed journals and presented at dozens of regional and national conferences.
Jason Marmon
Jason Marmon, Esq. is the Chief Operating Officer for Active Policy Solutions. He has a depth of strong expertise in the congressional funding and appropriations process, legislative concept drafting, and convening congressional summits. He has successfully fostered multi-million dollar federal funding efforts, helped facilitate the influencing of several federal regulations, lectured to numerous groups on a variety of government policy topics, including athletes of the ACC and Big Ten, and developed over a dozen strategic government affairs plans for organizations. Jason earned his Juris Doctorate from Widener University School of law, where he graduated with honors. He received his bachelor’s degree from Drexel University with a degree in Environmental Science, and his master’s degree from George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management.
Jeremy Martin
Mr. Martin has presented at over twenty National, State and local conferences on disability, advocacy, transitions, accommodations, and more. He has worked in the Area of Disability Services for over ten years and, as a person with a disability, has been involved in his own advocacy for over 25 years. He was instrumental in the research and development of the initial workshop which has morphed to better serve students as their needs have been identified.
Tamara Massey-Garrett
Tamara Massey-Garrett serves as the Project Manager for the Office of Special Projects and Initiatives at Auburn University, where she is responsible for providing support for the NSF INCLUDES Alliance: The Alliance of Students with Disabilities for Inclusion, Networking, and Transition Opportunities in STEM (TAPDINTO-STEM). Tamara retired from Auburn University at Montgomery (AUM) with 25 years of service in 2021. She served as the director for the Center for Disability Services at AUM and has 22 years of experience in disability support services, with an emphasis in providing accommodation and assistive technology services to college students with disabilities. She has also served as state president of the Learning Disabilities Association of Alabama (LDA AL) and as president of the Alabama Association on Higher Education and Disability (AL AHEAD).
Mirra Matheson
Mirra Matheson (she/her) is currently pursuing her MA in Higher Education at the University of Arizona while serving as an Access Consultant at the Disability Resource Center. As a first-generation college student, Mirra strives to make complex educational systems and processes friendlier and more accessible. She currently works directly with incoming students as they transition to higher education and navigate the accommodations process. In her personal life, Mirra has adopted an orange kitten named Fern as an homage to her roots in Washington State. She enjoys cooking new creations, playing board games with friends, and exploring the desert!
Sabrina Mathisen
Sabrina is the EAC Manager of Student Life and has a heart for working with individuals with disabilities. She is a PLNU alumnus and worked in a variety of settings with individuals with disabilities from the classroom to the community. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Cross Disciplinary Studies with a concentration in human development and special education and a California Educational Specialist teaching credential in moderate to severe disabilities.
Erin Mayo
Erin Mayo (she/her) is the Assistant Director of Student Accessibility Services at the College of the Holy Cross. Erin has experience doing disability advocacy work through the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD). She was published in the AHEAD sponsored book: DISABLED Faculty and Staff in Higher Education: Intersecting Identities and Everyday Experience which came out in July 2023.
Elizabeth McCarron
Dr. McCarron worked in higher education for more than 25 years, including many years teaching undergraduate courses in Information Technology. She earned a doctorate in Higher Education Leadership in 2017. Her research focuses on accessibility, the student/faculty relationship, and self-advocacy in students with learning disabilities and ADHD. She serves as co-chair of AHEAD’s LD/ADHD Learning & Practice Community and is a member of the Coaching Learning & Practice Community. A 2021 graduate of the International ADHD Training Center's certified ADHD Life Coach program (CALC), she holds an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) certification through the International Coaching Federation (ICF).
Robyn McCray
Robyn McCray, LCSW-C has worked at Towson University in the Office Of Accessibility and Disability Services since 2009 and currently serves as the Director. Prior to working in higher education, Robyn worked 15 years in the mental health field as a licensed clinical social worker and has completed advanced training in the treatment of trauma.
Jessica McCuaig
Jessica graduated from the University of Ottawa with a degree in International Development and Globalization and initially worked as a consultant for Canadian and International nonprofits on projects pertaining to accessibility, inclusion, and disability policy. She joined the University of Michigan in 2018, working in roles affiliated with advancing the university's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion objectives. In January 2022, she was selected to develop the Faculty & Staff Disability Navigator pilot program for the College of Literature, Science and the Arts. Jessica lives with non-apparent disabilities and is eager to apply her expertise to improve campus accessibility and the experiences of disabled employees in higher education.
Brittany McCullough
Dr. Brittany McCullough is the Director of Planning, Implementation, and Assessment for the Office of Special Projects and Initiatives at Auburn University. In this position, she is responsible for leading and overseeing nation-wide assessment processes for projects housed in the Office; hiring, training, and supervising instructors and graduate student mentors; writing annual reports for all federally-funded and state-funded programs administered by the Office; leading and facilitating strategic planning efforts; overseeing all unit dissemination efforts including magazines, scientific research publications, technical reports, and presentations; leading the IRB process for all project-related research initiatives; and supporting grant writing opportunities through data management, proposal preparation and review. She has also served as an instructor in Auburn University's Department of Mathematics and Statistics.
Courtney McGonagle
My name is Courtney McGonagle and I serve as the Assistant Director of Student Accessibility Services (SAS) at Florida Atlantic University. I have worked in the disability services field for 12 years and have truly strengthened my passion for the field in doing so. I work on our main FAU campus and also oversee the SAS office at our partner campus. I work with a wide range of students, including non-traditional and high school dual-enrolled students. I received my bachelor’s degree in education from the State University of New York College at Brockport and my master’s degree in higher education leadership from Florida Atlantic University. I am a member of the Southeast Consortium Group and also an active member of Florida AHEAD.
Jon McGough
Jon McGough, M.Ed. has more than 15 years of experience coordinating ADA accommodations in higher education and private business. He served on the Board of the Coalition for Disability Access in Health Science and Medical Education and is a past President of the Washington Association on Postsecondary Education and Disability, and contributed to two chapters in The Guide to Assisting Students With Disabilities: Equal Access in Health Science and Professional Education. His list of clients and past employers includes Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine, the University of Washington, Portland State University, and Amazon, among others. He is currently the Student Disability Specialist at University of California, San Francisco, and maintains an active consulting practice.
John McKenzie
John McKenzie is the Executive Director of Academic Innovation at UNT Health Science Center. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Communication from Texas A&M University and a master’s degree in Learning Technologies from the University of North Texas. He leads the teams that design & develop innovative learning experiences as part of the Division of Academic Innovation. In this role, he steers the Educational Development, Educational Media, and Continuing Education & Assessment teams to develop online and face-to-face courses, skill- and competency-based microcredentials, and accredited continuing education experiences for both internal and community audiences. He is also chair of the university's Microcredential Committee. He collaborates with faculty and staff for face-to-face, blended, and online course design and development, creates and delivers workshops for faculty/staff professional development, and guides instructional technology strategy, adoption, and implementation as a part of the Division of Academic Innovation at the university. He is also a frequent guest lecturer in a wide variety of classes on campus on topics related to communication, persuasion, and advocacy. Prior to his time at HSC, he was a professor of Communication for a number of years. He taught at UT-Austin and Lakeland University (Wisconsin).
Jessica McKinley
Jessica McKinley is a Professor of Communication at Sinclair Community College. She works directly with students as a campus leader in accessibility in the classroom and is heavily involved in the Greater Dayton Community.
Kate McLaughlin
Kate has been working to create practical applications aimed at supporting the success of students with disabilities form over twenty years and is excited to engage with colleagues to create responsive self advocacy programs across the country.
Sarah Meakin
Sarah Meakin (she/her/hers) is an Access Advisor at Berklee College of Music and Boston Conservatory. She joined the Accessibility Resources for Students team in September 2021 to assist with the development of a Testing Center. Sarah has also served as the Interim Director of Accessibility Resources for Students. She came to Berklee from the University of Texas at Dallas and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Northeastern University and a Master of Teaching from the University of Toronto.
Gabe Merrell
Gabriel Merrell is a certified ADA Coordinator who has been working in areas directly related to physical access, IT access, accommodations, inclusion, and universal design for 15+ years. He is a Past President of ORAHEAD, and the co-chair of the AHEAD ADA Coordinators Knowledge and Practice Community.
Adam Meyer
Adam is the Director of the Student Accessibility Services at the University of Central Florida. He has past experiences at Eastern Michigan University and at Saint Louis University while serving in this field since 2004. Adam was previously part of a national US Department of Education grant that explored ways in which concepts of social justice could be more regularly and routinely incorporated into the operations of the disability services office. Adam has presented at numerous conferences and multiple other AHEAD and AHEAD affiliate venues on rethinking documentation, social model of disability and office implementation, effective initial student interviews and interactive process facilitation, disability language and various leadership and influence strategies for disability office personnel. Adam served on the Association for Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) Board of Directors, now serves on the AHEAD external review team for campus program evaluations, and also does consulting and presentations with other disability offices and their campuses.
Tessla Michael
Tessla Michael, originally from the Pacific Northwest, brings a diverse background and a passion for education to her work. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Graceland University and a Masters in Music in Percussion Performance from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. Tessla is currently based at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa, where she serves as a TRIO Academic Success Coach. With a tenure of four years in the Admissions Department prior to this role, Tessla offers a unique perspective. She also directs the Yellowjacket Drumline, instructs various courses in the Music Department, and contributes as Assistant Flag Football Coach. Tessla is actively engaged in campus life, serving on committees and task forces, and acting as the Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility Faculty Advisor, as well as the Faculty Advisor for the Softball Team. With experience spanning departments including Admissions, Student Financial Services, Academic Affairs, Athletics, and Student Success, Tessla is committed to fostering a connected and supportive campus environment.
Michelle Mitchell
Michelle Mitchell earned an M.Ed. in Rehabilitation Counseling from Penn State University and has been in the profession for over 23 years. Seeing the inequity of opportunities for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Michelle has endeavored to change opportunities by changing the way our culture interprets disability and championing liberation. Through this work, Michelle has developed sustainable relationships opening the doors of inclusion across many campuses, 2 year and 4 year alike. With over 17 years at Lehigh Carbon Community College as a Disability Learning Specialist and various community connections, Michelle has collaborated on a number of projects to open doors of equity across her community.
Mary Lou Mobley
Mary Lou Mobley graduated from Duke University in 1990 with a law degree and a Master’s in Philosophy. After clerking for a Federal judge, she joined the Federal government in Washington, DC, as a Trial Attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Disability Rights Section, where she earned numerous awards, including the John Marshall Award for Distinguished Service. In 2006, she moved to Denver and joined the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, where she currently serves as OCR’s National Disability Expert and Co-Lead of OCR's National Digital Access Team. She has extensive experience in Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, as well as Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Josef Mogharreban
Josef completed a doctoral degree in Rehabilitation Science at the University of Washington in 2018. He has 15 years of experience in advocating for individuals with disabilities at non-profit organizations, state agencies, and higher education institutions. Josef received a bachelor's degree in psychology and a Master of Arts degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from Northern Illinois University"
Rivka Molinsky
Rivka Molinsky is focused on supporting student needs and is dedicated to finding cutting edge uses of innovative educational tools to further enhance the quality education in higher education. She is certified as an ADA Coordinator and acts as the Office of Disabilities Services Coordinator for the School of Health Sciences. As co-Chair of the O&allJOTC, Rivka is an active member of the Multicultural Diversity and Inclusion (MDI) Network Executive Council affiliated with AOTA.
Jenifer Montag
Jenifer Montag, Ed.D., is the director of disability services / ADA coordinator at Marion Technical College (MTC). Not only does she have over 20 years of experience in postsecondary disability service provision, at a variety of higher education institutions, but she has also taught graduate, undergraduate, and community college classes. More recently she has been facilitating disability services, including ASL interpreters, real-time captioning, and ALDs, for students enrolled in the MTC classes at two state prisons. Along with facilitating these complex accommodations in the highly constrained prison environment, she has also been fortunate to be able to teach the college’s First Year Experience class to students enrolled in the MTC prison education program.
Tim Montgomery
Mikiba Morehead
Mikiba W. Morehead is a consultant with TNG and has extensive experience in higher education equity and compliance. Her expertise centers on cyber sexual abuse, informal resolution processes, policy revision, and ADA/Section 504 compliance. Morehead has developed and delivered numerous trainings for investigators, decision-makers, hearing boards, appeal officers, and support persons across public, private, and health science/medical education institutions. She provides effective and sustainable solutions for colleges, universities, and schools to care for the needs of students and campus communities with an eye towards social justice.
Katherine Morgan
Gabby Morreale
I serve as a fellow for the Academic Access and Disability Resources Department of Davidson College. I was heavily involved in disability justice and advocacy during my time as a student at Davidson College, and now work on disability as identity and culture in an official capacity. I seek to encourage exploration of disability as identity for students and disability as culture in the Davidson community as a whole. Through programming and new initiatives throughout the year, I plant opportunities for building the disability community at Davidson and for integrating an accessibility mindset into every aspect of the community at large. I also provide academic support to the greater student body through individual coaching, workshops, and referrals to other campus resources. I oversee the Peer Academic Coaching program, which helps students enhance academic strategies such as time management, studying, note taking, and organization through individual meetings.
Grace Moskola
Grace Moskola is the Associate Dean of the Disability Access Office at Harvard University, within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Grace provides strategic leadership for the Disability Access Office and regularly engages with faculty and campus partners to further disability inclusion on campus. Grace has worked in disability services in higher education since 2010, and her approach is student-centered and social model oriented. She has proudly given presentations and attended AHEAD conferences for over a decade. Grace provides leadership on the board of Communication 4 All, a non-profit organization designed to promote educational opportunities and inclusive communication options for non-speaking people throughout the world.
Frances Moy
Frances Moy M.A. is the Student Accessibility Services (SAS) Coordinator and Counselor at Merritt College. Frances has been serving students with disabilities for over 30 years. She began her career working at a day treatment center in San Francisco for five years. She moved to the East Bay and worked for Mt. Diablo Unified School District as a Resource Specialist. Eventually she made the transition to community college. She worked as a Learning Disability Specialist, High Tech Center Specialist, Counselor, Transfer Center Director, Transfer Counselor and lastly a DSPS/SAS Coordinator/Counselor. Her passion continues to be serving underrepresented populations and is an advocate for people with disabilities in an educational setting.
Laura Mullins
Laura Mullins is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Disability Studies. She specialized in critical disability studies, accessibility within higher education, applied behaviour analysis, trauma-informed approaches, systemic and organizational change, and knowledge mobilization. In appreciation of the need for transformative research within disability studies, her research predominately represents participatory action research with disabled people and community-engaged scholarship with services that support disability communities. Her research has explored disabled students' experiences in higher education, including those with invisible disabilities and the transition to online education during the pandemic.
Shannon Mulqueen
Shannon Mulqueen has served as Director of Residence Life at Butler University since 2021, after starting at the university as Community Director. She has extensive experience in residence life, Greek life, and student conduct. Since taking the helm as Director, Shannon has focused on creating clear processes to improve the efficiency of her department, and she has a particular interest in keeping and utilizing data to make decisions that will have a positive impact on students and residence life staff. The formalizing of procedures within her department have transformed the effectiveness of her department on improving student belonging, planning for the future of residence life on campus, and ensuring that student accommodations are met in a manner that is smooth and equitable. Shannon received B.A.s in English and Sociology from Northern Colorado University. She went on to earn an M.S. Ed. In Higher Education and Student Affairs from Indiana University.
Jennifer Murchison
Jennifer Murchison is the Executive Director of Universal Access and Inclusion and ADA Coordinator in the Office for Disability Justice at California State University, Sacramento (Sac State). Jennifer's work is grounded in the principles of social justice and civil rights as integral foundations of administration and institutional work. In her 23+ years as a professional in higher education and disability services, Jennifer has forged friendships and mentorships up and down the ladder. Jennifer is leading efforts at Sac State to be more intentional with inclusionary practices on campus, with employment searches, during events, and in general. She is working with colleagues to ensure disability is seen as a valued aspect of diversity, addressing ableism across identities, and highlighting that ableism is systemic - something we all should acknowledge, address, and correct.
Lori Muskat
Dr. Lori R. Muskat is a Disability Policy Specialist in the Office of Disability Policy at ETS, where she assists with documentation reviews and policy/procedure development regarding accommodations for individuals with disabilities. Before joining the staff, Lori was on the ETS External Review Panel for over a decade and helped revise documentation guidelines for multiple disability categories. Lori’s training and experience include neuropsychology, rehabilitation psychology and clinical psychology. She was a Professor of Clinical Psychology at the Georgia School of Professional Psychology, where she coordinated the assessment sequence, and was a staff psychologist/team lead at the University of Georgia’s Regents Center for Learning Disorders. Areas of expertise include neuropsychological assessment, medical psychology, differential diagnosis, psychotherapy, school consultation and expert witness services. Lori has national recognition for her assessment training expertise. She serves on the Editorial Review Boards of Professional Psychology: Research and Practice and the Journal of Post-Secondary Education and Disability (JPED) and was also a recipient of JPED’S Practice Brief Reviewer of the Year Award.
Abiola Mustapha
Dr. Mustapha is a first-generation college student and Black feminist scholar. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she was the fourth of her sisters to attend and graduate from UC Berkeley. Her goal as a student affairs professional is to ultimately cultivate an all-inclusive, welcoming space for college students. She currently works as an Access Consultant for the University of Arizona's Disability Resource Center. Dr. Mustapha also loves to paint, practice yoga, and go hiking in her free time.
Cristina Muyshondt
Higher Education professional who has been working in the field for over 5 years. I have a background in Residence Life and recently transitioned into the Office of Student Accessibility Services as an Academic Program Specialist. I received my undergraduate degree at the University of Tampa and my graduate degree from Indiana University - Bloomington.
Elizabeth Nako
Elizabeth Nako (she/her/hers) is a Senior Accessibility Specialist for Student Accessibility Support at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. Her second role at Brandeis is teaching a required course for all first-year and transfer students that focuses on supporting students’ health and well-being, as well as bringing awareness to campus resources. She has been working in the postsecondary accessibility/disability functional area for the past 6+ years. She has recent conference experiences presenting at the Postsecondary Disability Training Institute (PTI) and NASPA Region 1. At Brandeis, Elizabeth meets with students to determine reasonable accommodations and she also oversees her department’s SAS Fellows peer support program. She has her BA in history from Providence College and her MA in higher education administration from Boston College. Elizabeth can be reached at ENako@brandeis.edu.
Pingchien Neo
Pingchien Neo was born and raised in Malaysia and moved to the United States to attend college in California, and moved on to pursue graduate studies in Switzerland. Pingchien has worked and studied in Asia, Europe and the US. The exposure to different countries and cultures gives her a unique perspective on intercultural relationships, in both personal and professional settings.
Pingchien hopes to leverage her own international experiences to encourage engineering students to think and act globally. She is passionate about the need for more globally-minded engineers to keep up with the increasingly connected environment.
Haley Neuhausen
Haley is currently a Doctoral Candidate at the University of South Florida. With a specialization in STEM education, she is currently working on her dissertation in advancing women in the field of STEM.
Kat Nic
Kat (they/them) joined the Services with Students with Disabilities staff at the University of Michigan in May of 2022. Prior to joining the University of Michigan team, Kat spent three years working as a doctoral student assistant in the office of Accessibility Services at Bowling Green State University. Kat received their B.A. in Religious Studies & English from Alma College in 2012, and her M.Div. from Methodist Theological School in Ohio in 2016 with a specialization in Youth & Young Adult Development. They are currently a PhD student at Bowling Green State University in the Higher Education department, where she is working on her dissertation research which focuses on intersectionality and minority stress theory in first-year college students who identify as both LGBTQ+ and disabled. Kat also has a background in working in children’s ministry, K12 education, and nonprofit management. Kat identifies as chronically ill, non-binary, and disabled.
Paul Nolting
Dr. Paul Nolting has helped students with disabilities for 30 years. He has consulted with over one hundred campuses on disability issues. He has helped many colleges, universities, and the state of Georgia develop course substitution policies. He has publications, and authored books on disabilities and math. He has presented at 25 conferences for AHEAD and PTI and was the keynote at many state AHEAD and math conferences. He has presented many Webinars for AHEAD and FL- AHEAD. His last two books are Mathematics and Disability Handbook focusing on helping SLD, ADHD, TBI, PTS, ID , LI and Autism and My Math Success Plan study skills workbook. The workbook is for students with disabilities and Wounded Warriors to improve their math study skills and understand how their process deficits affect math learning. Last, he was the main coordinator and presented at five National Math Summits co-sponsored by AMATYC and NOSS. His international presentations were in Kuwait at the Gulf University of Science and Technology
Olabisi (Bisi) Okubadejo
Olabisi “Bisi” Okubadejo is Georgetown’s Associate Vice President of Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action, and Compliance and manages the daily operations of the university’s Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Affirmative Action (IDEAA). Bisi oversees the work of the IDEAA team to ensure compliance with non-discrimination and equal opportunity policies and laws, including investigations, administrative reviews, and climate assessments; mediation/alternative resolution; data collection; compliance reports; requests for accommodation based on disability, religion or pregnancy; bias reporting; policy development; the affirmative action plan; and training/educational workshops. Prior to transitioning to Georgetown, Bisi was Of Counsel at Ballard Spahr LLP, where her practice focused on civil rights and employment issues in higher education, particularly on matters arising from alleged discrimination on the basis of race, disability, religion, age, and sex, including sexual harassment and sexual violence. She has experience both as an attorney in private practice and as a supervisory attorney with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Bisi has advised colleges and universities on their compliance with federal laws, including Title IX, the ADA, Section 504, the Clery Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination Act, FERPA, and Title VII. She has experience working with educational institutions and business entities on digital accessibility issues, including compliance with government settlement agreements and ensuring the accessibility of websites and course materials. Bisi’s experience includes providing interactive training on civil rights issues to coordinators, administrators, hearing panels/judicial boards, campus safety departments, university boards, and students. She also has significant experience conducting and overseeing internal investigations and program reviews of higher education institutions and other employers, and auditing policies and procedures. Bisi teaches a course on disability law through the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA) and a Title IX course through the American Association for Access, Equity, and Diversity (AAAED).
Julie Olson Rand
Julie Olson Rand (she/they) serves as the Associate Director for Access Programs at the University of Minnesota. She previously served as Director for Student Accessibility & Accommodations at St. Catherine University. Her prior experience includes over ten years as an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter and an educator role in the ASL interpreting program at St. Catherine University, overseeing students during their internships. Julie is an alum of the University of Minnesota, where she earned a B.A. and M.Ed. She also holds a post-baccalaureate certificate from St. Catherine University in ASL Interpreting. Julie currently serves on the Board of Directors for ThinkSelf, a Deaf-led non-profit serving the Deaf community with advocacy and education programs. Julie lives in Minneapolis with her husband and three children.
Mary Olvera
Mary Olvera, Ph.D., works with the North Carolina Community College System Office as an Education Program Administrator/CTE Coordinator. She taught in the Early Childhood Program at Surry Community College for 12 years and was the Lead Instructor of the program for 7 years. She has worked in the early childhood field for more than 20 years in different capacities including teaching and serving on boards and committees. Mary holds a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Lees-McRae College, a Master’s in Teaching Birth thru Kindergarten from Salem College, and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Keiser University.
Rusti O'Neal
Rusti (she/her) Joined IIE in 2021 and works for the Office of the Co-President on Special Projects and DEIA initiatives. She currently sits on IIE’s Center for Access and Equity’s diversity committee and Co-Chairs the Accessibility & Inclusion Working Group, which focuses on creating inclusive resources and best practices that are shared across the organization. She received her Bachelor of Art in Peace & Conflict Resolution Studies, with an emphasis in Human Rights Activism from the University of Utah. After a year of service with Americorps, working with those experiencing homelessness, she completed an MSc in Peace-Building and Diplomacy at Loughborough University London, UK.
Kristie Orr
Kristie Orr, Ph.D. is the Director of Disability Resources at Texas A&M University. She is past president of the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) and currently serves on the Texas Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities which makes recommendations on disability issues and helps promote compliance with disability-related laws. She frequently provides peer workshops, lectures, and external reviews at state and national conferences and on campuses throughout the United States. Orr received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a Doctor of Philosophy in School Psychology from Texas A&M University, College Station and a Master of Education in Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Jennifer Osinski
Jennifer C. Osinski has been the Director of the Accessibility Office at Bucks County Community College since July 2016. She has a Bachelor of Art from Villanova University, a Master of Education from Cabrini University, and a Master of Science from Drexel University. Jennifer is also a certified ADA Coordinator through the National ADA Network and has also earned an ABA-approved Paralegal Certification through Bucks County Community College. She holds several Pennsylvania K-12 teaching certifications. During her time at Penn State Abington, Jennifer held the position of Coordinator of the Office of Disabilities and the Learning Center. Jennifer has taught as part-time faculty at Cabrini University, Rowan University, Drexel University, Penn State Abington, Bucks County Community College, and Saint Joseph’s University. Jennifer has experience in the K-12 and higher education setting as faculty and administrative staff where she supervised IEP and transition plan development. As a disability service provider, she is proud of the work she has done to ensure access for all students with disabilities to have a positive and productive experience during their higher education journey.
Magda Ostrov
Magda joined IIE in 2018 and works as a Placement Specialist for sponsored student programs, mainly the Fulbright Foreign Student Program. She facilitates graduate application processes for Fulbright students to U.S. universities and helps them secure placement in graduate programs. She also serves as a point person for supporting Fulbright students with disabilities. In this capacity, she provides guidance and resources to team members and sponsors on best practices for supporting students with disabilities and connects with appropriate university contacts on individual student cases when necessary. She also leads an internal Disability Working Group where team members from different departments meet to share resources and discuss supporting students with disabilities across IIE’s Fulbright programs. She previously completed a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Kyrgyzstan.
Jeffrey Palmer
Dr. Jeffrey Levi Palmer is a researcher. He is interested in not only the formative factors that result in the best language, literacy, and academic outcomes, but also which educational and social practices continue to elevate young deaf adults. His research examines understudied bilinguals, such as heritage bimodal bilinguals and visual-gestural unimodal bilinguals. He has taught linguistics and language acquisition to deaf postsecondary students both face-to-face and online. For more than a decade he has worked as a professional sign language interpreter (NIC, Ed:K–12) in a variety of specialized and technical settings. He is on the Test Development Committee for the Center for Assessment of Sign Language Interpretation and is vice chair of Deaf-Parented Interpreters with the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. He holds a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies with a concentration in Chinese language and culture from the Friends World College at Long Island University and obtained master’s and doctoral degrees in linguistics at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C.
Clare Papay
Clare Papay (she/her) is Senior Research Associate/Project Manager at Think College at the Institute for Community Inclusion, UMass Boston, where she conducts research on inclusive higher education for students with intellectual disability. Clare is the Evaluation Coordinator for the National Coordinating Center for the TPSID model demonstration program funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE). She is also the co-Principal Investigator for the OPE-funded project, “Think College Inclusive Higher Education Network: A Technical Assistance and Dissemination Center.” Dr. Papay serves as co-editor for the Journal of Inclusive Postsecondary Education (JIPE).
David Paquette
David Paquette (he/him/his) is a white, first-generation college student who identifies as an individual with a disability. He currently works as the Assistant Director of Graduate Student Engagement for Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University. His research interests include the role communities of support play in the postsecondary trajectory of students with disabilities as well as the role of disability advocacy in addressing institutional policies and norms that perpetuate ableism.
David Parker
David R. Parker, Ph.D. is the Program Manager for Research, Educational Outreach and Communication at the Gregory S. Fehribach Center in Indianapolis. He coordinates new research by members of the Center’s national research advisory board on factors that influence the successful employment outcomes of college graduates with physical disabilities. He also coordinates programming with postsecondary professionals and high school educators on “best practices” career preparation for students with disabilities. A member of editorial review boards for three research journals, David publishes widely on self-determination, resilience, and mental health in college students and has trained higher educational professionals on disability issues in Italy, Austria, Japan and Kuwait.
Monal Parmar
Monal Parmar is an expert in machine learning and has been developing A.I. based learning tools since 2017. As a student with a disability Monal struggled to take notes from chalkboard based STEM courses and worked to develop an automated note taking system that creates notes from board writing to improve academic outcomes for STEM students and students with disabilities. Monal has developed multiple A.I. learning tools with guidance from numerous stakeholders at UC San Diego including his advisor ECE Professor Truong Nguyen, ECE Professor Curt Schurgers, and Joanna Boval, Director of the Office for Students with Disabilities.
Misty Parsley
Dr. Misty Vetter Parsley is a professor of Education and the Executive Director of the Office of Accessibility and Learning Supports at Lipscomb University. She has bachelor and master degrees in Speech Language Pathology and a doctorate degree in Special Education Administration. She has dedicated her career to students with disabilities, previously serving as an autism consultant and special education coordinator in public schools. She has presented both locally and nationally on autism and postsecondary education topics. Misty’s passion is including people with disabilities in all aspects of the community and ensuring that they have the same opportunities to participate as do all other individuals. She started the IDEAL program, Igniting the Dream of Education and Access at Lipscomb, in January 2014 for students with disabilities who would not otherwise be able to attend college. She launched BEST, Bisons Excelling and Succeeding Together, for degree-seeking students with disabilities in the Fall of 2023. Misty has also served on numerous nonprofit boards including Autism TN, Disability Rights TN, Genesis Academy, and the Southeastern Postsecondary Education Alliance.
Sarah F. Parsons
Sarah is currently working at Plymouth State University where she received her doctorate. She teaches Freshman Composition and Tackling the Wicked Problem (First year critical thinking course). She utilizes a series of teaching pedagogies designed to engage students more effectively including UDL, and Un-grading. Additionally she works as an instructor and advisor in PSU's Ascent program.
Avery Pearsall
Avery Pearsall, M.S. (he/him/his) serves as the Student Diversity and Access Specialist at AMDA College of the Performing Arts. For over 10 years, Avery has worked in the public school sector to create access for students with disabilities and to ensure equity within several public school systems in Maryland, through professional development, coaching, and direct student support. Along with his work as an educator, Avery is a professional actor, with credits ranging from regional musical theater productions to national television and film roles. Avery holds a Bachelor of Science degree in public relations from Bowie State University and a Master of Science degree in Entertainment Management from Full Sail University.
Stephanie Peck
Stephanie Peck graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a Master’s degree in Social Work, specializing in Mental Health and Chemical Dependency Services. Stephanie joined the University of Michigan as a Faculty & Staff Disability Navigator in August 2023. She has a professional background in higher education accessibility advocacy including access planning and student disability accommodations, with expertise in supporting neurodiverse populations. Stephanie has a core belief that communities are stronger when all individuals intentionally work together to create a space of inclusion and is excited to work for a college that shares this value.
Ben Perez
Ben is an alum of UC Berkeley's College of Letters & Sciences and has served as a member of the UC Berkeley staff since 2014. He joined the UC Berkeley administration as the Campus Access Specialist with the Disabled Students' Program, developing and training staff in disability access initiatives across university programs. After working with university leadership to establish the new DAC office, Ben now supports Capital Strategies and Facilities Services as the university official responsible for physical access, and Americans with Disabilities Act Architectural Guidelines and California Building Code compliance in the built environment.
Lisa Petro
Lisa Noshay Petro, JD, ACSW, is the Director of the University of California College of the Law San Francisco (UC Law SF), and has 20 years of experience working with graduate students with disabilities. Lisa received her law degree from UC Law SF (formerly, Hastings College of the Law) in 1998 and her MSW from UC Berkeley in 2023. She currently works with over 250 law students with disabilities, counseling many of them on stress reduction, emotion regulation, and disability symptom management. Prior to this work, she had over 10 years experience working with children, adolescents, adults and families in various educational and social service settings in Arizona, California, and the New York metropolitan area. Lisa is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community and believes her disabilities give her superpowers. She has previously presented at AHEAD and other national conferences on Trauma-Informed Teaching in Higher Education, and approaches this work from a place of “practicing what she preaches.”
Karen Pettus
For the past 30 years Karen worked in higher education as the Director of the Student Disability Resource Center at the University of South Carolina, the Director of the Counseling, Career, and Disability Resource Center at Midlands Technical College, and currently is the Director of the Student Accessibility Center at Loyola University in Chicago. She has 11 years of k-12 teaching experience where she focused on integrating students with disabilities into the regular curriculum. Karen served on numerous campus committees regarding student success and retention, strategic planning committee, and the SACS accreditation committee on Diversity and Inclusion. She chaired the Student Veteran’s Committee and the Disability Affairs. Karen is a member of the Association of Higher Education and Disability. She served as Co-chair of AHEAD’s DISC Knowledge Community and served as an AHEAD Mentor for new professionals from summer 2020 to spring 2021. She conducted numerous presentations and webinars on management of DS offices, assessment, diversity and inclusion. She was one of the first AHEAD Presidential Fellow Awardees of $1,000 research grant in 1999. AHEAD awarded her $500 for her presentation on Using Data to Develop Our New Student Disability Resource Center in May 2020. She served on the Advisory Board for the Rehabilitation Counseling Master’s Degree program, the Advisory Board for the South Carolina Department of Education, Office of Exceptional Children for 10 years and is currently on the Board of Directors for the South Carolina Spinal Cord Injury Association. Karen was the Co-Principal Investigator for a $150,000 grant to begin the CarolinaLIFE program for students with intellectual disabilities on the USC campus. She was awarded the Student Affairs Diversity Award at the University of South Carolina in 2021.
Heidi Pettyjohn
Heidi Pettyjohn is Executive Director for Accessibility at the University of Cincinnati, where she serves as ADA Coordinator and supervises the directors of accessibility offices on the main and regional campuses. Heidi provides institutional leadership and guides efforts in the sustainment of an accessible and inclusive experience for disabled students, staff and visitors at the university. In the past four years, her work has focused particularly on leading the university in sweeping changes to their approach to ensuring that websites and other electronic and digital content is accessible to disabled students, employees, and community members.
Andrea Piazza
Andrea Piazza, Disability Specialist for Accessibility Resources and Services at SUNY Empire State University, has supported students with disabilities for 18 years, of those 18 years she has worked 13 years at public higher education institutions. Andrea currently assists students with the accommodation request process, providing recommendations for appropriate resources within the university and their communities. She strives to provide the most inclusive and accessible experiences for engaging with students to remove any potential barriers preventing students from fully participating. She provides professional development for faculty and staff on a wide range of topics such as various disabilities, considerations to implement universal design, within their courses and the roles and responsibilities for supporting students with disabilities.
Cindy Poore-Pariseau
Cindy Poore-Pariseau is a cis gender, disabled Latina with 30+ years of higher education experience and has supported equal access for disabled students for 20+ year in a private, technical college, community colleges and a large public university. Cindy is Director of Disability Services for Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences Schools and has presented at AHEAD and NASPA conferences on a variety of topics. She served as a past co-chair of NASPA’s Disabilities Learning Community for 2 years. Cindy has a PhD in Instructional Design for Online Learning and has published on the topics of Universal Design, Instructional Design in Higher Education and Misophonia.
Lauren Pourian
Lauren Pourian is a Disability Policy Specialist in the Office of Disability Policy at Educational Testing Service (ETS). In this role, she assists with the review of disability documentation and policy development for accommodating individuals with disabilities. Prior to joining ETS, Lauren spent over 16 years in higher education supporting and advocating for students with disabilities. Lauren began her disability services career at Loyola University Chicago, first as a Disability Coordinator and later leading the Disability Services team. Most recently, she served as Associate Director for Northwestern University’s AccessibleNU office, where she supervised and trained the access services team and led several changes to the institution's disability policies. She has also worked as a crisis intervention counselor and as a volunteer with Crisis Text Line. Lauren earned her Master of Social Work degree and Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Louisiana State University.
Hannah Premo
Hannah Premo is the Program Outreach Coordinator of University at Buffalo Accessibility Resources. Hannah graduated in May 2023 with an MPH from UB. Hannah is involved with the AHEAD DISC and Coaching KPCs and is also a part of a new professional AHEAD Start group. In their role, Hannah focuses on collaborating with disabled students and allies to create and implement programming that serves the disabled student population at UB while addressing institutional attitudes around disability justice.
Kristie Proctor
Chris Prokes
Chris Prokes is the Program Director of Strategy and Innovation for eLearning at Sinclair Community College where he oversees the division's strategic focus in areas including accessibility of course materials and training for accessibility on campus.
Ronda Purdy
Ronda earned her bachelors of arts in art therapy at Ohio University and received a Masters of Arts in Expressive Therapies at The University of Louisville. She has been working as a Disability Policy Specialist for the last 4 months with Educational Testing Services (ETS). Before coming to ETS Ronda was the Director of the Accessibility Resource Center at Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY, where she built and expanded the disability services program over the last 15 years. She also has 22 years of experience in the mental health field, primarily providing therapy to children and families.
Kimberly Quek
Kimberly is a Year 3 deaf student at Yale-NUS College. She is an aspiring life science major who dreams of improving people's lives through science. Besides being a student associate with the Student Accessibility Support Office at Yale-NUS College, she is a project lead at both the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and NUS Enablers, a disability club. She is also heavily involved in Singapore’s disability landscape through several organisations such as the Society for the Physically Disabled and the Singapore Association for the Deaf.
Ana Quiroz
Ana Quiroz (pronouns: ella/she/her) is a proud first-generation student/professional who earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Liberty University and a master's degree in applied psychology from Azusa Pacific University. She is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership at Cal Poly Pomona. Ana has 16 years of experience in education. She began her journey in child development. After 10 years, she made the transition to higher education, which includes experience in student development, retention, and advocacy. Ana is passionate and dedicated to supporting individuals with disabilities in higher education, by removing barriers to have equal access to education and reach their academic and career goals. Her passion and dedication for education and equal access stems firmly from the belief that it transforms lives, and it is essential to eradicate the cycles of discrimination and disparities that exist today.
Emily Raclaw
Emily Raclaw serves as the director of On Your Marq at Marquette University. Emily spearheaded the curriculum development, training and supervision of her staff, and created partnerships across campus to benefit OYM and our students. Prior to Marquette, she taught high school special education, worked as a vocational rehabilitation counselor, and coordinated a college success program for students with disabilities.
Paige Reece
Paige holds a BS in Special Education from Lipscomb University and taught for 3 years in public schools. She is the Director of the BEST program at Lipscomb University.
Andrea Reyes
Dr. Andrea Reyes (pronouns: she/her/hers) earned her bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from CSU Channel Islands, a master’s degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs from the University of San Francisco, a master's degree in educational studies and a Ph.D. in Education from Claremont Graduate University. Dr. Reyes has over ten years of experience supporting students with disabilities in higher education. She has been an adjunct professor at the University of La Verne and Cal Poly Pomona. Currently she is the Associate Director of the Disability Resource Center at Cal Poly Pomona.
David Reyes
David Reyes is a Senior Investigator at the University of Southern California. David has conducted Civil Rights investigations for higher education institutions since 2018. In his role, David is responsible for conducting timely, comprehensive, and fair Formal Resolutions and facilitating Alternative Resolutions. David also assists with training and education for USC students, faculty, and staff. He studied theatre at California State University, Pomona, and has a Juris Doctorate degree from Loyola University of Chicago. Of USC’s six unifying values, the one focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion resonates most with him.
Ashley Richardson Minnitt
Ashley Richardson Minnitt, LCSW-S is the Autism Spectrum Education and Outreach Administrator and program administrator for Longhorn TIES Neurodiversity Support. Longhorn TIES coordinates and facilitates neurodiversity initiatives at the University of Texas at Austin. Ashley is a licensed clinical social worker-board approved supervisor (LCSW-S) with more than twelve years of professional experience working in the field of mental and behavioral health serving children, adolescents, and adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities in clinical and educational settings.
Naty Rico
Naty is a physically disabled, neurodivergent, queer, latinx, first-generation college graduate who serves as the Director of the Disability Cultural Center at the University of Arizona. She is finishing her Master’s Degree in the Higher Education program at the University of Arizona. Originally from South Central Los Angeles, she was raised by working class parents who immigrated from Mexico and struggled to navigate the medical system while she was growing up. She became a disability activist and advocate due to her experiences with physical inaccessibility and ableism during her undergraduate career at UC Irvine. There, she advocated for campaigns to fund golf cart services and accessible public transportation for disabled students on campus. She also led and facilitated disability awareness trainings for various student organizations and departments, and assisted with making the campus' nationally recognized Orientation Program more accessible. While working at West Los Angeles College, she provided mentorship, academic, social, and employment support to disabled peers in their pursuits of college and career readiness. Naty has presented about ableism and the exclusion of students with disabilities in college access discourses at conferences across the country. She has also lobbied, rallied, and spoken in support of affordable and accessible higher education for all via the College4all Coalition, the US Student Association, and the UC Student Association in California and in Washington DC. As a leader, she works to advance disability justice in student affairs and cultivate disability identity among college students. She has traveled to 13 countries as a student via Semester at Sea in the Fall of 2016 and enjoys playing videogames, singing, traveling, and spending time with friends and loved ones.
Nathan Rider
Nathan Rider is the Assistant Director serving the Student Accessibility Center at Loyola University of Chicago. Nathan graduated with a bachelor's degree in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences from Purdue University and a master’s degree from Bowling Green State University in Special Education. Nathan’s focuses on creating an environment for students, faculty and staff that is inclusive and collaborative in nature.
Libbie Rifkin
Libbie Rifkin is Teaching Professor in the Department of English and was the founding Director of the Program in Disability Studies from 2017-20. Rifkin currently serves as the first Special Advisor to the Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Disability, a new role that expands Georgetown's commitment to valuing disability as an identity and dimension of diversity. She is also on the faculty of the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) program at the GU Center for Child and Human Development, where she works with an interdisciplinary group of practitioners, family members, and self advocates. Rifkin teaches courses in modern and contemporary American literature and gender, race, and disability studies. Her two books include the co-edited collection, Among Friends: Engendering the Social Site of Poetry (2013) and Career Moves: Olson, Creeley, Zukofsky, Berrigan, and the American Avant-Garde (2000). She has published numerous articles on gender, poetry, and, most recently, the poetics of care.
Jaleah Robinson
Dr. Jaleah N. Robinson is a Clinical Assistant Professor in Duquesne University's Department of Educational Foundations & Leadership. Her doctoral training was completed at the same university with a focus on assessment and learning in special education. Research interests include parent and community partnerships, racial literacy in teacher education, and narrative as a tool for sense-making and student empowerment. She has thirteen years of experience in public schools as a teacher and middle level principal. Dr. Robinson earned her undergraduate and masters degrees from the University of Pittsburgh.
Eric Robinson
Dr. Eric Robinson is an Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Robinson specializes in media and internet law and ethics, including attendant copyright issues. He was appointed to the Copyright and Intellectual Property Committee of the New York City Bar Association (2001–2003) and was a member of the Intellectual Property Committee of the University of South Carolina (2018–2021; chair, 2020-2021). Dr. Robinson formerly served as co-director of the Press Law and Democracy Project at LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication. He is also an attorney with more than 20 years of experience in media and internet law.
Farah Robles
Farah Robles, MSW, is the Assistant Director of Student Accessibility Service (SAS) at Florida Atlantic University (FAU). For the last five years, she has been working with students with all types of disabilities. However, working with students who are blind or visually impaired is her specialty. Farah is a visually impaired, Hispanic woman working in the field of disability. Her personal experience and her belief in the social model inform her approach to working with blind and visually impaired students.
Kelly Rogan
Kelly Rogan, LCPC has worked at Towson University in the Office Of Accessibility and Disability Services since 2017 and currently serves as the Assistant Director. Kelly has also worked as a licensed therapist in private practice since 2021 and has advanced training in the treatment of trauma related disorders.
Beth Roland
Beth Roland, M.A., C.A.G.S. is the Interim Coordinator at the Disabilities Resource Center at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Florida. As a mostly two-year college with an Open Access mission, Beth strives to holistically support students. She also oversees the Spectrum of Success Autism program and focuses on centering student voices and experiences. She is passionate about college-wide Neurodivergence Inclusion and has presented on Neurodivergence and Mental Health at her state chapter of AHEAD in fall 2023 (FL AHEAD.)
Justin Romack
Justin is an Assistant Director with the Department of Disability Resources at Texas A&M University. In this role, he works with students, faculty, and staff to achieve equitable access to the Aggie experience for disabled students and works to educate the campus community on its shared responsibility for accessibility and inclusion. His responsibilities include consultation, assessment, and training on a variety of assistive technology solutions and management of the department's document remediation initiatives to ensure course materials are fully accessible to students who use alternative formats such as e-text or braille. Justin enjoys unraveling disability and technical accessibility issues to equip and empower leaders, educators, and communicators to make decisions and develop resources which provide access to all information, opportunities, and experiences. He has served on the board of directors for the regional affiliate for the Association on Higher Education and Disability and earned the distinction as a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies from the International Association of Accessibility Professionals.
Amy Rutherford
Amy is currently serving as the director of the Mosaic Program at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Founded in 2008 the program currently serves approximately 60 autistic students annually. She co-authored The BASICS College Curriculum, a four-book series based on curriculum for autistic college students as they transition into and out of college. She is a co-founder of Navigate U and a consultant with many universities and businesses where she specializes in creating Autism programming and neurodiversity hiring initiatives. Amy joined the College Autism Spectrum consulting team in 2023 and is a very active member in the College Autism Network. She has participated in a variety of program evaluations, is proficient in project management and loves supporting study abroad possibilities for students. Her research focuses on autism and neurodiversity in higher education and mental health services along with Universal Design and Leadership Studies. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor serving in the Chattanooga area through private practice. Amy is currently serving on the Board of Directors for Warrior Freedom Dogs, a non-profit that pairs service animals with combat veterans as they transition back to civilian life. At her core she loves creating inclusive environments, equitable experiences and serving others.
Shawn Saladin
Shawn Saladin, Ph.D. is a professor in the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s Rehabilitation Services and Counseling department and President of the Governing Board of the Texas School for the Deaf. He holds a doctorate in Special Education, Rehabilitation Counseling Education Program from The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Saladin has published and presented several scholarly works related to Deafness and hearing loss. His service record focuses on hearing loss. He has served as Chair of the Rehabilitation Council of Texas. In addition he was also appointed to Texas Governors Committee for People with Disabilities where he chaired the Employment Subcommittee.
Alejandro Salinas
Since graduating from the University of Memphis (BA, 2013), Alejandro Salinas has worked at Memphis Allies to Reduce Gun Violence, a part of Youth Villages, an organization devoted to supporting at-risk youth and young adults. At Memphis Allies, he serves as a Case Manager. He is also a Bilingual (Spanish and English) Individual and Family Intervention Specialist through his private consulting business, The Light Institute. Alejandro works with populations ages 4 to 40 in schools, as well as in-home settings. Currently, he works with young adults who are transitioning back into post-secondary and work environments with a goal of reducing gun violence. He also focuses on breaking down walls between parents and children and helps break generational trauma in the process. In his spare time, Alejandro volunteers with various community entities, church affiliations, and international organizations. His work centers around ways to improve society, one person at a time.
John Samuel
Co-Founder + CEO of Ablr, John manages a dedicated team that prioritizes helping organizations enhance inclusivity by ensuring digital content is accessible to individuals of all abilities. His personal experience as a person who is blind, facing numerous barriers in education, career, and everyday life due to accessibility challenges, fuels his passion for this work. Widely recognized as an award-winning diversity leader and motivational speaker, Mr. Samuel has delivered a TEDx talk and authored published works – including his book, Don’t Ask the Blind Guy for Directions. John holds an MBA from George Washington University and a BS in Accounting. He is also a Certified Professional in Accessible Core Competencies (CPACC).
Alyssa Sanabria
Current Academic and Student Success Coordinator for the R.I.S.E. program in the College of Education at Florida Gulf Coast University. Research interests include Students With Intellectual Disabilities and the transition to higher education and successful integration during this time.
JT Sangsland
With twenty-five years of experience in education and leading adult learning, I'm driven to transform education through innovation and social justice. In my current role as the Learning & Disability Program Manager at the University of Michigan Medical School, I continue to champion the cause of equity and inclusion. With a rich history that includes experience leading change in education, the criminal justice system and now health sciences, I bring experience in program design, advocacy, cross-system collaboration, and leading adult learning for change.
Sabrina Saucier
Sabrina Saucier earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Public Relations from the University of Florida, a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from Piedmont University, and recently completed the Disabilities in Society Graduate Certificate also from UF. She is midway into her third year as the Assistant Director for Transition Services in the Disability Resource Center at the University of Florida. When she is not meeting with students or faculty regarding access needs, Sabrina can be found educating students, faculty, staff, and the community through presentations, outreach, and event tabling. She oversees all three DRC student groups, the Disability Ambassadors, Delta Alpha Pi Honor Society, and SOCIAL Gators, a group for neurodivergent students. Sabrina has over 15 years of experience as an elementary school teacher and an adjunct instructor at the University of North Georgia and St. John's River State College. She is truly passionate about working with students and providing the access that will help them achieve their goals.
Maria Schiano
Maria Schiano is the Director of Accessibility Services at County College of Morris (CCM) in New Jersey. She was appointed to AHEAD’s Board of Directors to serve as a Director-At-Large as the Community College representative. She also holds the role of the AHEAD Affiliates liaison, which helps connect affiliate groups across the country. Maria is also the immediate past-president of New Jersey AHEAD. She has over 20 years of higher education experience, specializing in disability services and access, LGBTQ + services and promoting equity and inclusion through a social justice lens.
Sav Schlauderaff
Sav Schlauderaff, M.A. (they/them) is a queer, trans, disabled Ph.D. candidate and Access Consultant at the University of Arizona. Sav currently works with upper-division students across a number of colleges at the University, and is the liaison for Study Abroad and Raise Up: SARRT (Sexual Assault Response and Resources Team) on campus. Sav is a co-founder of the Disabled Staff and Faculty Coalition and a member of the Disability Studies Initiative.
Sav is also a PhD candidate in Gender & Women’s Studies at the University of Arizona. Their work engages disability studies, disability memoir & life writing, trauma studies, and health communication to analyze online biohacking communities and their engagement with illness and wellness narratives.
Alicia Schroeder
Alicia Schroeder is the Director of Student Affairs at Sinclair Community College. In her role, she oversees the Office of Accessibility Services which she previously managed.
Sally Scott
Sally Scott is Director of Research for the Association on Higher Education and Disability. She holds a doctorate from the University of Virginia and has over 30 years’ experience as faculty member and director of disability resource offices. She has published and presented nationally and internationally on postsecondary disability. Recent scholarly activities and interests include disability resource office program development and standards, reasonable staffing levels in the DRO, and inclusive college instruction.
Matt Segall
Matt Segall, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Emory University School of Medicine and the Program Director for Education and Transition Services at the Emory Autism Center where he Directs Emory Oaks, Emory University’s College Autism Support Program. Matt is a Licensed Psychologist with a background in School Psychology. He has been supporting autistic learners, their families, and their education communities for over 20 years.
Kara Seidel
Kara Seidel is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in Language, Literacy, and Culture at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She studies the intersection of disability and race in policy using critical methodologies. Kara is a graduate assistant, working on multiple projects and NSF grants, including a cross-university NSF grant with Dr. Christine Mallinson and Dr. Karl Steiner (Vice President for Research at UMBC). Kara has a B.A. in Psychology from UMBC (valedictorian c/o 2018), and an M.S. in Education from Johns Hopkins University (conferred 2020).
Jill Sieben-Schneider
Jill Sieben-Schneider, Ed.D. holds a dual role at Northwestern University as the Associate Dean of Students and the Director of AccessibleNU (ANU). She is responsible for implementing the mission of ANU through leadership, education, and outreach and serves in a leadership capacity for the Division of Student Affairs through crisis response and cross-campus initiatives. She is also a consultant and serves in various capacities for different institutional types with a focus on organization design, operations, assessment, strategic planning, and program reviews. Jill is a reviewer on the editorial board for the Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, has published on best practices and disability research, co-authored the 2023 Disability Resources and Services Standards for the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS), and is a contributing author for The New Accessibility in Higher Education, to be published in late 2024. Representing the Association for Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD), she has held two Officer positions on the AHEAD Board where she currently serves as Treasurer, serves as a CAS Council Member, is a former conference Program Chair, and is a past president for the Colorado/Wyoming AHEAD affiliate.
Megan Simmons
Mrs. Simmons holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of North Alabama (2011). During her time at UNA she was involved in numerous organizations such as University Program Council, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. Nu Omicron Chapter, and Resident Assistant for Housing & Residence Life. In 2017, Mrs. Simmons received her Masters of Social Work from Alabama A&M University. The majority of her career has been centered around assisting individuals with disabilities with an emphasis on Mental Health. She returned to UNA in 2021 as the Assistant Director of Disability Support Services where she meets with students on a daily basis and oversees program such as Peer Mentoring, Delta Alpha Pi Honors Society, and Group Learning.
Jo Anne Simon
Cara Simon
When I started working in International Education I knew I had found my professional home. This is that perfect place where I get to contribute my professional skills and personal passion. My background is a blend of education, work experience, and a love of exploring new places. The education includes an MA in Higher Education Administration with concentrations in international education, student services, and disability student development. The hands-on experience includes international education, inbound and outbound study abroad programs, student exchange programs, and English as a Second Language. So far…I’ve lived, worked, and studied abroad in the United States, Australia, Honduras, Costa Rica, and the Republic of Ireland. These experiences have taught me that my best education did not always occur in a formal classroom setting. Some of my most important lessons were taught by accidental teachers who helped me to see my world from a new and different perspective. I love the fact that the work I do every day has such an amazing impact on a student’s growth, success and development. It is energizing, and gets me excited to create life changing experiences for students."
Indrani Sindhuvalli
Dr. Indrani Sindhuvalli is a Professor of Biology at Florida State College at Jacksonville. She is the recipient of the FSCJ Distinguished Faculty award 2023, and the NISOD Faculty Excellence Award 2023. She was also nominated for the 2024 Robert Foster Cherry Award. Dr. Sindhuvalli teaches Biology as well as a Globalized Botany course under the FSCJ Global Scholars Distinction Program. She is specially interested in the human impact on the environment, mitigating the effects of air pollution, and passionate about making STEM learning accessible to all students. Dr. Sindhuvalli has presented her doctoral research work on the abatement of urban air pollution at the Indian Science Congress, and published her work in peer reviewed journals. In 2022, she presented her successful teaching strategies at NISOD’s International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence in Austin TX, AHEAD 2023 Conference, FSCJ STEM to Root Conference (2022 and 2023) and served as a panelist at the FSCJ Student’s Honors Symposium. Dr. Sindhuvalli received her M.Phil. and Ph.D. from the School of Environmental Science, Jawaharlal University in New Delhi, India.
Emily Singer Lucio
Since 1991, Emily has worked for a variety of institutions in higher education and disability. She has been a member of the Association of Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) since 1992 and served on the Board of Directors from 2007-2010. She has been the Editor for the AHEAD newsletter, the ALERT, the Chair of the Policy Committee and serves as a reviewer for the Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability and also the SIG Chair for ADA Coordinators. Over the years, she has given many presentations to students, parents and faculty, as well as presented at the AHEAD conference annually since 1997, including on Emergency preparedness with Irene Bowen.. Emily received her BA in Public Policy Studies: Special Education-Legislation and Practice from The University of Michigan in 1992 and went on to receive her MA in Special Education from Eastern Michigan University in 1993. She collaborated with several professional colleagues in the field on the development of the revised disability services survey and wrote one of the introductions for Peterson’s Colleges for Students with Learning Disabilities or ADD in 2003 and again in 2007. From August 2006-August 2015 Emily was the Director of Disability Support Services and The Catholic University of America. In 2015 Emily became the Director of ADA Compliance and Disability Services at Johns Hopkins University. In August 2021 Emily started as the first full time ADA Coordinator at The University of Maryland.
Korey Singleton
For over 25 years, Korey Singleton has advocated for technology accessibility and the use of assistive technology by individuals with various types of disabilities at home, at work, and in the classroom. At present, he is the Deputy ADA Coordinator for Accessibility and Assistive Technology Initiative Manager for GMU, operating under the Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. His unit is tasked with developing and implementing a university-wide strategy for addressing the information and communications technology accessibility needs of students, staff, faculty, and visitors with disabilities. He is also an adjunct faculty member teaching web accessibility and design in the College of Education and Human Development.
Riley Skorcz
Riley has been aiding the efforts of the Disability Support Services office at the University of Wyoming to create responsive, engaging and effective student groups and advocacy programs to support the success of students with disabilities.
Jodi Sleeper-Triplett
Jodi Sleeper-Triplett, BA, MCC, BCC, is a Master Certified Coach, trainer, mentor, and speaker. She is the author of Empowering Youth with ADHD, a contributing author of Becoming Self-Determined: Creating Thoughtful Learners in a Standards-Driven, Admissions-Frenzied Culture (2016) and Becoming Self-Determined: Practical Strategies for a Changing World (2021), and co-editor of From Transactional to Transformational: Coaching in Disability Resources (2023). Her company, JST Coaching & Training, provides research-based student and neurodiversity coach training programs to individuals and educational institutions. Jodi is the recipient of the 2016 CHADD Hall of Fame Award & 2017 ADHD Coaches Organization Founders Award. She is considered the foremost authority on student and neurodiversity coaching. During her two-year term as president of the Association of Coach Training Organizations, Jodi's platform focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion in coach training, and she continues to forward social justice initiatives.
Lance Smith
Lance Smith is the Manager of Application Development in IT at Sinclair Community College. In his role, he oversees development, maintenance and overall architecture design of websites and web-based application services that address the strategic goals and vision of the institution. In this role, he has a special focus on ADA compliance.
Joel Snyder
Dr. Joel Snyder is known internationally as one of the world’s first “audio describers,” a pioneer in the field of Audio Description. Since 1981, he has introduced audio description techniques in over 40 states and 64 countries and has made thousands of live events, media projects and museums accessible. Most recently, Dr. Snyder was named a Fulbright Scholar to train audio describers in Greece and Ukraine over a four-week period in 2019. In 2014, the American Council of the Blind published Dr. Snyder’s book, The Visual Made Verbal – A Comprehensive Training Manual and Guide to the History and Applications of Audio Description, now available as an audio book and in Braille from the Library of Congress, in screen reader accessible formats, and in English, Polish, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Chinese print editions.
Lucinda Spaulding
Dr. Spaulding has a PhD in Special Education and Educational Psychology, a MEd in Special Education, and a BS in Elementary Education. Born and raised in Ottawa, Canada, Dr. Spaulding began her career in education as an elementary teacher at a charter school in Rochester, NY. She next served as an English teacher in Japan, a special education teacher with Chesapeake Public Schools, a Research Fellow during her doctoral studies, and Professor and Chair of Special Education at Liberty University before joining the University of Lynchburg in 2021 where she serves as an Associate Professor in the Special Education Department in the College of Education, Leadership Studies, and Counseling. In addition to serving on the Fulbright Specialist Roster, Dr. Spaulding peer reviews, publishes and presents nationally and internationally on topics relating to best practices in special education and factors associated with resilience and persistence in higher education.
Catherine Spear
Catherine Spear joined the University of Southern California (USC) in late August 2020 to serve in the new role of Vice President for the Office of Equity, Equal Opportunity, and Title IX (EEO-TIX). She also serves as the Title IX Coordinator. She is responsible for managing the University's response to all forms of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation involving faculty, staff, and students related to a protected characteristic. She also leads related proactive education and outreach programs that promote a safe and inclusive environment for all University community members, and leads USC's Affirmative Action and other equity programs. Prior to USC, Spear served in a similar role as Associate Vice President for the Office for Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights at the University of Virginia and was Stanford University's first full-time Title IX Coordinator. Prior to higher education, Spear worked for 19 years at the Cleveland office for the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, including as Chief Attorney and the last five years as Director. She started her legal career at a litigation firm before switching her focus to public service and higher education. She has a Juris Doctorate degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Dayton.
Finn Stanners
Finn Stanners is a research assistant at King’s University College and an undergraduate student in Disability Studies at Toronto Metropolitan University. Finn is neurodivergent, non-binary, and disabled, and is particularly interested in systems navigation, grief, and madness.
Pamela J. Starr
Pamela J. Starr, Ph.D. is the Director of the Disability Resource Center at Riverside City College. She has over 25 years of experience in higher education disability services, including 10 years as a solo disability service provider at a four-year university. Dr. Starr has presented at local, national, and international conferences on disability etiquette and awareness programming, as well as student transition into higher education and the retention of at-risk students.
Aaron Stickney
Aaron Stickney is an Undergraduate in Communication at Eastern Illinois University. He has been working for Disability Services and Educational Services in the Accessible Media Services office at the University of Illinois since 2021.
Dan Stokes
Dan Stokes serves as the Director of the Office of Academic Support and Disability Services (OASDS) at The Juilliard School in New York City, where he works to remove barriers to students with disabilities and provide academic support to students in need. Dan is a professional singer-songwriter with a Master of Science in Education with a concentration in Rehabilitation Counseling from Hunter College and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. He is an empathetic disability advocate with a unique perspective and professional experience as an adjunct professor who holds more than 20+ years of experience in the field of counseling and ten years working in disability support services in higher education. Dan supports student well-being and success by serving on several Juilliard committees, the Assessment and Care Team, the Academic Standing Committee, and as Chair of the Disability Support Services Committee. He enjoys professional development and continued education on mental health topics, going beyond ADA compliance, and creating inclusive environments. Dan is happiest when he is creating and performing.
Chris Stone
Chris Stone, Ed.D. is Director of Disability Resources at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Stone leads Disability Resources in its efforts to assist disabled students in meeting their academic and personal development goals and supports the University in the broader mission of inclusivity and opportunity for disabled students. Following graduation from Central College (Pella, IA), Chris taught 7-12 Literature and Language Arts and coached track and cross-country before attending St. Ambrose University (Davenport, IA) and earning his M Ed: Post-Secondary Disabilities Services. Chris completed his Ed D from George Washington University, in Washington, DC. Chris previously served on the board of the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) and the North Carolina affiliate of AHEAD (NCAHEAD), and currently is the President of Missouri AHEAD. He has presented at a number of national and international conferences, co-chaired AHEAD’s annual conference (2016), and acted as the Accessibility Advisor for the ACPA Convention (2022). Of particular note, Dr. Stone gave a keynote address and was a featured presenter at the Inaugural Inclusion School conference in Guayaquil, Ecuador in 2020.
Aimee Stubbs
Aimee Stubbs is the Senior Director of Accessibility Resources at Broward College in Ft. Lauderdale, FL . She has presented numerous workshops and Webinars for AHEAD and FLAHEAD. She also was president of FLAHEAD for two years. She has a bachelor’s degree in Specific Learning Disabilities, a master’s degree in Varying Exceptionalities, and an Education Specialist Degree in Counseling. Prior to working for Broward College, she worked at St. Petersburg College. Aimee also worked for the Pinellas County School System for 15 years with varying exceptionalities students. She taught academic subjects and Learning Strategies. Her last years at Largo High School she was a Guidance Counselor, an Intern Supervisor for the University of South Florida. Aimee joined the St. Petersburg College Disability Resources team in March of 2008. She spent 5 years as a Disability Resources Specialist and taught Career and Life Planning courses. Then Aimee became Director of Accessibility Services in January of 2015, Bridging the Achievement Gap Advisory Board, the Ridgecrest 360 Initiative, and Delta Kappa Gamma Key Women Educators Organization. Aimee has earned numerous awards such as CEC Rookie Teacher of the Year, Largo Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Educator Award, Disney American Teacher Recognition.
Benjamin Suits Baer
Benjamin has long been passionate about education and equal access. Born into a hearing family, he did not know ASL until college and found Deaf culture while at Rochester Institute of Technology. He received his master’s degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration from Canisius College emphasizing his thesis on student affairs professionals and their knowledge of students with disabilities. He has a passion for ADA law, self-advocacy, and equitable access to education. After working in disability services in higher education, he is excited to focus on deaf success. He enjoys playing sports, finding new restaurants, and reading.
Matthew Sullivan
Matt Sullivan is the Assistant Director of Disability Resources at Washington University in St. Louis and serves as DR’s liaison to WashU’s School of Medicine, acting as the primary contact for SoM faculty/staff, students, and prospective students. In this role, Matt works closely with programs in Medical Education, OT, PT, Audiology (and more) to create accessible and inclusive educational environment for disabled students pursuing their degrees within Health Sciences and Medicine. He is currently serving as a co-curriculum developer and Instructor for the Disability Resource Professional (DRP) Academy, a highly focused, hybrid professional development experience for disability resource professionals seeking expertise in medical education. Matt has also served the Association for Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) as a member of the Professional Competencies working group, assisting in the creation of the organization’s guiding professional standards, and as the Chief of Staff on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors for the Coalition for Disability Access in Health Sciences Education.
Linda Sullivan
Linda Sullivan is a tenured disability services professional with over 20 years of direct service work with students who have disabilities at the college level. She has enjoyed previous roles as a director and executive director and currently she is the ADA/504 Coordinator for Dartmouth, where she works to set institutional priorities on matters of access, equity, and inclusion. In her career Linda has had the great fortune to collaborate with colleagues around the country on articles, white papers, and presentations. She is a consultant and an active member of the AHEAD community.
Lynne Swerhone
Lynne (she/her and they/them) is new to the profession of Disability Services but has 9 years of experience working as an LMSW in the juvenile justice and mental health field. She currently works at Michigan State University as a Chronic Health and Mobility specialist. They hold a master’s degree in Social Work. Lynne is passionate about changing power structures both within disability services offices as well as outside of them and has special interests in trauma responsive culture, reimagining our capacity for humanity within the context of bureaucracy, and increasing equity in academic spaces.
Emma Swiatek
Emma Swiatek is the Associate Librarian: Research and User Services at the G. Emmett Cardinal Carter Library at King’s University College. In this multifaceted role, Emma is the collections and liaison librarian for six subject areas, including Disability Studies, where she supports the scholarly activity of students and faculty. Her professional interests include conducting scoping and systematic reviews, user-centred service design, accessibility in libraries, and diverse collection development.
Emily Tarconish
Emily Tarconish, PhD, is a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Special Education Department at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. Her research interests include examining the experiences of postsecondary students with disabilities, including those with traumatic brain injuries, and developing effective accommodations and peer supports for this population. She also develops and studies the effects of disability awareness and inclusive teaching trainings for postsecondary faculty, as well as peer support groups for postsecondary students with disabilities. Emily’s previous experience includes working as a behavioral specialist, a vocational rehabilitation counselor, and as the Director of Accessibility Services at Clark University. She also developed and oversaw disability-centered student groups and peer mentoring programs at Clark University and the University of Connecticut.
Carlos Taylor
Carlos Taylor is the Program Manager of the Gregory S. Fehribach Center at Eskenazi Health in Indianapolis. At the Fehribach Center, he works to provide meaningful paid internship opportunities for college students with physical disabilities. Prior to joining the Fehribach Center, Carlos was the Adaptive Computer Technology Specialist at Ball State University where he provided assistive technology solutions to students, staff, and faculty. Carlos has also presented to numerous groups on topics pertaining to individuals with disabilities and provided assistive technology (AT) training to corporate and professional sports organizations.
Leslie Thatcher
Leslie Thatcher, EdM, is an educator with over 30 years experience working with transition age students. In addition to her work with Thatcher Education, she is the founding Director of College Success@Perkins, a nine month college readiness initiative to improve outcomes for college aspiring students with blindness and low vision. As lead at Thatcher Education, Leslie works with college-bound young adults as an independent educational consultant and executive functioning coach. Leslie is deeply committed to supporting the growth of students, empowering them to reach their full potential. Leslie brings a range of experience in college and independent school education to her students and families. Her professional and leadership experience includes admissions, academic skill development, program development, college counseling, student life and residential parenting at independent schools in New England. Additionally, she served as Associate Dean of Admission for Lewis & Clark College, in Portland, OR. Leslie has a master's in education with a focus on adolescent development and higher education administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a B.A. in History, and Secondary Education Certification in Social Sciences, from Lewis & Clark College. She is a member of NACAC, IECA, CEC, NEALS, AER and AHEAD. She presents nationally on a range of topics surrounding college readiness, helping to leading a national conversation about access and equity for students with vision impairment.
David Thomas
David J. Thomas, Ph.D., has been working in the field of disability support in higher education for nearly 15 years. He was previously a faculty member in English for more than a decade specializing in composition, Linguistics, and English as a Second Language. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies and Academic Support Programs and the Director of the Office of Educational Accessibility at West Chester University, where he also teaches educational research methods in the Ed.D. in Policy, Planning, and Administration Program.
David Thompson
Dr. David Thompson is a two-time graduate of Bowie State University in BS in Psychology and MA Counseling; Harvard University PhD in Business and Presently working at Johns Hopkins on a MD in Medicine. David is also a Colonel in the United State Military
Tom Thompson
Tom Thompson is a retired Director for Access and Disability Services at William R. Harper College, where he served for 30 years, including functioning as the ADA Coordinator during his last 12 years. He has been doing consulting work in higher education, Disability Resources and Services since 1988 and has served in five Interim Director roles since retiring. He has been an external evaluator for AHEAD and NASPA, conducting 40 evaluations. He served on the AHEAD Board of Directors twice (1988 – 1990 and 2009 – 2012), recently co-authored and contributed to an AHEAD publication entitled, “Laws, Policies and Processes: Tools for Postsecondary Student Accommodations”. He also serves on the Editorial Board of “Disability Compliance in Higher Education” and served nine years as the chair of the Illinois Board of Higher Education’s Disability Services Advisory Committee. He has been an active AHEAD member since 1981 and helped co-found the ILLOWA AHEAD chapter.
Elizabeth Thomson
(They/them/their/elle) is in their second year as Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at University of Minnesota Morris, a public, liberal arts and science campus in rural Minnesota. liz held previously progressive leadership positions at the Gender and Sexuality Center and was Interim Director at the Asian American Resource and Cultural Center at the University of Illinois Chicago. In their current role, they report to the Chancellor and lead or assist on campus-wide student, faculty, and staff DEI initiatives. They earned their Master's and Gender and Women's Studies and their PhD in Disability Studies. One of the first things they did after being hired at UMN Morris in 2019 was to more fully and overtly assert disability as part of the campus' diversity portfolio. Now in their current role they have more agency to better actualize the idea of disability under diversity.
Marc Thurman
Marc Thurman is Director of the Landmark College Centers for Diversity and Inclusion. He has been instrumental in developing and operating seven cultural centers and a myriad of identity-focused clubs and programs for neurodivergent students. He has researched and presented on intersectionality and neurodiversity since 2020. Marc currently serves as advisor to the Forever Family Program.
Judith Tisch
Judy has been an attorney with the Office for Civil Rights for over 15 years. Currently she is the Co-Lead of OCR’s National Digital Accessibility team. Before coming to OCR, she finished with a PhD in Educational Administration and her law degree. Part of her work experience also includes teaching in special education and development of on-line instruction. Her favorite part of her job is helping people serve students better and preventing problems before they happen.
Eric Trekell
Eric W. Trekell started working in student disability services in 2014, when he became the assistant director of Services for Students with Disabilities at Edmonds College in Lynnwood, WA. In 2017, Eric became the director of the Center for Disability Services at Everett Community College in Everett, WA, and in 2021, Eric joined the staff of the Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology (DO-IT) Center at the University of Washington. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Washington Association on Postsecondary Education and Disability (WAPED). Prior to moving into Disability Services, Eric worked in a variety of student and academic services positions at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Adams State University of Colorado and Texas A&M University-College Station.
Annie Tulkin
Annie Tulkin is the Founder and Director of Accessible College, as well as an educator, author and public speaker. She is an expert in the area of college preparation and transition for students with physical disabilities and health conditions. She supports students and families across the country. Annie was the Associate Director of the Academic Resource Center at Georgetown University for nearly 6 years. In that position she supported undergraduate, graduate, and medical students with physical disabilities and health conditions and oversaw academic support services for the entire student body. Annie has worked in the disability field for her entire professional career including positions as a Regional Disability Coordinator for Humanitas, Inc. working on the Job Corps disability support contract for The Department of Labor, and as a Project Specialist with the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) where she worked with both the National Service Inclusion Project (NSIP) and University Centers of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) Technical Assistance projects. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Secondary Education from DePaul University, a Masters in Special Education from The University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Certificate in Health Coaching from Georgetown University. Annie was a Peace Corps Volunteer (Mongolia, ‘03-’05) and a Fulbright Fellow (Mongolia, ‘07-’08). She resides in Silver Spring, MD with her husband and daughter.
Jaynette Underhill-Levingston
Jaynette Underhill, M.A, PHR, SHRM-CP, has been in the human services field for more than 30 years, focusing on operations, organizational regulatory compliance, risk and quality management. Jaynette holds a BA in Management and MA in Organizational Leadership from Saint Mary’s College, as well as HR credentials from HRCI and SHRM. Jaynette has held executive positions in for-profit and nonprofit organizations.
Emily Unholz-Bowden
Emily Unholz-Bowden, Ph.D., is a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the University of Minnesota's Institute on Community Integration. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology has a background in special education. She has experience in the development and implementation of intervention research for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Her research background primarily relates to the development of interventions with a focus on teaching skillets (e.g., communication, self-advocacy, independent living, decision-making) to improve quality of life for people with disabilities and arranging the environment to promote use of those skillsets independently. She is currently a co-PI conducting community-based research with transition-aged individuals and support persons focused on providing culturally responsive training and coaching on supported decision-making. Other projects include the evaluation of current postsecondary transition and higher education supports and services for youth with disabilities, including developmental and intellectual disabilities as well as those experiencing mental health conditions.
John Unsworth
John Unsworth is Dean of Libraries, University Librarian, and Professor of English at the University of Virginia. He has been involved in creating intellectual and technical infrastructure for digital humanities over the last 25 years, including the HathiTrust Research Center, the Text Encoding Initiative Consortium, and experimental infrastructure like MONK (an early text-mining environment). EMMA is technical and intellectual infrastructure for serving the needs of students in higher education institutions who have print disabilities, and his involvement in disability services arises from his conviction that providing usable information to students in a timely manner should be as much a mission for academic libraries as it is for disability service offices, and the two should be partners in that mission.
Kate Upatham
Kate Upatham, J.D., is the Section 504 Coordinator for Harvard University, and Senior Director of Harvard’s University Disability Resources. She has expertise in civil rights laws in an educational context, including preventing and responding to disability discrimination. Prior to joining Harvard, Ms. Upatham served as: Director of Nondiscrimination Initiatives at Wellesley College; an Attorney at Sanghavi Law Office; and a Civil Rights Attorney with the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in Boston. Ms. Upatham served on the Steering Committee for OCR’s Disability Network, and is a member of her town's Commission on Disability. Ms. Upatham graduated cum laude from Notre Dame Law School in 2004. While at Notre Dame Law School, she served as an editor on the Journal of Legislation. Prior to law school, Ms. Upatham taught English Literature and composition skills to high school students in a rural Zimbabwean school with the U.S. Peace Corps. Ms. Upatham brings to Harvard a strong background in partnering with different departments and offices to build cooperation and open dialogue among students, faculty, and staff across the University.
Mary Lee Vance
Currently Director of the Disability Access Center, Testing Center, Disability Cultural Center, and Assistive Technology Lab at California State University Sacramento, where she has also served as interim Director for the Office of Equal Opportunity, Title IX and Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation (DHR), under the Inclusive Excellence Division. She has taught undergraduate and graduate courses including disability studies, successfully written federal grants, serves as a reviewer for the AHEAD and NACADA refereed journals and for over 16 years has taught and continues to teach disability law classes and seminars with Grossman, Axelrod and Vance Consulting with specific focus on the intersection between racism and ableism, ADA and Title IX, and other intersections, as well as additional subject areas. Among other honors, Mary Lee was presented AHEAD’s Professional Recognition Award in 2012, the AHEAD Duraese Hall Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award in 2020, and the AHEAD Blosser Award in 2023. She has published in referred journals, books, and periodicals, and lead-edited 5 books published by NASPA, NACADA and AHEAD. The books include DISABLED Faculty and Staff in a Disabling Society: Multiple Perspectives in Higher Education; Beyond the Americans with Disabilities Act: Proactively Planning for Accessible Post-Secondary Educational Offerings Now and into the Future; Advising Students with Disabilities: Developing Universal Success; Laws, Policies and Procedures: Tools for Postsecondary Student Accommodation; and the newly released DISABLED Faculty and Staff: Intersecting Identities in Higher Education, Volume 2.
Lisa Vance
Andrea Vassar
Andrea Vassar is the Executive Director Campus Accessibility and ADA/504 Coordinator for Tulane University. Andrea is a certified ADA Coordinator through the University of Missouri and has expertise in employment accommodations, campus and digital accessibility, disability advocacy, and support for students in the entire kindergarten through higher education spectrum.
Jennifer Walsh
Jennifer Walsh has worked at Towson University in the Office of Accessibility & Disability Services since 2018. She began as a specialist, but then moved into the role of Senior Disability Coordinator to help the office address the increase in students with mental health disabilities. She holds a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Loyola University-Maryland and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Health Policy from University of Maryland-Baltimore County School of Public Policy
Rachel Ward
Rachel N. Ward, Ph.D. is a Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow for the VA Maryland Health Care System, completing an emphasis in PTSD in Returning Veterans. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Palo Alto University after completing her predoctoral internship within the Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Ward has expertise in the treatment and assessment of PTSD and comorbid substance use and anxiety disorders. She is passionate about using her research and clinical expertise to increase access to mental health care.
Lee Burdette Williams
Lee Burdette Williams is the Executive Director of the College Autism Network. She is a long-time student affairs professional having served in senior roles at several institutions as well as having taught in graduate programs at the University of Vermont, the University of Connecticut and Appalachian State University.
Charnessa Warren
Katy Washington
Katy Washington, J.D., PhD., is the inaugural Chief Accessibility Officer at Virginia Commonwealth University in the Office of Institutional Equity, Effectiveness, and Success and serves as the ADA/Section 504 Coordinator. She currently serves as President of the Board of Directors for AHEAD. She has spent over eighteen years working with faculty and staff to facilitate an inclusive campus environment for disabled students. In her current role, Katy uses an innovative approach to proactively remove physical and digital barriers to equal access by collaborating with workgroups and partners across the university; administering the employment-related accommodation process; and ensuring university compliance with relevant state and federal laws which directly impact equal access and inclusion of disabled employees, students, and visitors. Katy received a Master of Science in Counseling Psychology from the University of Central Arkansas. She also holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the University of Arkansas.
Vaughn Watson
Vaughn Watson is the Director of Student Success at Manhattan School Music. Founder of the first consortium for disability services professionals in the performing arts, Vaughn is passionate about music education and a strong advocate for a more accessible and equitable conservatory. In addition to his work at Manhattan School of Music, Vaughn is a writer and a working baritone. He is currently working on a second chapbook and sings with The Stonewall Chorale.
Genevieve Weaver
Genevieve Weaver is an adapted special education teacher in central Virginia. She graduated with her BS in Special Education from Liberty University and is working on her Masters in Visual Impairment from Radford University. She was voted as Jefferson Forest High School's 2023 Teacher of the Year.
Kate Weeks
Kate Serves as the Director of Student Disability Support Services at Morgan State University, which recently had a mass shooting incident on campus.
Charles Weiner
Charles Weiner is a Pennsylvania attorney with more than 35-years experience, whose practice is focused on Civil Rights and Disability Rights. He represents clients not only throughout Pennsylvania involving special education and school discipline but he also represents individuals with disabilities throughout the nation concerning accommodations in post-secondary education, post-secondary entrance exams and professional licensing and certification examinations such as the SAT, ACT, LSAT, MCAT, bar exams and the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) and COMLEX. He served as lead counsel in Sampson v. National Board of Medical Examiners, Berger v. National Board of Medical Examiners, Hartman v. National Board of Medical Examiners, Bibber v. National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners, and Grinbaum v. Law School Admission Council. Charles served as a Commissioner on the American Bar Associations Commission on Disabilities. He has presented and organized numerous national presentations on disability in education.
Ryan Wells
Ryan Wells is the Executive Editor of the Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability (JPED). He is a professor of education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Director of the Center for Student Success Research.
Jensen Whitmore
I'm a Learning & Accessibility Specialist with a mission to make education inclusive and accessible. Through K-12 education, and now in post-secondary education, I've supported individuals with multiple disabilities, harnessed the power of assistive technology, and delivered differentiated content. I'm passionate about learning and empowering others with technology and innovation.
Brandie Wiley
Brandie Wiley earned two bachelor’s degrees from Texas Christian University and then taught in the public education system for 10 years, three of which were as a dyslexia specialist (CALT). She has a Master’s degree from the University of Kansas in Special Education - Transition and a Texas special education teaching certification. She has served on the board of Arc of DFW Area and is the Chair of the Fort Worth Mayor’s Committee on Persons with Disabilities. She is the sponsor of DREAM (Disability Rights Education and Mentoring) and Developmental Behavioral Pediatric Student Interest Group student organizations. She speaks publicly often and has authored two children’s books on topics related to disability-one, about autism specifically. She has been with UNT Health Science Center since 2012 and is the director of the Office of Disability Access. Inspired by her three children who all have multiple disabilities, she is passionate about creating a more inclusive world for all.
Stephen Willems
Stephen Willems, M.S., M.S., A.B.D., currently works as a Disability Specialist in the Office of Accessibility & Disability Services at Towson University, serving as the coordinator of the Workforce Recruitment Program and liaison to the Military and Veterans Center, Career Center, and Counseling Center. Stephen is a lifelong learner, obtaining a Master of Science in Human Services Management as well as Special Education from McDaniel College. Stephen continues as a doctoral student at Frostburg State University, specializing in Adult and Professional Learning Facilitation. Stephen lives for applied learning, and his interests include exploring ways to create partnerships to support accessibility across campus while using art and participatory action to foster the involvement of students with disabilities in the services they receive.
Lee Burdette Williams
Lee Burdette Williams is the Executive Director of the College Autism Network. She is a long-time student affairs professional having served in senior roles at several institutions as well as having taught in graduate programs at the University of Vermont, the University of Connecticut and Appalachian State University.
Laura Williams
Andrew Wilson
Andy has more than 20 years of experience building meaningful relationships with students so that they realize their academic potential and career aspirations. During his tenure as the Dean of Student Development at Johns Hopkins University, he led programs and services that provided undergraduate and graduate students with both foundational resources and contributed to students’ lifelong success, including coaching, civic engagement, and peer and faculty mentoring programs. Among his accomplishments at Johns Hopkins, he provided leadership for designing and implementing initiatives for first-generation and/or limited-income students funded by a $1.6 billion gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies. These initiatives included strategic growth in inclusive excellence, academic advising, scholars’ programs, and career services. Dr. Wilson held faculty appointments teaching business and organizational psychology courses on leading change and crisis leadership as well as advising doctoral dissertations in education. Before joining Johns Hopkins, Dr. Wilson spent more than 12 years at Emory University as an administrator and faculty member. Prior to Emory, he worked at Washington University in St. Louis and Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Wilson earned a PhD in counseling and human development from the University of Georgia and a master’s in higher education from Virginia Tech. He received his bachelor’s degree from Winthrop University (SC). Outside of his professional work, he serves as a mission ambassador for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, a PAWS Chicago volunteer, and on Winthrop University’s Foundation Board of Directors.
Davis Wilson
Davis Wilson, MEd, is the Assistant Director of Disability Support Services at East Carolina University (ECU). Davis is currently an EdD candidate in the Educational Leadership Program at ECU and received his Master of Education in Higher Education Student Affairs. His background started in Recreation Therapy where he has experience working with young adults with ASD and IDD and working in the VA setting. Davis served as a Graduate Assistant for the University Participant (UP) Program, and later in the Office of Accessibility Resources at Western Carolina University where he co-created and developed a coaching program for addressing executive functioning. He served a short time in Admissions at Campbell University before he moved back over into disability services. In his current position, he oversees coaching and programming initiatives across campus. Davis enjoys brewery hopping, playing with his dogs, and exploring the outdoors. This is also his first AHEAD conference, so please introduce yourself!"
Caroline Wines
Caroline Wines is the Senior Disability and Technology Specialist at American Public University System (APUS). She began her career at APUS in July 2018 within Admissions working with veterans and their spouses. She joined the Disability Services office in October 2019 where she applied her passion for assisting those with a military background and addressing mental health. Caroline earned her B.S. in Communication from Shepherd University and her M.A. in Psychology from American Military University.
Dominic Winter
Dominic Winter is the Education Services Manager at the Washington State Department of Corrections. His work supports the Reentry Division’s vision to positively change lives by providing pathways to educational attainment for incarcerated individuals. While relatively new to the education field, Dominic has worked in corrections for over 15 years with most of that time working with individuals with significant intellectual/developmental disabilities and/or mental health disorders.
Gabe Wright
Higher Education professional who returned to the field 2 years ago after first starting in Residence Life. My background consists of working in the field of Violence Prevention, Employment Consultant, High School Transition Advisor, Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling and then now back in Higher Education with the Office of Student Accessibility Services as an Academic Program Specialist. I received my undergraduate degree at Illinois State University and my graduate degree from Northern Illinois University but I am a diehard Ohio State Buckeye!
Annette Wu
Annette is an Assistant Manager at Yale-NUS College’s Student Affairs Office. Her work centres on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility on campus. The highlight of Annette’s role is the opportunity to work closely with students on College programmes and policies, and support student-led initiatives for a more inclusive campus.
Lisa Yates
Dr. Yates is the Director of Dis/ability Support Services at Moreno Valley College in Southern CA. Prior to accepting this position, Dr. Yates served students as a dis/ability support Counselor and Learning Dis/ability Specialist. Dr. Yates has a passion for equity, inclusion, and belonging, and strives to positively impact perceptions of dis/ability, in line with the United Nations, World Health Organization and her own dissertation work on dis/ability perception in community college.
Sarah Young
Dr. Sarah Young is a seasoned higher education and disability professional with years of experience in both academic and student affairs, where she focuses on increasing accessibility and equity for students through staff and faculty development and improvement of institutional policy and processes. She earned her Doctorate of Education at The George Washington University and her Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in English from Old Dominion University. She currently serves in the role of Director of Disability Support Services at Trinity Washington University, and she teaches English literature and composition as a part-time faculty member at two other colleges as well. She recently gave presentations at the AHEAD 2023 Conference, and she currently serves on the Accessibility Committee for the ASHE Conference. She has a book chapter forthcoming for publication this year, titled “Experiences of Students with Disabilities Transitioning from On-Ground to Online Courses in the Time of COVID 19.
Melissa Zgliczynski
Melissa Zgliczynski, Director of Accessibility Resources and Services at SUNY Empire State University, has worked in disability services for over 15 years at both private and public higher education institutions. In her current role, she collaborates regularly with student support offices, instructional designers, and faculty to provide support for students with disabilities and advance universal design for learning practices. She is a member of SUNY Empire’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council, and is committed to ensuring disability is part of DEI initiatives.
Michelle Ziebarth
Michelle Ziebarth is the Associate Director at St Cloud State University, Michelle has been in that position since June of 2023. Prior to that Michelle taught special education In Minnesota. Michelle has experiences teaching special education to students ages birth- 12th grade. Michelle’s has bachelor’s degrees in elementary education and academic and behavioral strategies and a Master of Science degree in Physical and Health Disabilities.
John Zilvinskis
John Zilvinskis studies disability in higher education and high-impact practices using survey data. He teaches research methods, contemporary issues and the program capstone. Zilvinskis' research has been published in Research in Higher Education, The Review of Higher Education, the Journal of College Student Development and the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. Zilvinskis is currently a research affiliate with the Center for Community College Student Engagement, The University of Texas at Austin. At Binghamton University, Zilvinskis serves as a research affiliate for the Institute for Justice and Well-Being and a doctoral faculty fellow for the College of Community and Public Affairs.
Barbara Zunder