Disability Matters

Joyce welcomes Carrie SiuButt, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SimpleHealth to the show. At 13, Carrie was diagnosed with dystonia, a rare movement control disease. For her walking became excruciatingly painful over time. Living with this disability, in February 2020, she joined company SimpleHealth as CEO. It was on the brink of failure. She and her team dug in and grew the business 10x in 12 months. Founded in 2018 and based in New York City, SimpleHealth makes reproductive wellness simple! Operating in 32 states and growing, SimpleHealth is a nationally recognized telehealth provider of reproductive wellness, offering birth control, herpes and cold sore treatment, and over-the-counter supplements. Simple Health's mission is to be the #1 reproductive wellness provider, giving access to those who otherwise wouldn't be able to find reproductive care in a convenient and affordable way. Ms. SiuButt will share her story of personal success while living with a disability showing the listeners that anyone with a disability can contribute to the workforce.

Joyce welcomes National Disability Rights Leader and the originator of Disability Mentoring Day, Jonathan Young to the show. Jonathan served at the White House during the Clinton administration as the Disability Liaison to the President. Currently, Jonathan is the Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of Akero Therapeutics in South San Francisco. Akero Therapeutics is a clinical-stage cardio-metabolic company developing transformational treatments for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a disease without any approved therapies. Mr. Young will discuss the groundbreaking research that is being done at the company to treat this disease and share his advocacy work on behalf of people with disabilities prior to joining the company and his commitment to same in his current role.

Joyce welcomes Gary Dick, Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Highmark Health Solutions to the show. He will be discussing his organization's long-standing commitment to hire people with disabilities through the Program he created, Careers 2B™. The Careers2B™ Program serves as a national workforce development model to address the lack of professional work experience barrier to competitive employment for people with disabilities and improve employment outcomes for talented professionals with disabilities. Careers2B™ provides paid work experience at sponsor companies to candidates with disabilities, after which participants are eligible to be hired as a direct associate at the sponsor company or to promote their skills in the open marketplace.

Joyce welcomes Dr. Rory Cooper, who early this year was appointed the University of Pittsburgh's (Pitt's) first-ever assistant vice chancellor for research for STEM-health sciences collaborations. Dr. Cooper is world-renowned for his inventions and patents when it comes to wheelchair technology. He will further discuss the work being done in this area at the University of Pittsburgh and share other ways that he has dedicated his life to improving the lives for people with disabilities through assistive devices and technologies.

Joyce welcomes Evan Frazier, President and CEO of the Advanced Leadership Institute to the show. Conceived in 2016 with a vision to address the lack of Black executive management in Pittsburgh's corporations, TALI partnered with Carnegie Mellon University to create an executive leadership academy to educate, develop, and position Black leaders for meaningful advancement in corporate and community roles. Mr. Frazier will discuss this mission in detail and share how the mission addresses placing leaders with disabilities in those same roles.

Joyce welcomes Mark Boxer, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the University of Hartford to the show. Named to this post in June of 2020, he will discuss how he has carried over the same commitment to hire people with disabilities that he held at Cigna to help all students including those with disabilities at the University of Hartford.

Following the passing of Bender Consulting Services President, Mary Brougher, Joyce Bender, Founder and CEO, has joined forces with former Member of Congress, Tony Coelho, the primary author of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), to expand Bender's decades of service in honor of Mary's lifelong work to engage corporations in the fight for disability rights. This new program called Bender/Coelho Disability Leadership Initiative, will focus on the retained search of people with disabilities for corporate, organizational and advocacy board seats. Guest host, Laura Randa, Chief Commercial Officer at Curio Digital Therapeutics, Inc., Board Member of American Association of People with Disabilities, and Co-Chair Executive of Women in Bio, Capital Region will interview Joyce Bender and Tony Coelho on their partnership and goals for this new initiative.

Exciting news! Hear a show from Japan on the commitment to disability inclusion!

Joyce is thrilled to welcome Megumi Kawakami a certified deaf interpreter accredited by Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, and Martin Dale-Hench, Japanese - English Translator who has worked at companies such as Amazon.to the show. Ms. Kawakami will tell her story about how she managed as a child who is deaf in Okinawa, Japan and how that inspired her to became one of the only ASL/JSL interpreters in Okinawa, Japan. In addition, she will share her impressions of Gallaudet University in the United States where she attended college and explain what that was like for her. Mr. Dale-Hench will share his story of how he became and advocate people who are deaf in Okinawa, Japan and give his thoughts on how Japanese who are deaf are treated in their society.

Joyce welcomes back to the show, Mick Malec, president, of HM Health Solutions. Mr. Malec will discuss his commitment, as well as the organization's commitment, to the employment of people with disabilities. His leadership is instrumental in the partnership of Highmark with Bender Consulting Services and the success of the employment of people with disabilities within the company.

Joyce welcomed to the show Scott Hammerstrom, manager of programs and partnerships for Bender Leadership Academy. This non-profit organization has been serving students with disabilities since 2001. It accomplishes the mission of competency-based workforce development through a continuum of learning. Its goal is to increase long-term competitive employment for youth with disabilities. The Bender Leadership Academy delivers competency building programs that enable students with disabilities to engage in educational, empowerment and work opportunities, celebrate successes, and set and achieve career journey goals. Scott discussed his role in the organization and the various programs and services it offers students with disabilities. Also joining Joyce on the program was Maryann Kostelic, Transition Coordinator, with the Central Valley High School School in Monaca, PA and two of the district’s students, Courtney Sullivan (11th grader) and Taylor Rogers ( 12th grader) who recently benefited from the classes offered by the Bender Leadership Academy. Each shared how the classes have helped them prepare for the world of work.