Disability Matters

Joyce welcomes Dara Baldwin, senior public policy analyst for the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN), the nonprofit membership organization for the federally mandated Protection and Advocacy (P&A) Systems and Client Assistance Programs (CAP). Collectively, the P&A/CAP network is the largest provider of legally based advocacy services to people with disabilities in the United States. NDRN's mission is to promote the integrity and capacity of the P&A/CAP national network and to advocate for the enactment and vigorous enforcement of laws protecting civil and human rights of people with disabilities. Ms. Baldwin will discuss the organization's mission in depth.

Joyce welcomes Andy Imparato, executive director of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD). AUCD is a membership organization that supports and promotes a national network of university-based interdisciplinary programs. These programs serve every U.S. state and territory and are all part of universities or medical centers. They serve as a bridge between the university and the community, bringing together the resources of both to achieve meaningful change. Mr. Imparato will share the latest information on his current work with the AUCD.

Joyce welcomes Judy Heumann, senior fellow with the Ford Foundation, since September 17, 2017, to the show. Ms. Heumann will discuss her role in this capacity and her long career as an internationally recognized social justice leader, and longtime human rights advocate, especially for people with disabilities.

Joyce welcomes Lydia X. Z. Brown a disability justice advocate, organizer, and writer whose work has largely focused on violence against multiply-marginalized disabled people, specializing in institutionalization, incarceration, and policing. She will discuss her career in depth with Joyce.

Joyce welcomes Jenny Lay-Flurrie, chief accessibility officer at Microsoft, leading efforts to drive great products, services, and websites that empower people and organizations to achieve more. Ms. Lay-Flurrie will discuss how her team is at the forefront of creating positive experiences that apply technology to make a difference in the world and the lives of individuals—from how we hire and support people with disabilities in employment to innovative technology that aims to revolutionize what is possible for people with disabilities.

Joyce welcomes John L. Tague Jr. to the show. Mr. Tague is Principal owner of Disability Consulting Services, LLC in Pittsburgh, PA. Also, on the show will be Anne Madarasz, director of the Curatorial Division, Chief Historian, and director of the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum and Mary Anderson Hartley, project director for the Western Pennsylvania Disability History and Action Consortium. Each guest will discuss Western Pennsylvania Disability Rights history.

Joyce welcomes Staci Dojonovic-Schutzman, Transition Coordinator at Fox Chapel Area School District in Pittsburgh, PA to the show. Ms. Dojonovic-Schutzman will discuss the Bender Leadership Academy Program and the Pay Checks Not Pity® training that students with disabilities have been going through since 2001. The Bender Leadership Academy welcomes high school juniors and seniors with disabilities from four high schools in the area to attend four classes, held quarterly throughout the school year and hosted by a sponsor company, to have Joyce Bender deliver training to prepare students with disabilities for the world of work. What began as a one-year initiative with four school districts in Delaware has expanded and been replicated to include school districts in the Pittsburgh area including the Fox Chapel School District.

Joyce welcomes Debra Ruh, Founder and CEO of Ruh Global Communications. Ruh Global is strategic communications and digital marketing firm helping corporations strategically include people with disabilities. The firm encourages organizations to connect and integrate the community of people with disabilities and other stakeholders. Ms. Rue will explain how her daughter, Sara, living with Down Syndrome, inspired her to start the firm.

Joyce welcomes Johna Gravitt and Jim Homme to the show. Johna has served as an Accessibility Consultant at Bender Consulting Services, Inc. for over 3 years. Jim has served as a Digital Accessibility Consultant in various capacities with Bender Consulting for over 20 years. Both guests will discuss their roles as valued team members delivering in Bender's HighTest Accessible Technology Solutions line of business. The HighTest team ensures web applications, proprietary software, business processes, and electronic documentation are accessible to everyone. The team evaluates and ensures compliance with accessibility standards in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended, for electronic and information technology and the World Wide Web Consortium Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (W3C WCAG 2.0).

Joyce welcomes Secretary Curt Topper from the Pennsylvania Department of General Services to the show. Appointed on January 20, 2015 by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolfe and confirmed by the state Senate on March 12, 2015, Secretary Topper's duties include, but are not limited to, spearheading the commonwealth's diversity, inclusion, and small business opportunity efforts within the commonwealth, including encouraging the hiring of people with disabilities.