Season 4, Episode 1 — 28 February 2020 About this episode Dale Verstegen talks with Karla Lynch of the King County Department of Community and Human Services and Cesilee Coulson and Chisa O’Quinn from WISE about diversity and inclusion in employment services and how to elicit input from people across cultural barriers. About the presenters Karla Lynch is the Employment and Community Inclusion Program Manager with the King County Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS), Developmental Disabilities and Early Childhood Supports (DDECS) Division serves as a systems partner to coordinate the delivery of employment and community inclusion services to approximately 2,400 adults in King County, through a network of thirty contracted service providers. Cesilee Coulson is the Executive Director of the Washington Initiative for Supported Employment; Wise. She brings 22 years of experience in competitive integrated employment training and technical assistance to her position. Cesilee uses her experience to assist with organizational transformation, employment systems change and community employment capacity building. Chisa O’Quinn is a Program Manager and Social Worker who has traveled with individuals through the worlds of Corrections, Counseling, Disability Services, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse. What sets her apart as a leader and advocate in the field is her ability to creatively seek solutions in difficult situations, as well as her focus on person centered planning strategies. Dale Verstegen is a Senior Research Associate at TranScen and one of the State Liaison for the YES! Center. Transcript Announcer: You’re listening to YES! To Employment, a podcast series that seeks to improve competitive, integrated employment outcomes for transition-aged youth and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Today the YES! Center’s Dale Verstegen talks with Cesilee Coulson, the Executive Director of the Washington Initiative for Supported Employment, or Wise; Chisa O’Quinn, a Program Manager with Wise; and Karla Lynch, the Employment and Community Inclusion Program Manager with the King County Department of Community and Human Services, Developmental Disabilities and Early Childhood Supports Division. They discuss diversity and inclusion and have a surprisingly forthright discussion about how to elicit input from people across cultural barriers. Complete transcript forthcoming Announcer: You’ve been listening to YES! To Employment, a podcast that seeks to improve competitive, integrated employment outcomes for transition-aged youth and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Today Dale Verstegen spoke with Cesilee Coulson and Chisa O’Quinn from Wise and Karla Lynch from the Developmental Disabilities and Early Childhood Supports Division with King County Department of Community and Human Services. You can learn more about WISE at www.gowise.org and more about the Developmental Disabilities and Early Childhood Supports Division at the kingcounty.gov website. For more about YES! To Employment, including show notes, links to the resources discussed, a complete transcript and a schedule of episodes, visit www.yestoemployment.org/podcast. You can subscribe through iTunes or your favorite Android podcast app to have the series delivered automatically to your device so you never miss an episode. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please give us a rating on iTunes. Ratings will help […]