Carol Burbank is an educator, independent scholar, coach and consultant focusing on the connections between leadership, cultural roles, education, and sustainable social change. She has a Ph.D. in Communications from Northwestern University. A trainer and researcher on the National Alliance Pipeline for Equity (NAPE) team in the Delaware PIPEline initiative, she is the first author of the Root Cause Literature Review supporting that program. Her consulting company, Storyweaving, focuses on supporting practical innovation through creative problem solving, curriculum design, and writing/research for educational & non-profit organizations, with supplemental coaching support for individuals. She teaches blended learning at Pacifica Graduate Institute, and in the University of New England’s Ph.D. in Educational Leadership.

Larissa Crossen is the Program Specialist with the Office of Disability Service Innovations (OSDI), Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Alison DeYoung is the Project Director for the Youth Employment Solutions (YES!) Center, the national training and technical assistance center for the Partnerships in Employment (PIE) state projects. She began working in the field of education in 2008 while completing her undergraduate and Master’s degree at the University of Arizona. Upon graduating in 2010, she began working as a job developer at a high school in Tucson, Arizona. Alison also worked as the Lead Instructor of Campus Life with Project FOCUS at the University of Arizona, a model demonstration post-secondary education program. More recently, she worked as the Academic Success Coordinator at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in the Integrative Community Studies program, a 4-year comprehensive transition certificate program. Through her experience in numerous high school, transition, and higher education settings, Alison has gained a strong passion for fully inclusive academic and employment options for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Melissa Diehl works for the George Washington University Center for Rehabilitation Counseling Research and Education and is currently the Project Director of the Workforce Innovation Technical Assistance Center (WINTAC) Pre-Employment Transition Services topic area and provides consultation, training, and technical assistance to State VR agencies and their Stakeholders as a content expert in the implementation of pre-employment transition services under WIOA. She has over 25 years of experience and expertise working in the State VR Program, the Rehabilitation Services Administration, and the Technical Assistance and Continuing Education Center.

Jennifer Johnson is the Deputy Commissioner of the Administration on Disabilities (AOD), Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Director of the Office of Disability Service Innovations in AOD. In this role, Jennifer works with states, communities, and partners in the disability networks to increase the independence, productivity, and community integration of individuals with disabilities. From 2015 – 2019, Jennifer was the Deputy Director of the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in AOD, ACL. Jennifer has held positions in the Arlington County Public School system, at the Council for Exceptional Children and at The George Washington University where she was also an Adjunct Lecturer teaching master’s level coursework in research methodology, special education, and public policy. Jennifer earned her doctorate in special education from the George Washington University.

Andrew J. Karhan, M.P.A., M.A. is the Program Director of Workforce Development at the Yang Tan Institute on Employment and Disability in the ILR School at Cornell University. Andrew has nearly 25 years of experience in the development of and advocacy for competitive employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Andrew currently directs Cornell’s work on the ODEP Youth Impact Center, provides technical assistance under the VR-Youth TAC, and co-leads the NYS Neurodiversity in Business initiative. Andrew authored the Developing a 21st-Century Approach to Enhancing Supported Employment Outcomes policy to practice brief, which served as a catalyst to New York implementing a performance-based contracting methodology within their supported employment program. He also developed a cross-systems approach, involving six state agencies, to enhance employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities, through a braided funding and service delivery approach called the New York Employment Services System (NYESS), and provided leadership to the New York State PROMISE initiative funded through the U.S. Department of Education. Finally, he fostered the vision and leadership for a statewide administrative employment network under the Social Security Administration’s Ticket to Work program; and was the principle author of the New York State Employment First Commission’s Report and Recommendations.

Mimi Lufkin has over 40 years of experience as an educator advocating for access, equity and diversity in education and workforce development. She has been a high school teacher, teacher educator, founder and executive director of a microenterprise development program for low income rural women, director of a statewide gender equity professional development program and a community college director of development. From 1994 to 2018, Mimi served as the Chief Executive Officer of the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE), a consortium of state and local education and workforce development organizations. NAPE builds the capacity of educators to transform institutions and classrooms to increase the participation, achievement and completion of underrepresented students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and career and technical education. Mimi continues to support NAPE in her retirement as CEO Emerita.

Laura Owens, Ph.D., CESP has over 30 years of experience as a national leader in the disability employment field. She is currently the President of TransCen, Inc. (TCI) and a Professor at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee (UWM) in the department of Teaching and Learning. TCI is an organization based in Rockville, Maryland that provides direct placement services to individuals with disabilities; develops and evaluates new service models through research of evidenced-based practices leading to improved employment outcomes; and provides training and technical assistance to organizations and school districts focusing on the improvement of educational and employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities. Laura founded Creative Employment Opportunities, Inc. (CEO) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, an employment agency for individuals with disabilities in 1991 (now part of TransCen) and ArtWorks for Milwaukee, a non-profit jobs-training program in the arts for youth with and without disabilities in 2001. At UWM, she teaches courses focusing on high school inclusion and transition from school to work, and coordinates the graduate Transition Certificate program. Laura is an internationally known speaker and has published widely on transition and employment topics. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Sean Roy is a Training Associate at TranScen, currently working on the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on VR Practices and Youth as the Knowledge Translation Manager and also on the Youth Employment Solutions (YES) Center as a Quality Control Manager. Prior to joining TransCen, Sean worked at the PACER Center helping to direct transition projects and spearheading the creation of PACER’s National Parent Center on Transition and Employment. Sean is an experienced trainer and presenter and brings strong and varied experience in the areas of youth employment, access to post-secondary education, and family engagement. Sean is also knowledgeable in juvenile corrections and inclusive recreation and has personal experience as the brother of an individual on the autism spectrum.

Michael Stoehr, M.S. is a Knowledge Development and Technical Assistance Specialist with the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition (NTACT). Michael assists states in collaborative inter-agency engagement to ensure the successful implementation of secondary transition legislation and effective practices. Prior to working at NTACT, Michael worked for the Pennsylvania Department of Education as the statewide lead educational consultant for Secondary Transition. He has worked in the special education field for the past 35 years and has extensive experience in the areas of secondary transition, assessment, job analysis, and job coaching, transition communities of practice, effective transition planning, inter-agency collaboration, transition practices for students with complex support needs, and youth engagement and self-advocacy.

Lisa Stoner-Torbert is a former computer geek who followed her heart to put her gifts and talents to work in public education. She is thankful for the opportunities she has had to serve Delaware’s children for the past 29 years. Lisa holds a B.S. in Business Administration and Computer Information Systems from West Liberty University and a M.S. in Economics and Entrepreneurship Education from the University of Delaware, as well as several professional certificates. She currently serves as the Policy Advisor for Career and Technical Education (CTE) and STEM Initiatives at the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) where she is responsible for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of statewide CTE programs of study at the secondary and post-secondary levels. Lisa is also responsible for developing policy and procedures for state and providing technical assistance to district administrators and educators. In addition, she leads cross agency work-based learning and equity initiatives for the state. Lisa previously served as the DDOE education associate for business, finance, and marketing, and also worked as a high school teacher and computer programmer prior to joining the DDOE.

George Tilson, Ed.D. is the Founder of Tilson & Diaz Solutions, Inc., based in Takoma Park, Maryland. Since 1975, he has been a classroom teacher, employment specialist, program evaluator, and project manager. In 1989, he was on the team that developed Marriott’s Bridges from school to work project, subsequently becoming its national director. The project initially served 20 youth with disabilities. Since that time, this number has grown to 25,000 young adults who have been able to secure competitive employment in every industry sector. Currently, Dr. Tilson provides technical assistance to transition stakeholders nationally and internationally. He is co-author of the popular book Working Relationships and contributing author to The Way to Work. He has been on the faculties of George Washington University and University of Kansas. In 2015, he was a presenter at the annual conference of the European Union Supported Employment Initiative in Oslo, Norway.

Dale Verstegen is a Senior Research Associate at TranScen and one of the State Liaison for the YES! Center. Dale has over 30 years of experience providing training, consultation, and project management for state vocational rehabilitation agencies throughout the country. He provides consultation and training in the areas of program development, performance management, marketing, job development, supported and customized employment, and case management, and has developed curriculums and provided trainings on supported and customized employment for a wide range of state agencies and organizations.

Stephen A. Wooderson was selected as the CEO of Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR) on November 1, 2010. Prior to joining CSAVR, Steve was the administrator of Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services. He oversaw the state VR and independent living programs, as well as the disability determination services bureau.

His experience in VR spans over 35 years of service in the vocational rehabilitation program. Steve started as a VR counselor in south central Missouri in January of 1981 and he enjoyed a 20 year career with the Missouri VR agency. In March of 2000, Steve moved to Iowa to become the rehabilitation services chief, and then was appointed agency administrator in December of 2002. He has served at all professional levels in the public vocational rehabilitation program; which gives him a unique perspective of the local, state and national implications of VR service delivery. During Steve’s tenure in Iowa, he also was adjunct faculty in the Drake University rehabilitation counseling program.

Since his tenure with CSAVR, he has also led the way to an international partnership with allied vocational rehabilitation service providers in Western Europe and been a featured trainer and speaker with the European Platform for Rehabilitation headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Steve also has represented CSAVR and the US public VR program by presenting and meeting with members of the Vietnamese Ministry of Labor, social services providers and higher education officials in Hanoi, Vietnam.

He is a certified Dale Carnegie trainer and a retired Army Reserves Lieutenant Colonel.