A Section | B Section | C Section | D Section | E Section | F Section | G Section | H Section | I Section | J Section | K Section | L Section | M Section | N Section | O Section | P Section | Q Section | R Section | S Section | T Section | U Section | V Section | W Section | Z Section
A
Chike Aguh
Chief Innovation Officer (CInO)
Department of Labor (DOL)
On January 20, 2021, Chike Aguh (Chee-kay Ah-Goo) was sworn in as Chief Innovation Officer (CInO) at the United States Department of Labor, appointed by President Joe Biden. Reporting to the Deputy Secretary and also serving as the Senior Advisor for Delivery, he leads efforts to use innovative technologies, partnerships and practices to accelerate the Department’s mission of delivering a future of work that includes and dignifies every American.
Previously, Chike was the inaugural Head of Economic Mobility Pathways at the Education Design Lab where he launched the Community College Growth Engine Fund, an innovative multimillion dollar effort turning community colleges into bridges to careers in high growth fields for thousands. He has been a Technology and Human Rights Fellow at the Harvard Carr Center for Human Rights Policy where he focused on the future of work and racial equity, Venture Partner at Maryland-based New Markets Venture Partners where he focused on workforce technologies, member of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Future of Work Taskforce, Lecturer at Columbia University, and guest speaker at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy.
Additionally, Chike has worked as an education policy official in America’s largest school system, 2nd grade teacher and Teach For America corps member, Fulbright Scholar in Thailand researching education and skills, director of corporate strategy and performance technologies at Education Advisory Board (EAB), CEO of a national social enterprise which helped connect 500,000 low-income Americans to affordable internet and digital skills, and Senior Principal and Future of Work Lead at the McChrystal Group, a business advisory firm founded by Gen. (ret.) Stanley McChrystal.
Chike holds degrees from Tufts University (B.A.), Harvard Graduate School of Education (Ed.M), Harvard Kennedy School of Government (MPA), and University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School (MBA). He is a Presidential Leadership Scholar; past Council on Foreign Relations term member; 40 under 40 honoree from Wharton and the Washington Business Journal; and former board member of the Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Board.
Additionally, he has served as an advisory board member for Teach For America-DC Region, board member for Baltimore’s Code in the Schools; past Advisory Board Chair of the Prince George’s County Social Innovation Fund; and former appointee of the Prince George’s County Executive to the County’s Commission on Fathers, Men and Boys. Chike, his wife and their son proudly call Prince George’s County, MD home.
Panelist: Department of Labor Panel Discussion
Brooke Aiken
Section 508 Program Manager
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
Brooke Aiken joined the FDIC in August 2019 as the FDIC’s first full-time Section 508 Program Manager.
Brooke began her federal government career with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), where she served for 13 years as a federal employee and two years as a contractor. During her time at CBP, she developed an interest in Section 508 Compliance and was able to research and learn about the law and its mandate. Through her persistence, Brooke educated management about the importance of IT accessibility and spearheaded an agency-wide initiative to implement Section 508 compliance.
Brooke assisted in the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Accessible Systems and Technology, which employs 22 staff members dedicated to Section 508 compliance.
During her time with CBP, Brooke served a six-month detail with the Executive Office of the President, where she established a framework for a Chief Accessibility Officer to ensure Section 508 compliance is mandatory within the Executive Office of the President.
Brooke was also selected to detail at the General Services Administration (GSA), Government-wide IT Accessibility Program. She provided guidance and assistance with Section 508 procurement review language and accessibility platforms during her time at GSA.
Currently, Brooke serves as the co-education chair for the federal-wide Accessibility Community of Practice. She is involved in the FDIC’s CAN DO Network and was recently selected as a member of the FDIC Chairman’s Diversity Advisory Council.
Brooke holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human Environmental Services from the University of Alabama.
Panelist: Accessibility: A Look At The Foundation (Past, Present and Future)
Syed Azeem
Forms.gov Product Manager, Technology Transformation Services (TTS)
General Services Administration
Syed Azeem is an Information Technology professional with over 15 years of experience within the private sector and the federal government performing program/project management involving complex IT systems and application software capabilities to satisfy stakeholder needs. Mr. Azeen has demonstrated mastery of delivering effective IT solutions by applying systems life cycle process, leveraging IT governance and portfolio management best practices. He has hands-on experience in applying Agile/Scrum, Enterprise Architecture (EA), Information Assurance (IA) and Systems Engineering (SE) concepts, principles and methods with complex IT programs and projects.
Panelist: Creating a Machine-Readable ACR
B
Kimberly Borowicz
Management Analyst
Department of Labor (DOL)
Kim works with the 508 Program Office at the Department of Labor (DOL) where she focuses on policy and contracts. She is a lawyer who has committed her career to disability rights law and has also worked in other areas of the Rehabilitation Act during her career, such as housing rights and reasonable accommodations in federal employment. In her free time she enjoys playing the violin and being funny with her improvisation troop.
Moderator: Accessibility First: Creating a Native Mobile App for Veterans
Moderator: Web Accessibility at the CFPB
Lorena Bradford
Manager of Accessible Programs
National Gallery of Art (NGA)
Lorena Bradford develops and runs accessible programs in the Education Division of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. She has developed and oversees programs for and projects geared toward people with hearing and vision loss, people with memory loss and their care partners, families shaped by sensory processing disorders, healthcare students and professionals, and others. She has consulted and offered training on best practices for other museums and institutions in Washington, DC, across the nation, and abroad.
Panelist: Breaking through Silos: Leverage Staff Creativity to Serve the Agency Mission
Krystal Brumfield
Associate Administrator, Office of Government-wide Policy
General Services Administration (GSA)
Krystal J. Brumfield is an attorney and accomplished executive with more than 10 years’ experience of proven leadership in the public and private sectors. Krystal currently serves as the Associate Administrator for Government-wide Policy at GSA where she manages the direction of acquisition policy for GSA to ensure the promotion of effective business practices and the timely delivery of best value products for an agency that leverages billions of dollars annually in the marketplace. Among other roles, Krystal is designated as GSA’s Chief Acquisition Officer (CAO) and represents GSA on the CAO Council.
She recently served as Chief of Staff for Carlyle Airport Group (CAG) Holdings, LLC, the Carlyle Group’s dedicated US-based investment platform for airport infrastructure investment opportunities globally. As Chief of Staff, Krystal oversaw collaboration among CAG’s Washington, DC and New York teams to ensure effective and streamlined performance to advance the $7.4 billion JFK International Airport New Terminal One Redevelopment.
Prior to joining CAG, Krystal was the President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Airport Minority Advisory Council (AMAC), a national trade association that represents thousands of airports, corporations, and small businesses in the aviation and aerospace industries. She was recognized for driving growth and innovation at AMAC and was named in the top 25 of “Women in Power Impacting Diversity” by DiversityPlus Magazine in 2018 as well as awarded “Outstanding Woman in Law” by Hofstra University School of Law in 2019.
Her additional professional experiences include Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of the DC Chamber of Commerce, Tax & Procurement Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Visiting Instructor for the International Law Institute African Centre for Legal Excellence, and Sales & Use Tax Attorney for the Louisiana Department of Revenue.
Krystal currently serves on the Board of Governors of the Aero Club of Washington as the Policy and Programs Committee Co-Chair and recently served on the Board of Directors for the DC Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) as Commissioner and Vice Chair, appointed by Mayor Muriel Bowser. She was also appointed by Mayor Bowser to serve on the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee of the ReOpen DC Advisory Group amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Krystal is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Speaker: on Day 3
Arthur Brunson
Program Analyst
General Services Administration (GSA)
Mr. Brunson is a Program Analyst in the Office of Information, Integrity and Access. He currently serves as a member of the Government-wide IT Accessibility team, managing the <a href"https://www.section508.gov/art/" class="session-link">Accessibility Requirements Tool</a>, for use by the acquisition, IT, and Section 508 coordinator communities. The program supports GSA’s charge in conjunction with the Access Board to provide Section 508 technical assistance, tools, and workforce development support to federal agencies. One of his personal favorite highlights during his career with GSA is volunteering for FEMA Surge Support, 2017/2018 assisting with the recovery efforts in Puerto Rico after hurricane Maria.
He has been an associate at GSA for 30 years. His career with GSA includes 15 years with the Federal Procurement Data Center, as a Data Specialist and worked on many rewarding special projects. As well as 12 years with the Office of Government-wide Policy, as a Project Manager supporting OMB/PMA initiatives. Prior to joining GSA he worked at the Department of Veteran Affairs, as a specialist in the Loan Guarantee Division and served honorably in the U.S. Navy.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Bowie State University in Business Administration. He lives in Camp Springs, Maryland. He has 2 beautiful daughters and 5 adorable grandchildren. In his free time he enjoys yard work and traveling, supporting his brother's automotive shop, towing cars, church and family.
Moderator: What is the Current State of Audio Description in the US Federal Government?
Moderator: Accessibility: A Look At The Foundation (Past, Present and Future)
C
Cheryl Campbell
Assistant Secretary for Administration (ASA)
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Cheryl Campbell is appointed as the permanent HHS Assistant Secretary for Administration. Ms. Campbell was previously serving in an acting role since March,2021 where she has already laid the groundwork for 21 century HHS operations. The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration (ASA) is responsible for the delivery of high quality, cost effective, and timely mission support services for HHS and through the critical transition period Ms. Campbell has led the agencies administration through many of the nation and the world’s most challenging issues. ASA’s portfolio of responsibilities is broad: it includes the provisioning and management of human resources, technology, facilities, acquisitions, employee safety, security, labor relations, equal employment opportunity, diversity and inclusion. Ms. Campbell is the first person to hold the position that has leadership experience at each of the HHS Op/Div and Staff/Div’s and she will be the first female Assistant Secretary for Administration and first person of color to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Administration.
Ms. Campbell has an extensive background as a chief corporate executive with over 30 years of profit-driven results, annual budget planning, quarterly budget and forecast performance, operations, human capital acquisition and retention, P&L management, and strategic planning. She has supported HHS OpDiv’s throughout her career and is a known and trusted entity throughout HHS. Ms. Campbell is the founder and past CEO of the EagleForce Warrior Foundation, which supports wounded, ill and injured military service members and their extended families as they recover in the Department of Defense’s critical care facilities.
Ms. Campbell is a nationally recognized executive in Health IT; she has been named a “Healthcare IT Game Changer” by ExecutiveBiz, and FEDSCOOP recognized her as one of DC’s Top 50 most influential Women in Technology. Poets & Quants named Ms. Campbell one of the Top 50 Global Executive MBAs in the world She has a strong record of growing, restructuring, and optimizing organizational responsibilities in health and human services through strategic innovation, IT Portfolio Management, human capital identification, acquisition and growth and operational excellence in planning and execution.
Ms. Campbell earned a Dual Global Executive MBA from Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business and ESADE Business & Law School. She also holds a BS in Information Systems Management from the University of Maryland and is the wife of Stanley Campbell and mother of three sons, Christopher, Alan and Stanley III.
Panelist: Welcome and Opening Remarks
Annette Carr
Disability Program Manager (DPM)
Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
Annette Carr is a name that is not new to those in the Section 508 and assistive technology arenas. She is currently the Disability Program Manager (DPM) at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Prior to her arrival at TSA in July 2020, she held the position of Acting DPM for the Department of Transportation (DOT), and before that she was a Reasonable Accommodations Analyst in DOT’s Disability Resource Center (DRC).
Annette’s decades of experience in assistive technology and the rights of people with disabilities, within both the public and private sectors, supports her work at TSA with leading the agency’s Disability Employment program. She works collaboratively with TSA’s Reasonable Accommodation, Selective Placement, Section 508 and Facility Operations Offices to ensure that TSA is a diverse, inclusive and accessible workplace.
Panelist: Dancing to Accessibility: How to Fill Your Dance Card - No Special Shoes Required
Jessica Center
Branch Director, Access and Equity, Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Panelist: Neurodiversity at Work: Creating Inclusive Work Futures
Louis Charlier
Deputy Chief Information Officer, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management
Department of Labor (DOL)
Louis Charlier has served in OCIO since 2006 and currently serves as the Deputy Chief Information Officer for Administration and Strategy. He spent the last seven years as the Director of Infrastructure Services (now IT Operations and Services). In that role, he was the principal advisor to OCIO leadership, Departmental executives, and key agency managers for large-scale IT initiatives. He also assisted in the planning, directing, and administering of a comprehensive IT program for the Department that provided tactical day-to-day leadership, organization stability, and technical expertise.
Speaker: Welcome on Day 3
Andy Chosak
Senior Web Developer
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
Andy Chosak is a web developer in the Office of Technology and Innovation at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A member of the CFPB’s in-house Design and Development team since 2016, Mr. Chosak builds and maintains websites and other open-source software to support, educate, and empower the American consumer. He brings 20 years of technology experience to the challenge of ensuring that CFPB digital products and services are fully accessible to all.
Panelist: Web Accessibility at the CFPB
Josh Christianson, M.S.
Senior Consultant, Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP)
Department of Labor (DOL)
Project Director
Partnership on Inclusive Apprenticeship
Josh Christianson is Project Director for the Partnership on Inclusive Apprenticeship (PIA) where he leads efforts to create a more diverse and inclusive workforce through apprenticeship. Josh has extensive experience in supporting the diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) efforts of non-profit organizations, private companies, and government agencies.
He is the former director of the Partnership on Employment & Accessible Technology (PEAT), where he built cross-sector partnerships to shape the policies and practices contributing to the development of accessible emerging technologies in the workplace.
Before coming to PEAT Josh was a Senior Consultant at Deloitte where he provided talent strategies, change management, and leadership development support to federal agencies.
Prior to Deloitte he spent several years with The Posse Foundation as the Career Program Manager where he cultivated relationships with companies and organizations to provide career development opportunities for Posse Scholars and Alumni.
Panelist: Inclusive Apprenticeship and Career Pathways: the Partnership on Inclusive Apprenticeship
Tim Creagan
Senior Accessibility Specialist/Information Technology
U.S. Access Board
Mr. Creagan is a senior accessibility specialist with the U.S. Access Board.
He provides technical assistance and training on the Revised Section 508 Standards and the Revised Section 255 Guidelines, and he frequently presents on accessible electronic and information technology and telecommunications. He is co-chair of the Education subcommittee of the Accessibility Community of Practice of the Chief Information Officers’ Council. He currently serves on the Disability Advisory Committee of the Federal Communications Commission.
Mr. Creagan joined the U.S. Access Board in 2006 to lead the team revising the Board’s existing standards and guidelines for electronic and communication technologies. He served as the Designated Federal Official (DFO) for the Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee (TEITAC). He was a member of the team that developed the revised accessibility standards for information and communication technology (ICT) under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and the revised accessibility guidelines under Section 255 of the Communications Act, published in 2017.
He was formerly the Director of Consumer Training for the Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center (ITTATC) and before that he was the Director of Public Policy for Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) (formerly SHHH). Before joining HLAA, Mr. Creagan was a litigator in the courts of D.C. and Maryland.
Mr. Creagan received his J.D. from the Catholic University of America, and his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame.
Panelist: Accessibility: A Look At The Foundation (Past, Present and Future)
D
The Honorable Senator Tammy Duckworth
United States Senator for Illinois
United States of America
U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth is an Iraq War Veteran, Purple Heart recipient and former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs who was among the first handful of Army women to fly combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Duckworth served in the Reserve Forces for 23 years before retiring at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 2014. She was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016 after representing Illinois’s Eighth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives for two terms. Read Senator Duckworth's full biography.
Speaker: Welcome on Day 2
Robert 'Bobby' Duffy
Chief Information Officer and Director of the Office of Information Resources Management (IRM)
Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB)
Robert “Bobby” Duffy joined MSPB as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Director of Office of Information Resources Management (IRM) in 2020. Bobby is well-known within the Federal IT community, and he comes to us from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) where he was a Special Advisor and former CIO. He's experienced in the areas of IT shared-services, business process reengineering, cloud computing, identity management, unified communications, enterprise mobility, and project management. Bobby's built bridges between Government and industry in an effort to ensure access to forward-leaning IT and cybersecurity solutions, and he also builds collaborative relationships across the organizations in which he's served. Bobby's experience includes Information Security Manager for the National Nuclear Security Administration at the Department of Energy (DOE); Director of Telecommunications and Client Services at the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the U.S. Postal Service; and Security Specialist in the Office of Special Projects at Navy.
Bobby received his BA from Mansfield University, PA and his MA in Information Security from Eastern Michigan University.
Speaker: Welcome and Opening Remarks
Panelist: Small Wonder – Building a 508 Program at a Small Agency
E
Katherine Eng
Senior ICT Accessibility Specialist
U.S. Access Board
Kathy Eng is a Senior ICT Accessibility Specialist with the U.S. Access Board and has worked in the federal accessibility community for over 20 years. Her accessibility career began in assistive technology accommodations with just a sprinkle of Section 508 and has evolved to almost entirely focus on Section 508 in the last 10 years. Kathy collaborates on interagency Section 508 guidance and is the co-chair of the Best Practices subcommittee of the Federal CIO Accessibility Community of Practice. She led the development of the first versions of the ICT Testing Baseline and Trusted Tester and continues to work on these and other efforts to improve accessibility testing.
F
Mayora Faied
Supervisory Digital Services Specialist
Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR)
Mayora Faied has a Master's degree in Minerals and Energy Economics. She has worked for the Office of Natural Resources Revenue for over 10 years. She currently manages a team responsible for the agency's public websites and is committed to providing open and transparent federal data and information to the public.
Panelist: From 5,000 to 0: Prioritizing Documents for Remediation
Angie Fuoco
Community Involvement Coordinator
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Though Angie Fuoco works at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, she will present ideas gleaned from several professional fields that can help us consider how to deliver accessibility to our staff with disabilities in a safe, accessible, functional and engaging manner. She also proposes principles on which to operate to consider the eight dimensions of wellness for everyone and a Model EEO Program for staff with disabilities.
G
Yvette Gibson
Training & Outreach Director
General Services Administration (GSA)
In January of 2018, Yvette began serving as the Director, Government-wide Accessibility Training & Outreach. In this role, she manages a variety of program responsibilities, which include but aren’t limited to: identifying program needs by comparing training material and developing training courses, reviewing training/program implementation plans to assess risk and feasibility, and providing strategic planning decisions on training courses and outreach to meet Section 508 needs. Prior to this she served as the Deputy Program Manager and Operations Manager for the .Gov Internet Domain where she controlled policy promulgation, provided policy administration and oversaw the federal internet backbone for over 10 years.
Panelist: Accessibility: A Look At The Foundation (Past, Present and Future)
Speaker: Wrap-up and Thank You on Day 3
Mike Gifford
Senior Strategist
CivicActions
Mike Gifford is a Senior Strategist at CivicActions. His primary focus is on building digital accessibility confidence and capabilities in the public sector.
Previously, he was the Founder and President of OpenConcept Consulting Inc., a web development agency specializing in building open source solutions for the open web, working primarily with the Drupal CMS. In this role he was an active part of the Government of Canada's Open Source Advisory Board.
Pushed by a desire to build a better and more inclusive world, Mike has been involved with accessibility since the beginning of the 90s. He has spearheaded accessibility improvements in Drupal since 2008, and officially became Drupal’s Core Accessibility Maintainer in 2012.
As a techie at heart, Mike likes to get into the code when he gets the chance. There is always more to learn, and he is always exploring better practices to resolving problems. Usually better incentives and policies provide an improved experience for people with disabilities than incorporating artificial intelligence. Not always though.
Mike's wide range of experience provides the ability to understand the technological big picture.
Panelist: Creating a Machine-Readable ACR
Lindsay Goldstein
Program Analyst
Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR)
Lindsay Goldstein is a Program Analyst with the Open Data, Design & Display team in the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) in the Department of the Interior (DOI). An economist by training, she made her way over to civic tech a few years ago and there's no turning back. She loves learning and sharing new methods of making government accessible for everyone.
Panelist: From 5,000 to 0: Prioritizing Documents for Remediation
John Gordy
Digital Projects
National Gallery of Art (NGA)
John Gordy develops digital projects to serve the visitors at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. He designs websites and mobile applications that deliver interpretive material to customers. These tools help multiple audiences connect to the artwork in the museum.
Moderator: Breaking through Silos: Leverage Staff Creativity to Serve the Agency Mission
Bess Green
Product Manager
Digital Foundry
As a product manager and digital strategist, Bess has experience running software projects at every stage of the product development lifecycle, from vision and concept development to launch and commercialization. She has led engagements with global and Fortune 500 companies across various industries - including healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and government - to deliver feasible, actionable solutions using an adapted Agile methodology. She is passionate about working with organizations to deliver user-centric solutions that have real-world impact, and she is proud to have taken multiple digital products to market.
Panelist: Accessibility First: Creating a Native Mobile App for Veterans
H
Antonio Haileselassie
Information Technology Accessibility Specialist
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Mr. Antonio Haileselassie is an Information Technology Accessibility Specialist supporting NASA’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Accessibility/Section 508 Program. He applies his expert knowledge of ICT accessibility by providing support and technical guidance throughout the NASA community, across the government, and to industry by serving on the CIO Council Accessibility Community of Practice Industry Outreach Committee. He began his accessibility career as a software developer focused on accessible software design, development, and remediation for the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Guard. He then joined NASA Headquarters as a support contractor where he advanced the Agency’s Section 508 Compliance Program by developing Section 508 testing capabilities, managing NASA’s Section 508 Technical Help Desk, and providing training and guidance across NASA.
Moderator: Ensuring ICT Accessibility Throughout the Acquisition Lifecycle
Stephen Harding
Director of Digital Strategies, Office of Government-wide Policy
General Services Administration (GSA)
Prior to his current position, Mr. Harding was Program Executive for the Electronic Capital Planning and Investment Control (eCPIC), GSA, Office of Government-wide Policy, Washington D.C.
Mr. Harding has served in a variety of cyber assignments in GSA and in the DoD joint support and operational environments around the world. He has experience managing organizations composed of active duty military, civilian, and contractor personnel. Mr. Harding has managed the operations of multi-million dollar nation-wide military intelligence, command and control networks and support systems. He has also led personnel and managed computer network systems in two combat environments. Mr. Harding retired as a Major after 25 years of military service.
Mr. Harding is from Chicago Illinois. He is married to the former Debbie Jean Willard from Simi Valley, California.
Speaker: Wrap-Up and Thank You on Day 3
Antonia Harward
Consultant to the GSA Office of Goverment-wide Policy
eGlobalTech Inc.
Antonia Harward is a consultant in GSA's Office of Government-wide Policy's Digital Strategy Division. She joined two years ago, right in time for IAAF 2019, and has helped plan IAAF 2020 and IAAF 2021. When not working on the IAAF, Antonia helps support the Section 508 team in other capacities.
Moderator: Virtual Vendor Showcase
Judith E. Heumann
International Disability Rights Activist
Judith Heumann, LLC
Former Special Advisor for International Disability Rights, Department of State (2010-2017)
Judith (Judy) Heumann is a lifelong advocate for the rights of disabled people. She contracted polio in 1949 in Brooklyn, New York and began to use a wheelchair for her mobility. She was denied the right to attend school because she was considered a "fire hazard" at the age of five. Her parents played a strong role in fighting for her rights as a child, but Judy soon determined that she, working in collaboration with other disabled people, had to play an advocacy role due to continuous discrimination.
She is now an internationally recognized leader in the disability rights community. Her memoir, authored with Kristen Joiner “Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist,” and published by Beacon Press was audio recorded by Ali Stroker, who is the first wheelchair actor to perform on Broadway. Judy was featured on the Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Judy is featured in Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution, which is a 2020 American award winning documentary film, directed by James LeBrecht and Nicole Newnham, produced by the Obama Higher Ground Production, and is available on Netflix. She also produces a podcast called The Heumann Perspective, which features a variety of members from the disability community.
She has been featured in numerous documentaries, including Lives Worth Living on the history of the disability rights movement and the Power of 504 and delivered a TED talk in the fall of 2016, “Our Fight for Disability Rights- and Why We’re Not Done Yet”. Her story was also told on Comedy Central’s Drunk History in early 2018, in which she was portrayed by Ali Stroker. As Senior Fellow at the Ford Foundation (2017-2019), she wrote “Road Map for Inclusion: Changing the Face of Disability in Media”. She also currently serves on a number of non-profit boards, including the American Association of People with Disabilities, the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, Humanity and Inclusion, as well as the Human Rights Watch board.
Judy was a founding member of the Berkeley Center for Independent Living, which was the first grassroots center in the United States and helped to launch the Independent Living Movement both nationally and globally.
In 1983, Judy co-founded the World Institute on Disability (WID) with Ed Roberts and Joan Leon, as one of the first global disability rights organizations founded and continually led by people with disabilities that works to fully integrate people with disabilities into the communities around them via research, policy, and consulting efforts.
From 1993 to 2001, Judy served in the Clinton Administration as the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the Department of Education.
Judy then served as the World Bank's first Adviser on Disability and Development from 2002 to 2006. In this position, she led the World Bank's disability work to expand its knowledge and capability to work with governments and civil society on including disability in the global conversation.
During his presidency, President Obama appointed Judy as the first Special Advisor for International Disability Rights at the U.S. Department of State, where she served from 2010-2017. Mayor Fenty of Washington, D.C. appointed her as the first Director for the Department on Disability Services, where she was responsible for the Developmental Disability Administration and the Rehabilitation Services Administration.
She has been instrumental in the development and implementation of legislation, such as Section 504, the Individuals with Education Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which have been advancing the inclusion of disabled people in the US and around the world and fighting to end discrimination against all those with disabilities.
Judy graduated from Long Island University in Brooklyn, NY in 1969 and received her Master’s in Public Health from the University of California at Berkeley in 1975. She has received numerous awards including being the first recipient of the Henry B. Betts Award in recognition of efforts to significantly improve the quality of life for people with disabilities and the Max Starkloff Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Council on Independent Living. She has been awarded numerous honorary doctorates.
Speaker: Keynote on Day 2
Michael Horton
Senior ICT Accessibility Specialist
General Services Administration (GSA)
Michael Horton is an accessibility and technology professional with over 25 years of experience in website and web-based application development. He is a compliance subject matter expert, DHS Certified Trusted Tester, and advocate who joined the General Services Administration, Office of Government-wide Policy’s IT Accessibility Program in August 2018 as an Accessible Design and Development Advisor supporting agencies in their efforts to ensure independence and the dignity of work for people with disabilities. Prior to joining GSA, Michael served as the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Section 508 Program Manager for eight years, and also enjoyed twelve years with America Online (AOL) as a software/web engineer, partner advocate, online community standards policy and compliance specialist, and creator of member education.
Moderator: Creating a Machine-Readable ACR
Yolanda Humphrey
Section 508 Program Manager
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Yolonda is the program manager for the IRS Section 508 program office, known as the Information Resources Accessibility Program (IRAP). She has been a ready advocate for accessibility for more than a decade and worked relentlessly towards establishing Section 508 as a core IT requirement within the IRS.
Panelist: Dancing to Accessibility: How to Fill Your Dance Card - No Special Shoes Required
I
Mohammad Islam
IT Program Manager
General Services Administration (GSA)
Mohammad has been working with the GSA since September 2011. He managed several projects in GSA IT. Before GSA, Mohammad worked about 2 years with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as a Technical Advisor, IT Specialist. There he was a POC/Liaison with the Department of Commerce (DOC). Before NOAA, Mohammad worked with the US Air Force for about 6 years as a Contractor, Technical Advisor/ Technical Lead. There he supported the Undersecretary of Defense, US Congress, AFMC, and OMB. Mohammad loves to travel and explore new places.
Moderator: Virtual Vendor Showcase
J
Antoinette Johnson
Section 508 Program Manager
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Antoinette “AJ” Johnson has been with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) since 1999 and has been CMS’ Section 508 Program Manager since 2018. As the Section 508 Program Manager, she has led the agency’s mission on accessibility and inclusiveness in government. She has also supported the agency’s IT Governance initiatives which are aligned with the CMS Administrator’s focus on operational efficiencies. AJ is a steadfast leader in Disability Inclusion as well. AJ is primarily responsible for CMS’ engagements with internal and external stakeholders with a focus on Section 508 Policies issuance, development of 508 accessible trainings and education programs, ensuring accessibility in procurements and acquisitions, and the execution of accessibility validation testing protocols; which all support access for all, including those with disabilities. She is solution-oriented and considers accessibility and universal design a cornerstone of the agency’s goals, workforce development, and plan management.
Moderator: Adopting and Aligning to the ICT Testing Baseline
Brandon Jubar
Branch Chief, Quality Management
Department of Labor (DOL)
Brandon Jubar has more than 25 years of experience in information technology (IT) contracts, acquisitions, strategic planning, change management, and process improvement. He is the Branch Chief of IT Quality Management at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) in the Office of the Chief Information Officer. In the fall of 2019, Brandon was also assigned the role of DOL’s Section 508 Program Manager, tasked with standing up the Department’s first true enterprise-level Section 508 Program Office. He was selected as one of the FCW (Federal Computer Week) FED 100 for 2021 because of his work on accessibility and Section 508 compliance at DOL.
K
Katy Kale
Deputy Administrator
General Services Administration (GSA)
In this capacity, she leads a staff of more than 11,200 GSA employees nationwide, overseeing more than 370 million square feet of property, approximately $75 billion in annual contracts, 4.9 million government credit and purchase cards, and 225,000 leased vehicles within GSA’s fleet.
Prior to serving as the Deputy Administrator and Acting Administrator of GSA, Katy was President and Chief Operating Officer of Elevate. There she led growth strategy, operational process, financial planning, and performance management, and ensured all were aligned with the broader purpose of serving the nonprofit sector.
A public servant at heart, Katy was a senior leader in the Obama Administration, serving as Assistant to the President for Management and Administration, Director of White House Operations, and Chief of Staff of the US General Services Administration. She also served 10 years in the United States Senate working on operational and legislative issues for several senators.
Katy is a graduate of George Mason University.
Panelist: Welcome on Day 1
Sonna Kim
Senior UX Designer
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
Sonna Kim is a senior user experience designer at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), where she has worked as part of the Design and Development team since 2015 to create accessible, user-friendly tools and resources to help educate and empower consumers. Prior to joining the CFPB, she worked as a designer in the private sector for a variety of industries, including financial services, children's publishing, media, consumer electronics, and more. She resides in New York City.
Panelist: Web Accessibility at the CFPB
Jacob King
Program Analyst
Health and Human Services (HHS)
Jacob King began his career in disability services as a sign language interpreter, having learned the language at a young age from d/Deaf friends and receiving a degree in interpretation from Gallaudet university.
After 5 years of freelance work, he entered the federal sector as an interpreter and reasonable accommodation program manager. Now after 10 years in the federal Sector, Mr. King has worked in a range of disability services and Diversity and Inclusion programs. Currently, Mr. King works in IT governance with a focus on data analytics and coordinates heavily with the Section 508 accessibility governance program.
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Susanna Laurin
Honorary Chair, Global Leadership Council and EU Representative
International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP)
Susanna Laurin is the Honorary Chair of the Global Leadership Council of the International Association of Accessibility Professionals, IAAP, the Representative to the European Union for the UN initiative G3ict and IAAP, the founder and leader of the first international chapter of IAAP, based in the Nordic countries. Susanna is part of the team of experts assigned by the European Commission to revise the Web Accessibility Directive and during many years, she is has been appointed technical expert in the ETSI Special Task Force 536, responsible for the development of the EN301549. Susanna is the Chief Research and Innovation Officer of Funka, a European based market leading accessibility consultancy. She has been working in the field of digitalisation, inclusion and e-government at senior management level for more than 20 years and she is a frequent international lecturer and debater.
Axel Leblois
President and Executive Director
Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs (G3ict)
Axel Leblois is the president of G3ict, the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs, a global advocacy organization founded in 2006 at the initiative of the United Nations Department of Social and Economic Affairs, the IT industry and organizations of persons with disabilities to promote the digital accessibility and assistive technologies dispositions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Prior to leading G3ict, Axel Leblois spent over 20 years at the helm of information technology companies in the United States including as CEO of Computerworld Communications, CEO of IDC - International Data Corporation, Vice-Chairman of IDG - International Data Group, President of Bull HN Worldwide Information Systems - formerly Honeywell Information Systems, and CEO of ExecuTrain while serving on the boards of several publicly traded technology companies.
In his capacity as President of G3ict, Axel oversees global advocacy and capacity building programs including through its division, the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP), through the M-Enabling Summit series in the U.S. and Europe, the e-Accessibility Policy Toolkit for Persons with Disabilities jointly with the ITU, SmartCities4All, GAATES, Access to Justice and the DARE Index – Digital Accessibility Rights Evaluation Index – covering 130 countries in cooperation with Disabled People’s International.
Charles Lindemuth
Communicaitons Specialist
US Forest Service
Charles Lindemuth is a skilled graphic designer and artist, and has spent most of his career at the Forest Service with the Chugach National Forest in Alaska.
Panelist: Creating Accessible Fillable PDF Forms in Adobe Indesign
Michael Looney
Disabilities Program Manager
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
Michael Looney currently works for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as the National People with Disabilities Program Manager. In this role, he is responsible for ensuring the agency creates an inclusive work environment for individuals with disabilities (IWD).
Michael’s career in the disability field began in 2007, when he accepted the position as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor with the Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation.
He has held many distinguished position though out his federal service. At Both Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) he worked as the Disability Program Manager within these organizations. He ensured in creating an inclusive work environment for IWDs, took charge in providing reasonable accommodations for employees and applicants with disabilities, encourage the increases hiring of IWD in the workforce, and provided guidance to the organizations on disability related matters.
Panelist: Dancing to Accessibility: How to Fill Your Dance Card - No Special Shoes Required
Natalia Lyckowski
Co-Chair, Neurodiversity, IBM Global Business Resource Group
IBM
Proudly neurodivergent (and parent of an autistic IT Professional) Nat enables businesses to see the value in embracing ND talent to attain highly skilled and dedicated professionals that may otherwise be overlooked. 1:20 individuals are ND and 1:50 are autistic. This talent pool brings 32% new skills, 66% higher job loyalty, and more, improving corporate citizenship and revenue. Nat has driven culture change, improving trust and allyship through Global Acceptance Training across >30 countries, speaking engagements and other advocacy initiatives. Nat is also experienced with intersectionality across PWD/PWDA, LGBT+, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and other identity groups. Nat is also a Business Analyst and Application Developer with IBM for over 25 years.
Panelist: Neurodiversity at Work: Creating Inclusive Work Futures
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Meli S. Manak
UX Designer, Mobile Accessibility
Ad Hoc
A product designer who focuses on mobile accessibility, Meli S. Manak currently works for Ad Hoc and supports mobile applications work at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Her work includes streamlining the design system, bringing design and accessibility expertise to her cross-functional team, and ensuring designs are visually accessible before development begins. It is a career built on her lived experience. Deafness is a central component of Meli’s identity and career, and she brings a deep level of empathy to her UX work. Her mission is to continue pushing for digital accessibility to ensure that future generations with disabilities can more freely move through the world.
Panelist: Accessibility First: Creating a Native Mobile App for Veterans
Brianna McGowan
IT Specialist
General Services Administration (GSA)
Brianna has just joined the Digital Strategies Division within GSA's Office of Government-wide Policy (OGP) as an IT Specialist developing machine learning and artificial intelligence for the Solicitation Review Tool (SRT) and assisting with the Section508.gov web migration. She is a developer, poet, data scientist, modern dancer, and an advocate for connecting people to resources. Some of her previous roles have been in the private sector as data scientist, a NASA contractor developing websites and APIs, and a Python developer for a DC startup developing bots. She graduated from UT Austin with a degree in Economics and a certificate in Computer Science. Outside of work, she is a Co-Director for both Women Who Code DC and Delicious Democracy, DC's Creative Advocacy Lab. She is passionate about intersecting worlds and developing community-owned AI. As a data scientist, her mission is to develop AI and automation tools that are accessible, secure, and grounded in equity.
Shannon McHarg
User Experience Designer
Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR)
Shannon McHarg is a UX designer working in the Department of the Interior’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue. She has more than 19 years’ experience working for companies like H&R Block and L.L.Bean and has a Master’s degree in Human Factors from Bentley University.
Panelist: From 5,000 to 0: Prioritizing Documents for Remediation
Dr. Rachael Bradley Montgomery
Digital Accessibility Specialist
Library of Congress
Dr. Rachael Bradley Montgomery is a digital accessibility specialist at the Library of Congress and an adjunct lecturer at University of Maryland’s College of Information Studies (iSchool). She co-chairs the W3C Accessibility Guidelines Working Group and was previously a co-facilitator of the Cognitive and Learning Disabilities taskforce. She is the executive director of Accessible Community, a charity that helps communities and small organizations become more inclusive of people with disabilities. Rachael has a PhD from the University of Maryland, College Park and an MS from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Panelist: Designing to Support Cognitive and Learning Disabilities
Rhonda Moore
Program Officer Global Mental Health
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Rhonda J. Moore, PhD received her PhD in Cultural and Medical Anthropology at Stanford University and postdoctoral training in Behavioral Science in the Psychiatry Department at Stanford Medical School, in Clinical Ethnography and Epidemiology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Hospice/Palliative Care at St. Austell’s in the UK. Her work combines anthropological methods, ethics, data science and clinical medicine to better understand patient experiences and data disparities across culturally and medically diverse care settings (cancer, pain, palliative care, Neurodiversity), gamification, community engaged research, and the differential and ethical impacts of new and emerging technologies on individuals and communities in vulnerable situations in low resource settings and in low and middle income countries (e.g. AI, Digital Health, etc.,).
Rhonda is author and editor of the following books: Climate Change and Health Equity (Forthcoming, Springer 2023), Handbook of Pain and Palliative Care (Springer, 2012, 2nd edition, Springer, 2019), Biobehavioral Approaches to Pain (Springer 2009) and Cancer Culture and Communication (Springer 2004). Currently, she is a Program Officer with the Center for Global Mental Health at NIH’s National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH). Areas of responsibility include Social Drivers of Global Mental Health, ethics of new and emerging technologies, climate change and mental health, citizen science, and Neurodiversity at work. She is the Program lead for the Digital Global Mental Health program.
Panelist: Neurodiversity at Work: Creating Inclusive Work Futures
Gary Morin
Section 508 Program Manager, National Cancer Institute (NCI)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Gary M. Morin joined the National Cancer Institute’s Office of Communications and Public Liaison (OCPL) as their Section 508 Coordinator in March 2020. In this capacity, he oversees Section 508 policies, governance, training, 508 procurement processes throughout the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Gary supports NCI staff in making its wide array of digital contents more accessible for employees and for members of the public. He supports staff who are producing ICT products as well as those in contracting to ensure that their acquisition documents are inclusive of Section 508 requirements. Prior to joining NCI in March 2020, he similarly functioned as NIH’s Section 508 and accessible ICT guru, based in NIH’s Office on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) (2001 – 2008) and the Office of the Chief Information Officer (2008 - 2020).
Gary joined the NIH as a Sign Language Interpreter, in 1993. Throughout the 1990s, he coordinated NIH interpreting services and he trained ASL interpreters across the US to facilitate communication in healthcare settings. He was also actively involved with HHS’s Shared Neutrals, mediating conflict resolution in agencies across the federal government, with an emphasis on reasonable accommodations. With the onset of Section 508, he quickly saw and embraced the potential of accessible of Information and Communication Technology.
Gary sees the role of accessible technology as a means of enabling employees with disabilities to perform to their greatest potential and as part of an institutional responsibility and strategy to address healthcare disparities experienced by persons with disabilities. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act is more than a law – it’s a means to address barriers to employment and to better healthcare outcomes. Since the law’s implementation, he has been one of NIH’s few agency-wide subject matter experts for the coordination and implementation of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as Amended, and its integration with both business ICT and digital content, as well as the role of assistive technology (AT).
Gary is Vice-Chair of ABILITIES, NIH’s employee resource group for persons with disabilities and allies; he is equally active with the NIH Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community. For the last couple of years, he has also become more and more fascinated with audio-description and is now involved in the American Council of the Blind’s Audio Description Project and sits on the ADP’s Section 508 subcommittee.
Outside of the NIH, he finds great joy spending time with his 4-year-old granddaughter, seeks dead people in family history research, and loves a good film noir or classic, black-and-white horror flic. His most recent recognition includes NIH EDI’s 2020 NIH Champions and Allies of Disability Awardees and NIH EDI’s 20 profiles for 2020: Celebrating LGBT community Diversity at NIH and Beyond.
Panelist: Neurodiversity at Work: Creating Inclusive Work Futures
Panelist: What is the Current State of Audio Description in the US Federal Government?
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Andrew Nielson
Director, Government-wide IT Accessibility Program
General Services Administration (GSA)
Andrew is an expert in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) accessibility. He is Co-Chair of the annual ICT Accessibility Testing Symposium, which brings together other experts from around the world in the field of ICT accessibility testing to exchange academic analysis of current ICT accessibility testing issues and explore approaches to improve accessibility testing practices. He is a principal co-author of the current version of the Harmonized Processes for Revised Section 508: Baseline Tests for Web Accessibility (aka the “ICT Baseline”). Andrew was also the coordinator and facilitator of the inter-agency team of experts that developed both the Baseline and the current version of the “Trusted Tester” accessibility testing process, which is recognized across the federal government as a leading practice in accessibility testing.
Panelist: Adopting and Aligning to the ICT Testing Baseline
Speaker: Day in Review
Panelist: Accessibility: A Look At The Foundation (Past, Present and Future)
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Dennis Oden
Accessibility Program Manager
Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB)
Dennis is the Accessibility Program Manager for the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board. In that capacity, he is responsible for developing a comprehensive Rehabilitation Act Section 504 and 508 Accessibility Program. He brings over 15 years of Federal experience, most recently at the U.S. General Services Administration where he served as Director of the Civil Rights Division. He worked to promote accessibility in Federal facilities and technology, and he provided direct assistance to non-profit organizations through the donation of millions of dollars in Federal surplus property. Prior to GSA, Dennis spent a number of years at the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, the Internal Revenue Service’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Office of Equal Opportunity and Inclusion, and Department of Defense agencies.
Dennis has two children and a husband, and he spent over seven years as a volunteer paramedic in Prince William County, Virginia. Dennis also has a passion for trivia and game shows, and he was on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" in 2016.
Moderator: Small Wonder – Building a 508 Program at a Small Agency
Andrea M. O'Neal
Senior Advisor to the Administrator (Equity)
General Services Administration (GSA)
Andrea M. O'Neal is a presidential appointee of the Biden-Harris Administration serving as the Senior Advisor to the Administrator for Equity at the U.S. General Services Administration. In this historic, first-ever position for the agency, O'Neal brings 20 years of experience championing the advancement of historically and socially marginalized communities with expertise in institutional equity, racial and economic justice, organizational behavior, and cultural change management.
Andrea is a recognized thought leader in the diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) field with a career spanning global Wall Street, social impact, and advisory services for C-Suite executive teams. As a former capital markets investment banker, including four years abroad structuring cross-border IPOs in Europe and Asia, Andrea developed a multicultural business acumen that she leverages to achieve exceptional stakeholder management and metrics-driven results.
As a social and public sector principal, Andrea has been on the front lines of mission-critical conversations related to breaking down systemic barriers, closing racial wealth gaps, fostering equitable workplaces, and operationalizing high-performing culturally competent leadership practices. She has served as a research advisory committee member for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Equitable Futures Project, Brown University President’s Leadership Council, and Ambassadors Program for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture (NMAAHC). Her work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Business Insider, and in several industry conferences. She hails from Atlanta, GA and resides in Washington, DC.
Moderator: Keynote on Day 2
Panelist: Ask the Expert
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Sachin Pavithran, PH.D
Executive Director"
United States Access Board
Sachin Pavithran was born in India, but grew up in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. Sachin came to the US at the age of 17 to start his undergraduate degree at Utah State University. Sachin is currently the Executive Director of the US Access Board. Sachin enjoys being an advocate for people with disabilities. He keeps up with the research and development of various assistive technologies, and is involved nationally in working with legislators at both the federal and state government levels to bring change in policies that have a direct impact on individuals with disabilities. He has reached out to the international community on Disability Policy and Infrastructure Development based on the requirements set forth by the UN CRPD. He has trained and presented in several countries such as the United Arab Emirates, India, Egypt, Syria, Philippines, Thailand, Turkey and Mexico. Sachin has over twenty years of direct involvement in development, testing, and training for accessibility for assistive technology, extensive experience in lecturing and training others in accessible technology. Sachin provides technical assistance on accessible information technology for individuals and groups. He helps in the evaluation of products related to web accessibility and design. Sachin has had extensive experience working with the higher education community dealing with access to instructional materials and transition from K – 12 to post-secondary education and then to the workforce. He is strongly engaged in the dialogue about cultural diversity, inclusion of people with disabilities and people of color to promote equality on a state and national level. He has served on various boards nationally such as, The Research and Development committee for the National Federation of the Blind, the Assistive Technology Act Programs national board, and Association of University Centers on Disabilities national board where he was the President of the board. He was appointed by President Obama to the U.S. Access Board where he chaired several rule making committees in this capacity. He was appointed to the US Commission on Civil Rights where he served as a strong advocate for civil rights for all nationally. He was also appointed to the US Elections Assistance Commission where he was engaged in conversation around inclusive election processes for all Americans. Sachin aspires to be in the fore-front of establishing and implementing national and international policy that impacts people with disabilities around the world.
Panelist: Ask the Expert
Daniel Pomeroy
Deputy Associate Administrator, Office of Information Integrity and Access
General Services Administration (GSA)
Dan Pomeroy currently serves as the Deputy Associate Administrator in the Office of Information Integrity and Access within the Office of Government-wide Policy at the General Services Administration (GSA). Dan’s work is focused on enabling Federal CIOs to deliver world-class information technology services across government, particularly in the areas of accessibility, identity credentialing, digital services, IT infrastructure modernization, and IT capital planning. In 2020, Dan established a dedicated emerging technology policy office in GSA.
Dan Pomeroy has also served as the first Director of the Infrastructure Optimization Center of Excellence under the White House Office of American Innovation, and as the Director of GSA’s Data Center and Cloud Optimization Initiative (DCCOI) Managing Partner PMO.
Dan is a native of Las Vegas, Nevada. He possesses a Masters in Public Service and Administration from Bush School of Government at Texas A&M University, and a Master of Science in Government Information Leadership from the National Defense University.
Introduction: Keynote on Day 1
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Whitney Quesenbery
Director
Center for Civic Design
Whitney Quesenbery is the director of the Center for Civic Design, charged with solving democracy as a design problem and creating a voter experience that invites everyone to participate. She combines a fascination with people and an obsession to communicate clearly with her goal of usable accessibility for all. She’s written 3 books — A Web for Everyone: Designing accessible user experiences, Storytelling for User Experience, and Global UX — to help keep users in mind throughout the creative process. Twitter: @whitneyq and @civicdesign.
Speaker: Keynote on Day 1
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Maya Raghu
Deputy Director, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)
Department of Labor (DOL)
Maya Raghu joined the OFCCP as the Deputy Director for Policy on July 19, 2021. Most recently, Ms. Raghu served as the Director of Workplace Equality and Senior Counsel at the National Women’s Law Center, where she developed and coordinated priorities and strategies for NWLC’s workplace gender equality efforts, with a focus on low paid workers. She led federal legislative and regulatory initiatives and advocacy, stakeholder engagement, engaged in narrative shift and culture change efforts, and impact litigation and amicus briefs on a range of workplace gender equality and economic security issues including pay equity, harassment, and civil rights enforcement.
Prior to joining NWLC, Ms. Raghu was a senior attorney at Futures Without Violence and a senior staff attorney at Legal Momentum (formerly NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund), addressing economic security, gender discrimination in employment and housing, and gender-based violence, with an emphasis on immigrant and low-income women. Her work encompassed litigation, legislative and policy advocacy, public education and training, multi-sector initiatives, and cross-movement collaboration. She was also previously an associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and a law clerk to the Hon. Vanessa D. Gilmore of the Southern District of Texas. She is a graduate of Trinity University and Georgetown University Law Center.
Panelist: Department of Labor Panel Discussion
Scott Michael Robertson, PhD
Senior Policy Advisor, Office of Disability Employment Policy
Department of Labor (DOL)
Dr. Scott Michael Robertson is a Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) in the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Dr. Robertson orchestrates ODEP’s $3.8 million Partnership on Inclusive Apprenticeship (PIA) through his role as the federal project manager; PIA drives policies and practices to increase access to career pathways in high-growth, high-demand fields, such as information technology, cybersecurity, clean and renewable energy, and healthcare. Dr. Robertson also spearheads ODEP’s work to enhance national autism policy, foster neurodiversity at work, and expand access to gainful employment for youth and adults on the autism spectrum. He serves as DOL’s Alternate Federal Representative for the U.S. Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee.
Dr. Robertson has advised on policy and practices for accessible and emerging technology, such as artificial intelligence and automated vehicles. Earlier in his tenure at ODEP, he advanced national youth policies and practices for school-to-work transition and career development. Before joining DOL, Dr. Robertson served as a Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Fellow for U.S. Senator Tom Harkin in the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. He also served as the Founding Vice President of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), a national nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC.
Dr. Robertson earned his PhD in information sciences and technology at Penn State University. He completed his master’s degree in human-computer interaction at Carnegie Mellon University. His professional recognitions include a 2020 Service to the Citizen Award from Dorris Consulting International and the 2011 Jay S. Drotman Award from the American Public Health Association. He is also an inductee of the Susan M. Daniels Disability Mentoring Hall of Fame.
Panelist: Inclusive Apprenticeship and Career Pathways: the Partnership on Inclusive Apprenticeship
Avis Ryan
Program Analyst
General Services Administration (GSA)
Avis is a Program Analyst for the Office of Government-wide Policy at GSA and has worked at GSA for a long time. She started out as a summer intern and worked her way up in lateral positions. Avis worked on projects within OGP to help her improve and excel in challenging areas. Her background is budgeting, contracting and administrative duties. She presently serves as Assistant to the Director, for Training Outreach on the IT Accessibility team, and serves as a Contracting Officer Representative.
During the pandemic, Avis took the opportunity to go to school for Massage Therapy, something very passionate to her heart. She thought this was a perfect time to cross something off of her bucket list. Avis graduated in April 2021 and passed the MBLEX exam. She will soon be a licensed Massage Therapist.
Moderator: Dancing to Accessibility: How to Fill Your Dance Card - No Special Shoes Required
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Dr. Yulia Sarviro
Senior Project Manager
Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs (G3ict)
Yulia Sarviro is an experienced specialist in philanthropy and CSR, building the capacity of non-profit and educational organizations using different instruments, including marketing, communications, and social media.
Yulia graduated Law Faculty of Moscow State University named after M. Lomonosov. She holds PhD degree in Public International Law.
In 2002-2008, Yulia has been working at the UNESCO Moscow Office as the Programme Assistant for Education, managing projects on HIV preventive education, inclusive education, nomadic schools, and others.
In 2009-2016, she has been Community Affairs and Internal Communications Manager at Microsoft Russia running country-wide projects on computer literacy for adults, STEM education for children and youth, ICT accessibility, etc.
Since 2017, Yulia is the Senior Project Manager at G3ict – Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies and its Smart Cities for All initiative. She is responsible for successful implementation of multiple projects focusing on raising awareness among governments, cities, universities, courts, museums, and other institutions regarding digital inclusion and ICT accessibility when developing and introducing new technology solutions.
Patrick Sheehan
Section 508 Program Manager
Department of Veteran Affairs (VA)
Patrick joined the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1989 as a Computer Specialist and worked within the VA’s IT test facility as an adaptor trainer until 2001. Patrick joined the Section 508 Office in 2001 and is currently the Chief of the 508 Office within the Department of Veterans Affairs and serves as the agency 508 Coordinator.
In this capacity Patrick has the responsibility of leading a team which insures that all electronic and information technology that the VA uses, procures, maintains, or develops meet the requirements of Section 508. This includes the enforcement of the multimedia provisions within the Department to include closed captioning and audio description. The Department's 508 Office is available to IT professionals, procurement officials, and disabled VA employees to explain what Section 508 is, what disabled employees can expect from the VA regarding access and the VA’s responsibilities under Section 504 and 508.
Patrick received a BS degree in Computer Science from the University of Maryland and a BA degree from Providence College. He serves on the Board of Directors with the American Council of the Blind working on issues such as transportation access and pedestrian safety for blind and low vision individuals. He has also chaired the Accessibility Advisory Committee for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit authority (WMATA) for the past 20 years.
Panelist: What is the Current State of Audio Description in the US Federal Government?
Section 508 Program Manager
Department of the Interior (DOI)
Serves as the Department of the Interior’s Section 508 Program Manager. As Interior's Section 508 Program Manager, he manages and oversees the implementation of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and ensures all IT products and services developed, procured, maintained and used by Interior are accessible to individuals with disabilities.
Moderator: Virtual Vendor Showcase
Kimberly Shorter
Program Analyst, Section 508 Program Education & Awareness
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Kimberly Shorter is the Education & Awareness Lead for the CMS Section 508 Program. Kimberly started her federal career at the Social Security Administration in 2009, and has been with CMS since 2012. In her role with the CMS Section 508 Program, Kimberly is responsible for identifying, creating and implementing training and outreach opportunities focusing on accessibility. She has a wealth of experience in project management, information technology, and digital communication strategy.
Kimberly has an MA in Writing from the Johns Hopkins University, a BA in Media Production from Temple University, and is certified as a Project Management Professional by the Project Management Institute.
Betsy Sirk
Information Technology Program Manager, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Ms. Betsy Sirk is an Information Technology and Section 508 Program Manager for NASA with over 35 years of leadership experience in program, project, technical, and acquisition/contract management focused on implementing IT-based solutions to support NASA's mission and the federal government. She is the Information and Communication Technology Accessibility Program Manager for the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the Chairperson of NASA’s Agency Section 508 Program Managers Working Group, and the Co-Chairperson of the Chief Information Officers Council Accessibility Community of Practice Industry Outreach Program.
Ms. Sirk is a leading expert in developing and acquiring accessible technology and has presented to diverse audiences in multiple venues. Ms. Sirk also leads government-wide strategic sourcing efforts for workstations and mobility solutions as the Strategic Sourcing Program Manager from the NASA Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) Program. Ms. Sirk has received numerous NASA and federal awards for program management and leadership. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Maryland with a Bachelors degree in Psychology and holds a Masters Degree with Distinction in Computer Science and Management Information Systems from the George Washington University.
Panelist: Ensuring ICT Accessibility Throughout the Acquisition Lifecycle
Dr. Elizabeth Small
Program Analyst/Section 508 Coordinator
Department of Labor (DOL)
Dr. Elizabeth Small is the Section 508 Subject Matter Expert for the Department of Labor. She served twenty-five years in the U.S. Army. Additionally, Dr. Elizabeth Small holds a Master of Divinity from Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington DC, and a Master of Curriculum and Instruction from McDaniel College, Westminster, MD. Dr. Small is a Professional Life Coach, and she enjoys helping people become unstuck.
Moderator: Designing to support cognitive and learning disabilities
Dr. Joel Snyder
President
Audio Description Associates, LLC
Dr. Joel Snyder is known internationally as one of the world’s first “audio describers,” a pioneer in the field of Audio Description, a translation of visual images to vivid language for the benefit, primarily, of people who are blind or have a vision impairment: the visual is made verbal—and aural, and oral. Since 1981, he has introduced audio description techniques in over 40 states and 63 countries and has made hundreds of live events, media projects and museums accessible. 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 voiced by Dr. Snyder, in screen reader accessible formats, in Braille, and in English, Polish, Russian and Portuguese—a Spanish edition will be released in 2021; versions in Italian and Chinese are planned for 2022. His PhD is from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona with a focus on audiovisual translation/audio description. Dr. Snyder is the President of Audio Description Associates, LLC and he serves as the Founder/Senior Consultant of the Audio Description Project of the American Council of the Blind.
Panelist: What is the Current State of Audio Description in the US Federal Government?
Keivan G. Stassun
Director, Frist Center for Autism & Innovation
Vanderbilt University School of Engineering
Keivan Stassun is an astrophysicist whose research on stars and exoplanets has been published more than 400 times in academic journals. He also holds two patents – for a data visualization platform and an asteroid mining system – both invented with a team of neurodiverse students. The parent of an autistic teenager, and with the generous endowment support of the Frist family, in 2018 Stassun launched the Frist Center for Autism & Innovation at Vanderbilt, focused on engineering technologies and transforming workplaces, in support of and inspired by neurodiversity. The Frist Center brings engineers, business scholars, and disabilities researchers together with experts in neuroscience and education to understand, maximize, and promote neurodiverse talent. From a strengths-based – as opposed to deficit-based – understanding of autism and neurodiversity, the Center sees opportunities for innovation in technology and in workplace practices. Primary areas of focus for the Frist Center’s work include: inventing and commercializing new technologies that enable autistic and other neurodiverse people to gain employment, succeed at work, and achieve their full potential; studying and understanding neurodiverse capabilities, and inventing and commercializing algorithms and systems that are inspired by those capabilities; developing policies, tools, trainings, and workplace practices that recognize and enlist neurodiverse people and talents in the workforce; demonstrating, documenting, and disseminating a community-based approach—including employers, self-advocates, researchers, policy makers, agencies, and organizations—to simultaneously enhance the bottom line for business and the quality of life for autistic individuals.
Panelist: Neurodiversity at Work: Creating Inclusive Work Futures
John Sullivan
Senior Technology Advisor to the Deputy Associate Administrator
General Services Administration (GSA)
John Sullivan serves as the Senior Technology Advisor to the GSA Deputy Associate Administrator for Government-wide Policy, providing guidance to agencies implementing federal information technology policy directives. In this capacity, John advises the Government-wide IT Accessibility Program, which he directed for several years. John has 33 years of public service spanning the Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of Management and Budget, and the General Services Administration, spending many years building enterprise architecture programs, information integration, data standards, and geospatial information initiatives at the agency, inter-agency, and inter-governmental levels.
Speaker: Day in Review on Day 1
Panelist: Accessibility: A Look At The Foundation (Past, Present and Future)
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Ronna ten Brink
Senior Human Factors Engineer
The MITRE Corporation
Ronna ten Brink is a Senior Human Factors Engineer at The MITRE Corporation, where she supports federal government agencies creating effective, efficient, and delightful user experiences. She studied Engineering Psychology and Computer Science at Tufts University. Ronna conducts usability and accessibility research and design on a variety of topics, including chatbots, authentication, and human-machine teaming applications.
James Thurston
Vice President for Global Strategy and Development
Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs (G3ict)
James Thurston is an international technology policy leader. As G3ict’s Vice President for Global Strategy and Development, he leads the design and implementation of new worldwide advocacy strategies and programs to scale up G3ict’s global impact. He has experience applying both technology and public policy to important social and economic challenges, ranging from promoting the inclusion and human rights of people with disabilities worldwide to using technology to increase the competitiveness of aging U.S. industrial centers. He has broad policy and management experience in both the private and public sectors and at the federal, state, and international levels of government.
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Mark Urban
Section 508 Program Manager, and Section 508 Co-Chair at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Mark Urban is the Accessibility Program Manager for the US Centers for Disease Control, and Co-Chair of the US Department of Health and Human Services Section 508 Program.
Panelist: Dancing to Accessibility: How to Fill Your Dance Card - No Special Shoes Required
Moderator: Ask the Expert
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Charolette Valeur
Chair
Institute of Neurodiversity (ION)
Charlotte Valeur has over 35 years of experience in finance, primarily as an investment banker in Denmark and the UK. She is an experienced FTSE Chair, Non-Executive Director and corporate governance expert, serving on a variety of boards – as well as delivering training and advising boards in corporate governance through her company Global Governance Group.
Charlotte has been a director of 8 public companies and also has board experience with a range of unlisted companies including international engineering firm Laing O’Rourke, BT Pension Fund and Chair of Institute of Directors U.K.
She is an author and visiting Professor in governance and leadership at the University of Strathclyde.
Charlotte is an advocate for equality, underpinning this with action by founding not for profit Board Apprentice and the Institute of Neurodiversity.
Panelist: Neurodiversity at Work: Creating Inclusive Work Futures
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Alcora Walden
Panelist
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Alcora Walden works at the Internal Revenue Service in the Office of Online Services where she hopes to solve business problems through customer-centric communications and experiences. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations from the University of Maryland and a Master’s of Public Administration from American University.
Angela Watkins
Section 508 Program Manager
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
Angela Watkins, a certified Project Manager, has served as the Section 508 Program Manager for Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation since January 2018. She’s been aware of the goals of accessibility since serving on an agency-wide team in 2001. Prior to her current role, she’s had experience as a Business Representative, Service Desk Manager, Procurement Support, and a Contracting Officer Representative ensuring that the products and deliverables she was responsible for included Section 508 compliance as a requirement. She serves as the chair of the Section 508 Intra-Agency team comprised of representatives from the agency’s communications, training, human resources, legal, EEO, IT and procurement departments. She and her team have been effective in promoting the message that “Accessibility is Everyone’s Responsibility” in her agency.
David Whittington
Section 508 Subject Matter Expert
U.S. Census Bureau
David Whittington currently works for the US Census Bureau in the Application Development and Services Division (ADSD) as a Section 508 Subject Matter Expert where he helps administer enterprise Section 508 governance and training for the Bureau. Prior to joining the agency, he worked for the Defense Information Systems Agency (DoD-DISA) where he was a Test Director, helping the US military develop, maintain and operate mission critical Information Systems for the warfighter. Before that, he served as a QA Manager for Northrop Grumman where he helped establish Agile development best practices.
Martha Wilkes
Accessibility Strategist/Designer
U. S. Digital Service
Martha Wilkes is a designer at the U.S. Digital Service, a tech startup at the White House. She is currently detailed to the Office of the Chief Technology Office (CTO) at the Department of Veterans Affairs where she is the accessibility strategist. Previously, she spent her career designing enterprise software for various private industries, from banking to statistical analysis to home health care. Martha holds a bachelor’s degree in music engineering from the University of Miami and a MFA in theater design from the University of Georgia, where she learned the Photoshop skills that helped her get her first job as a web designer.
Panelist: Accessibility First: Creating a Native Mobile App for Veterans
Jennifer Komissarenko
Information Technology Specialist
Department of Labor (DOL)
Jennifer Komissarenko is an IT Specialist on the Section 508 team within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration & Management (OASAM) at the Department of Labor (DOL). For the past year I have enjoyed making an impact with my team and highlighting disability causes while making DOL, and this world, a more inclusive place for everyone!
Moderator: Inclusive Apprenticeship and Career Pathways: the Partnership on Inclusive Apprenticeship
Taryn Mackinzie Williams
Assistant Secretary, Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP)
Department of Labor (DOL)
Taryn Mackenzie Williams is the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy. In this position, she advises the Secretary of Labor on how the Department’s policies and programs impact the employment of people with disabilities and leads the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), which works with employers and all levels of government to promote evidence-based policy that improves employment opportunities and outcomes for people with disabilities.
Previously, Williams was the managing director for the Poverty to Prosperity Program at American Progress, which works on progressive policies focused on a broad range of anti-poverty strategies. Before joining American Progress, she worked at ODEP on a variety of issues related to education, workforce policy, Social Security, Medicaid and civil rights. In her role as director of youth policy, Williams led agency efforts to coordinate education and employment policy in support of improved labor force outcomes for disabled youth. From 2014 through 2016, Williams served as ODEP’s chief of staff. She also undertook detail assignments as associate director for public engagement and liaison to the disability community at the White House from 2014 through 2015 and as a policy adviser on the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions from 2012 through 2013.
Prior to joining the federal government, Williams worked as the research coordinator for leadership programs at the Institute for Educational Leadership and as the director of programs at the National Association of Urban Debate Leagues headquartered in Chicago. She holds a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Brown University and a master’s degree in education with a concentration in administration, planning, and social policy from Harvard University. She resides in Washington, DC.
Panelist: Department of Labor Panel Discussion
Alex Wilson
Program Analyst
General Services Adminstration (GSA)
Alex Wilson is a program analyst within GSA’s Office of Government-wide Policy (OGP). Alex works within the Digital Strategies, Government-wide IT Accessibility and Content Management teams supporting content creation, metrics & analytics, content rationalization and strategic planning efforts, among other activities. Alex is a disabled Army combat veteran.
Moderator: Virtual Vendor Showcase
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Pia Zaragoza
Presidential Innovation Fellow
General Services Administration (GSA)
Pia Zaragoza is a Presidential Innovation Fellow detailed to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. She is a co-lead of the Accessibility Guild and a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Representative at the Technology Transformation Services (TTS) agency. Previously, she was the Vice President of Accessibility Research and Insights at a Fortune 500 bank.
Thank you
To all keynote speakers; breakout session moderators and panelists; attendees; IAAF volunteers, exhibitors and volunteers.
Reviewed/Updated: November 2022
