Episodes

Joyce welcomes Jonathan Lovitz to the show to discuss his role as a politician and national leader in the LGBTQ+ and Disability Communities, as well as the intersectionality between these two groups. He will discuss his work as a small business and public policy advocate and as a special advisor for the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, as well as the key issues he is talking about in his campaign for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Joyce is pleased to have as her guests, the 2021 Paul Hearne Emerging Leaders Award Winners, Elijah Armstrong and Noor Perez, on the show. These young disability rights leaders will each explain what it means to them to have received this prestigious award in 2021 from the American Association of People with Disabilities. They will also share the current projects they are working on since receiving the award. Joining Joyce and our 2021 Paul Hearne Award Winners, at the beginning of this show, ar...

Joyce welcomes Raul Suarez-Rodriguez, Director, Global Economic Inclusion & Supplier Diversity at Merck to the show. For over 130 years, Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world’s most challenging diseases in pursuit of their mission to save and improve lives. They demonstrate a commitment to patients and population health by increasing access to health care through far-reaching policies, ...

Joyce is thrilled to have as her guest, Michael Coffey, writer, and a producer of Triumph, starring, RJ Mitte. Mr. Coffey will discuss what inspired him to write and produce the movie, as well as his personal experiences as a person living with cerebral palsy, and his current projects.

Joyce welcomes Nedra Dickson, international/national business leader and disability advocate to the show. Ms. Dickson is Managing Director, Global Supplier Inclusion and Sustainability Programs across 18 countries at Accenture. Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services in strategy and consulting, interactive, technology and operations, with digital capabilities across all these services. They combine unmatched experience and specialized capa...

Joyce welcomes Dr. Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew, Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer at Allegheny Health Network back to the show. Dr. Larkins-Pettigrew is known and respected nationally for her work to promote diversity in the workforce. Dr. Larkins-Pettigrew will share more about how the organization champions the hiring of people with disabilities as part of their diversity hiring practice.

Joyce is excited to have back to the show the returning champion of competitive employment for Americans with disabilities, David Holmberg, President, and CEO of Highmark Health. Mr. Holmberg launched an initiative in 2020 to hire 30 people with disabilities from Bender Consulting Services to honor the 30th anniversary of the signing of the ADA, called the Highmark 30/30. He continued this work in 2021 and hired 31 people with disabilities. It is amazing that under his leadership he has already ...

Joyce is thrilled to welcome actor, advocate and philanthropist, RJ Mitte to the show. RJ will discuss his career in Hollywood and his experience breaking down stereotypes and changing public mindsets with his easy-going and positive outlook, through the unique lens of his lived experiences with cerebral palsy. Additionally, he will discuss what it meant for him to be a part of the cast of Breaking Bad, and his latest movie Triumph, which follows the story of a high school wrestler overcoming bu...

Joyce welcomes Dr. Gerard J. Buckley, President of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, (NTID) at Rochester Institute of Technology, (RIT) to the show. Dr. Gerard Buckley has more than 30 years of experience in higher education, including more than 20 years serving in a variety of capacities at NTID. During the show, Dr. Buckley will discuss both NTID and RIT’s commitment to serving college students with disabilities.

Joyce welcomes Emily Ladau, Disability Rights Activist, Communications Consultant, and Author to the show. Ms. Ladau will be discussing her advocacy work and her latest book, Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to be an Ally.

Joyce welcomes Peter Blanck, Chairman, Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) to the show. Mr Blanck will discuss the mission of BBI and its latest efforts to reach around the globe in its efforts to advance the civic, economic, and social participation of people with disabilities. BBI builds on the legacy of Burton Blatt, former dean of SU’s School of Education and a pioneering disability rights scholar, to better the lives of people with disabilities.

Joyce welcomes to the show Scott Hammerstrom, Manager of Programs and Partnerships for Bender Leadership Academy. Joining Scott on the show will be Leanne Thomas, Account Manager, Bender Consulting Services, Inc. and Chief-of-Staff for Joyce Bender, CEO. Each guest will talk about the mission of the Bender Leadership Academy and the Mary Brougher Mental Health Initiative. This program was started to honor the life and work of the late President of Bender Consulting Services, Inc., Mary Brougher.

Joyce welcomes back to the show, Maria Town, President & CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD); Holly O’Donnell, President & CEO, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law; and Peri Jude Radecic, CEO, Disability Rights Pennsylvania. It’s the annual year-end show with these national disability rights and Pennsylvania state leaders to reflect on accomplishments of the past year, issues that have not been accomplished, and goals for 2022.

Joyce welcomes Keisha Lalama, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera (CLO) Education Director, Associate Professor of dance at Point Park University, and choreographer to the show, Christine Kobus, board member of the CLO also joins the show. Joyce will be discussing a future partnership opportunity planned with the CLO. Both guests will be discussing the mission of the New Horizon’s Program. For 25 years, the CLO New Horizons program has been teaching performing arts to people with disabilities. Among th...

Joyce welcomes to the show Scott Hammerstrom, Manager of Programs and Partnerships for Bender Leadership Academy. Joining Scott on the show will be Asher Jordan, graduate and winner of the Academy’s 2021 Sam Miller Award and Zoe Whitman, graduate, and winner of the Academy’s 2021 Linda Dickerson Scholarship Award. This non-profit organization has been serving students with disabilities since 2018. It accomplishes the mission of competency-based workforce development through a continuum of learni...

Joyce welcomes Pastors, Scott Stevens and David D’Angelo of North Way Christian Community Church in Wexford, PA to the show. Both members of the clergy for this congregation of faith will discuss the programs and services offered at this church during the holidays and year-round as well. In addition, they will discuss the mission of this non-denominational church.

Joyce welcomes Audrey Russo, President and CEO of the Pittsburgh Technology Council to the show. Ms. Russo will be honored as the Epilepsy Association of Central and Western PA (EACWPA) 2022 Mardi Gras King on Fat Tuesday, March 1, 2022, the organization’s annual fundraising gala. When it became clear that a gala would not be possible in 2021, Audrey Russo, really stepped up! She and Joyce Bender, EAWCP Board Chair, personally reached out to the Pittsburgh corporate community to urge them to sup...

Joyce welcomes Charlie LaVallee, CEO of Variety the Children’s Charity to the show. Variety the Children’s Charity is a non-profit organization that strives to enable children with disabilities to live life to the fullest with a focus on mobility, communication, and social interaction throughout 71 counties in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. They will discuss the programs and services of this non-profit organization, and the importance of giving to this cause during the holiday season.

Joyce welcomes the Honorable Tony Coelho, author, and principal sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Tinamarie Duff, Global Lead, with the Disability Focused Employee Resource Group at Bristol-Myers Squibb to the show. To see the employment of people with disabilities increase, we need the business community and disability community to work together. Hear both distinguished guests discuss this issue in-depth.

As November is National Epilepsy Awareness Month, Joyce welcomes two members of the board of Epilepsy Alliance America, Allison DeBattista, founding member and serves as board member of the Epilepsy Alliance Louisiana Also Liza Gundell, Chief Executive Officer of Epilepsy Services of New Jersey. Epilepsy Alliance America is a nation-wide network of community-based epilepsy organizations who are dedicated to confronting the spectrum of challenges created by seizures through the promotion of indep...

Joyce welcomes Deborah Rice-Johnson, President, and Chief Growth Officer for Highmark, Inc. to the show. Ms. Rice-Johnson will share her story of success and how she started her career at Highmark and rose the President of Highmark, Inc. from entry-level positions such as, claims processing and customer service. Among other topics discussed will be her role within the organization today, how much the organization has grown over the years and the locations in which, Highmark operates. Also discus...

Joyce welcomes Carrie SiuButt, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SimpleHealth to the show. At 13, Carrie was diagnosed with dystonia, a rare movement control disease. For her walking became excruciatingly painful over time. Living with this disability, in February 2020, she joined company SimpleHealth as CEO. It was on the brink of failure. She and her team dug in and grew the business 10x in 12 months. Founded in 2018 and based in New York City, SimpleHealth makes reproductive wellness simple! O...

Joyce welcomes National Disability Rights Leader and the originator of Disability Mentoring Day, Jonathan Young to the show. Jonathan served at the White House during the Clinton administration as the Disability Liaison to the President. Currently, Jonathan is the Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of Akero Therapeutics in South San Francisco. Akero Therapeutics is a clinical-stage cardio-metabolic company developing transformational treatments for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a dis...

Joyce welcomes Gary Dick, Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Highmark Health Solutions to the show. He will be discussing his organization’s long-standing commitment to hire people with disabilities through the Program he created, Careers 2B™. The Careers2B™ Program serves as a national workforce development model to address the lack of professional work experience barrier to competitive employment for people with disabilities and improve employment outcomes for talented professionals with disa...