Episodes

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...

Joyce welcomes Dr. Rory Cooper, who early this year was appointed the University of Pittsburgh’s (Pitt's) first-ever assistant vice chancellor for research for STEM-health sciences collaborations. Dr. Cooper is world-renowned for his inventions and patents when it comes to wheelchair technology. He will further discuss the work being done in this area at the University of Pittsburgh and share other ways that he has dedicated his life to improving the lives for people with disabilities through as...

Joyce welcomes Evan Frazier, President and CEO of the Advanced Leadership Institute to the show. Conceived in 2016 with a vision to address the lack of Black executive management in Pittsburgh's corporations, TALI partnered with Carnegie Mellon University to create an executive leadership academy to educate, develop, and position Black leaders for meaningful advancement in corporate and community roles. Mr. Frazier will discuss this mission in detail and share how the mission addresses placing l...

Joyce welcomes Mark Boxer, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the University of Hartford to the show. Named to this post in June of 2020, he will discuss how he has carried over the same commitment to hire people with disabilities that he held at Cigna to help all students including those with disabilities at the University of Hartford.

Following the passing of Bender Consulting Services President, Mary Brougher, Joyce Bender, Founder and CEO, has joined forces with former Member of Congress, Tony Coelho, the primary author of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), to expand Bender’s decades of service in honor of Mary’s lifelong work to engage corporations in the fight for disability rights. This new program called Bender/Coelho Disability Leadership Initiative, will focus on the retained search of people with disabilities...

Joyce welcomes back to the show, Mick Malec, president, of HM Health Solutions. Mr. Malec will discuss his commitment, as well as the organization’s commitment, to the employment of people with disabilities. His leadership is instrumental in the partnership of Highmark with Bender Consulting Services and the success of the employment of people with disabilities within the company.

Joyce welcomes back to the show, Mick Malec, president, of HM Health Solutions. Mr. Malec will discuss his commitment, as well as the organization's commitment, to the employment of people with disabilities. His leadership is instrumental in the partnership of Highmark with Bender Consulting Services and the success of the employment of people with disabilities within the company.

Joyce welcomes Laura E. Randa, disability advocate and chief commercial officer of Curio Digital Therapeutics, Inc. to the show. The company is focused on pioneering digital health in women's health. Its first product is in the post-partum depression area to help women going through this. She will share the company’s important work with this population, and also talk about her advocacy work on behalf of all people with disabilities.

Joyce welcomes former democratic congressman from California and statesman, The Honorable Tony Coelho, and author of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), to the show. Since we celebrated the 31st anniversary of the signing of the ADA into law, on July 26, 1990 yesterday, Mr. Coelho will share his personal story of living with epilepsy. Also, he will share the steps in the effort to get the ADA signed into law and the progress we have made since the ADA was passed. 31 years ago.

Joyce’s honored guest is former Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA). As we prepare to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act on July 26, 2021, the Senator will discuss the journey to get the legislation passed, its importance, and how critical it is to continue advocating for the independence and employment of all people with disabilities.

Joyce welcomes Tari Hartman, Squire founding CEO of EIN SOF Communications, and Mary E. Dolan, executive director, FDR Memorial Legacy Committee to the show. EIN SOF Communications is a woman-owned small business specializing in disability-inclusive diversity and public policy in strategic marketing the disability community and employment consultation. The mission of the FDR Memorial Legacy Committee s to preserve the memory of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt’s catalytic involvement in issues of ...

Joyce welcomes back Kelly Buckland, executive director of the National Council of Independent Living (NCIL), and Maria Town, the president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) and to the show. As our nation prepares to commemorate the 31st Anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which was signed into law by President H.W. Bush on July 26, 1990, both guests will reflect on the impact of this landmark legislation on the lives of pe...