Webinar: A Systems Approach to Serving Individuals with Significant Disabilities

Areas of Expertise Include: The Public Workforce Development System, Partnership and Collaboration, the Integrated Resource Team Model, Social Security Work Incentives, the Intersection of Disability and Poverty, Working with LGBTQIA+ Populations and Transition-Age Youth, Professional Development and Organizational Change Management. DJ (they/them) has close to 20 years of experience, related to disability and employment programs and policy, across the public workforce development system at the local, state, and national levels. In DJ’s current role as a Sr. Technical Assistance and Research Analyst they provide technical assistance (TA) and training for the VA DARS EPIC Disability Innovation Fund grant, the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: The Collaborative (NTACT:C) and the Center for Innovative Training in Vocational Rehabilitation (CIT-VR). Their early career experience included working for the Alaska Department of Labor as a case manager for the Adult/Dislocated worker programs as well as leading Alaska’s Disability Program Navigator Initiative. Following their time in Alaska, they were hired by the National Technical Assistance Center for the U.S. Department of Labor-funded Disability Program Navigator Initiative and its successor the Disability Employment Initiative. More recently, they led GW's work supporting state VR agencies in improving engagement and outcomes for participants living at the intersection of disability and poverty as part of the Targeted Communities Technical Assistance Center, funded by the Rehabilitation Services Administration. Additionally, they provided training and TA as a subject matter expert for the Workforce Innovation Technical Assistance Center (WINTAC). They have a Master's in Rehabilitation Counseling from Western Washington University, completed and maintain a Community Partner Work Incentive Coordinator (CP-WIC) Certification from Virginia Commonwealth University, and recently completed their Doctoral coursework in Human and Organizational Learning, Executive Leadership Program and is in the process of completing their dissertation.

Areas of Expertise Include: Vocational Rehabilitation Program, Organizational Change Management, Partnership and Collaboration, Systems Change, Leadership & Professional Development, and Executive Coaching. John (he/him) serves as the Project Director for the Center for Innovative Training in Vocational Rehabilitation (CIT-VR) and provides training and technical assistance to State VR agencies and their partners via the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: The Collaborative (NTACT:C) and the Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center for Quality Management (VRTAC-QM). He also is part of the project team for the Vocational Rehabilitation – Return on Investment Project (VR-ROI) funded by a NIDILRR grant. He has close to forty years’ experience working in human services, with a focus on promoting full integration for individuals with disabilities in their communities and the workforce; thirty of those years working for the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired in providing and administering Vocational Rehabilitation services at that agency. He also served as the Project Manager for the VR Technical Assistance Center – Targeted Communities (VRTAC-TC), which provided training and technical assistance to State VR agencies and their partners to address barriers to VR participation and competitive integrated employment of historically underserved groups of individuals with disabilities who are living in economically disadvantaged communities.