DMD/Bender Leadership Academy/Bender Student Leaders Program

September 13, 2022
Hosted by Joyce Bender

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Guest Information

Episode Description

Joyce welcomes Laina Fusarelli, Advisor, Decision & Risk Analyst, Nova Chemicals, and Jenny Homme, a Lead Business Process Engineer at enGen, a technology subsidiary of Highmark Health and Chair of the Abilities Business Resource Group to Disability Matters, along with Scott Hammerstrom, Manager of Programs and Partnerships, with the Bender Leadership Academy. As we approach October, Disability Employment Awareness Month, and the celebration of Disability Mentoring Day (DMD), on Wednesday, October 19, 2022, the guests will discuss their company’s role in the Bender Student Leaders Program, as all three guests represent host sites for the program. Additionally, the guests will share how their prospective organizations locally support the Bender Leadership Academy and the DMD initiative, which gives students with disabilities the opportunity to job shadow around the country annually.?They will review plans for this year’s kick-off reception, Monday, October 17, 2022, at Pittsburgh’s Heinz History Center and the unique partnership that Bender Leadership Academy has established with Pittsburgh’s CLO.

Disability Matters

Tuesday at 11 AM Pacific Time on VoiceAmerica Variety Channel

Competitive employment and empowerment for people with disabilities is the emphasis of this show. Broadcast live and captioned in real-time for individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing, we discuss how people with disabilities can secure career opportunities, and how employers, organizations and individuals can support employment and empowerment of people with disabilities.

Joyce Bender

Joyce A. Bender is the CEO and president of Bender Consulting Services, Inc. Bender Consulting recruits and hires individuals with disabilities, across the United States and Canada for competitive career opportunities in the public and private sectors. In 1985, Joyce survived a life-threatening accident caused by a misdiagnosis of epilepsy. Due to her personal experience living with both epilepsy and a hearing disability, she founded Bender Consulting Services, Inc. in 1995.

Joyce is the past-chair of both the board of the American Association of People with Disabilities and the national Epilepsy Foundation. She has received awards from both the Bush and Clinton administrations.

Joyce speaks across the United States and internationally representing the State Department on informational exchanges related to disability employment best practices. She has represented the State Department in programming with Panama, South Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Libya, and Tunisia.

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