2017 AAPD Paul G. Hearne Leadership Award Winner, Ola Ojewumi
May 2, 2017
Hosted by Joyce Bender
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Episode Description
Joyce welcomes 2017 American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) Paul G. Hearne Leadership Award recipient, Ola Ojewumi to the show. Ms. Ojewumi founded two non-profit organizations, Sacred Hearts Children’s Transplant Foundation and Project ASCEND. These organizations provide college scholarships to low-income students, funding for women's education programs, support for global mentorship groups and literacy programs, and distribute teddy bears and books to children awaiting organ transplants across the United States. These initiatives have reached hundreds of young people living in Washington, D.C., West Africa, and Central America. She will discuss these organizations and share what it means to her to have received this distinguished award from AAPD.
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.