Link 20 National Leadership Program 2019

NATIONAL LEADERSHIP PROGRAM September 8-10, 2019 Baltimore, MD

The Ruderman Family Foundation The Ruderman Family Foundation believes that inclusion and understanding of all people is essential to a fair and flourishing community. Guided by our Jewish values, we focus our work in three core areas - we advocate for and advance the inclusion of people with disabilities throughout our society, strengthen the relationship between Israel and the American Jewish Community, and model the practice of strategic philanthropy worldwide.

Our values continue to guide all of the work that we do. We continue to approach our work from a social justice orientation – we feel strongly that inclusion is not charity. We also embody several other values in our work, including collaboration, innovation, professionalism, and many others.

Our work follows five primary models. We develop signature programs, which shape the professional landscape, such as the Morton E. Ruderman Prize in inclusion, which we just awarded to Michael Phelps to recognize his mental health advocacy. We operate as a non-partisan strategic catalyst in cooperation with government, private sectors, civil society, and philanthropies. We provide professionalism in the field – we extend beyond the role of a funder and engage as a thought partner with each of our collaborators. Our collaborations are multi-year and strategic, designed for scalability, sustainability, and wide spread impact. Finally, we build networks to disseminate our work, including the Link 20 movement, an international group of young adults with and without disabilities who advocate for widespread social change.

LINK20 Movement LINK20, a Ruderman Family Foundation initiative, is a global social movement led by a network of young activists, with and without disabilities. LINK20’s goals are to raise awareness of the right of people with disabilities to be fully included in society; strengthen the activism, leadership and influence of people with disabilities; and create digital platforms to promote shared social goals.

The Vision LINK20’s vision is to be a platform for social and digital activism to help its members take part in planning awareness campaigns, engaging in leadership activities and networking events for young people, participating in different leadership programs, and carrying out varied activities.

Why Are We Here?

People with disabilities are 20% of the population, but their participation and involvement in major areas of life is low. We have identified three main barriers for fuller inclusion: 1. Lack of resources, infrastructure and effective response.

2. Low civic engagement, lack of leadership or influence, and low social capital among people with disabilities. 3. Stigmas, prejudice and negative attitudes towards people with disabilities. LINK 20 aims to break these barriers by strengthening leadership skills of its members and raise awareness to the importance of inclusion in our society.

The Leaders LINK20’s leaders are ambitious young adults, with and without disabilities, who are interested in influencing and leading the change for inclusion in society. We seek young adults who are already engaged in promoting inclusion as a human rights issue, who are strong self-advocates, and who are active on social media.

Participants:

Allie Cashel • Allie Cashel is the author of Suffering the Silence: Chronic Lyme disease in an Age of Denial and the Co-Founder and President of The Suffering the Silence Community, a nonprofit dedicated to breaking the stigma surrounding the experience of invisible and visible disabilities and illnesses.

Bryan Boyce • Bryan Boyce is Founder and Director of Cow Tipping Press, a social venture that's dedicated to changing our narratives around developmental disability and has been nationally recognized as a recipient of Grinnell College's Wall Service Award and Teach For America's Social Innovation Award.

Maleni Chaitoo • Maleni Chaitoo is an Executive Producer and Actor of the new comedy web series, Don’t Shoot the Messenger, with coExecutive Producers, Craig Fogel and Jessica Wasserman. She is an advocate speaker at United Nations on disability and American Sign Language cultural programming and linguistic

Xian Horn • Xian Horn is a joyful half-Asian woman with cerebral palsy, who serves as teacher, speaker, beauty advocate, blogger, and Exemplar for the AT&T NYU Connect Ability Challenge toward the creation of Assistive Technology. She is a contributor at Forbes and was named in Women's eNews 21 Leaders for the

Chuck Bernsohn • With a focus on gender and intersectionality, Chuck facilitates accessible conversations around inclusivity, privilege, and the creative power of language. Chuck lives in Chicago with their partner, a few backyard chickens, a yellow-eyed dog, and the best neighbors around.

Cara Liebowitz • Cara Liebowitz is the Development Coordinator at the National Council on Independent Living. She is a multiply disabled activist and writer currently living in the Washington, DC area.

Claire Stanley • Claire Stanley is the Advocacy and Outreach Specialist at the American Council of the Blind (ACB). She graduated with her juris doctorate from the University of California Irvine and a Bachelor or Arts in political science and communication from the University of California Davis.

Daman Wandke • • Daman Wandke, the CEO and Founder of AbiliTrek, is from Washington state. He is a graduate from Western Washington University with a Masters in Business Administration.

Gabrielle Magid • Gabrielle Magid is the Founder and CEO of Stronger Than Stigma, a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to mental health advocacy for millennials, by millennials. She's from Jacksonville, FL and enjoys doing improv comedy.

Elan Kogutt • Elan Kogutt helps city governments and nonprofit organizations through strategic and technological transformations. Elan is passionate about interfaith understanding, ethical leadership, mental health awareness, and empowering people to bring their whole selves to work - serving as the North America Interfaith

Jeff Lafata-Hernandez • Jeff Lafata-Hernandez is the Founder and Executive Director of EPIC (Empowering People for Inclusive Communities) in Boston.

EPIC's mission is to prepare young people with disabilities to be actively engaged community leaders through education, leadership development and community service.

Kendra Muller-Taylor • Kendra currently attends University of San Diego Law School but originally hails from Salt Lake City. She is looking to practice disability rights law after graduation. Her undergraduate capstone research on the intersection of transitional justice inspired her to create the Equal Access and Disability Rights

Jonathan Bertrand • Jonathan Bertrand advocates for social media awareness in mental and behavioral health. He is a native of Orlando, FL and enjoys traveling and learning about new cultures.

Caitlin Connor • Residing in Houston, TX, Caitlin Conner is the founder and CEO of a non-profit called Be More Adaptive. She became an amputee in 2014 while pregnant and it led her to a life of trying to help the adaptive community access resources more easily.

Jeremy VanHooser • Jeremy VanHooser currently serves as the Diversity Coordinator at Metropolitan State University of Denver, where he has worked in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion since 2014. He is originally from Denver, CO and also serves as the Vice Chair of Outreach for the Colorado Democratic Party.

Kenneth Kelty • Kenneth Kelty resides in Raleigh, NC and he works part time as an Administrative Assistant at The Arc of The Triangle. He is a disability activist and motivational speaker on his life as a person with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Elizabeth Gray • Elizabeth Gray has an Associate's Degree in Human Services and currently resides in North Easton, MA. She is 24 years old and has a goal to work within the disability community as an advocate. She hopes to impact change through policy, providing resources to those with all disabilities so they can live

Michael Sweeney • Michael Sweeney is currently a student at Bridgewater State University and from Kingston, MA. A fun fact about him is that he has a photographic memory when it comes to remembering dates of any year from this century.

Sandra Cardillo • Sandra Cardillo is originally from Guatemala and started rowing when she moved to Boston, MA at the age of 16. She has made her mark internationally as a leader in the development of the Paralympic side of the sport and is currently a bi-lingual coach and mentor for the world rowing governing body, FISA.

Ron Rivers • Ron Rivers is a successful entrepreneur, inventor, community activist, and a former Assembly candidate in his home state of New Jersey. He’s passionate about building a pluralistic future that embraces the latent potential of every individual.

Oliver Stabbe • Oliver is an employee at Lambda Legal HQ, working to advance reform on behalf of LGBTQ youth in child welfare, juvenile justice, and homeless systems of care. Their work is focued on issues of judicial diversity, access to justice, and combating bias in the legal system.

Victoria Hamilton • Victoria Hamilton is originally from Atlanta, GA but calls Charleston, SC home. After a TEDx Talk, Bachelor's in Psychology and most recently, completing her Master's of Social Work from Boston College, she is passionately pursuing her dream of making higher education accessible for all.

Colin Killick • Colin Killick is the Executive Director of Disability Policy Consortium in Malden, MA. He is a graduate of Williams College and Harvard Kennedy School of Government. In his spare time, he writes and performs slam poetry.

Madison Wester • Madison Wester is currently a junior at Goucher College where she is majoring in biology and minoring in sociology. She serves as the president for Equal Access, a student-led disability advocacy organization on campus. She became very involved in disability rights and advocacy work due to having an invisible disability.

Sheryl Grossman •Sheryl Grossman is the Community Living Advocate at the National Council on Independent Living, she is board Chair for the Jewish Disability Empowerment Center, Yad Hachavakah, and she is the Founder and facilitator for the Bloom’s Connect, the international support group for people with Bloom’s Syndrome.

Speakers:

Aaron Kaufman, The Jewish Federations of North America Aaron Kaufman joined The Jewish Federations of North America’s Washington, DC office in January 2016 as a Senior Legislative Associate. He focuses on disability and poverty issues. Aaron came from the Arc Maryland where he lobbied members of the Maryland General Assembly and the Maryland Congressional delegation on issues affecting Marylanders with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.

Having Cerebral Palsy, Aaron feels he brings a unique perspective to JFNA’s efforts on behalf of people with disabilities. Outside of advocacy, he was the instructor in Project SEARCH Montgomery, a job-training program for young adults with significant disabilities.

Aaron graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park with a BA in American Studies and with several honors. He is on the Executive Committee of the Jewish Foundation for Group Homes and is the former Vice Chair of the Maryland

Andrew Imparato, Association of University Centers on Disabilities Andy Imparato began work on September 30, 2013 as the Executive Director of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD). AUCD promotes and supports a national network of interdisciplinary centers on disabilities. The members of AUCD represent every U.S. state and territory. AUCD and its members work to advance policy and practice through research, education, leadership, and services for and with individuals with developmental and other disabilities, their families, and communities. Imparato is a disability rights attorney with more than two decades of experience working at the national level and was most recently the Disability Policy Director for the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, chaired by Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa.

 

Christopher Sheridan, Wake Forest University Christopher Sheridan is a messaging and leadership consultant and a Professor at Wake Forest University. A 25 year Journalist and Media Executive at some of the world's biggest media companies including ABC, NBC and ESPN, he now helps executives, teams and brands find, craft and tell their most powerful stories unlocking their highest potential. He is a Certified Executive and Team Coach, holds a Masters Degree from the University of Missouri and did his undergraduate work at the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University.

Yitzchok Moully, conceptual artist/ The Pop Art Rabbi Yitzchok Moully is a conceptual artist whose work explores the intersection of spirituality and the material world we live in. Having grown up in Melbourne, Australia, with a few formative years in Hasidic Brooklyn, Moully brings together the disparate colorful worlds of his hippie upbringing and Hasidic culture, resulting in a unique palette of colors and ideas. Moully uses silkscreen and painting in his process but is careful not to be limited to any one medium, rather he is constantly seeking out new modes of expressions to convey his ideas.

A Rabbi by training, Moully served as a Youth Rabbi in Basking Ridge, NJ, for ten years before embracing his creative spirit. Dubbed ever since The Pop Art Rabbi, Moully's work distills ethereal Chassidic concepts into relatable works of art. This final point is integral, as central to his work is the viewer, or as Moully would like to see it, the collaborator. In many of Moully's works the viewer is encouraged to interact with the work, to the point where the work is incomplete without the engagement.

Laura Menyuk Laura Menyuk holds a BA from the University of Maryland, College Park where she studied French, child language development and social-anthropology. After graduation, Laura completed Avodah the Jewish Service Corps in Washington, D.C. where she taught literacy for three years before she moved outdoors and into the experiential education “classroom.� From her home-base in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, and beyond, Laura leads outdoor adventure, farm-based, service-learning, and civic engagement experiences. Laura applies principles of social justice, leadership for all, and practical ecology to each of her programs. Laura currently trains new and veteran educators in experiential education and facilitation skills and develops new farm to school programs for Baltimore City Public Schools. Through her life and work as a freelance experiential educator, facilitator, trainer and programdesigner, Laura looks forward to widening our ideas about and building bridges between our physical-environmental, media-cultural, and digital-tech worlds.

Pamela Schuller Pamela Rae Schuller is an internationally known disability and mental health advocate and professional stand-up comedian. Pamela’s stories of growing up with Tourette Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder are engaging, powerful, a little bit heart-wrenching, and unapologetically funny. You can see her on BuzzFeed, hear her on SiriusXM, check out her writing on Mayim Bialik's Grok Nation, or catch her live on her upcoming tour of the US and Canada with her one woman show, “What Makes me Tic.” She holds a BA in Psychology and Youth Outreach Through the Arts and an MA in Child Advocacy and Policy, where she focused her studies on creating comedy and improvisational theater programs as a tool for youth with disabilities to improve self-advocacy skills. Pamela is also the Program Director of Here.Now., a Jewish teen mental health initiative through the Jewish Board, where she gets to partner with incredible teens to get them talking about mental health, wellbeing, and resilience through creativity and an innovative online platform.

Sheila Katz Sheila Katz is the CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), a network of 90,000 members and supporters across the U.S. who are living out their Jewish values and turning their progressive ideals into action.

Sheila most recently served as Hillel International’s vice president for student engagement and leadership and was the youngest-ever VP in the organization’s history. Sheila will bring to NCJW significant experience developing strategies and building coalitions that drive a wider moment.

In 2014, Sheila was appointed by the White House to committees advising President Obama on higher education and women’s rights. She is a longtime advocate for equal pay and mentors young women on the issue. In addition, she is a strong voice for survivors of sexual assault and an activist fighting for inclusion for people with disabilities.

The Ruderman Family Foundation Leadership Jay Ruderman, President of the Ruderman Family Foundation Jay Ruderman is the President of the Ruderman Family Foundation, which focuses on the inclusion of people with disabilities worldwide Shira Ruderman, Executive Director of the Ruderman Family Foundation Shira Ruderman is a professional philanthropist and social activist.

She serves as the Executive Director of the Ruderman Family Foundation, a private family foundation that invests in three primary areas of focus: advocating for and advancing the inclusion of people with disabilities throughout our society, strengthening the relationship between Israel and the American Jewish community, and modeling the practice of strategic philanthropy worldwide.

Shira holds a BA in Education and an MA in Public Policy from Hebrew University, and an Honorary Doctorate from Haifa University and from Brandeis University. In 2014 she was chosen as one of 100 most influential women in Israel, and in 2016 as one of 50 most influential Jews in the world.

Shira serves as a board member of various organizations and associations in Israel and the United States and was recently appointed as Chairwoman of the Fulbright Foundation.

She represents the new Israeli philanthropy which believes in strategic giving, involvement and social entrepreneurship.

Sharon Shapiro, Community Liaison and Trustee Sharon has been an active member of the Greater Boston Philanthropic community for many years. Her current projects reflect her family’s deep commitment to promoting disability inclusion in the Jewish community. She is also passionate about teaching teens about philanthropy – serving on the Jewish Teen Foundation of Greater Boston (TFGB).

Sharon has made major contributions to inclusive Jewish education through many years of service on the Board of Directors of Gateways: Access to Jewish Education. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Combined Jewish Philanthropy (CJP), as well as the Committee on Services for People with Disabilities and the Special Education Committee, all at CJP. She is also the incoming chair of the Miriam Fund. The Fund aims to inspire and strengthen women and girls through grants within and beyond the Jewish community. Sharon also serves on the Disability task Force of Greater Boston.

Active in a variety of Jewish organizations, Sharon’s affiliations include President’s Circle of Amit and Yad Chessed.

Sharon holds a BA from Boston University, a BS in Nutrition from Simmons College, and an MS in Nutrition from NYU. She was a registered dietician and worked in the field

The Ruderman Family Foundation Staff

Jenny Sichel, LINK20 Program Coordinator Jenny is a Program Coordinator, organizing and running the work of LINK20, a leadership network for young disability advocates.

Originally from New Jersey, Jenny holds a BA in Mathematics from Bryn Mawr College and has lived in the Boston area for six years. She has a passion for disability in sport, which has led her to a Silver Medal in rowing at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. Currently she is training for gold in the 2020 Paralympics.

Before joining the Ruderman Family Foundation, Jenny worked as Para Rowing Coordinator at Community Rowing, Inc. in Brighton, MA. Outside of the office, Jenny does motivational speaking and takes acting classes. She is also a new ski racer and ballroom dancer.

Juna Gjata, LINK20 Content Coordinator Juna joined the Ruderman Family Foundation in 2019 as the LINK20 Content Coordinator. She graduated in 2017 from Harvard University with a B.A. in Cognitive Neuroscience and Evolutionary Psychology and a minor in Music.

Her passion for classical piano has allowed her to perform solo at venues including Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Outside of music, Juna is obsessed with all things health and fitness. This passion is the center of the podcast she hosts with WBUR called “Weightless,� coming out January 2020.