KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Senator Tom Harkin (Retired)
The Harkin Institute
Tom Harkin served in the U.S. congress representing Iowa for 40 years, including 30 years as a U.S. Seantor where he co-authored the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that was signed into law in 1990. The ADA changed the landscape of America by requiring buildings and transportation to be wheelchair accessible, and to provide workplace accommodations for people with disabilities.
RANDY LEWIS
Former Walgreens Executive, Award-winning Author
Peace Corps volunteer, Arthur Murray dance instructor, Ernst and Young partner, Fortune 50 senior executive, disability advocate, and author, Randy Lewis had quite the career before retiring from Walgreens in 2013 as senior vice president of supply chain and logistics. Randy’s signature achievement was the introduction of a disability employment program that the company widely adopted.
melinda giancola
Chief, Data Collection and Analysis Unit, RSA
The chief of the data collection and analysis unit within the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) of the U.S. Department of Education, Melinda is responsible for the Case Service Report (RSA-911), performance accountability, and RSA’s Management Information Systems, used by agencies to report program and fiscal data.
Jessica Cox
Disability Advocate, Motivational Speaker
Glen Gordon
Chief Technology Officer, VFO
Glen Gordon is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of VFO™ – the world’s leading assistive technology (AT) provider for the visually impaired. In his CTO role, Glen focuses on forging collaborative relationships to ensure that people with vision impairments have the best possible access to technology.
Mandy harvey
Motivational Speaker
Janet labreck
Former RSA Commissioner
Sven Akerman Jr.
Chief Technology Officer, Alliance Enterprises
As the Chief Technology Officer and Director of Cloud Services at Alliance Enterprises, Sven Akerman Jr. leads the product development, software architecture and cloud services teams. Sven’s background includes technology evangelism and enterprise-scale solution architecture, as well as managing and delivering statewide technical solutions for public and private sector organizations in Oregon and Washington State.