Joyce Bender, Founder and CEO of Bender Consulting Services, Inc., and the Bender Leadership Academy, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will be featured as the Guest Speaker at the Thornburgh Family Lecture on Disability Law and Policy program at the University Club on the University of Pittsburgh campus on February 26th. This is Ms. Bender’s second appearance as a Guest Speaker at the series, which is sponsored by the Thornburgh Forum for Law and Public Policy at the Institute of Politics. The series was created through the generosity of Dick and Ginny Thornburgh as 2003 recipients of the Henry B. Betts Award.
As a person living with disabilities, epilepsy, and hearing loss, Joyce has dedicated her life to disability rights and employment. Joyce is the host of Disability Matters, the longest running podcast on Voice America. Joyce is the current Vice Chair and Past Chair of the Board of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), is on the Board of Trustees for the Bazelon Center, and the current Chair of the Epilepsy Association of Western/Central Pennsylvania.
The focus of Joyce’s panel will be “Building an Inclusive and Engaged Workforce: The Bender DisabilitySmart Engine™.” The DisabilitySmart Engine™ represents both the continuum of services provided by Bender Consulting Services and the connectivity of understanding the Disability Community experience as candidates, employees, and customers. Bender helps corporations and organizations make decisions about disability engagement and accessibility that are “disability smart” or demonstrate true understanding of disability culture, allowing the application of disability intelligence efficiently and effectively to realize positive impact and lasting change.
As part of this discussion, Joyce will be joined by Karen Hanlon as a Guest Participant, who serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Highmark Health. Together, Highmark Health and Bender Consulting Services have partnered to identify employment opportunities for people with disabilities and continue to serve as an example for other leading corporations who want to tap into the power of the disability community in the workforce and beyond.
Registration is open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance at thornburghforum.pitt.edu. In being asked to serve as a featured Guest Speaker, Joyce said “I’m so honored to once again be joining this acclaimed lecture series, which has national impact on the disability community and shapes the policies we will advocate for in the future. I also cherish the longstanding friendship I’ve had with Ginny and Governor Thornburgh and will always be grateful to their family for creating this space where we can come together to advance discussions that support growth and opportunities for all Americans with disabilities.”
If you have any questions about Bender Consulting Services or the Bender Leadership Academy, please contact Sherry Lapaglia at slapaglia@benderconsult.com.