The team at Bender Consulting Services is proud to announce that Veronica Villalobos has been selected to receive the Mary Brougher Disability Ambassador of the Year Award for her continued advocacy and dedication to the growth of employment opportunities for the disability community. This award is particularly important as individuals are nominated by employees and alumni with disabilities who have been placed in the workforce by Bender Consulting Services.
In choosing Veronica for this honor, Joyce Bender, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bender Consulting Services, said that “Veronica is someone who combines and brings a wealth of professional experience and passion to everything she does for the disability community. We need more advocates like Veronica. I’m so thankful we have her as a champion in the community, and I’m confident with her help, that we will continue to move the needle forward in securing employment for people with disabilities.”
This award, named after Bender’s late President, Mary Brougher, who devoted her life and career to supporting the disability community, honors leaders who have made disability employment a top priority in their own platforms and who advance Bender’s mission and vision. Since 1995, Bender Consulting Services has been spearheading disability employment and engagement strategies for employers of all shapes and sizes across the country. Their motto of Paychecks Not Pity™ seeks to identify employment opportunities for the disability community and ensure that every community member has a pathway to success and individual fulfillment.
Veronica is the Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at the Center of Health Equity at the Highmark Health/Allegheny Health Network’s (AHN) Enterprise Institute for Equitable Health. She strives to build a more diverse and inclusive workforce, to ensure clinical programs are accessible to all, and to address health disparities among patients, members, and customers.
Upon receiving this award, Veronica said that “I am deeply humbled to receive the Mary Brougher Disability Ambassador Award. Mary’s dedication to ensuring everyone felt valued, and her significant contributions to creating employment opportunities for people with disabilities, have profoundly impacted me. I’m committed to building on her efforts and working with others to advance opportunities for inclusive employment.”
If you have any questions about Bender Consulting Services or this award presentation, please contact Sherry Lapaglia at slapaglia@benderconsult.com.