Employment Matters! Building Your Network Conference 2024
October 10, 2024 @ College of the Holy Cross, Worcester MA
Keynote speakers:
Oz Mondejar
Oz is a celebrated leader in the Disability Rights movement in Massachusetts and a mission-driven consultant working at the intersection of policy, advocacy, and community and government relations. He specializes in human-centered universal designs for accessibility, diversity recruitment, human resources, and leading DE&I initiatives. As President and Lead Consultant of Mucho Gusto Inc., Oz advises leaders in business, government, and nonprofit sectors. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President of Mission and Advocacy for Spaulding Rehabilitation Network, overseeing mission integration, administrative operations, and equity, dignity, and respect initiatives. Internationally recognized for his expertise in accessibility, disability rights, and workplace accommodations, Oz serves on several boards, including the Massachusetts Governor’s Permanent Commission on the Status of Persons with Disabilities, where he currently serves as Clerk.
Colleen Moran
Colleen Moran serves as the Director of Workforce Integration at Mass General Brigham, the largest healthcare system in MA with over 80,000 employees. In her role, Colleen bridges Workforce Development and Talent Acquisition to align training programs and candidates with the needs of the organization. Colleen joined Mass General Brigham in 2001 and has a long-standing interest in advocating for employment for people with disabilities and participates in a variety of related boards, committees and activities.
Elyse Forbush
Elyse Forbush is the Director of Nutrition and Food Service for Spaulding Boston. Elyse graduated from Johnson & Wales University with a degree in Hospitality Management and a concentration in Sociology. Elyse has built and maintained relationships with several community partners throughout the Boston area, to employee individuals with disabilities and is proud to say 27% of her current department identifies with having a disability. Elyse renovated the JobLab at Spaulding Cambridge in 2021 to create a hands-on simulated training site for community partners to have a space to focus on skill building and career readiness with their diverse populations. Her passion lies in the training and development of underserved populations.
Employment Matters! Conference 2023
Coaching Practices and Management Strategies for an Inclusive Workforce
October 24, 2023 @ College of the Holy Cross, Worcester MA
Keynote speakers:
Adriana Mallozzi, CEO and founder of Puffin Innovations
Doug Crandell, Author: Twenty-Two Centers an Hour: Disability Rights and the Fight to End Subminimum Wage
Employment Matters! Conference 2022
Elevating Disability in the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Conversation Conference
October 19, 2022
9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
In celebration of National Disability Employment Awareness month, the 9th Employment Matters! Conference, presented by Massachusetts APSE, will be held in-person on Wednesday October 19th from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. The theme of this year’s event is “Elevating Disability in the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Conversation”, and will feature a keynote presentation by Keith Jones, the President and CEO of Soul Touchin’ Experiences. As an African American community activist and entrepreneur with cerebral palsy, and strong advocate for independent quality living in the community, Mr. Jones has participated actively in various issues that face people with disabilities. Wally Tablit, the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion officer on the APSE national board of directors, will also be a featured speaker. In addition, Kathleen Walker, the DDS Director of Day and Employment Services. will provide an update on DDS’s ongoing efforts for advancing employment. There will also be 6 breakout sessions on a variety of topics related to diversity and employment, as well as a World Café’ for networking and dialogue among attendees. Registration is $100 for the day ($85 for APSE members)
The Process, Principles and Practices of Psychiatric Rehabilitation
& Recovery Oriented Services – MassPRC inaugural 2020 training event
Wednesday October 21, 2020
9:00am-3:00pm
Our kickoff training will feature Pat Deegan, a thought leader and in her own words, a disruptive innovator, in the field of behavioral health recovery. Pat founded Common Ground, which is run by and for people in recovery, and whose mission is to safeguard human dignity by bringing individual “voice and choice” to the center of the clinical care team. Drawing on her own experience of recovery after being diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager, Pat Deegan will share insights into the process of recovery and how clinicians can support it. In particular, she will detail a recovery-oriented framework for clinical risk management when supporting individual choice and self-determination.
The training is led by our two directors of Training and Education, Anne Sullivan-Soydan and Kelley Gamble, who will provide an overview of the process, principles and practice of recovery and psychiatric rehabilitation for use in clinical and community settings. These are challenging times, and we are invested in giving you some strategies to bring everybody to the table to engage in rehabilitation and recovery.