About Employment and COVID19 Panel

Regina Kline, Esq.

Formerly a partner at the law firm of Brown, Goldstein & Levy and Co-leader of the firm’s consulting practice Inclusivity, Gina is nationally known for her litigation and policy work in advancing the rights of people with disabilities. She previously served as Senior Counsel in the Office of the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she provided legal and policy counsel regarding efforts to implement the Americans with Disabilities Act and Olmstead v. L.C.’s mandate for community integration in employment, education, law enforcement/criminal justice, homelessness, and health care.

Ruby Moore

Ruby Moore is the Executive Director of the Georgia Advocacy Office, the designated Protection and Advocacy system for people with disabilities in Georgia. Ruby is nationally known for her work on behalf of people with disabilities for over 40 years, particularly in the areas of employment and the design and implementation of supports needed for people with disabilities to live, work and be educated in the community. Ruby has served as an expert in employment services for people with disabilities to the Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, and the US Department of Justice. She assisted the Department of Veteran’s Affairs to design an employment program to help 50,000 homeless veterans to access employment. She has testified before various federal administrative agencies and Congress concerning services and strategies that enable people with disabilities to secure competitive integrated employment. Ruby has worked closely with federal agencies to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities. She has served on the Labor Department’s State Employment Resource Rebalancing Project Research Team. As part of this effort, she assisted several states in evaluating their developmental disabilities, behavioral health, education and workforce systems, providing recommendations to improve these systems and facilitate compliance with Olmstead. Ruby has served as an expert and consultant in numerous legal cases, including landmark employment cases such as Lane v. Brown, a class action lawsuit challenging Oregon’s failure to offer supported employment services to individuals with disabilities served in sheltered workshops. Ruby is the past President of TASH and the current Co-Chair of the International Initiative for Disability Leadership (IIDL)-US Advisory Council.

Lisa Mills

Lisa Mills is a Consultant at Moving to a Different Drum, LLC. Dr. Lisa Mills has worked for thirty years in the field of disabilities, in both the US and the UK. Her passion for Customized Employment began nearly twenty years ago when she was an employer at organizations that hired people with disabilities and she supervised these individuals, recognizing that customizing their positions ensured the organization could maximize the contributions of these employees, while also ensuring the employees succeeded too. At the same time, Lisa’s passion for Systematic Instruction also started as she saw the benefits of effective training on worker performance and independence. Since 2006, Lisa has been associated with Marc Gold and Associates. She works mainly with state agencies and other funders on supported and customized employment, discovery and job coaching service models and funding structures that incentivize the best possible outcomes. Over the past fifteen years, she has worked in more than 20 states. Dr. Mills is also affiliated with the LEAD Center and ODEP’s Employment First State Leadership Mentoring initiative and VOICE initiative. She also served as lead subject matter expert for the US DOL’s Advisory Committee on Competitive Integrated Employment of Individuals with Disabilities, during its first year of deliberations.

Michael Rogers

Michael Rogers works as a receptionist at the Washington State DDA. Micheal is man determined to live his best life. After years of being told “you can’t” Micheal found ways to show that indeed he can! After buying a house and making a home with his wife, Emily, he set out to reach more goals. At 40 he learned to read, at 45, he started using technology and joined the world’s conversations, able for the first time to get the news firsthand, send and read text and email, and join the social media craze. Michael understands that access can change the world, and this fuels his drive to create solutions.

Jennifer White

Jennifer White, CEO, Able Opportunities, Inc., jennifer@ableopps.com.

Jennifer White is a seasoned subject matter expert, designing and implementing projects that further Employment First strategies in transition programs and community employment agencies across the US. She specializes in successful business minded tools, innovative, person-driven, high-tech accommodations (see the Work Autonomy App on iTunes), and collaborative design resulting in structures that sustain successful employment outcomes. Her experience includes university research, collaboration to honor and include the culture of first nation peoples, and cross agency projects serving people with intellectual developmental disabilities, mental health challenges, dual diagnoses, addiction history and veterans. She is a corporate consultant supporting affirmative action hiring initiatives, starting with the WIN Program at Harrison Medical Center in 2006 to present work with international fortune 500 corporations.