Welcome and Opening General Session
Session Overview:
Join us as we kick off our 30th Annual APRIL Conference. Meet our new leadership Joan LaBelle, APRIL Executive Director and Kim Gibson, APRIL Board President, find out what youth can expect from the conference from our Youth Steering Committee Chair, Noah Russell, and participate in our welcome activities APRIL style. The Administration on Community Living (ACL) has been invited to close out our welcome event.
9:00-11:00 Grand Ballroom
Opening Blessing
Andrew Johnson (Cherokee), Executive Director
Native American Chamber of Commerce of Illinois
Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative
Email:
Phone: 630.926.1700
Website: https://www.nacc-il.org
Andrew Johnson is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation. He currently serves as the Executive Director of the Native American Chamber of Commerce of Illinois and President of Cherokee Commercial Ventures.
He is also the chairperson of the Illinois Native American Employment Plan Advisory Council and member of the Business Enterprise Program Council.
In addition, his Board responsibilities include the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian and the Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative.
Mr. Johnson formerly served as the Executive Director of the American Indian Center of Chicago. He is a CPA and received his MBA from the University of Southern California.
Throughout his career, he has been a key member of the Executive Management Team at multiple corporations in addition to having extensive depth in the non-profit industry.
Welcome from APRIL, What to expect from the conference, vendors, and sponsors:
- Joan LaBelle, APRIL Executive Director
- Kim Gibson, APRIL Board President
- Noah Russell, Youth Steering Committee Chair
Welcome from the Commissioner at the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities in the City of Chicago, Rachel Arfa
Welcome to Chicago from Access Living, Karen Tamley, President and CEO
Alliance for Community Services in Chicago, Fran Tobin
Additional Materials for this Session:
About Your Speakers:
Joan LaBelle (she/her)
Joan LaBelle has been the Executive Director of APRIL since 2024, however, Joan is no stranger to APRIL. In fact, this is a coming home of sorts. Joan served on APRIL’s Board of Directors and co-led several of the first APRIL Conferences. Joan has been a part of the APRIL family since its humble beginnings and APRIL has always been near and dear to her heart.
Joan brings a wealth of personal and professional Independent Living experience to APRIL. She’s a person living with a disability and has lived rural experience.
She has served as a CIL Executive Director, a CIL Director of Public Policy and Consumer Engagement, a CIL Chief Programs Officer, a SILC member, has provided IL consulting and is a Certified ADA Coordinator.
Kim Gibson (she/her)
Kim Gibson grew up in Idaho and moved to Wyoming to go to college. She moved to Pennsylvania in 2011 and Texas in 2013. In August 2013, Kim accepted the position as Executive Director of disABILITY LINK and moved to Georgia. Before coming to disABILITY LINK, Kim was the Executive Director at two other Centers for Independent Living. She gained knowledge that she brought with her to expand programs here, focusing on diversity and inclusion.
Kim has one son, Dustin, and his fiancé, Pushee, whom she adores. Kim has a new service animal, Chipper, after the passing of her 12+ years with Charlie, whom she loved and was grateful for the years of service to her. She has a Doctorate in Social Work. Kim has worked with individuals with disabilities since 1988. She also has personal experience with disabilities.
Kim believes in being involved in her community through boards, community involvement, providing educational opportunities to others, and advocacy. She serves on several local, regional, and national boards and committees throughout the state. Currently, she serves as the president of APRIL (Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living).
Through APRIL’s peer-to-peer mentorship program, Kim is a peer mentor for other CILS (Centers for Independent Living). Kim has served in the past as the vice-chair of the Southeastern Center Directors Association, board member of NCIL (National Council of Independent Living), SILC of GA, and a variety of NCIL subcommittees. She currently serves on several local boards and has, in the past, served on various advisory boards in Wyoming appointed by the Governor and boards in Pennsylvania. Kim has volunteered in several community events focusing on suicide prevention, women’s rights, disability rights, and civil rights. She is a field instructor for individuals with and without disabilities pursuing their social work, educational, and occupational degrees. She dedicates her time to others’ learning.
She has received many nominations and awards for her work with people with disabilities. She is the proudest of the 2014 National Council of Independent Living (NCIL) “Women’s Caucus Hall of Fame Award,” which she received because of the mentorship she has provided to other women in the world of disabilities.
She is active in the community, creating inclusive spaces, working with marginalized groups, and learning new things along the way.
Noah Russell (he/him)
Noah Russell is a member of the Space Coast Independent Living Center. He holds 4 going on 5 black belts, is a supporter of United Way, a member of the Autistic Community, and is the Chair of the YSC (Youth Steering Committee). He is a dedicated to helping people all around by advocating for people in his community and in his state of Florida. He works at Publix Super Markets and through them helps people with disabilities and non-disabled people.
Rachel Arfa
Rachel Arfa serves as the Commissioner of the City of Chicago Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD). Commissioner Arfa is a visionary and transformative leader, and was the first deaf person to serve as a member of a Mayor’s Cabinet nationwide. Under her leadership, Commissioner Arfa has modernized MOPD to increase services to Chicago's disability community and leads inter-agency collaboration with fellow City departments and sister agencies to advance accessibility.
Recognizing the need for advances in disability employment, Commissioner Arfa launched the MOPD Career Center, which serves job seekers with disabilities and also partners with businesses on increasing inclusive hiring practices. With MOPD support, job seekers with disabilities obtain employment on an average of 81 days, far ahead of the national rate of six months. Commissioner Arfa also launched the Access Officer program, an inter-agency collaboration that designates a member of each Commissioner/Department Head’s leadership team as a point person on accessibility for their department, and provides subject matter trainings and individual consultation on best practices. As another important step towards increasing accessibility of City services, MOPD hired four American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters on staff, who provide communication access at Mayoral events, press conferences and for City services. MOPD also works with departments to increase digital accessibility, use of social stories and other access needs.
Commissioner Arfa utilizes an equity framework in evaluating MOPD services and removes barriers to services. She eliminated the hourly rate that participants in MOPD’s Personal Assistance program were previously required to pay in order to obtain services. MOPD's Home Modification program previously only served individuals with disabilities up to age 59; due to consolidation of services from Department of Housing to MOPD, individuals of any age with disabilities can now apply for Home Modification services. The Accessibility Compliance Unit has also expanded its capacity and resources, which allows for increased ability to survey accessibility of city-wide buildings, conduct pre-permit and permit reviews, and provide technical assistance to stakeholders.
Arfa comes to this role with over 15 years as a disability and civil rights attorney, and has held numerous civic and leadership roles advocating for meaningful disability access. Arfa is a 2016 Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow and a 2013 New Leaders Council Fellow. Arfa is a graduate of the University of Michigan (B.A. American Culture) and the University of Wisconsin School of Law (J.D.)
Karen Tamley
In March 2020, Karen Tamley became the new President and CEO of Access Living, a Chicago-based service and advocacy non-profit organization for people with disabilities. In her new role, Karen has returned to her roots, having served in multiple positions at Access Living from 1996 to 2005, under Access Living’s founding CEO Marca Bristo.
Prior to becoming Access Living’s CEO, Karen served three Chicago Mayors as Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities. As Commissioner, Karen advanced accessibility and disability inclusion in the areas of transportation, city infrastructure, technology, emergency planning, education, and employment and oversaw the delivery of direct services to thousands of Chicago’s disabled youth and adults. In 2015, Karen received the Motorola Solutions Excellence in Public Service Award from the Civic Federation, which recognizes a non-elected government official for having an extraordinary impact on the quality of state and local government services in Illinois.
In 2016, President Obama appointed Karen to serve on the United States Access Board, which develops national accessibility guidelines and standards, and she was elected as Chair in 2019. Most recently, Karen was appointed to the Obama Foundation Inclusion Council in 2020, and she served as a member of the Biden-Harris Presidential Transition team.
Over the past two decades, Tamley has served on a wide variety of government and nonprofit community boards at the national, state and local level, including Pace Suburban Bus, Dare2Tri and Kohl’s Children’s Museum. In 2015, she received the Distinguished Fellow award from Leadership Greater Chicago.
Karen was appointed by Governor Pritzker in 2021 to serve on the Illinois Commission on Hate Crimes and Discrimination, and she is a current Board Director at Forefront, an organization that aims to build a vibrant social impact sector for all the people of Illinois. Additionally, she is a member of The Chicago Network, The Economic Club of Chicago, the International Women’s Forum, and Disability Lead.
Karen is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. She lives in Chicago with her husband, Kevin Irvine, and their teenage daughter. All three have disabilities themselves and are actively involved in disability advocacy locally and nationally.
Fran Tobin
Fran Tobin is coordinator of the labor-community Alliance for Community Services, made up of people with disabilities, seniors, poor people and front-line public service workers such as teachers, caregivers, caseworkers. The Alliance fights for polices that help both consumers and workers, as we protect and improve services that meet human needs. Fran helped form the National SILVER Collaborative to fight to get FEMA and other federal agencies to save lives from COVID and prioritize de-institutionalization. The Alliance coordinates the Illinois statewide "Humanize Long Term Care" campaign, a disability-led effort to transform long term care away from institutions and toward person-centered quality care in home and community-based services.
Return to Saturday, October 12, 2024