City of Knoxville - Council Disability Issues

MAYOR'S COUNCIL ON DISABILITY ISSUES

Mayor's Council on Disability Issues

Disability Resource Center

DisabilityInfo.gov

ADA & Local Judiciary Process

Member Biographical Information

Cynthia Andresen has been involved in the field of disabilities for many years. She has a Masters in Special Education and has worked for Services for the Blind in both TN and NC and she serves on several councils and committees for the City of Knoxville and Knox County.

Sherry Bain is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling at the University of Tennessee. She is a school psychologist and teaches on the graduate faculty of the School Psychology Program at the University. Her research interests include investigating the misperceptions held by teachers-in-training and school personnel towards the potentials and problems of children with disabilities, including their beliefs in popular myths about children with disabilities.

Anna E. Bass is the Regional Manager of the East Tennessee Regional Office of Disability Law & Advocacy Center of Tennessee (DLAC). She has experience working with people who have various disabilities and brings a vast knowledge of the laws important to people with disabilities. DLAC is a federally mandated non-profit agency that works toward systemic change for individuals with disabilities throughout Tennessee. Since 1997, Anna has also worked as a professional Sign Language Interpreter. She holds national certification from the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. Additionally, she holds National Counseling Certification and has worked both as a career counselor for individuals with disabilities who were pursuing post-secondary degrees and as a mental health counselor for children and adolescents with disabilities.

Anita Bright has been in Human Resources for 17 years. She was at SunTrust for 10 years before coming to Elavon and was hired at Elavon in 2006 as a HR Generalist. Anita became a recruiter when the position opened up and it is her goal to make sure that ALL employers are aware of statistics and availability of candidates with disabilities.

Steven P. Dandaneau is Associate Provost and Director of the Chancellor's Honors and Haslam Scholars Programs at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. A sociologist by training, Steve's interest in disability issues is partly an extension of his interest in all things social and cultural, as well as the direct result of his experience as the father of a 16 year-old with significant developmental and cognitive delays. Prior to living in Knoxville, Steve was appointed as a member of the Montgomery County, Ohio, Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities and the Human Service Levy Council. He has also published in the interdisciplinary field of disability studies. Steve and his spouse, Debra, live in downtown Knoxville with their two children, Patrick (16) and Max (10), with baby "Ellie" on the way!

William L. (Bill) Dockery is a research communicator in UT’s Office of Research. Bill has lived in Knoxville since 1980 and has worked as a reporter, editorialist, and editor at the Knoxville News Sentinel and at Metro Pulse weekly. He is a 2008 graduate of the Partners in Policymaking Institute, an advocacy training program of the Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities. He provides communications training for the PIP Institute and is an advocate for inclusion in the Unitarian Universalist Association.

Kevin Gittens is a member of the disabled community and has always taken an active interest in the rights and independence of others who face similar difficulties. As a result, he has spent the last number of years working at Goodwill Industries Knoxville educating other disabled individuals in computer skills and assisting them in locating employment in the community. For the last several years, Kevin has participated with CODI in dealing with problems and issues vital to the local disability community.

Jennifer Goggin relocated to Tennessee from Kentucky in 1993 and was diagnosed with a form of muscular dystrophy which has left her unable to walk. She is the office manager for Accessible Mobility Specialist, a company that specializes in adaptive driving aids for people with disabilities. Through her job, Jenny strives everyday to help people with disabilities become independent citizens within the community.

Sarah Helm serves as the Disability-Careers Office (DCO) Coordinator at The University of Tennessee, collaborating between the UT offices of Disability Services and Career Services. She is a member of the Knoxville Mayor’s Council on Disability Issues and the local Disability Mentoring Day committee. Sarah is pursuing her doctoral degree in Higher Education Administration at the University of Tennessee. Her dissertation topic is focused on the employment concerns of university career-seeking students with psychiatric disabilities.

Tina J. Jones, Account Representative, University of Tennessee/Center on Disability and Employment, holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Tennessee and has more than fifteen years experience in the fields of human resources, recruiting, administration, public relations, and marketing. Her public relations and marketing background is currently focused on building employment relationships with business leaders. As a resource for businesses, she provides consultation, technical assistance, and training to assist companies interested in recruiting a more diversified workforce. Through her work with community non-profit organizations and state and federal agencies she is working to develop and promote employment opportunities for people with disabilities. She is also a member of the Mayor’s Council on Disability Issues as well as the local Disability Mentoring Day committee.

Thomas Kahler has been an advocate for social justice and disability rights for the past 18 years, promoting awareness and change at local, state, and national levels. Other community service includes serving as vice-president of the Tennessee Health Care Campaign, a statewide non-profit organization working to ensure equal access to health care for all Tennesseans, and serving as a Formal Hearing Officer for the Knoxville Community Development Corporation, deciding cases involving tenant rights in compliance with HUD regulations and fair housing laws.

Bonnie Lyle is the Senior Employment Coordinator with CAC/Office on Aging. In this role, she manages all aspects of senior employment including interviewing, identifying and evaluating client skills, placement-related workshops, assisting with resume preparation, and organizing job fairs. Bonnie retired early from ITT Technical Institute as Assistant Director of Career Services and prior to that, spent 15 years in the recruiting business as a clerical supervisor. She has served 13 years in the prison ministry and initiated the first adult literacy program which now averages 20 inmates in attendance. Bonnie has served on the board of Teen Challenge for a number of years.

Sheryl McCormick works at Peninsula, A Division of Parkwest Medical Center as the coordinator for Recovery Training Services, teaching and supervising Wellness Recovery Action Plan and Peer Support Specialist trainings. Sheryl, who has lived in Knoxville most of her life, has been married for 35 years and has two adult daughters. Having dealt with the symptoms of bipolar and anxiety disorders since childhood and having overcome these brain illnesses, as well as numerous traumatic experiences, Sheryl is nationally recognized as a role model of recovery. A passionate advocate for people like herself and their families, she serves on numerous boards and committees, including the Knoxville Mayor’s Council on Disability Issues, the Dept. of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities’ Planning and Policy Council, on the Board of Trustees for Lakeshore Mental Health Institute, and is past president of NAMI Knoxville.

Angie McMahan is a banking officer and recruiter at SunTrust Bank. She has been in the banking industry for over two decades with the last several years having a focus on Human Resources. Angie has sat on the SunTrust Diversity Council, including the Disability and Multicultural subcommittees. She is on the Workforce Development Center Advisory Committee for the Knoxville Area Urban League and the Advisory Board for Knoxville WAVE.

Ronald Morton, MA, is the Director of Recovery and Resiliency for East Tennessee Resiliency programs operated by ValueOptions. He oversees Prevention Education and Outreach services for East Tennessee as they pertain to Recovery and Resiliency. Previously, he was the Director of Recovery Services for Peninsula Behavioral Health, working with people who have chronic and persistent disabling mental illness. He has served in various capacities with several local and national councils such as the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI,) Human Relations Commission of Chula Vista, CA, and the Mayor’s Council On Disability Issues. He belongs to several professional organizations that serve Native Americans and persons with mental illness and is a veteran of the US Navy.

Lee Ann Rawlins, PhD, is the Program Coordinator at the Center on Disability and Employment at U.T. Knoxville and has experience with multiple disabilities. She has worked as a state vocational rehabilitation counselor, as a faculty member at the University of Tennessee in the Rehabilitation Counselor Education program, as a rehabilitation trainer with the Regional Rehabilitation Counselor Education Program (RCEP), and as Assistant Director in the Office of Disability Services at UT-Knoxville.

Elizabeth Ann Ritchie is a Partner with the company, Friends and Faux. She is the Vice-Chairman and a founding parent of Breakthrough Corporation, an agency serving adults with Autism. She served on the board of the Autism Society of America-East Tennessee Chapter for 20 years, including two terms as president, and currently serves on the The Camp Koinonia Foundation board, the DMRS Family Support Council, the Fulfill the Promise work task force, the governor's State Developmental Disabilities Council and volunteers for the Concord Adult Day Enrichment Services (CADES) program in addition to serving on its board.

Karin Robertson is a Transition Counselor at the Tennessee School for the Deaf (TSD) and a licensed and certified school social worker. She assists high school students with post-secondary goals regarding training, employment, and education. From 2002-2005, Karin worked in Kentucky at the Cumberland Comprehensive Care Center as a therapist and case manager for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and served as a member and Chair of the Kentucky Mental Health Advisory Board. Currently Karin is a member of the Knoxville Mayor’s Council On Disability Issues and sits on the Board of Directors for the Knoxville Center of the Deaf. She is a co-founder and sponsor of the Tennessee Organization of Proud Students (a support group for TSD’s Hard of Hearing students). She is a member and past President of the Hearing Loss of America Association, Knoxville Chapter. She comes from a family of professional musicians, and despite a hearing loss since birth it never prevented her from performing the piano and the cello with her family at various recitals, concerts, and competitions.

Warren Secrest is currently serving the Knoxville-Knox County CAC Office on Aging as the Program Manager for the Volunteer Assisted Transportation project. He also serves on the board of the Knoxville chapter of the National Association on Mental Illness (NAMI). Warren is a Knoxville resident with two youth in the household who will not miss a Sundown In The City concert.

Karen O’Reardon Shirk is currently the Family Support Coordinator at the Cerebral Palsy Center in Knoxville. Through this program she provides services to assist individuals with severe disabilities to remain in their home and maintain their independence. She worked as a state vocational rehabilitation counselor in the Supported Employment program, providing assistance securing employment and providing follow-along services to assure job retention. She has 20+ years of experience working with people who have various disabilities.