Episodes

Joyce welcomes Jonathan Lovitz to the show to discuss his role as a nationally recognized small business and public policy advocate, DEI leader, and most recently a special advisor to the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce. He will discuss his recent appointment by President Biden to a leadership role within the US Department of Commerce.

In recognition of Pride Month, Joyce welcomes back to the show, Jason Mida. Jason serves as President & CEO at Mida Associates. As President & CEO, Jason collaborates closely with all clients to provide oversight for each engagement to ensure their daily success. During the show he will share his story of his youth and what encouraged him to get involved in the LGBTQ+ community as an advocate. In addition, he will share what encouraged him to become an entrepreneur and the mission of Mida Associ...

Joyce welcomes Dr. Rachel Kallem Whitman to the show. Dr. Whitman is an educator, advocate, and memoirist who has been living with bipolar since 2000. As a disability studies professor, she teaches courses on unpacking ableism and challenging sanism. Her speeches, interviews, and writings have garnered acclaim locally in her hometown of Pittsburgh, PA, across the United States, and internationally. Rachel’s memoir, Instability in Six Colors, paints a vivid picture of what it is like living with ...

Joyce welcomes Scott Hammerstrom, Manager of Programs and Partnerships, with Bender Leadership Academy back to the show. Scott is pleased to include Jason Desantis and Brooklyn Walker, current high school students participating in the Bender Student Leaders Program sponsored by the Bender Leadership Academy. They will share their experiences in the program and explain how the program has helped them prepare for the world of work.

Joyce welcomes to the show, Kathy Chamberlain, Director of Development & Special Projects at The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and Jill Bazelon, who proudly serves on the Center’s Board of Trustees to help live out the groundbreaking work of her grandfather. As May is Mental Health Awareness Month, the guests will discuss the prevalent stigma around mental health and the progress that is being made to overcome it by countless Americans with mental health disabilities. They will also discu...

Joyce welcomes Helena Berger, Chair of the FDR Legacy Committee’s Board of Directors and Mary E. Dolan, Executive Director, to the show. The FDR Memorial Legacy Committee serves to preserve the memory of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt’s catalytic involvement in issues of equality and freedom – especially for people with disabilities. The guests will be sharing the committee’s plans to protect the FDR Memorial and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial from flooding as a result of repairing part of...

Joyce welcomes back Scott Hammerstrom, Manager of Programs and Partnerships, with the Bender Leadership Academy to the show. Scott will discuss the non-profit organization’s participation in Highmark Health’s Walk for a Healthy Community on Saturday, May 13, 2023, and the programs and services offered by the Bender Leadership Academy to young people with disabilities.

Joyce is thrilled to have as her guest, country music superstar, Ty Herndon, to the show. Mr. Herndon will discuss his career in the country music industry and living with bipolar disorder, which was diagnosed at the age of 59. He will share why he supports the Bender Leadership Academy’s #NotAshamed campaign and discuss his 10-episode podcast, Soundboard, featuring conversations with artists discussing their struggles and wins along their mental fitness journeys.

Joyce is honored to welcome John Kemp, the American disability rights leader who co-founded the American Association of People with Disabilities and is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Lakeshore Foundation in Birmingham, Alabama to the show. He will discuss his work as a disability rights leader and his book, “Disability Friendly: How to Move from Clueless to Inclusive,” which was published in October 2022.

Joyce welcomes Andrea Carelli, Senior Vice President and Director of Client and Community Relations for PNC Bank in Pittsburgh, PA. Andrea will discuss PNC’s commitment to hire people with disabilities as a part of their diverse workforce.

Continuing with Women’s History Month, Joyce is proud to bring back Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Highmark Health, Karen Hanlon, to the show. She will explain her commitment to hiring people with disabilities as a diverse part of the workforce.

Joyce welcomes Isaac Zablocki, ReelAbilities Film Festival Co-Founder and New York Director. Mr. Zablocki will talk about this year’s ReelAbilities Film Festival and the festival’s mission to bring the community together to explore, embrace, and celebrate the diversity of shared human experience through film. He will speak to the importance of diversity in films and how the ReelAbilities Film Festival strives to make films and productions more accessible to the disabled and non-disabled communit...

Joyce and callers reflect on the life and disability rights work of the late Judy Heumann.

Joyce welcomes Samuel Estes, Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors at the Hundley Foundation and Board Director at the Bender Leadership Academy. Samuel will discuss advocacy for disenfranchised youth and children living with disabilities. We are so proud to have Sam Estes on the show, as we celebrate Black History Month.

In recognition of February as Black History Month, Joyce welcomes Evan Frazier, President, and CEO of The Advanced Leadership Institute back to the show. The Advanced Leadership Institute is an organization aimed at cultivating Black executive leadership to strengthen companies, institutions, and communities. Mr. Frazier will share the ways this organization works to build African American Leaders in the region.

Joyce welcomes Ardana Jefferson, Executive Director of the Homeless Children’s Education Fund (HCEF) to the show. The HCEF 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization was established in 1999 to support the educational needs of children experiencing homelessness in Allegheny County. Over the years, HCEF's role in the community has developed and expanded to meet these needs. HCEF relies on support from community foundations, corporations, and individuals and receives no governmental funding. Ms. Jefferson wi...

Joyce welcomes Doris Carson Williams, President & CEO from the African American Chamber of Commerce of Western PA, (AACCWP) to the show. In celebration of Black History Month, Doris will discuss the mission of the African American Chamber of Commerce, and its role in helping advance the lives of African Americans.

Joyce is honored to bring back to the show, Richard Roberts, Deputy Cultural Affairs Officer and the American Presence Officer for Northern Brazil at the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia. Mr. Roberts will introduce Guilherme Braga, CEO and Founder (Employment of People with Disabilities) of Egalite. Egalite started as a small project inside a University in Porto Alegre in the south of Brazil. They provide recruitment and consulting services for companies that want to hire people with disabilities. Mr. B...

Joyce is honored to bring back to the show, disability rights leader, Ted Kennedy, Jr. As an amputee and childhood bone cancer survivor, he has been an active leader in the disability rights and independent living movements nearly his entire life. Mr. Kennedy is Co-Chair of the Disability Equality Index (DEI), the leading corporate social responsibility, accountability, and ESG benchmarking tool that scores and tracks businesses on their disability inclusion policies and practices. During the sh...

Joyce welcomes Alisa Smith, Accessibility Evangelist, at AudioEye and Scott Hammerstrom, Manager of Programs and Partnerships with Bender Leadership Academy. The guests will discuss AudioEye’s partnership with Bender Leadership Academy as a sponsor of the DigitalAccess@Work program to increase job opportunities in the field of digital accessibility for individuals with disabilities. DigitalAccess@Work provides students with disabilities an overview of the impact of digital accessibility on the l...

Joyce welcomes Temple Grandin, Professor at Colorado State University (CSU) within the Department of Animal Science to the show. Dr. Grandin is the most celebrated adult who is autistic in the world. She is an American academician, animal consultant to the livestock industry, and author. Among the topics she will discuss will be her latest book and her first breakthrough in the treatment of livestock in a humane way that made an international impact. She will also share her passion for helping y...

Joyce is excited to start 2023 with the returning champion of competitive employment for Americans with disabilities, David Holmberg, President, and CEO of Highmark Health and Chairman of the Board, Highmark, Inc. Mr. Holmberg launched an initiative in 2020 to hire 30 people with disabilities from Bender Consulting Services to honor the 30th anniversary of the signing of the ADA, called the Highmark 30/30. He has continued this initiative, with an increased commitment for each anniversary, 31 in...

Joyce welcomes back to the show, Maria Town, President & CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD); Holly O’Donnell, President & CEO of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law; and Peri Jude Radecic, CEO, of Disability Rights Pennsylvania. The guests will discuss disability rights in 2022.

Joyce welcomes Pastors Scott Stevens, David D’Angelo, and Ryan Paskey of North Way Christian Community Church in Wexford, PA to the show. These members of the clergy for this congregation of faith will discuss their new roles within the church. In addition, they will discuss why young adults feel that they do not feel close to God while at church and have left. Finally, they will also discuss why young adults feel that they can’t address some of life’s most pressing questions while at church and...