William Kiernan, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigator
Director of the Institute for Community Inclusion
William.Kiernan@umb.edu

Dr. Kiernan has for the past 29 years served in a variety of capacities in the Institute for Community Inclusion at Children's Hospital and been a member of the faculty of the University for more than 12 years. He has served as an international consultant in seven countries in the development of adult service systems for persons with disabilities and has provided training and technical assistance in more than 45 states. Over the past fifteen years he has been the principal investigator for more than 80 federal research, training and model demonstration projects addressing the employment, recreation, inclusion and transition needs of individuals with disabilities reflecting more than 80 million dollars of public support. Dr. Kiernan has provided consultation to a number of federal agencies in the development of policies and programs that foster increased inclusion and economic self-sufficiency for persons with disabilities. He is the author of more than 120 articles and reports in the field of disabilities with a specific emphasis on employment and public policy development in adult services. In addition to holding a Ph.D. in Rehabilitation and Special Education from Boston College, he has a Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling and a second Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in Health Care Management from Boston University. He has an academic appointment in the School of Public Health at Harvard University, is an Adjunct Professor in the Graduate College of Education at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and is a faculty member in the Graduate College of Administration at Simmons College. He holds several national offices in professional and advocacy groups including Past President of the American Association on Mental Retardation.

Sheila Fesko, Ph.D., T.A. Coordinator
sheila.fesko@umb.edu

Sheila L. Fesko., is a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She has worked for the Institute for 17 years with the last ten being focused on employment and educational research. Areas of research have included national research on job search strategies for individuals with disabilities, conversion of segregated employment services to community based services and disclosure decisions for individuals who are HIV+ and individuals who have cancer. Sheila was project director for Department of Education project concerning SSI and SSDI issues for students transitioning from high school . As member of the National Center on Workforce and Disability, she has conducted research and training around issues concerning inclusion of individuals with disabilities in the workforce development systems and ensuring access to services at One-Stop Career Centers. Sheila has also worked at the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (the state vocational rehabilitation commission) and as a program manager for a community-based employment program, and is a certified rehabilitation counselor. She has her doctorate in Special Education and Rehabilitation for Boston College.

Colleen Condon, B.A., Technical Assistance Specialist
colleen.condon@umb.edu

Colleen Condon is a Training Associate at the Institute, where she provides technical assistance, training and consultation on issues surrounding employment of people with disabilities. She holds a BA in Psychology and has experience as a Senior Job Developer, Employment Training Specialist, Residential Counselor and Day Program Instructor. Her background includes writing a job seeking skills curriculum for a variety of reading abilities, facilitating a support group for individuals who are unemployed, compiling a resource directory of Boston area services, developing a Business Advisory Committee and starting a Job Developer's Networking Group to brainstorm ideas for job placement techniques. Colleen has assisted people with varying abilities in returning to the workforce and has extensively placed individuals with multiple disabilities, people with learning disabilities and persons who are homeless. She is especially interested in building employer partnerships, creative job development techniques, marketing approaches and networking strategies.

Cecilia Gandolfo, M.Ed., Lead Training Associate
cecilia.gandolfo@umb.edu

Cecilia Gandolfo has over 20 years in the rehabilitation and special education fields with a Master's Degree in Education. Her background includes experiences as a Special Education Teacher, Employment Specialist, Consultant, and co-owner of a private for-profit rehabilitation agency. During the first ten years of her career, Ms. Gandolfo worked extensively with individuals with learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, and other non-apparent disabilities. Currently, she is a Lead Training Associate at the Institute for Community Inclusion, where her responsibilities include developing, coordinating, and leading workshops related to employment for persons with disabilities. She coordinates a certificate program in Marketing and Job Development through the University of Massachusetts/Boston, as well as other grant funded projects. She has co-authored training manuals and articles on employment and disabilities and has local, national and international training exposure.

John Butterworth, Ph.D., Research & Policy Coordinator
john.butterworth@umb.edu

John Butterworth has 25 years of experience as a teacher, manager of community-based day and employment services, trainer, and researcher. He has directed projects on school-to-career transition, employment support, and disability policy. John is the Research Director for the Center on Employment and State System (RRTC) and Principal Investigator on the Administration on Development Disabilities grant for long term tracking of employment services to individuals with developmental disabilities. His areas of interest and expertise are: Areas of expertise: Employment of people with significant disabilities; disability research and policy; natural supports; person-centered planning; school-to-career transition; agency management. John's other interests include family, coaching soccer, theater, and a love of being in the mountains.

Allison Cohen, M.S., Evaluation Specialist Associate
allison.cohen@umb.edu

Allison Cohen is a Research Associate and has been actively involved in studying the impact of state policies on community based employment services for individuals with developmental disabilities. She is also participating in research to identify state and local career centers’ efforts to respond to the Workforce Investment Act and to increase their capacity to serve customers with disabilities. Allison’s previous experience includes working as a policy analyst for the Governor’s Commission on Mental Retardation. She is a doctoral student at the Heller School at Brandeis University, specializing in disability policy.

Dana Scott Gilmore, M.A., Research & Data Analyst
dana.gilmore@umb.edu

Dana Gilmore, a research associate, has been associated with the ICI for ten years. His research has been studying employment services for people with developmental disabilities that includes collecting data from state MR/DD agencies, surveys to direct providers employment services, and secondary analysis of data from the Rehabilitation Services Administration. Dana has also been involved with the ICI RRTC on state systems and employment and has developed the national state systems survey and the State Profiles web resource. Dana has been a research consultant to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and to Vocational Rehabilitation agencies in New England. He has a MA in economics from American University.

Project Personnel - Virginia Commonwealth University