Our Members continued to show the impact of disability leadership throughout the summer months. From July 1, 2025, through September 30, 2025, Disability Lead facilitated 66 impactful connections, resulting in 22 successful collaborations. Here are some of the highlights.
Professional Positions
Adam Ballard (Fellow, 2017) was named Executive Director of the Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance.
Mary Bucklin (Fellow, 2024) started a new position as a medical writer at Orthofix.
"As a medical writer at Orthofix, I will be producing clinical documentation for orthopedic medical devices. I am very excited to start my new position, as I have both a deep passion for and personal connection to the work I'll be doing to improve musculoskeletal health. Disability Lead helped me to expand my network, and it was through leveraging connections in my network that helped me to land this exciting new job!"
Maureen Burns (Fellow, 2022) graduated from Northeastern Illinois University with a Master of Public Health.
“I am proud of myself and excited to use this knowledge to support others. It’s not about how far you climb; it’s about how many people you bring with you.”
Nakia Green (Fellow, 2019) was named Global Manager of DEI Programs at HP.
Board Appointments
Zhen Heinemann (Member, 2021) was appointed to the Board at Full Spectrum Features and was named Co-Chair of the Cultural Access Collaborative’s Steering Committee.
Risa Rifkind (Fellow, 2017) was appointed to the Disability Advisory Board at The May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust.
Civic Positions
Emily Blum (Fellow, 2018) was named a member of the inaugural UpTide cohort.
“So excited, thrilled and humbled to be part of this inaugural cohort. Thank you to my Disability Lead family for always encouraging growth and learning.”
Bernardo Gomez (Fellow, 2024) was named an Obama Foundation Fellow.
“This milestone is not just mine, it is for my familia in México, who sacrificed everything so that I could pursue the opportunities they couldn’t. It is for all of us who believe in community, dignity, and hope. As a proud first-generation Latino and a person with a disability, I carry these identities as both my strength and my purpose.”
Guadalupe Pinzon (Fellow, 2025) was accepted into the Disability EmpowHer Network‘s
EmpowHer Expressions program.
Recognition / Speaking
David Gayes (Fellow, 2022) was featured on WBEZ, NPR’s Chicago affiliate.
Whitney Hill (Fellow, 2020) spoke at the Skokie Public Library’s Disability Pride Month event.
Michele Lee (Fellow, 2017) spoke at the Phase One launch of the Chicago Transit Authority’s Modernization Program.
“There's a lot going on in this world. Not all of it is good, but we have to celebrate the good things. We have to lean in, and [that day was] a good day."
Civic Networking
Adero Knott (Fellow, 2020), Bernardo Gomez (Fellow, 2024), and Grishma Shah (Fellow, 2018) were interviewed for the Children’s Defense Fund’s Limb Difference Resource Guide.