Juliet Fried, Ed.D., CRC, CVE is a Professor of Human Rehabilitative Services in the School of Human Sciences at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) in Greeley, CO.  In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in rehabilitation counseling, vocational evaluation/assessment, and human services, Dr. Fried has been Project Director for various training and research grants, and served as Chair of the Department of Human Services and Executive Director of the Rehabilitative Services Clinic during her years at UNC.  Her professional experience also includes employment as a vocational evaluator, vocational evaluation supervisor, rehabilitation counselor, and director of a comprehensive career development center.  Dr. Fried has a doctorate in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Northern Colorado and a master’s degree in Vocational Rehabilitation with a specialty in Vocational Evaluation from the University of Wisconsin-Stout.  In addition to publishing a number of articles and making numerous presentations on a variety of rehabilitation topics, she has a lengthy history of involvement in professional organizations at the local, state, regional and national levels.  Juliet developed a strong interest in the area of disability benefits a few years ago, thanks to John Lui.  She served as his major research advisor for his doctoral study on the role and function of disability benefits specialists.  During her last sabbatical, she focused on studying and researching more about this area as she believes that disability benefits analysis and counseling must be given a wider audience within the rehabilitation field. 

John W. Lui, Ph.D, MBA, CRC, is the Executive Director of the University of Wisconsin-Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute.  He has had many leadership roles with the National Rehabilitation Association (NRA) and its professional divisions; and the Certified Disability Management Specialist Commission (CDMSC). He is currently a member of the Advisory Panel on Medicare Education and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services.  He has presented nationally and internationally and published extensively in the areas of benefits counseling, managed care, case management, ethics, disability management, absence management, health and productivity management, aging, and work-life planning. 

Shanti Aaron is currently the Manager for SSA programs and Customer Service at Georgia Department of Vocational Rehabilitation Services. Her responsibilities include oversight of Ticket to Work and the larger of the two WIPA projects in Georgia. Ms. Aaron has been working in the field of Vocational Rehabilitation for over 25 years in a variety of positions including Program administration for the past 12 years.  She is a graduate of UW-Stout with a Masters in Vocational Rehabilitation and holds a post graduate certification in Management.

Ron Swain has provided Benefits Planning and Analysis to over 8000 beneficiaries throughout Ohio in his 18 year career in the benefits field. He was instrumental in educating Ohio legislators regarding the need for Medicaid Buy-In for Workers with Disabilities and has provided formal benefits analyses on a fee-for-service basis to the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation and the Bureau of Services for the Visually Impaired consumers in 82 of Ohio’s 88 counties. He previously directed three Social Security Administration cooperative agreements for COVA covering 50 counties. Ron is currently the Senior Benefits Analyst for the Fairfield County Board of Developmental Disabilities in Lancaster, Ohio and continues to provide benefits consultation/analysis for BVR and BSVI throughout the state. He is a Past-President of the Ohio Rehabilitation Association, has attended the National Rehabilitation Association’s annual Governmental Affairs Summit over a 12-year time frame and continues to serve on the board of the National Association of Disability Benefits Specialists. Ron is a recognized leader in the benefits planning field and presents at local, state and national conferences including the United States Psychosocial Rehabilitation Association and the National Rehabilitation Association. He is a Social Security Administration certified Community Work Incentives Coordinator and works closely with Social Security claims representatives, Plan for Achieving Self Support specialists and Area Work Incentives Coordinators to provide accurate, practical benefits analyses and work incentives.

Before obtaining a joint appointment at the Institute on Disability and The Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire, Tobey Partch-Davies served for six years as founding director of the Center for Community Economic Development & Disability at Southern New Hampshire University, where she served as Principal Investigator for a sub-study of a National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) funded Asset Accumulation and Tax Policy Project; the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) funded Living with Independence, Freedom & Equality (LIFE) Project, and the Principal Investigator for several CMS funded sub-studies for New Hampshire’s Medicaid Infrastructure Grant. Dr. Partch-Davies is the Principal Investigator for the experimentally designed REAL Opportunity Study, a NIDRR funded Asset Accumulation and Economic Self Sufficiency Study in partnership with the Burton Blatt Institute of Syracuse University. She is the Principal Investigator for the New Hampshire Medicaid Buy In Utilization project in partnership with Mathematica Policy Research, the co-Principal Investigator for the Employment Infrastructure Evaluation, and the project manager for the Employment Indicator System, a multi-system, web-based, quality improvement tracking system for the employment development of people with disabilities, all sub-studies affiliated with New Hampshire’s Medicaid Infrastructure Grant. Dr. Partch-Davies has extensive experience implementing systems change efforts in the area of asset building and community economic development. She received an Ph.D. in Community Economic Development & Policy from Southern New Hampshire University-School of Community Economic Development and a M.S. in Community Economic Development from New Hampshire College.

Cayte Anderson

Joe Entwisle

 Paul Andrew is the Managing Director for the Employment and Community Services Customer Services Unit for the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF).  He has over 40 years of personal and professional experience with individuals who have disabilities and challenges to employment as well as 15 years in the management, coordination, and administration of public and privately funded vocational rehabilitation programs. He graduated from the College of Education at the University of Arizona and has a master's degree from the University of Wisconsin.  His role at CARF is to facilitate the development of market driven accreditation standards and approaches, which help to continuously improve services to consumers, enhance organizational design, and improve reponsiveness to community stakeholders. Paul is formerly a provider of services and trainer for the University of San Francisco, McLaren College of Business, providing training and technical assistance to over 5,000 organizations and individuals each year in the United States and Canada. 

Joe Entwisle, MS, began working as a Senior Policy Analyst for Health and Disability Advocates (HDA) and the National Consortium for Health Systems Development (NCHSD) in 2005.  He provides training and technical assistance to states regarding policy and programmatic initiatives related to Medicaid and Medicaid Buy-In programs, SSI, vocational rehabilitation, benefits planning programs and technology, asset building/development, inclusive public policymaking, transportation, and assistive technology.  He previously worked on the Bridges to Work Project at the University of Wisconsin's Waisman Center as a Senior Policy Analyst with project development and management responsibilities.  He also created and implemented the first automated comprehensive benefits offset software.  Joe was formerly the Executive Director of the Wisconsin State Independent Living Center, responsible for coordinating federal, state, and local resources and implementation of the state plan for independent living.  He has also worked for the state's Department of Health Services Pathways to Independence Project.  Joe has valuable field experience as a benefits specialist/employment consultant, substance abuse mental health counselor, clubhouse counselor, and state vocational rehabilitation counselor.

David Rosenthal, Ph.D, CRC, is Chairperson of the Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Prior to joining the faculty at UW-Madison in 2002, Dr. Rosenthal was an assistant professor at Penn State University for three years and was at UW-Stout for five years. Dr. Rosenthal attained his Ph.D at the UW-Madison in Rehabilitation Psychology in 1993.  He has worked as a rehabilitation counselor, vocational placement specialist, and a vocational consultant in the private sector, an expert witness in workers' compensation litigations, and a special educator/program director.  Dr. Rosenthal has over 50 published or in press articles and chapters pertaining to rehabilitation psychology.  He has been the Principal Investigator (PI), Co-PI, and author on several reserach and training projects funded by the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation research (NIDRR), and Medicaid Infrastructure Grants (MIG).

Sheila Stoeckel, Community Work Incentive Coordinator with Iowa Work Incentive Planning and Assistance Project covering the state of Iowa.  Prior to this position, she was employed as a Disability Program Navigator for 4 years with Iowa Workforce Development.  Sheila has previous experience as a Benefit Planner and 27 years of administrative and direct care service experience working with individuals with a variety of disabilities and mental health issues.  She has a Bachelors Degree in Human Services and Psychology from Buena Vista University.  Sheila has a Master’s Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from Drake University and credentialed as a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC).  She has also received in-depth and on-going training on Social Security rules, work incentives, Medicaid for Employed People with Disabilities (MEPD), and other state and local supports.  Sheila also serves as a board member with the National Association of Disability Benefit Specialist (NADBS).