Members Vote Electronically
Five Board Members Announced at
Sept. 15 Annual Conference
Soon, NENA members will receive a personal email with instructions on how to vote electronically for 5 NENA Board positions. You can scroll down the page to learn more about the 7 candidates who are running for 5 Director positions. And we have a page on our interactive website for campaigning. It's not too late to join NENA and vote on NENA's first elected Board. Click here to join NENA now!
Here's how the election works.
This is NENA's second annual Board election. Five Board positions that have completed 1-year terms are now up for election to the NENA standard 3-year terms. Those positions had 1-year terms last year to help ensure staggered terms so that future elections will always install four or five new Directors, as NENA is doing in this election.
All 5 current Directors have volunteered to serve again if elected. Another 2 NENA members have also volunteered to serve if elected. We're excited about the quality people on this ballot, and we think you will be, too! Candidates are listed alphabetically. Click here for NENA'S COMMUNITY INTERACTIVE PAGE for discussion about candidates.
Olivia Clawson, MSR, CWIC New Candidate, is the owner of national EN Employ-Ability LLC based in Arkansas. In her 15 years supporting people with disabilities, Clawson started micro loan programs for self-employment and homeownership, raised over $2 million for the first accessible and green building in Arkansas, managed and provided quality assurance for Medicaid waiver community based supports and served in various capacities to enhance the lives of people with disabilities throughout Arkansas and beyond. Her primary interests are the provision of quality vocational supports, pre and post employment, systems advocacy and educating beneficiaries about Social Security work incentives and reporting.
Charlene Dwyer, EdD Incumbent Director. In her 9th year as Administrator of the Wisconsin Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, Charlene is responsible for 300 staff, annual services to more than 25,000 VR customers and a budget in excess of $70 million. She has advocated for a healthy Ticket Program, presented VR perspectives to the Ticket Advisory Panel and Congress, is well-connected with national VR consensus-making through CSAVR Ticket Program activities and is the current CSAVR Treasurer.
Dave Gadaire Incumbent Director, Dave is Executive Director of CareerPoint, a non-profit One Stop Career Center serving consumers in western Massachusetts. CareerPoint was the first One Stop to become an EN and report a 'found employment'. CareerPoint has received numerous awards and honors including the National Alliance for Business' Career Center of the year. Disability advocate, testified in Congress on the benefits of the Ticket program and the inclusion of the Navigator and beni-plan.
Thomas J. Linder, MS, CRC Incumbent Director, is the owner of Linder Consulting, a private voc rehab counseling, disability management and ergonomics consulting firm located in Oakland, CA. For-profit EN serving California consumers. Tom has over 30 years of experience in the field of vocational rehabilitation, including extensive work with disabled federal and private employees, disabled veterans and SSA Beneficiaries. Involved in the Ticket program since its inception in 1999.
Jennifer Linnabary New Candidate, is Employment Coordinator for the Project SEARCH employment network of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC). Linnabary has assisted several Project SEARCH sites in becoming ENs. The CCHMC program also is acting as “EN of Record” for many Project Search replication sites, performing administrative functions including billing. Replication sites can focus on client services and job placement, avoiding the burden of administrative staff and infrastructure. Altogether, Project SEARCH has 140 ENs or replication sites.
Alan Stapleton, MBA NENA Secretary, is President of Rewards for Working Inc., a national EN for 4 years. They have over 2,000 Tickets assigned and are among the fastest-growing ENs in the program. He founded RFW in 2006 after retiring from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) as Assistant Director. During his 33 years with GAO, he evaluated the effectiveness of many government programs. This GAO experience has helped Alan in working closely with NENA members and top SSA officials to improve the Ticket program. He became interested in the Ticket program because his son has a disability yet no longer needs disability benefits because of his employment.
Pam Walker Incumbent Director. Pam is founder and CEO of Alliance Professional Services LLC, a for-profit national EN currently serving consumers in 30 states. Pam worked over 20 years with both small businesses and major corporations (including FedEx) managing multi-million dollar organizational, systems, and human resource projects. Duties included preparation of training programs and evaluation/ modification of policies, procedures, and systems to simplify and streamline processes, resulting in reduced time and paperwork and increased revenue. In addition to NENA, Pam has held executive leadership roles with volunteer organizations including the Tenn-Ark-Miss Girl Scout Council, Mississippi Jaycee Women, DeSoto County Junior Miss Scholarship Program, and other organizations.