Northwest ADA Center Staff
Don Brandon
Project Director
Areas of Expertise: Don is an expert on reasonable accommodation, accessible design and implementation, and systemic program review and evaluation. He has advanced skill in mediation of ADA disputes in employment and accessibility. Don is a gifted trainer and motivator of professionals, bringing a down-to-earth style that invigorates and enlightens participants on disabilities issues.
Relevant Employment and Education: Don initiated the farthest north independent living center with Access Alaska in 1984 and served as Assistant Director of Programs at the Hawaii Independent Living Center. He served as the ADA Coordinator and Affirmative Action Officer for the University of Alaska and was serving as the Alaska State ADA Coordinator prior to working for CCER/Northwest ADA Center.
Comments about Experience and Expertise: I most enjoy training and motivating groups to think about the way they think about disability. I am not out to change people, I love to challenge their thinking and doing, so that they give themselves permission to address behaviors and attitudes that limit themselves and others. I have vast experience in accessing systems and programs, trouble shooting and brainstorming solutions and drafting and implementing training, policy, and follow-up to ascertain effectiveness of solutions identified.
Jo Fleming, Ph.D.
Program Manager Washington State
Areas of Expertise: Jo serves as the broker for Northwest ADA Center services throughout the state. She works closely with the other staff members at the Northwest ADA Center Regional Office in Mountlake Terrace. Responsibilities include production of the regional newsletter (print and email versions) and other informational products; instructional design; and curriculum development. Jo coordinates ADA training sessions in Washington and around the region, matching training needs with appropriate delivery methods and trainers.
Relevant Employment and Education: Jo completed her doctorate in Special Education at the University of Washington. She initiated the teacher certification program in severe disabilities at Louisiana State University in Shreveport, Louisiana. She spent twenty-two years in Lexington, Kentucky where she divided her time between teaching technology courses in the Special Education Department at the University of Kentucky and serving as Director of Educational Services at ORCCA Technology. ORCCA provides assistive technology products and services to persons with disabilities and electronic media training programs for professional development.
Work Skills: Jo has taught students with learning and behavioral disabilities, directed teacher training programs in severe disabilities and educational technology, and assisted government and private agencies with professional development multimedia programs. She maintains an interest in instructional and assistive technology and weaves that technology into her technical assistance and training about the Americans with Disabilities Act at the Northwest ADA Center.
Contact Jo: jof@u.washington.edu
John Dineen, M.A.
Training and Information Specialist
Areas of Expertise: John Dineen has thirteen years of experience providing training and technical assistance to community-based providers of employment services in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Alaska. His preferred topics include: Job development, Behavioral support, Job carving, Ethics and values, Career development and assessment, Long-term support, Networking with the community, and Negotiation.
Relevant Employment and Education: John has earned a M.A. in Human Development from the University of Kansas and a B.S in Pychology from Montana State University. John has also completed Ph.D. coursework in supported employment at the University of Washington. He has fifteen additional years of experience in the development and management of community-based employment services in university and community non-profit settings. John's related employment activities also include rehabilitation counseling, group home parent for children with severe behavior disorders, and service on the Board of Directors for a local non-profit.
Miranda Levy
Training and Information Specialist
Areas of Expertise: Miranda joined Northwest ADA Center as an intern in July of 2008 and became an official full-time employee in January of 2009. As a training and information specialist, Miranda provides answers to questions about accessibility, employment, transportation, and service animals with regards to the ADA. Miranda assists in creating marketing and educational materials for Northwest ADA Center. She provides training and information on such topics as Service Animals and Travel; Disability Language and Etiquette; and the ADA and Childcare. Miranda is also responsible for maintaining the Northwest ADA Center's Facebook page and Twitter account.
Relevant Experience and Education: Miranda received her Bachelor's Degree in Religion, focusing on Religious Sociology, from Whitman College in May of 2008. She is currently working on her M.A. in Rehabilitation Counseling at Western Washington University. As she finishes her coursework, Miranda is doing her Practicum at the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) in Lynnwood, Washington. Over the past several years, Miranda has become increasingly involved with the disability community through volunteer projects with Epilepsy Foundation Northwest.
Kathe Matrone, Ph.D., CRC
CCER Director
Areas of Expertise: Kathe is the Director of the Center for Continuing Education in Rehabilitation and also serves as the Program Director of the general Regional Continuing Education Program in Rehabilitation for Region 10. She has a doctorate in Rehabilitation Counselor Education from Michigan State University and is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC). Dr. Matrone has worked in the field of rehabilitation for over thirty years in Idaho, Alaska, and Washington in a variety of roles.
Barney Fleming, Ph.D., ATP
Training and Information Specialist
Areas of Expertise: Barney has extensive knowledge and skills in areas of rehabilitation engineering and assistive technology. He specializes in human factors engineering and ergonomics as applied to job accommodation, universal design of products and facilities, accessibility of web technologies and multimedia, adaptive computer technology, and augmentative and alternative communication.
Relevant Employment and Education: Barney has a doctorate in Physiology and Biophysics from the University of Iowa. Prior to joining Northwest ADA Center, Barney was a practicing rehabilitation engineer and principal investigator for a number of research, training, technical assistance and direct service projects involving the application of assistive technology across the lifespan and in multiple environments. He served as Training Director for the Human Development Institute (HDI) at the University of Kentucky overseeing the Graduate Certificate in Developmental Disabilities. He was an Associate Professor in the Center for Biomedical Engineering, has seventeen years experience as a rehabilitation engineering consultant for the Kentucky Office of Vocational Rehabilitation and was adjunct faculty member of the Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine.
Conrad Kuehn, M.A.
Web, IT and Technical Assistance Specialist
Areas of Expertise: Conrad started working for the Northwest ADA Center on the very first day, answering the technical assistance hotline and helped move the Northwest ADA Center into action. Conrad devotes 70% of his time to the Northwest ADA Center and provides Web, IT and technical assistance expertise. He also provides distance learning via the Internet and telecommunication channels. Another of Conrad's contributions is the database that is essential to the reporting of daily technical assistance and training contacts.
Relevant Experience and Education: He earned a Masters Degree in Psychology/Human Resource Development from Antioch University and is in the process of completing a Ph.D. in Administration from Walden University. In his desire to "live in many locations," Conrad went through an amazing number of job titles in just as many cities. He not only taught high school social science in Pennsylvania, but was also a construction worker there. He enjoyed the hotel business in Phoenix, Helena, Missoula, and Steamboat Springs. His computer expertise arose from his jobs as manager of computer systems in high rise hotels in St. Louis and Seattle.
Sara Woody, MPA
BluePath Coordinator
Areas of Expertise: Sara is the Coordinator of the Northwest ADA Center's BluePath program. Sara surveys facilities for accessibility, provides technical assistance, and educates businesses about barriers and alternative accessibility features. She has been researching marketing trends of people with disabilities and using social media to outreach and positively engage the business and disability communities. Her work also includes updating the BluePath website with tools, links, videos, and information on the ADA and hospitality, while Tweeting about hot topics in the disability world.
Relevant Experience and Education: Sara serves as Treasurer for Mental Health Action, a grassroots, consumer-run advocacy organization. She has also been elected to serve on the Seattle Commission for People with Disabilities, which has been newly established to provide information to the Mayor, City Council, and other City departments concerning issues of importance to people with disabilities. Prior to joining the Northwest ADA Center, Sara worked at The Village Integrated Services Agency in Long Beach, CA for seven years, training mental health professionals, law enforcement, policy makers, students, consumers, and community members on best practices in mental health recovery.
Christine Clark
Continuing Education Coordinator
Areas of Expertise: Christine officially joined the CCER team in October of 2009. As the Continuing Education Coordinator, Christine supports both the Northwest ADA Center and TACE grants. Christine provides technical assistance about the ADA through the Northwest ADA Center’s disability hotline. She also provides presentations to the community on topics such as Disability Language and Etiquette. Christine also creates surveys, assists in accounting, and organizes CCER training events.
Relevant Experience and Education: Before coming to work full-time at CCER, Christine worked as a para educator for Everett Public Schools. Christine implemented behavioral management plans for students, assisted in the implementation of IEPs for students with a variety of disabilities in a special education setting, and provided behavioral support for teachers in Math, History, Art, and English classes. Earlier in her career, Christine worked at Work Opportunities. Christine supervised adults with disabilities at Work Opportunities, created training materials, and implemented work sites for employment training for consumers.