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Keynote and Plenary SpeakersJAN invites keynote speakers who are dynamic, inspirational, and who promote building an inclusive workforce. The 2007 conference will include key officials and experts who are knowledgeable about the employability of persons with disabilities. The developing list of confirmed keynote speakers includes: Karen Czarnecki, the Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Office of Disability Employment Policy, U.S. Department of Labor Michael Stein, Cabell Research Professor of Law, William & Mary Law School. Professor in Residence, Harvard Law School Leslie Milk, Author, Lifestyle Editor, Washingtonian Magazine Dinah Cohen, Director, Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP), U.S. Department of Defense Ronald W. Drach, Director, Government and Legislative Affairs, Veterans’ Employment and Training Service, U.S. Department of Labor Christine M. Griffin, Commissioner, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) A plenary session will include a panel of experts from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), who will be available to address your ADA and reasonable accommodation questions. These panel members include:
Karen Czarnecki Karen Czarnecki is the Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Office of Disability Employment Policy. U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao appointed Ms. Czarnecki to that position on July 2, 2007. Ms. Czarnecki joined the Labor Department in June of 2001, and in June 2003 she was appointed Director of the Office of the 21st Century Workforce. In addition, she serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Intergovernmental Affairs and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Office of Disability Employment Policy. Ms. Czarnecki carries out the vision put forward by President Bush and Secretary Chao of a prepared workforce to meet the needs of both workers and their employers. Prior to joining the Labor Department, Ms. Czarnecki was the Director of the Civil Justice and Health and Human Services Task Forces at the American Legislative Exchange Council. She also held positions focusing on federal-executive branch relations and state and local governments at the Heritage Foundation, served as Director of Lectures and Seminars, and oversaw the Heritage Job Bank, filling vacancies on Capitol Hill, in think tanks, and in the private sector. Ms. Czarnecki's prior government experience includes service in the Reagan White House, and in the Administration of President George H.W. Bush as a Special Assistant to Vice President Quayle for Domestic Policy and Public Liaison. In over two decades in public policy, she has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, Canadian Public Broadcasting, and C-SPAN. For almost eleven years, in her personal capacity, she has appeared regularly on To the Contrary, Public Broadcasting System’s women’s public-affairs program. Karen M. Czarnecki received a Juris Doctorate from the Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in World Politics from Catholic University, as well. She is a graduate of the Institute for Comparative Political and Economic Systems of the Fund for American Studies in conjunction with Georgetown University. Michael Stein An internationally recognized disability rights expert, Professor Stein is participating in the drafting of a United Nations disability human rights treaty, and consults with international governments on their disability laws and policies. He serves on several disability rights advisory boards and blue ribbon panels advising disability-related empirical studies. Stein also acts as a legal advisor to Rehabilitation International and to the Special Olympics. He is currently an American Bar Association Commissioner on Mental and Physical Disability Law. Professor Stein is the recipient of an American Council of Learned Societies Andrew W. Mellon Faculty Fellowship, a Mark DeWolfe Howe Fund Grant, a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend, and a National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research Merit Fellowship. He has been a fellow in both the East Asian Legal Studies Program and the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School. Professor Stein’s scholarship has been published in leading journals, including Boston College Law Review, California Law Review, Chicago Law Review, Duke Law Journal, Iowa Law Review, Michigan Law Review, Stanford Law Review, Vanderbilt Law Review, and Virginia Law Review.
Leslie Milk is also the author of the book, It’s Her Wedding But I’ll Cry If I Want To, a survival guide for the mother of the bride published by Rodale Press in February 2005. She has concluded that managing a wedding is much harder than managing Michael Jordan. Milk and Washingtonian National Editor Harry Jaffe were the recipients of the gold medal for investigative journalism from the City and Regional Magazine Association and the Dateline Award from the Washington chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists. She has been honored twice by the American Association of University Women. Previously, Milk was a weekly columnist for the Washington Post and the Journal newspapers. Her columns won two awards from the American Association of University women. She was also honored for journalistic excellence by Capital Press Women. Leslie Milk has written for national magazines including Glamour, Shape, and Woman’s Day. She has appeared on Nightline, ABC’s Turning Point series, Entertainment Tonight, CNN, and BBC news. Milk is popular speaker on women’s issues, disability rights, and the comedy of Washington life. “If Jane Austen was alive and well, she’d have my job,” Milk says.. She has lectured at several colleges including at the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard, Bryn Mawr, Miami Dade Community College. She has also addressed groups ranging from the Department of Justice to the Army staff at Fort Monmouth to the Women’s Auxiliary of the Salvation Army to Hadassah. A part-time playwright, Milk’s comedy about a senior-citizen community was produced by professional theaters in Virginia, Maryland, Cleveland, Columbus, and Pittsburgh. She also wrote Woman Spends Year in Labor based on her experiences as press officer in the Labor Department. It was produced in Washington, DC. In 1990, she received the S. Robert Cohen Award from the Jewish Foundation
for Group Homes for her ongoing work for people with disabilities. Dinah F. B. Cohen
Under Ms. Cohen's leadership, CAP received the 2006 Freedom to Compete Award from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. CAP has also received Telework in the Federal Government Conference Leadership Award for 2004 sponsored by Potomac Forum, Ltd., the 2004 Best New Communications Ability Award, and three 2004 Horizon Interactive Awards. Ms. Cohen is the recipient of the Fred Strache Leadership Award sponsored by the California State University, Northridge Center on Disabilities, the Federal 100 Award, and the DoD Exceptional Civilian Service Award for her leadership, impact on the development, acquisition and management of information technology in the Federal government. Ms. Cohen is an international speaker on disability policy, reasonable accommodations, accessibility and information technology and its impact on employment of people with disabilities. She continues to serve on numerous interagency, accessibility committees and conference groups. Ms. Cohen is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor. She received her Master's of Science degree in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in rehabilitation counseling from the State University of New York. She also holds a BS in Social Science/Elementary Education from Russell Sage College in Troy, New York.
Ronald W. Drach is th Director, Government and Legislative Affairs, Veterans’ Employment and Training Service, U.S. Department of Labor After losing a leg in Vietnam combat, Ron Drach left the U.S. Army in 1967 with a Purple Heart and some broken dreams. But the medically retired sergeant soon found a new purpose for his life as he began working to help his fellow disabled veterans. Following two and a half years with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), he joined the professional staff of the Disabled American Veterans in 1970. Beginning in the DAV’s Pittsburgh office, Ron rapidly rose to become the organization’s National Employment Director in 1975. He was the first Vietnam veteran to be appointed as a Director among DAV’s ranks. In this post, he established a reputation he maintains today as one of the nation’s foremost authorities on employment issues affecting veterans and others whose lives have been affected by disabilities. Ron’s responsibilities led him to provide significant input into America’s response to the needs of veterans affected by post-traumatic stress disorder, homelessness, racial and gender discrimination, and other socio-economic issues. He became a leading voice on questions involving Social Security disability benefits, as well as efforts to remove barriers that impede the lives and employment of persons with disabilities. Many times throughout his career, Ron has appeared before Congressional committees, offering expertise and recommendations for legislative change. Since leaving the DAV, Ron has been employed by the Labor Department’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS). He is currently the Director of Government and Legislative Affairs. He is responsible for working with Congressional staff, the Department’s Office of the Solicitor and others within the Department of Labor on all legislative employment issues that affect the Departments of Labor, Veterans Affairs and Defense. Over the years, Ron served on any number of commissions established by the VA, Labor Department, congressional committees, and others involved in enhancing the lives of disabled veterans and other people with disabilities. He has also served on the governing boards of the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, the National Coalition of Homeless Veterans, and others. High-profile volunteer activity has included service as a Team Leader for the U.S. Paralympics Sitting Volleyball Team that competed in the International Paralympics competition in 2000 in Sydney, Australia. Ron lives in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., with his wife, Carolyn, a financial analyst for the Federal Reserve. They have two adult daughters, Tiffany and Amber.
Christine M. Griffin was sworn in on January 3, 2006, as a Commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Ms. Griffin was nominated by President George W. Bush on July 28, 2005, and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on November 4 to serve the remainder of a five-year term expiring July 1, 2009. As one of five members of the Commission, Ms. Griffin participates with other Commissioners on all matters which come before it, including the development and approval of enforcement policies, authorization of litigation, issuance of Commissioners’ charges of discrimination, and performance of such other functions as may be authorized by law, regulation, or order. Ms. Griffin’s work experience in labor and employment law includes positions in both the public and private sectors. Most recently, she served as the Executive Director of the Disability Law Center in Boston from 1996 to 2005. The Law Center provides legal advocacy on disability issues that promote the fundamental rights of all people with disabilities to participate fully and equally in the social and economic life of Massachusetts. As Executive Director, she provided leadership for the Law Center’s 25 employees and conducted its overall management, including programmatic and fiscal planning, priority setting and implementation, and fundraising. Prior to that, Ms. Griffin served from 1995 to 1996 as an Attorney Advisor to the former Vice Chair of the EEOC, Paul M. Igasaki, advising him on legal matters and policy issues. Ms. Griffin’s other federal work experience includes serving in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Army. A native of Boston, Ms. Griffin is a graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and served as its Interim President from 1993 to 1994. She is also a graduate of Boston College Law School and, upon graduation, was awarded a Skadden Arps Fellowship at the Disability Law Center. Ms. Griffin has served on many boards and task forces, including the national Social Security Administration Ticket to Work Advisory Panel, the Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council, and the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education. In December 2005, Ms. Griffin was selected as one of the nation’s eleven “Lawyers of the Year” by Lawyers Weekly USA newspaper.
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Michael
Stein holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a Ph.D. from Cambridge
University. Currently the Cabell Research Professor of
Law at William & Mary Law School, he has also taught at Harvard, New
York University, and Stanford law schools. Before joining W&M
in 2000, Stein clerked for United States Supreme Court Justice Samuel
A. Alito Jr. (while on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals), and practiced
law with Sullivan & Cromwell in New York. During that time, he
served as president of the National Disabled Bar Association, and
pro bono counsel for the United States Department of Justice’s
Environmental Division and the Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile
Rights Division. 
Leslie Milk is the Lifestyle Editor of The Washingtonian. She has
written about subjects ranging from caring for aging parents to Washington’s
most powerful women and from managing Michael Jordan to losing weight.
Dinah
F. B. Cohen is the Director for the Department of Defense (DoD)
Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP). Ms. Cohen works
closely with senior leadership throughout the Federal sector to
ensure employees, beneficiaries, and members of the public with
disabilities have equal access to Federal services and employment.
Over 50,000 requests for accommodations have been filled since CAP's
inception in 1990. On June 19, 2001, President George W. Bush visited
the CAP Technology Evaluation Center (CAPTEC) at the Pentagon. President
Bush was accompanied by the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld,
and Dinah Cohen. In the past year, Ms. Cohen has initiated a program
to provide assistive technology and accommodation support to wounded
service members.
