Speakers
Steven will be talking about how businesses can more actively recruit people with disabilities.
Steven Aylward is currently a Regional Leader of the Berlin Office of Vocational rehabilitation. He has worked with the agency for 14 years, 10 of which as a counselor providing employment services to VR participants and businesses. Prior to his time with VR, he worked for Work Opportunities Unlimited as a job placement specialist, providing direct placement of VR participants into paid and competitive jobs. His experience is rounded out by working with at-risk students and students with disabilities at 2 different public high schools in Plymouth and Lincoln NH, and assisted his family in operating a small restaurant in the White Mountains where he currently raises his 2 teenage children.
Benjamin Adams
Director of Workforce Development & Youth Transitional Services
Easterseals New Hampshire
Benjamin will be discussing what accommodations can be made in the workplace.
Benjamin Adams is the Director of Workforce Development and Youth Transitional Services at Easterseals New Hampshire. Benjamin believes that when afforded the right opportunity and support, everyone can succeed in employment, and that work can provide much more than financial gain. Born in southern Maine and a graduate of Colby-Sawyer College, Benjamin worked five years in special education in public schools prior to joining Easterseals NH where he has spent the past 15 years supporting individuals in achieving personal goals and obtaining employment.
Isadora will be talking what accommodations can/should be made for caregivers of people with disabilities.
Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre has been the Executive Director at the NH Council on Developmental Disabilities since 2016. She holds a master’s degree in social work and for many years worked in New York City providing homeless prevention, re-housing, and employment services to very low-income community residents and veterans in crisis. With a passion for social justice and a background in supporting individuals and families in advocacy and accessing supports and services for community inclusion, Isadora promotes the idea that people with disabilities be at the forefront of conversations related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and access.
Panelists
When Suzanne Foley started a pretzel business in New Hampshire in 2015, she had no idea the success of her company and that she’d be selling her product across the country. The entrepreneur, whose business she founded after she lost her executive job, is a community leader in Portsmouth and hires her staff which is primarily comprised of disadvantaged and disabled workers. She produces thousands of cases of pretzels from her production facility located in Portsmouth NH using a time-honored family recipe that is born out of love. Suzanne has won many awards for Port City Pretzels including the Women Owned Small Business of the Year Award, as well as recognition for her values-based business approach, earning a Disability Inclusive Business label. She started a brand from scratch, infused with everything she believes is important in life.
Adam R. Hamilton
Co-Founder and COO
Shire’s Naturals
Adam R. Hamilton brings a wealth of experience from the banking and finance world into the heart of New England’s vibrant plant-based food scene. At Shire’s Naturals, a health and wellness-focused, dairy-free cheese and food company, Adam’s primary focus is on steering the sales and marketing efforts. His knack for crafting impactful strategies and nurturing pivotal retail partnerships has been instrumental in scaling the company’s reach and influence.
Alongside his husband and founder, Joshua D. Velasquez, Adam transitioned from his roots in Charlestown, Rhode Island, where lessons learned in his family’s garden and his grandfather’s restaurant fueled his passion for health-conscious living.
Shire’s Naturals was recently recognized by New Hampshire Business for Social Responsibility for hiring workers who have autism.
Jeff Symes
Co-Founder
Unified + Inclusive Arts
Jeff Symes has worked in the disability support system in New Hampshire for more than 15 years, from direct support to service coordination/case management. Working with participants in that support system, colleagues, and community members, he helped found U+I Arts as a community group to work and create in collaboration outside the system. The hope is for a group that acts as a Third Space for people with and without disabilities to meet and learn from each other and create art and aesthetic experiences that reflect our lives and tell the stories of our communities.
Jonathan DaSilva
Senior Manager, Workforce Initiatives New England
CVS Health
Jonathan Dasilva is committed to helping people find meaningful careers through innovative partnerships and specialized training programs. The CVS Health Workforce Initiatives team is a unique team of individuals whose purpose is to help people on their path to better health by cultivating innovative partnerships and programs that attract and equip diverse talent for dynamic and rewarding careers with CVS Health.
Jon has led efforts to develop award-winning pharmacy technician training and management training programs in colleges, high schools and community agencies throughout New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine & Massachusetts.
A strong advocate of diversity and inclusion, Jon who lives in Nashua NH, is an alumnus of Middlesex Community College and Greater Lowell Technical High School. He currently serves on a number of local and national advisory councils focused on creating sustainable pipelines of employment for individuals who are unemployed / underemployed, persons with disabilities and youth.
