The Bottom Line of Disabilities: The Landscape of Disabilities: Past, Present, and Future

This symposium convenes expert panelists, corporate and civic leaders, advocates, and industry professionals to discuss the impact disabilities have in our communities. It is an opportunity to have candid conversations about the innovative ways we can tackle the pressing social, financial, and economic issues related to disabilities. Panelists will include a cross section of business and community leaders to discuss the role that governmental entities, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, researchers, businesses, educators, the media, and nonprofits play in facilitating and advancing opportunities for individuals with disabilities.

New this year! Join us Thursday evening, March 22nd for the Peek Award for Disability in Media.
The Bottom Line of Disabilities symposium will be held in conjunction with the Utah Film Society for the Peek Award for Disability in Media. The award is named after Kim Peek, who was the inspiration for Dustin Hoffman’s character in the Oscar-winning move Rain Man. Kim Peek was a Salt Lake resident, and his father Fran Peek was a founding parent of Columbus. The annual award honors a subject, director, or actor in a film that has helped to improve the public’s understanding of disability in society.

Attendees of The Landscape of Disabilities: Past, Present, and Future can receive credit from the following organizations:

• AFCPE Post Certification (5 credits)
• CFP Board (5 CE credit hours)

Click here to view and download the program handout from this event.

Event Contacts

• Angie Kendzior, akendzior@columbusserves.org, 801-580-7614
• Monica Owen, mowen@columbusserves.org, 385-715-5375

 

Agenda

Thursday, March 22, 7:00 – 9:30 p.m.
Peek Award for Disability and screening of Dina, 2017 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize
Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center
138 Broadway (300 South), Salt Lake City, UT
Click here for more information about “Dina” and the Peek Award.

 

Friday, March 23, 7:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Bottom Line of Disabilities Symposium
Columbus Community Center
3495 South West Temple, Salt Lake City, UT

7:30 – 8:00 a.m. | Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:00 – 8:10 a.m. | Welcome

• Michael Drury, Chairman Emeritus , Global Interdependence Center
• Kristy Chambers, CEO, Columbus Community Center

8:10 – 8:30 a.m. | Keynote Address

• Barry Morrow, Oscar-award winning screenwriter of the Rain Main. How the Rain Man Changed the Discussion of Disabilities.
  In 1988, Barry Morrow won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Rain Main. Several of Morrow’s scripts are inspired by real people, especially people with disabilities and/or extraordinary talents. These include the savant played by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man, inspired by the real savant Kim Peek, and mentally disabled Bill Sackter, played by Mickey Rooney in the TV movie Bill. Both works received writing Oscar, Emmy and other awards for Morrow and for the actors who portrayed them. Morrow gave his Oscar statuette as a gift to Kim Peek. Morrow wrote CBS’s Bill: On His Own (1983), and his relationship with Sackter is presented in the feature length 2008 documentary A Friend Indeed – The Bill Sackter Story.

8:30 – 9:30 a.m. | Session I: Looking at the Past and Future of Families, Parenting, and Disabilities
There is a long and storied history of disability rights beginning in the early fifties when families began challenging the status quo of institutionalizing children and adults with disabilities. Families have ultimately been the strongest voices in advocating for their children, which in turn has been codified into laws, regulations, and practices that have protected some of the most vulnerable among us. This session looks at the difference families have made in past decades and some of the challenges they face in years to come.

• Terrell Dougan, author of That Went Well: Adventures Caring for My Sister, When Siblings Become the Caretakers: Multi-Generational Challenges for Families
• Carmen Pingree, Parent and Autism Advocate, A Model of Education for Families and Communities: Lesson I’ve Learned as a Parent, Advocate, and Educator
• Jordan and Heather Callister, Parents and Advocates: “Negotiating the Landscape of Disabilities Services as a New Parent”
• Moderator: William McMahon, Chair, Department of Psychiatry, University of Utah

9:30 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. | Break

9:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. | Session II: Tax Reform and the Economy: An Update from Top Economic and Financial Experts
Tax reform and the impact on the economy and our communities is headline news, and as the tax reform package continues to unfold, individuals, businesses, and communities will have a better idea of the impacts both positive and negative. Join this distinguished panel of economists who will have timely updates on tax reform and the economy.

• David Kotok, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer, Cumberland Advisors
• Megan Greene, Managing Director and Chief Economist, Manulife
• Thomas McLoughlin, Managing Director, UBS Financial Services
• Ginger Chinn, Managing Director of Urban & Rural Business Services, Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development
• Moderator: Michael Drury, Chairman Emeritus , Global Interdependence Center

10:45 – 11:45 a.m. | Session III: Innovations in Social Impact Investing and Disabilities: What We are Learning from Employers
In July 2017, the Sorenson Impact Center awarded Columbus a “Pay for Success” feasibility study grant that is focused on employing individuals with autism, a demographic that is facing an 80% unemployment rate, the highest of any “at-risk” demographic. This is the first “Pay for Success” grant awarded nationally to an agency that is taking a closer look at the issue from the employers’ point of view—trying to achieve a better understanding of why employers aren’t tapping into the talent of this workforce during a time of low unemployment. The panel will give an update on research results and what the future might hold for employers and individuals with autism.

• Tyler Hardy, Engagement Manager, Cicero Group: Employer Interviews: Initial Findings on How Employers View Disabilities and Autism in the Workplace
• Genevieve Smith, Chief Data Manager, Columbus, How Data Translates in a Nonprofit: Columbus’s Use of Evidence-Based Methodology
• Nick Fritz, Senior Associate, Sorenson Impact Center, A Summary of the Pay for Success Grant and the Collaboration with Columbus
• John Davis, PhD, Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology, University of Utah, Bridging Applied Research and Pay for Success Projects
• Moderator: Chad Salvadore, Chief Financial Officer, Sorenson Impact

11:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Lunch

• James Lee Sorenson, Founder, Sorenson Impact Center

12:30 – 1:30 p.m. | Session IV: Business Leaders Share Their Social Enterprise Models
Individuals with disabilities face a 65% unemployment rate, and even in a robust economy with a very low unemployment rate, that statistic doesn’t vary in any significant way. Businesses, social entrepreneurs, and families are finding creative and innovative ways to employ individuals with disabilities—ranging from large corporations to neighborhood business owners. They will share their successes, challenges, and lessons learned.

• Kevin Williams, Columbus Board Member and Principal, RGK Innovations, When an Entrepreneur Partners with a Social Enterprise: Lessons Learned
• Bill Morris, CEO and Founder, Blue Star Recyclers, When Mixing Missions Works: Electronic Recycling and Hiring Individuals with Disabilities
• Cherissa Alldredge, Co-Chair, Utah Business Leaders Network: Best Practices for Inclusion of Individuals with Disabilities in the Competitive Workplace
• Tara Cunningham, CEO, Specialisterne, How the Dandelion Model Helps Tech Companies Leverage the Talents of Individuals with Autism
• Heidi Nelson, Founder and Owner, Howdy’s Homemade Ice Cream: It’s All in the Family: When Ice Cream Leads to Self-Esteem
• Moderator: Ryan Nelson, Executive Director, Employers Council and Columbus Board Member

1:30 to 1:45 p.m. | Closing Remarks

• Michael Woodbury, Millennial and Advocate, Unemployed, millennial, disabled? Three strikes, but are you really out?

2:00 to 3:00 p.m. | Breakout Sessions

• Breakout Session 1: Everything About Disabilities You Wanted to Know but Were Afraid to Ask
  Faciliators:
  • Leah Lobato, Director, Governor’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities and Business Relations
  • Ryan Nelson, Executive Director, Employers Council

• Breakout Session 2: Meet the Pay for Success Team
  Facilitators:
  • Tyler Hardy, Engagement Manager, Cicero Group

• • Genevieve Smith, Chief Data Manager
  • Nick Fritz, Senior Associate, Sorenson Impact Center
  • John Davis, PhD, Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology, University of Utah

 

Hotel Information

Out of town guests will receive a special conference rate at the Red Lion Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City. Click here to make a reservation.

For other regional hotel options click here.