The Hidden Workforce

We have an amazing, communicative show for you on Episode 178 of The Hidden Workforce! Here on The Hidden Workforce, we like to feature self-advocates, as well as the multiple ways they communicate their powerful voices and stories. This week we welcome Jake Wright, who uses Spelling to Communicate as his modality of communication! Throughout the interview he uses a letter-board to spell out the m...

We have an entrepreneurial crew for you this week on Episode 177 of The Hidden Workforce! Welcome students and teacher, Addie Tipton from Union’s Red Hawk R.I.S.E. program! Union describes the program is, “Spearheaded by Transition Coordinator Emily O’Shaughnessy and Transition Program Teacher Addison Tipton, the goal is to ensure students are “Ready, Independent, Skilled and Empowered” for life a...

We have a collaborative and unifying show for you this week on Episode 176 of The Hidden Workforce! Welcome Malayna Hasmanis, PhD candidate and Founder of the nonprofit, Unity Forward Oklahoma. Malayna says it best- they are here to break barriers and build bridges. Unity Forward OK fosters collaboration with nonprofits that are experts in their services for people who live with different abilitie...

We have an exciting, collaborative show for you on this 175th episode of The Hidden Workforce! We have our host and fearless leader- Lisa Toth and a special collaborative guest, Mickey Uphold from The Journey Coaching, A life coaching company for people with neuro-diversities! As you all know, Lisa has been a job coach for more than 30 years! She is an incredible, innovative expert in the field of...

This week’s show is a joyful, purpose-filled Episode 174 of The Hidden Workforce. Welcome Holden Trainer, Pathfinders Coordinator and Ava, Pathfinders member from the University of Tulsa’s Pathfinders Program! Pathfinders is uniquely designed for TU students living with Autism Spectrum Disorders or Social Anxiety Disorders. They welcome students living with these differences, as well as their frie...

We have a potentially Life-Saving show for you on episode 173 of The Hidden Workforce. Welcome Retired Police Lt. Stan Campbell with IDD Safe, along with Angela Duckett and James Helm with Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC). Important: Everyone who lives with or has a child or loved one who lives with an IDD, Autism, or any other type of disability needs to listen to this show! As well as police o...

This week, we have an incredibly resourceful guest on episode 172 of The Hidden Workforce! Welcome Erin Parks and Nancy Juarez from Oklahoma Family Network! Do you have a child or loved one who lives with a disability or behavioral health condition? Or maybe your family is facing a unique circumstance like your baby is in the NICU or your child is fighting childhood cancer. If you’re looking for r...

This week we have a very important show for episode 171 of The Hidden Workforce. March 29 is National Vietnam War Veterans Day. Our show just so happens to land on this important day, so we wanted to take this time to cover it! Almost every Soldier who served in Vietnam experienced some type of disability to some extent due to exposures to multiple chemicals- the big one being Agent Orange- as wel...

This week’s show is sure to give you a jolt of energy on episode 170 of The Hidden Workforce! We’re welcoming Mrs. Jenny Allen-Price and her Dragon Brew Crew to The Hidden Workforce studio! 🐉☕️ Dragon Brew is a student-led start-up business made possible through a generous grant from the Purcell Public Schools Foundation. This is part of their school's Special Education Transition program le...

We have an EMPOWERing show for Episode 169 of The Hidden Workforce! This week we’re featuring an organization that has served people with disabilities in the Tulsa Metro since 1963! That’s right, it’s Gatesway Foundation! What started out of Helen Gates’s personal home evolved into a full plot of land filled with residential and vocational services and opportunities dedicated to people with intell...

We have an episode that will surely get you off your feet this week on Episode 168 of The Hidden Workforce! We are featuring yet another inclusive higher education program and this time from the state of Illinois! It’s Jaguar Jumps with Governors State University! With us is Dr. Robbie O’Shea, a retired professor who spent nearly her whole career at Governors State University. Dr. Robbie has a Doc...

We chatted with a local chapter of one of the most well-known nonprofits WORLDWIDE for episode 167 of The Hidden Workforce! Do you want to see inclusion in action? Head over to Shay Wright-Goff and Autumn Kinkade at The Salvation Army Red Shield Youth Center in Broken Arrow! In this episode, we not only learn all about The Salvation Army and the many, many programs they offer AND create for the co...

We have a LIFE changing episode this week for episode 166 of The Hidden Workforce! Well- this episode could be life-changing for your loved one who lives with a disability! This week, we welcome Dr. Chrisann Schiro-Geist and Patrick Krolik with the University of Memphis Institute on Disability! 🐅 They discuss the amazing success of their Inclusive Higher Education program “TigerLIFE” (in context...

We’re diving into the world of Neuro-Rehabilitation on episode 165 of The Hidden Workforce! Welcome Susan Wortman-Jutt from Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains, New York! Susan began her career as a professional performer and transitioned into speech language pathology where she is now a speech language pathologist and has had a reputable, burgeoning career in the field. She has been wit...

🧦 Episode 164 of The Hidden Workforce is collaborating to spread happiness! 🧦 We have Mark and John Cronin from John’s Crazy Socks with us again (aren’t we so lucky?!) to share how important it is to inclusively employ in the workforce, some new services they are offering, updates on amazing opportunities they are both receiving and creating for more inclusive opportunities for people who live w...

We’re talking about super STARS on Episode 163 of The Hidden Workforce! Tune in THIS weekend to hear all about this year’s Stars on Stage production at the Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center! BAPS’s Stars on Stage is an inclusive musical theater group that includes kids with and without disabilities who put on a full musical! We’ll hear from Kim Vento, the Director of the show, to hear all about...

For Episode 162 of The Hidden Workforce, we hear from a survivor who turned his life altering pain into a passion that changes lives and helps others. Welcome LaQuan Taylor, owner of Atlanta’s location of NeuroFit 360 to The Hidden Workforce! LaQuan survived being shot 15 times- 4 times in his back and the rest of the clip being unloaded into his stomach. This led to an incomplete T12 vertebra tho...

On Episode 161 of The Hidden Workforce we’re keeping the theme of reaching and achieving goals in the New Year with a neurodivergent life coach! We are excited to welcome Patty Laushman, ACRE and IBCCES-Certified Neurodivergent life coach and certified autism specialist. She is the founder of Thrive Autism Coaching, a coaching company that helps people who live on the autism spectrum as well as pa...

We have a new view on vision in the first episode of 2025 for Episode 160 of The Hidden Workforce! We’re kicking off our season with featuring A New View Oklahoma! They’re a 501(c)3 nonprofit whose primary focus is serving people who are blind and live with low vision in multiple facets- from infants to grandparents- they serve all age demographics and vision loss recipients circumstances. First,...

We’re excited to bring you The Hidden Workforce’s “A Year in Review 2024” for Episode 159! We’ll go through some of our’s and our audience’s favorite episodes from this year! First, we have a portion from “Triplets on the Spectrum” parts 1 and 2 (Episode 142) Part 1: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2S8HR32mT8Ar6m4aElHJ4f?si=oEKxhaKoSeWnV4XErsOO7w Part 2: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4itxxUUSU...

🎄We have a special Holiday Edition on Episode 158 of The Hidden Workforce, “A Christmas Like No Other!” 🎄 In this episode, Maggie and remote reporter Alex Weddington interview a group of adults who live on the Autism Spectrum and Williams Syndrome as they share their experiences and memories from Christmases throughout their lives. They give us important insight on the world of people with diffe...

This week we have an innovative and insightful segment for episode 157 of The Hidden Workforce! Rick DeRennaux with Tech-Now, Inc. joins us to share about their nonprofit organization and the amazing programs they implement in schools and for students throughout Oklahoma! Tech-Now is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit helping students with different abilities learn and grow in a fun and innovative way through...

We have a special interview for episode 156 of The Hidden Workforce! On this week’s segment we welcome Dr. Swarna Singhal, PhD. Dr. Singhal has 4 masters degrees and her doctorate in clinical psychology and psychotherapy. She is truly a fountain of wisdom as she shares her multitude of experiences during her career as a special education teacher, psychologist, and in working with people who live w...

You do not want to miss Episode 155 of The Hidden Workforce! First, we meet Emma Hiatt, a Traumatic Brain Injury survivor. She beautifully and intentionally takes us through her story of the accident that led to her TBI, her journey of recovery, her Aphasia recovery, the journey from schooling to getting a job and so much more! Her heartfelt perspective and wisdoms can parallel into many things we...

We have a very special feature on episode 154 of The Hidden Workforce. We went on-site to Pathways Adult Learning Center to learn all about their amazing programs that serve adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Pathways is making a massive difference and impact on the Tulsa community! Amongst going through academic and fitness classes, their members also train for Special Olymp...