MN APSE's If You Believe It You Can Achieve It

Host Chris Davies has a powerful and heartfelt conversation featuring Claire Braun. Claire and her late husband opened their home to 75 foster children in Ramsey County—adopting 8 along the way. Her story is one of compassion, resilience, and unwavering belief in the potential of every person.

Host Chris Davies is joined by Hannah Furney and her guide doge, Leger. Hannah is a self-advocate who tells her story about growing up DeafBlind, and the barriers she has faced in order to get to where she is.

Host Chris Davies' is joined by Cow Tipping Press' Shaunte Martin and Laron Gatlin-Dean. Shaunte, an Inclusion Associate and Gatlin-Dean, a Teaching Fellow, talk about their work at Cow Tipping Press -- an organization in Minneapolis that teaches inclusive writing classes for people with disabilities.

Host Chris Davies is joined by Keeri Tramm. Keeri is Director of Disability Initiatives at Lifeworks, is an Autistic professional dedicated to fostering equity and empowerment for the disability community. With a career spanning nonprofit and for-profit sectors, she leverages her expertise in business and data analysis to drive impactful outcomes. Keeri holds a degree in Special Education, CPACC c...

Chris Davies is joined by Rahul Gupta. Rahul is a 27-year-old Deaf individual who works as a pharmacy technician at the Mayo Clinic, with two years of hands-on experience supporting in-patient care and pharmacy operations. Rahul, who is fluent in both American Sign Language (ASL) and English, has become a strong self-advocate who is dedicated to empowering Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH), Deaf Blin...

Chris Davies is joined by Lis Vukelich. Vukelich, who has a BS in Human Services with an emphasis in Disability Studies, has over 20+ years supporting individuals who have disability barriers. Despite her critical car accident that resulted in a TBI in July 2017, Lis is more passionate about supporting people with disability barriers than ever. She is currently the Referral & Quality Assurance...

Christ Davies is joined by Sophie Iverson. Sophie currently works as an Options Counselor at the Disability Hub MN and provides information and referrals to callers and families navigating the disability community and state agencies. With over 10 years of disability advocacy and lived experience, Sophie also founded Access 2 Advocacy LLC with a hope to share her passion for empowering others to fe...

Chris Davies is joined by Aaron Weikum, a Senior Labor Investigator with the Minnesota Department of Labor & Industry. In this episode, Weikum shares his personal journey as an adult living with Autism, shedding light on the myriad challenges he has navigated within the workforce.

Host Chris Davies is joined by The Amazing Jeffo, the second of a two-part MN APSE documentary podcast special. Jeff details how he got started as a magician, the support he has had to build his act to the point where he's done over 4000 shows in nearly 30 years as The Amanzing Jeffo, America’s only multiply-disabled magician who is blind (at least as far as he can see).

On the next episode, Chris Davies is joined by Jeffrey Smith, better known as, Amazing Jeffo! Jeffrey, a blind, multiply disabled magician, joins us in studio to share his story. There is truly on better way to introduce the Amazing Jeffo than in his own words: - How, as a child, the legend of Houdini planted in him a seed that would grow into a dream, that just maybe, someday… - How as a 37-year-...

Host Chris Davies is joined by Sumukha Terakanambi. Sumukha 25 years old and lives in Lakeville, Minnesota. He is a policy consultant with the Minnesota Council on Disability and the Rare Disease Advisory Council. He is also involved in disability advocacy and serves on the Minnesota Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities and the Dakota County Disability Advisory Council.

Chris Davies is joined by Gary Otto, onsite at Epic Enterprise in Dundas, MN. Gary fought and conquered alcoholism in his early 20s, only to lose his eyesight in a hunting accident just a year later in 1978. Since, he married the love his life, raised a family and has utilized his special gift of caring for others in a number of different life & career experiences. Gary is a Life Enrichment As...

Dupree is employed at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration – supporting the ICI training team that works on training and technical assistance related to the Minnesota DHS Systems Change project. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Arc of Minnesota, teaches at Upstream Arts, and is an active recording artist!

Chris Davies is joined in the studio by Daniel Hool, not just as a guest, but also as a host. Daniel has an education in radio broadcasting and hosts his own podcast over at HoodWave Disability Radio - covering topics from policy to self-advocacy. After interviewing Daniel on his experience as a self-advocate, Chris sat back to answer questions Daniel had for him.

Host Chris Davies is joined by Jay Magrisso. Jay is a project management professional, with over 15 years experience in team development. In 2019, he was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor called an acoustic neuroma (AN). As a result of the tumor and surgery, he lost his hearing completely on one side and needed to relearn how to walk before reacclimating to the workplace. Jay is now a member of th...

Said Shaiye joins our host Chris Davies in the studio. Said Shaiye is an Autistic Somali Writer & Photographer who lives in Minneapolis. His debut book, Are You Borg Now?, was named a 2022 Minnesota Book Award Finalist in Creative Nonfiction & Memoir. Learn more about Said on his website: https://www.saidshaiye.com/about/

Host Chris Davies is joined by Laura Andert, a self-advocate who works for Inclusive Networking as a Disability Consultant/Benefits Coach. Andert lives with cerebral palsy; she details her experiences growing up and talks about how her career has unfolded to date, moving from retail work into human services in a position where she helps others with disabilities overcome their own barriers to emplo...

Host Chris Davies is joined by Elise Knopf. Born deaf, Elise learned ASL when she attended Gallaudet University, where she graduated with a Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling. Elise joins our podcast now as the Rehabilitation Area Manager for the Deaf/HOH Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services, which is under the State of Minnesota's Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEE...

Host Chris Davies is joined by Larissa Beck, the Director of Community Living Supports from Reach for Resources and, Jon Alexander, the Chief Executive Officer of Kaposia. Beck and Alexander talk about the work that is being done by the Taskforce on Eliminating Subminimum Wages in Minnesota during the 2023 legislative session.

Host Chris Davies is joined by Kevin Kling, a playwright and performer from Minneapolis. Along with performing stories and plays around the country and abroad, he also has been a commentator for National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered”, is a frequent contributor on PBS/TPT’s “Almanac”, and was featured in the Emmy Award-winning PBS documentary “Kevin Kling: Lost & Found”. Kevin is also...

Host Chris Davies is joined by Don Lavin & Danielle Mahoehney. Mahoehney is an education program specialist at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration, and Lavin, a consultant who started a private consultancy called Strengths@Work which advances competitive, integrated employment outcomes in support of youth and adult with disabilities. The two discuss the history of...

Host Chris Davies is joined by Alex Tabatabai. Tabatabai is a 2nd year dental student attending the University of Minnesota. He has severe to profound hearing loss in both ears and wears cochlear implants to function well in the hearing world. He talks about his childhood, his colleges years, the decision to make dentistry his career path and barriers he's had to overcome to reach his goals.

Host Chris Davies is joined by Michael Sack. Sack, who has Cerebral Palsy, is a disability advocate from Minneapolis. Among his many projects, he founded the Minneapolis Sidewalk Repair Hunters in 2021 and assisted two political campaigns with disability- and accessibility-related matters. He also talks about his own work experiences and his thoughts on the phasing out of sub-minimum wage in Minne...

Host Chris Davies is joined by Jillian Nelson. Nelson is the Community Resource and Policy Advocate at the Autism Society of Minnesota (AuSM). Nelson discusses her background living as an adult with autism, the long road to finding work that aligns with her unique set of talents and skills, the work she is helping to do as the co-chair of the Task Force on Eliminating Subminimum Wages in Minnesota...

Host Chris Davies is joined by Jake Lieser and Bryan Boyce. Lieser is an intern and Boyce is the Executive Director at Cow Tipping Press. The two talk about the formation and mission of the organization and speak to their experiences in helping people with disabilities share their stories through writing. As they say, its about "relishing assets rather than pitying deficits."