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

Host Chris Davies is joined by Pallavi (Vi) Shattuck. Shattuck is a self advocate & aspiring chef from the Twin Cities who is legally blind. She speaks to her journey in the culinary world, barriers that she has overcome and her hopes for a bright future where everyone has the chance to do what they love.

Host Chris Davies is joined by Brittanie Wilson. Wilson is a self-advocate and Disability justice leader living in St. Paul. In addition to working as a communications officer for the Minnesota Council on Disability, Brittanie serves on the Arc MN Board of Directors, the Governor's Council for Developmental Disabilities, the Minnesota Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, and is actively enga...

Host Chris Davies talks with Katrina Simons. Simons currently works as a community program specialist at the University of Minnesota Institute on Community Integration. Katrina is passionate about improving quality of life for individuals living with developmental disabilities and their families, allies and communities. She talks about her journey to employment, the challenges that she has overcom...

Host Chris Davies talks with self-advocate, trainer and psychologist Bob Wagner (St. Paul. Wagner shares his personal story of disability and getting back to work, talks about the failures of the system over the last forty years and what we can all do to do better.

Self-advocate Riss Leitzke joins host Chris Davies to talk about their experience overcoming dual-sensory loss and landing a dream job at Wilderness Inquiry. The podcast is interpreted in ASL by Emily Engel.

Long-time APSE contributor and one of the pillars of customized employment in the state, Bob Niemiec joins host Chris Davies to talk about the early days of supported employment, the birth of MN APSE and what's left to be done today.

Two MN APSE board members come together for this next conversation. Host Chris Davies is joined by Ajani Lewis-McGhee, Corporate Associate for Allianz. Chris and Ajani discuss inclusion efforts with large organizations, the tough questions about inclusion and Employment First values.

Host Chris Davies talking with Alli Strong-Martin, Business Development Assistant at Lifeworks Services Inc.. Davies & Strong-Martin discuss the evolving theoretical ‘models’ of how society thinks about disability and how those models have impacted job opportunities for people with disabilities over time.

Host Chris Davies is joined by Alicia Munson, Public Policy Director at the Arc Minnesota. Davies and Munson discuss the impact of Covid-19 in the disability community, the recent elections and how they are likely to impact work around disability policy initiatives and chat for a bit about the upcoming legislative session in Minnesota. SHOW MORE

Host Chris Davies is joined by Barb Ziemke, Co-Director of PACER's National Parent Center on Transition and Employment. Davies and Ziemke discuss concerns that families and job seekers are having about working during the Covid-19 pandemic as well as what employment service providers are doing to help people land and retain jobs safely.

The first episode has our host Chris Davies talking with father and son advocates Kevin and Erik Marschel about Erik's journey to competitive, integrated employment.