The Hidden Workforce

This week we’re featuring a wonderful family sharing their experience with 2 different organizations that have impacted them on Episode 186 of The Hidden Workforce! Welcome Torie and Margaret Dinsmore to The Hidden Workforce! Torie shares about the Tulsa Cerebral Palsy Association and how they have supported her as well as her experience at Camp Barnabas! Torie’s mom, Margaret joins us to share th...

This week we have a show full of wisdom, leadership, and going above and beyond in your purpose in Episode 185 of The Hidden Workforce! This week, we welcome Sean Kouplen President and CEO of Regent Bank! Sean shares with us the miraculous journey of buying, growing, and building Regent Bank into the incredible institution it is today. His journey shares wisdom on leadership, faith, how to navigat...

This week we have an impactful show for you on episode 184 of The Hidden Workforce. Welcome Dixy Green, the President of The Brain Injury Association of Oklahoma! Dixy shares with us her personal connection to this world as well as the heart and mission of BIAOK- resources, support groups, preventative education, and more. Their website states that, “The Brain Injury Association of Oklahoma is Okl...

We have an important and resourceful show for you on episode 183 of The Hidden Workforce! Welcome Olivia Hook the Director of Oklahoma Department of Transportation’s Mobility Management Program! Everyone needs transportation. Getting from one place to another is what drives growth, independence, and connecting with social groups and building community! Oklahoma Mobility Management helps connect yo...

We want you to HEAR the incredible work of our guests on this week’s Episode 182 of The Hidden Workforce! Welcome Dr. Nikki Pain and Audiology Assistant Kara Westhoff from Hearts for Hearing to the Hidden Workforce! Hearts for Hearing is a nonprofit organization that helps people in their hearing loss journey throughout their lifespan. They especially emphasize early intervention with children who...

We have an amazing, inspiring show for you this week on Episode 181 of The Hidden Workforce! Welcome Jeanette O’Hara, the founder and Executive Director of Will’s House in Tulsa. Jeanette says she started Will’s House in honor of her son, Will, “I founded Will’s House in honor of my son, Will, who passed away in 2017. Will’s life and medical challenges made us stronger as a family and showed us ho...

We have a show full of respite, resource, and hope on Episode 180 of The Hidden Workforce! Welcome our special guest, Amy Bonham! Amy is the founder and Executive Director of the nonprofit, “A Special Purpose!” A Special Purpose’s mission is to “encourage, inspire, and resource families caring for children with special needs.” Their core programming educates and equips churches, businesses and any...

We have an “I Can Too Spirit” show for Episode 179 of The Hidden Workforce! We’re excited to welcome Sarah and Amy Weyrich the founders of Sam the I Can Man Foundation! Sarah and Amy talk about the life of Sam, his legacy, and how his life inspired the development of their nonprofit foundation, Sam The I Can Man Foundation. Sam lived with Aicardi–Goutières Syndrome (AGS) and despite what doctors s...

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...