MassAbility's Disability Inclusion Leaders, Family Inclusion Ambassadors, and staff.
Who are the Disability Inclusion Leaders?
This group of individuals is dedicated to using their collective voice to provide a first-hand experience of living with disabilities. "The goal is to embed the expertise of individuals with disabilities in spaces where decisions are being made at MassAbility," shared OLCE Director Amanda Baczko. "These leaders are serving on hiring panels, co-creating policies, participating in leadership teams, and generally providing ongoing feedback to help shape service delivery." Their life experience will help guide MassAbility in developing programs, resources, and policies that strengthen the lives of people living with disabilities, family members, their caregivers, and medical providers.
| Briana Berthiaume | Briana spent about 10 years working with MassAbility through career services and found herself struggling to find job opportunities that matched her skills. After discussing her strengths with her case manager, she was introduced to the Disability Inclusion Leader team—a suggestion that felt like the perfect fit. Living with Alport syndrome, a rare collagen disorder that has led to a kidney transplant and hearing loss, Briana become adaptable and resourceful, using her technical writing abilities and pattern-recognition skills to contribute to the DIL’s grant writing and policy development projects. With a strong passion for theatre, music, and gaming, she's excited to bring her unique perspective and talents to the team while continuing to explore where she can make the most impact. |
| George Farrington | George Farrington is very involved in the brain tumor and brain injury communities. He is a seven-year brain tumor and brain injury, survivor and is incredibly passionate about creating an inclusive community. He will never turn down a public speaking engagement to advocate for people with disabilities or educate the public on what life is like for someone living with a disability. He's stated that his wife and two children are his lifelines, and he lights up when asked to speak about them. His other passions include gardening and cooking, and he claims his eggplant parmesan might change your life. |
| Jessica Fiasconaro | Jessica Fiasconaro became connected to the DIL team through her employment specialist at "Advocates," an organization supported by the Department of Mental Health (DMH). When the position was forwarded to her, she knew it was an opportunity to make a meaningful impact. Living with cerebral palsy as her primary disability, alongside managing chronic migraines, seizures, anxiety, depression, OCD, and PTSD, she's eager to bring her lived experiences to the DIL team. She's passionate about intersectionality and wants to focus on bridging gaps in healthcare and disability services to promote a more holistic approach to care. |
| Destiny Maxam | Destiny Maxam lives in the Lowell area with her four-year-old service dog, Salem, who alerts her to oncoming epileptic seizures. For two years, she lived in Germany, and because of that immersive experience, German is her second language. Destiny welcomes questions about her experiences living with a rare condition and how she advocates for disability awareness. She loves public speaking and is excited to share her story in the hopes of helping others living in a similar situation navigate MassAbility programs and support services. |
| James McKenzie | James McKenzie was born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he raised his 16-year-old son and 32-year-old daughter. Since losing most of his right leg during the last two years due to a blood disease, life for James has slowed down a bit. He enjoys being part of the "think-tank" process and brainstorming to create an immediate connection to MassAbility programs and stakeholders. He hopes to help formulate a pipeline of services that people in need can access without interruption. "We have got to make these people's transitions easier. If someone loses their benefits, they could literally die. We can't sit here saying if I would've only," James has said. |
| Roxy Rocker | Roxy Rocker is a fierce disability advocate who has been empowering communities for the past 20 years. Initiatives she’d like to focus on while working with this team, include employment for young adults after high school, education for vendors on small businesses, and educating small businesses on best hiring practices for people with disabilities. Roxy applies her experiences as a small business owner to coaching other hopeful entrepreneurs. “I believe in the power of recognition, in seeing people with disabilities not as mere statistics or stereotypes, but as individuals with unique talents and perspectives." |
| Brendan Shea | Brendan Shea currently lives in Greater Boston. He enjoys exercising and, as an amateur engineer, building adaptive devices. As a strong self-advocate, he is comfortable with public speaking and supporting others in finding their advocacy voice. Brendan shared, "I want to develop a better familiarity with the inner workings of MassAbility and learn more about all of the different state agencies and organizations that partner with people with disabilities." His passion for advocacy work is centered around policy-related issues. |
| Jeff Snyder | Jeff Snyder was connected to the DIL team through the MassAbility Fall River office when his case manager shared the opportunity. After learning that this position focuses on supporting individuals with lived experiences, he was excited to interview and leverage his background to help others with disabilities. As someone who identifies as neurodivergent, he aims to use inclusive language and his personal journey to contribute to improving the lives of individuals within MassAbility and beyond. |
| Theresa "Terri" Sweeney | Theresa "Terri" Sweeney suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) on November 24, 1989, after falling backward down an embankment and hitting her head on a rock. She was attending the Brooks Institute of Photography, but after the accident, she returned home to Southeastern Massachusetts, where she currently lives. She has remained passionate about photography and, throughout the years, has taught photography to kids with special needs and senior citizens. Terri is partnering with agency staff member Alison Scher to review MassAbility's website and resource links. "It's like being caught in a windstorm of information. So, we're cutting out a lot of the outdated and inappropriate wording," reports Terri. She wants to create a "garden" of information that is fun, easy to access, and more streamlined. |
| Lindsey Townsend | Lindsey Townsend is a passionate Disability Inclusion Leader whose journey with literacy defied early doubts and expectations. Adopted by a mother who strongly believed in the power of reading, Lindsey began learning braille at the age of four despite being blind and facing developmental delays. Though the path wasn’t easy—marked by frustration and setbacks—her determination transformed her into an avid reader and braille advocate. From winning second place at the local Braille Challenge in high school to mastering electronic braille in college when audio formats proved challenging, Lindsey’s story is a testament to resilience, adaptability, and the vital role of accessible tools. Today, she uses braille in nearly every aspect of her life—from reading signs, singing in choirs, and babysitting, to public speaking and participating in church. Her lived experience fuels her work in advancing disability inclusion and accessibility for all. |
Amanda knows that the Disability Inclusion Leaders are already making a difference. "We've already seen a positive impact from inviting Disability Inclusion Leaders to the table," she said. "We've had team members present to the community about their experiences with MassAbility services, editing the language of experience surveys to make them more culturally responsive, and bringing young adult voice to our NextGen grant activities. It's been exciting to see the culture shift in MassAbility as we continue to find new and innovative ways to engage disability leadership in our agency."
Family Inclusion Ambassadors Join Team MassAbility
Building trust and engagement with the disability community requires leading with individual and family voices. MassAbility empowers individuals with disabilities and their families to be active participants in agency decision-making processes and serve as ambassadors.
The Office of Learning & Community Engagement recently created the Family Inclusion Ambassador team to provide a first-person voice to the agency, sharing their collective lived experience and incorporating essential perspectives and voices of family members and caregivers of young adults with disabilities.
The team includes nine unique and highly motivated individuals:
| Family Inclusion Amabassador | Role |
|---|---|
| Firdosa Hassan | Firdosa Hassan joined the team to be a voice that can help those in communities where deep-seated stigmas surrounding people with disabilities still exist. She wishes to help people understand that culturally preconceived notions shouldn't contain individuals with a disability. Born in Somalia, Firdosa has strong ties to the community and understands many families' confusion regarding transition and guardianship services for their children. |
| Gillan Wang | Gillan Wang is always willing to go the extra mile to help connect people with the resources they need. She enjoys making personal connections and sharing her family's experiences with other families to share resources and be a source of support. Her enthusiasm is infectious and her dedication to advocacy work is admirable. Gillan loves traveling and is originally from Hawaii |
| Roxi Harvey | Roxi Harvey wants families to be able to find resources and services easily. While raising her children, Roxi spent years researching special education programs, state support agencies, and community living programs. Roxi focuses on reaching out to families to share what she's learned about navigating services. She knows that a sense of belonging matters, especially if people aren't seeing families that look like theirs, and representation matters when there are strong stigmas present in different cultural and racial groups. |
| Yan Zhang | Yan Zhang takes advocacy seriously as an advocate for people with disabilities in the Chinese community, where she shares resources with other parents. She acknowledges, because of perceived stigmas, that some people are passive in advocating independently but feel empowered to ask questions when surrounded by others who share their experiences. Yan hopes to help bridge the game between language barriers and be a reason families feel empowered to find solutions. |
| Aimee Clemmey Rodriguez | Aimee Clemmey Rodriguez joined the team to help create a guidebook for families to navigate resources, like creating an individualized educational plan (IEP). She's learned to find resources and has become an experienced family advocate, ensuring her children have equitable educational opportunities. Her goal is to help empower families that might start the process intimidated like she was. She wants to be a part of a team that can help alleviate the stress and help parents guide them through the hardships they could face. |
| Bonnie Thompson | Bonnie Thompson began her role of assessing the existing resources within the Agency. She brings her lived experience as a family advocate to the FIA team. As a parent, she has extensive experience navigating the healthcare industry and has shared what she learned with other families. Bonnie acknowledges navigating the bureaucracy can sometimes get families stuck in the weeds, which takes their focus off the goal of getting their children the services they need, and she wants to offer assistance and compassion to those struggling. |
| Elizabeth "Liz" Topaz | Elizabeth "Liz" Topaz focuses on developing educational components for families by working with the team. As a training provider for the Federation for Children with Special Needs, she loved providing parents with the information they needed to help guide them through the system. She'd like to educate educators on available support services so they can also participate in helping parents and caregivers navigate resources. |
| Kristen Flynn | Kristen Flynn is passionate about connecting people to life changing services that families rely on every day. She understands first-hand how difficult navigating through resources can be. She hopes to create streamlined processes that assist family members when their children are transitioning into adulthood. |
| Cheryl Caira | Cheryl Caira is excited about helping with the creation of a resource guide to help others. She loves the idea of training others as an MassAbility Ambassador, stating “knowledge is power, when we educate families you get better outcomes across the board. Providing quick and easy ways to get from point A To B is key”. |
Building a Bridge Forward
The Family Inclusion Ambassadors focus on being a conduit for families by increasing awareness and education opportunities for families in the disability community. Family Inclusion Ambassadors support families in identifying MassAbility and other disability-related resources and advise the agency on elevating services and supports for the disability community and their families.
The goals of the Family Inclusions Ambassadors include:
Create a resource guide that will include information the team has been collecting about agency services and supports. This guide will summarize, from a family member's point of view, how the Agency can support families and their loved ones. Ambassadors will also reach out to community stakeholders and bring awareness of state programs for families by creating online presentations with detailed information that is user-friendly and accessible.
Creating an assessment checklist to help families identify what their needs are and to help them navigate through the complicated service system so they can be their family members' best advocates. The goal is to point families to resources that already exist.
Creating an education and training series that will offer webinars on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Individualized Education Program (IEP) for students. This series aims to create a navigational tool that parents and caregivers can utilize when planning their child's educational needs and goals.