City of Knoxville - Council Disability Issues

MAYOR'S COUNCIL ON DISABILITY ISSUES

Mayor's Council on Disability Issues

Disability Resource Center

DisabilityInfo.gov

ADA & Local Judiciary Process

Member Biographical Information

Chrystal D. Armstrong - bio coming soon!

Anna E. Bass is the Regional Manager of the East Tennessee Regional Office of Disability Law & Advocacy Center of Tennessee (DLAC). She has experience working with people who have various disabilities and brings a vast knowledge of the laws important to people with disabilities. DLAC is a federally mandated non-profit agency that works toward systemic change for individuals with disabilities throughout Tennessee. Since 1997, Anna has also worked as a professional Sign Language Interpreter. She holds national certification from the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. Additionally, she holds National Counseling Certification and has worked both as a career counselor for individuals with disabilities who were pursuing post-secondary degrees and as a mental health counselor for children and adolescents with disabilities.

Albert Cooper - bio coming soon!

Steven P. Dandaneau is Associate Provost and Director of the Chancellor's Honors and Haslam Scholars Programs at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. A sociologist by training, Steve's interest in disability issues is partly an extension of his interest in all things social and cultural, as well as the direct result of his experience as the father of a 16 year-old with significant developmental and cognitive delays. Prior to living in Knoxville, Steve was appointed as a member of the Montgomery County, Ohio, Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities and the Human Service Levy Council. He has also published in the interdisciplinary field of disability studies. Steve and his spouse, Debra, live in downtown Knoxville with their two children, Patrick (16) and Max (10), with baby "Ellie" on the way!

William L. (Bill) Dockery is a research communicator in UT’s Office of Research. Bill has lived in Knoxville since 1980 and has worked as a reporter, editorialist, and editor at the Knoxville News Sentinel and at Metro Pulse weekly. He is a 2008 graduate of the Partners in Policymaking Institute, an advocacy training program of the Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities. He provides communications training for the PIP Institute and is an advocate for inclusion in the Unitarian Universalist Association.

Coral Getino - bio coming soon!

Kevin Gittens is a member of the disabled community and has always taken an active interest in the rights and independence of others who face similar difficulties. As a result, he has spent the last number of years working at Goodwill Industries Knoxville educating other disabled individuals in computer skills and assisting them in locating employment in the community. For the last several years, Kevin has participated with CODI in dealing with problems and issues vital to the local disability community.

Crystal Godwin-Melvin - bio coming soon!

Ben Harrington - bio coming soon!

Sarah Helm serves as the Disability-Careers Office (DCO) Coordinator at The University of Tennessee, collaborating between the UT offices of Disability Services and Career Services. She is a member of the Knoxville Mayor’s Council on Disability Issues and the local Disability Mentoring Day committee. Sarah is pursuing her doctoral degree in Higher Education Administration at the University of Tennessee. Her dissertation topic is focused on the employment concerns of university career-seeking students with psychiatric disabilities.

Bryan Hilbert - bio coming soon!

Angela Hunter - bio coming soon!

Sheryl McCormick works at Peninsula, A Division of Parkwest Medical Center as the coordinator for Recovery Training Services, teaching and supervising Wellness Recovery Action Plan and Peer Support Specialist trainings. Sheryl, who has lived in Knoxville most of her life, has been married for 35 years and has two adult daughters. Having dealt with the symptoms of bipolar and anxiety disorders since childhood and having overcome these brain illnesses, as well as numerous traumatic experiences, Sheryl is nationally recognized as a role model of recovery. A passionate advocate for people like herself and their families, she serves on numerous boards and committees, including the Knoxville Mayor’s Council on Disability Issues, the Dept. of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities’ Planning and Policy Council, on the Board of Trustees for Lakeshore Mental Health Institute, and is past president of NAMI Knoxville.

Angie McMahan is a banking officer and recruiter at SunTrust Bank. She has been in the banking industry for over two decades with the last several years having a focus on Human Resources. Angie has sat on the SunTrust Diversity Council, including the Disability and Multicultural subcommittees. She is on the Workforce Development Center Advisory Committee for the Knoxville Area Urban League and the Advisory Board for Knoxville WAVE.

Ronald Morton, MA, is the Director of Recovery and Resiliency for East Tennessee Resiliency programs operated by ValueOptions. He oversees Prevention Education and Outreach services for East Tennessee as they pertain to Recovery and Resiliency. Previously, he was the Director of Recovery Services for Peninsula Behavioral Health, working with people who have chronic and persistent disabling mental illness. He has served in various capacities with several local and national councils such as the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI,) Human Relations Commission of Chula Vista, CA, and the Mayor’s Council On Disability Issues. He belongs to several professional organizations that serve Native Americans and persons with mental illness and is a veteran of the US Navy.

Lee Ann Rawlins, PhD, is the Program Coordinator at the Center on Disability and Employment at U.T. Knoxville and has experience with multiple disabilities. She has worked as a state vocational rehabilitation counselor, as a faculty member at the University of Tennessee in the Rehabilitation Counselor Education program, as a rehabilitation trainer with the Regional Rehabilitation Counselor Education Program (RCEP), and as Assistant Director in the Office of Disability Services at UT-Knoxville.

Keith Rearden - bio coming soon!

Elizabeth Ann Ritchie is a Partner with the company, Friends and Faux. She is the Vice-Chairman and a founding parent of Breakthrough Corporation, an agency serving adults with Autism. She served on the board of the Autism Society of America-East Tennessee Chapter for 20 years, including two terms as president, and currently serves on the The Camp Koinonia Foundation board, the DMRS Family Support Council, the Fulfill the Promise work task force, the governor's State Developmental Disabilities Council and volunteers for the Concord Adult Day Enrichment Services (CADES) program in addition to serving on its board.

Father John Mark Wiggers - bio coming soon!

Diane Wright - bio coming soon!