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CDI LEADERSHIP TEAM
Meaghan walls bio
Meaghan became Chief Executive Officer on 12/23/23. With CDI since 2021, she previously was Director of Business Relations | Nebraska. As CEO, Meaghan drives the vision, direction and overall success of the organization and presents the mission of CDI and message of disability inclusion in the workplace through focused consultation and training with business partners and other organizations. She is also the President/CEO of Assistology, LLC, in Omaha, Nebraska which provides Assistive Technology (AT), Rehab Engineering, Accessibility and Universal Design consultation that enable an individual to have increased participation in activities that improve functional abilities for daily living, as well as overall quality of life, as well as help businesses increase their ability to create inclusive spaces, services, products and practices. Previously, Meaghan served as Director of Rehabilitation Services at Children’s Respite Care Center in Omaha. Her career also includes positions as a Biomedical Sales Engineer at ADInstruments in Boston, and as an Assistive Technology Specialist, Assistive Technology Regional Center Coordinator, project leader and researcher for Easter Seals Massachusetts. Most recently, Walls was elected to serve as a member of the Board of Directors for the Omaha Children’s Museum. She was an award recipient of the Midland’s Business Journal 2019 40 Under 40. In 2019 Walls was appointed to the Mayor’s Advisory Commission for Citizens with Disabilities and in 2020 was elected as the Vice Chair of the Commission. She is also the elected Board President of Angel Guardians, Inc. Meaghan is a certified Assistive Technology Professional (ATP) who holds a Master of Science in Bioengineering with an emphasis on Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology from the University of Illinois-Chicago under a 2 year Rehab Technology Fellowship. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with a minor in Chemistry from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana. |
Andy Traub Bio
Andy is Director of Corporate Disability Inclusion since 2022. He provides customized consultation that aligns business goals with best practices in disability inclusion for business partners pursuing the CDI Seal of Accomplishment for Leader in Disability Inclusion. He is also President of Traub & Associates Consulting and co-host of Winning Workplaces podcast. He most recently served as VP of Human Resources and created/ led Allied InclusionWorks at Allied One Source. He's an internationally recognized leader in disability and diversity employment with 25+ years of experience. Andy has developed and implemented talent acquisition strategies for numerous entities including Google, Best Buy, Walgreens, Office Depot, Amazon, Starbucks, Sodexo, Kroger and several European-based companies, and consulted with government entities in Russia, Scotland, and Germany. As lead consultant on the Workplace Initiative Team for Poses Family Foundation he developed disability inclusion strategies for national employers receiving foundation funding. At AMC, Andy led strategic recruitment initiatives as Dir. of Recruitment and created “AMC F.O.C.U.S.”, an award-winning ground-breaking program in hiring and retaining large numbers of individuals with disabilities. At National Organization on Disability he was Managing Director and created innovative programs including the Disability Employment Tracker. Andy has been invited by two different administrations to present at the White House on best practices in disability employment. Invited by the US Embassy, he presented multiple keynotes at an international disability employment conference in Moscow. Andy recently co-authored curriculum on global best practices in disability employment for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Foundation, with public access in May 2022. |
brenda perkins BIO
Brenda is Director of Business Relations since 2019 and responsible for overall partner acquisition, engagement and retention, including CDI marketing and communications. She spent her career as a small business owner in the employee benefits and communications arena working with business and HR leaders to improve employee understanding, appreciation, engagement and retention. Brenda was co-founder and senior communications consultant of Joshua Communications and holds the Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS) designation. She has extensive volunteer leadership experience with SHRM-KC and Missouri SHRM, serving as President and State Director respectively. She then served on the SHRM national Membership Advisory Council, reporting to the SHRM CEO. Brenda understands the challenges of disability inclusion and talent acquisition through her extensive work with human resources leaders. Having two nephews with a developmental disability was the catalyst for her role as a founding board member and past president of the Greater Kansas City Business Leadership Network, later changed to Disability:IN GKC and now the Center for Disability Inclusion. |
jessica lopez BIO
Jessica Lopez is Digital Accessibility & Marketing Consultant, joining CDI in 2023, and responsible for providing training and consultation to business partners. She is also a disability advocate and full-time student triple-majoring in Business, Economics, and Communications at Coastline College. Born without hands and feet, Jessica's lived experience as a disabled student informs her advocacy for more inclusive and accessible education and workforces. As President of Coastline Associated Student Government, Jessica has partnered with multiple student body organizations across the state to increase institutional support for students with disabilities. Additionally, Jessica formerly served as the Treasurer of Region VIII of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges (SSCCC), where she advocated for marginalized students in the education system and independently led student efforts to campaign for disability rights. She has also taken her advocacy to the California state capitol to meet with legislators to advocate for more accessible education. Alongside her academic and advocacy work, Jessica is active in the corporate world, developing training modules on disability inclusion and consulting on accessibility and disability-inclusive DEI strategy. With experiences spanning social enterprises, B2B tech, nonprofits, and public institutions, Jessica works to interrupt the narratives we are often led to believe about people with disabilities in order to make the world more equitable. |
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Laurel Buck
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Isleen Gimenez BIO
Isleen Gimenez joined the CDI team in 2024 as a Partner Support Consultant (PSC). She works in collaboration with the CDI team to support partner relations, CDI programming and training services. As CDI's PSC, Isleen embraces the vision of the Center for Disability Inclusion to be a nationwide organization that partners with businesses to advance their disability inclusion efforts in the workplace, marketplace and beyond. Isleen is an attorney by training, but an advocate at heart who comes to CDI with a career that spans more than 26 years reducing barriers to employment for adults with disabilities and transforming the way companies recruit talent by expanding their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs to include employees with disabilities. She has served in this capacity in the nonprofit sector, federal marketplace, and private commercial industry. In addition to her contributions at CDI, Isleen partners with Traub & Associates to revolutionize the way companies recruit talent. Isleen also provides corporate legal support to small businesses and disability advocacy to individuals with disabilities and their caregivers through her own consulting business, Advocate at Heart. Isleen's experience with disability is also a personal one. She is a disabled veteran and a mom to four young adult children who all have special needs. Her personal experience with disability enables her to participate in advancing opportunities for individuals with disabilities in the community in a way that is both relevant and sensitive and comprehensively covers disability through the lifespan. She is a Hispanic American who comes from a military background, has lived and traveled internationally, speaks Spanish, Japanese, and a bit of American Sign Language, making her contributions culturally aware as well. In her spare time, Isleen enjoys spending time with her children, her pets, and can be found synchronized swimming, Latin dancing, or cooking. |
LAUREL BUCK BIO
Laurel Buck joined the CDI team in 2025 as a Partner Support Consultant (PSC). She works in collaboration with the CDI team to support partner relations, CDI programming and training services. Laurel Buck currently serves as the Statewide Employment Advocacy Leader with the Autism Alliance of Michigan. In this role, Laurel acts as lead for a statewide employment coalition centered on the landscape of employment for people with disabilities with the goal of making Michigan a leading state for disability inclusion. A majority of Laurel’s professional career was held as a workforce development leader at Goodwill of Greater Grand Rapids before transitioning into human resources pursuing a passion for talent acquisition and professional development. During this transition, Laurel achieved and continues to hold her Society of Human Resource Management-Certified Professional accreditation. In addition, Laurel is currently pursuing a disability recruitment certification to increase advocacy and access in this space. Laurel obtained a Master’s Degree from Grand Valley State University in Public Administration. She currently serves on the Kent County Essential Needs Task Force focusing on community engagement and is the Workforce Readiness board chair for the Association of Human Resources in Grand Rapids. Her passion lies in leveraging relationships to create collaboration leading to a greater collective impact. Laurel’s goal is to use this passion in her current advocacy work so individuals of all ability levels can contribute to their communities through inclusive employment. |
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