Molly Siuty (facilitator)

Dr. Molly Siuty is an Associate Professor of Special Education and Disability Justice at Temple University.  Dr. Siuty's research focuses on the social processes shaping teacher education systems to prepare critical inclusive educators in urban education networks. Drawing on sociocultural theory, Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit), and Disability Justice principles, Dr. Siuty seeks to untangle the role of disability and ableism in everyday, taken-for-granted sociocultural practices to seek increased interdependence and solidarity in deconstructing interlocking systems of oppression. Her work has been featured in publications such as Teachers College Record, Review of Educational Research, Teaching and Teacher Education, and Teacher Education and Special Education. Prior to earning her Ph.D., Dr. Siuty was a special education teacher in the New York City public school system.

Amy Bowman-McElhone

Dr. Amy Bowman-McElhone is a curator, educator, and art historian who currently serves as Chair of the Department of Art, Communication, and English, Art Gallery Director, and Assistant Professor in Art History and Curatorial Studies at Carlow University in Pittsburgh, PA. She formerly served as the Director, Chief Curator, and Assistant Vice President of the Pensacola Museum of Art and Historic Trust Museums at the University of West Florida. Her research areas include contemporary art and critical theory, maternal feminisms, curatorial histories, and memorial ecologies. She serves as co-curator and senior research fellow for the Anthropology of Motherhood project, and is currently working on a related book project titled "Maternal Anarchy: Anthropology of Motherhood, Visual Art, and Cultures of Care." She received her doctorate in Art History and Criticism from Florida State University and her MA from West Virginia University. Her dissertation is titled "Freakish Student: Mike Kelley, Artistic Pedagogy, and Institutional Critique" and her research has been published in the Journal of Curatorial Studies, ARTS Journal, and in several edited volumes.

María Cioè-Peña

María Cioè-Peña (she/her) is a bilingual/biliterate education researcher and educator who examines the intersections of disability, language, school–parent partnerships, and education policy. Taking a sociolinguistic approach and stance, she pushes and reimagines the boundaries of inclusive spaces for minoritized children. Stemming from her experiences as a former bilingual special education teacher, Dr. Cioè-Peña’s research focuses on bilingual children with dis/abilities, their families, and their ability to access multilingual and inclusive learning spaces within public schools. Her interests are deeply rooted in political economy, raciolinguistic perspectives and critical dis/ability awareness within schools and families.

Dr. Cioè-Peñ's scholarship has won awards from major organizations in the field of bilingual education; first-place winner for Outstanding Dissertation by the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) in 2019, and third place winner for Outstanding Dissertation by AERA's Bilingual Education Research SIG in 2020. In 2022, her article "Wanting to Leave; Needing to Stay: Issues for undocumented mothers of children with disabilities" received the Inaugural Outstanding Publication Award from the Council For Exceptional Children's Division for Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners. She was also awarded the Early Career Award by AERA's Bilingual Education Research SIG in 2022. Prior to arriving at Penn GSE, María was an assistant professor and a Community-Engaged Teaching Fellow at Montclair State University. Her book, (M)othering Labeled Children: Bilingualism and Disability in the Lives of Latinx Mothers, was released May 2021 by Multilingual Matters.

Nae Vallejo (they/them)

Nae Vallejo, Project Director for the Philadelphia Agreement at Art-Reach, is disabled, neurodivergent, autistic and a service dog handler. They oversee the Philadelphia Agreement, a collective agreement between the disability community and the arts sector to reset access standards. They are dedicated to anti-oppression work, body, land and labor liberation, and thinking of ways to support themselves and their communities. Before moving to Philly in 2019, Nae spent 8 years in Boston, serving on the steering committee for Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC) overseeing community need assessment projects through the lens of community based participatory research.
 
Nae is an experienced educator with a demonstrated history in youth and family advocacy, queer pedagogy, social advocacy, community engagement, LGBTQ+ health and wellness, and social-emotional learning and development for disabled survivors. They attribute their love and passion for community advocacy and liberation to growing up as the eldest child of 12 in a blended, black and Mexican household.
 
Nae is dedicated to anti-oppression work, body, land and labor liberation, and thinking of ways to support themselves and their communities on how to dismantle the perpetuation of interpersonal and systemic imbalances of power and abuse. Before moving to Philly in 2019, Nae spent 8 years in Boston, serving on the steering committee for Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC) overseeing community need assessment projects through the lens of community based participatory research and cross organizational collaboration.  

Nae utilizes their life's experience, storytelling and survivor leadership to illuminate the needs and wisdom of communities. They ground themselves in a liberatory focus to help collectively imagine a different world. Paving paths of authenticity, accountability, openness, and vulnerability is the center of their service to the community. Nae is writing their memoir detailing their life as a disabled, neurodivergent black trans survivor exploring rememory. With an incredible sense of fun one can find them centering curiosity, self care, play and rest by way of somatic embodiment, nature photography, doodling, reading, napping and hanging with their service dog, Roady!

Wendy Elliott-Vandivier

Wendy Elliott-Vandivier is a certified SPHR (Senior Professional in Human Resources) with a diverse background in government civil rights enforcement, managing human resources in private industry, and community advocacy. Elliott-Vandivier has been a leader in the disability civil rights community for over 30 years.  In her professional work, she has successfully managed human resources, employee relations, EEO, Affirmative Action and Diversity issues for several large businesses.

Before joining the private sector, Elliott-Vandivier worked for nine years for the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, where she managed the agency's Regional Technical Assistance Staff. She played a lead role in the implementation of federal civil rights statutes in a six-state region.   

Her strong commitment to enhancing opportunities for women, minorities and people with disabilities extends beyond her professional experience. She is a former Board Member of the American Association of People with Disabilities, and the former Chair of the Philadelphia Mayor’s Commission on People with Disabilities, where she advised the Mayor and Assistant Deputy Mayor with respect to existing and proposed policies, programs, and services for people with disabilities, and informed the public at large about the needs of the disability community. She was also the Co-founder of MOM Center (Making Options for Motherhood) at Thomas Jefferson University.   

Elliott-Vandivier has a BFA from Temple University, Tyler School of Art. Her paintings explore issues of family, memory and experiences as a disabled woman. Her autobiographical cartoons focus on attitudinal barriers and stereotypes regarding disabilities, and some of the micro-aggressions that disabled people experience while living normal, un-inspirational lives. She is also a photographer of micro-scale monuments in nature, and is often inspired by close-up images that people often do not notice in daily life – tree bark, dead leaves, flower anatomy, and water.

Domonique Howell

Domonique Howell is 38, from Philadelphia PA. She is a mother, has cerebral palsy, is a full-time wheelchair user, and a disability advocate. Currently she works as an independent living specialist for Liberty Resources Inc., a center for independent living in Philadelphia.  Her advocacy specialties are homelessness, affordable accessible housing, healthcare systems, and the rights of parents with disabilities. She is also the developer and founder of Momma Chronicles Too (founded in 2014), a support and advocacy group for mothers with disabilities and women guardians who have disabled children. In 2023, she also developed another support group for fathers with disabilities called Father Figures for Liberty Resources Inc. She is the title holder for Ms. Wheelchair Pennsylvania 2023. She is currently the co-chair of the Lived Experience Commission for the Road Maps to Home Board facilitated by the Office of Homeless Services in Philadelphia and a member of the grassroots organizations ADAPT and Disabled in Action.