Living with Disabilities, Creating Person-Centered Care
March 9, 2023, 11 am - 1 pm via Zoom Webinar
Event is free to attend, ASL interpretation provided.
Join us to learn from our featured speaker, Mary Junnila with the Lighthouse Center for Vital Living, to expand our perspective on older adults with disabilities seeking to find self-reliance, technological resources, and social-emotional support in their lives.
No cost to attend
Open to all community members, including students, professionals, and caregivers
Features ASL interpreters
March 9, 2023, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm through Zoom Webinar
Presenters:
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Christina Woods has 32 years of working with underserved communities and individuals and serves the Duluth Art Institute (DAI) as its first Anishinaabe Executive Director. Christina conducts training and workshops on equity, diversity, and inclusion including the program she created for the DAI, Commission Your Bias. Christina’s work on social justice brings a unique lens to the context of an arts organization. Christina is a 2019 AARP 50 0ver 50 awardee in bias-busting. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a Master of Education in Leadership. Christina is called upon locally, regionally, and nationally as an expert in decolonization, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Christina consults on these topics through her company Diversity Consulting.
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Mary Junnila holds a masters’ degree in public policy from Harvard University and a bachelor’s in economics from Carleton College. For the past 12 years, she has been honored to serve as Executive Director at the Lighthouse Center for Vital Living, an organization formerly known as the Duluth Lighthouse for the Blind. Under Mary’s leadership, the Lighthouse expanded its mission, changed its name, and added many new services for older adults and people with disabilities. A native of Grand Rapids, MN, Mary also lived and worked in Cook County, where she was a business owner; Executive Director of the Economic Development Authority; and founding Director of the Cook County Higher Education project. She lived and worked in Washington, D.C. and Boston, where she worked on education and poverty issues. She loves collaborating with others to develop innovative responses to community and regional needs.
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Sheri Cooke is a certified Assistive Technology Professional (ATP), a certification that requires 2000+ hours of direct client service and rigorous testing. It is held by only about 60 professionals in Minnesota.
Sheri has more than 22 years of work experience in the assistive technology field, including many years in the K-12 educational setting, and 14 years in the non- profit sector completing assessments, device trials, home modifications, training on devices and securing funding for clients to obtain needed devices. Sheri has held multiple board positions, including a Governor-appointed position on the MN Governor’s Council of Assistive Technology. Sheri is passionate about assistive technology because she sees the profound difference that it can make in people’s lives.
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Laura holds a master’s degree in occupational therapy through the College of St. Scholastica. She is the OT program director as well as a treating occupational therapist at the Lighthouse Center for Vital Living where she has worked since 2016. Laura holds her Specialty Certification in Low Vision through the American Occupational Therapy Association- a certification only 1% of OTs hold. She considers herself a creative problem solver and loves helping people discover what is possible despite eye disease, aging, and/or disability.
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Julie Wilson is the Executive Director for Care Partners of Cook County in Northeastern MN. She has her master’s degree in social work with an emphasis in Health, Disability, and Aging. She has over 13 years' experience in the aging field, and over 20 years in management, including Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI), lean office, and strategic planning. She grew up on a farm in Northwestern MN; and has lived and worked in the Aging Field in the Twin Cities, Bismarck, ND, and now Cook County in NE MN. She brings the unique perspective of rural and urban strengths and challenges in the aging field. Julie has worked across the aging spectrum in nursing homes, home care, assisted living, MAAA (now Trellis), aging education with MGS, and home and community-based services. She loves the Minnesota winter, a strong cup of coffee, and good conversation with a friend or new acquaintance.
Sponsors:
The Northland Diversity in Aging Series is a collaboration of The College of Saint Scholastica’s Office of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion and the Gerontology Program, Duluth Aging Support, Northland Foundation, and the Arrowhead Area Agency on Aging. The purpose is to foster conversations and promote learning about the aging and caregiving experience across generations and cultures.