About Oregon APSE

To promote equitable, integrated employment of people with disabilities that recognizes their contributions as community members, we support the following tenets:

• Communities are enriched when everyone is included in the workforce.
• Meaningful employment including comparable work hours and compensation is possible for all who choose to work.
• Everyone has the right to a career path that supports their chosen lifestyle.

National APSE Website

APSE Vision:

All people with disabilities have competitive employment in an inclusive workforce.

APSE Mission:

Oregon APSE supports:

• Integrated individual employment defined as a job that meets the needs of the business community, pays competitive wages, provides comparable benefits and opportunities to fully engage with non-disabled coworkers, and for most people is at least 20 hours per week.

Therefore, Oregon APSE will:

• Build alliances with advocates, families, employers, providers, funders and local communities to promote integrated individual employment throughout Oregon.
• Advocate for policies, communication, and training that supports substantial improvement and measurable outcomes specific to integrated individual employment.

Want to become an Oregon APSE Member? Click Here!

Oregon APSE Governing Board Members:

CJ Webb, President

CJ has supported people in many capacities for over 30 years. She is passionate about providing employment information, so people can live and work based on their skills, strengths, and gifts. She currently works at Vocational Rehabilitation, as a Youth Services Coordinator. She is a Certified Employment Support Professional (CESP) and a Person-Centered Thinking Mentor Trainer, credentialed through The Learning Community for Person Centered Practices. She has been a Personal Futures Plan facilitator since 1996, and also facilitates other person-centered plans such as Essential Lifestyle Plans (ELP), PATH and MAP. One of her favorite excerpts is: Our jobs should help us take the vacations that help us live a full life. She loves to cook, bake, go backpacking, hike, and see live music.

Glenn Bishop, Vice President

Glenn Bishop, MS, CRC is the Employment Services Manager at Dirkse Counseling and Consulting, Inc. where he has dedicated the last 21 plus years of his career working with employers and job seekers with disabilities to form meaningful and impactful job opportunities.

Travis Pearson, Treasurer

Travis Pearson is President & CEO of the DPI Group, which identifies and creates job opportunities for individuals with disabilities and other employment barriers. He has more than 20 years of experience in the field of disability employment. During his tenure with DPI, Travis has been integral in growing its businesses and mission, and has helped to expand DPI’s footprint. Travis is a veteran of the US Marine Corps and has a background in intelligence and security; he worked for various federal agencies during his time in the service as a security and intelligence analyst. Travis is a graduate of American Military University and earned an MBA from Washington State University.

Liz Fox, Secretary 

Liz Fox is the Executive Director of Alternative Work Concepts, a nationally recognized supported employment agency in Eugene, Oregon. She works specifically with people who have multiple physical and intellectual disabilities creating individualized positions in the community based on their interests and abilities. Liz has a BS in Special Education from the University of Vermont. Since coming to Oregon in 1991, she has been involved with a variety of stakeholder groups most recently, the Oregon State Rehabilitation Council and the Executive Order Policy Group. She has been a member of APSE since 2013.

Michelle Furman

Michelle holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Sciences from Linfield College. She is excited for the opportunity to help move our communities and individuals forward into integrated employment in Central Oregon. She is a Certified Employment Support Professional with APSE and is a member of the Oregon APSE Board.  She is a strong advocate for integrated community employment and also serves as a member of the Oregon Employment Learning Network (OELN) Discovery Training team. Michelle enjoys spending time with her family, being outdoors, camping and has plans on restoring her 966 Chevy truck which will be a family project!

Dannon Guthier-Herolaga

My firsthand experience seeing the impact of Supported Employment—both for the individuals we support and the employers we partner with—led me to join MV Advancements’ Supported Employment Program. I currently serve as the Assistant Program Manager for Marion and Polk County, am a Certified Employment Support Professional, and act as the liaison for MVA’s Self-Advocacy group and an internal PATH facilitator.

Outside of work, I enjoy settling in with a good book or connecting with long-distance friends through online games. I thrive on collaboration and innovative problem-solving, and I’m excited to serve on the Oregon APSE Board where I can learn, contribute, and help advance APSE’s mission.

Sawyer Viola

I am Sawyer Viola. I am a son, a brother, a friend, and a gold medal special Olympics swimmer. I am a loyal and dependable worker at the NIKE plant. I host a YouTube channel that raises awareness for people with Autism called The Sawyer Viola Show. I speak to groups about employing the neurodivergent, and all that people like me can contribute if given the opportunity. I am very excited to be a part of this board. Thank you for having me.

Kathy Sewell

In the past thirty years Ms. Sewell has been the Executive Director of five different corporations including one two-state not-for-profit corporation and the CEO of her own consulting firm Dancin’ Trees. During her tenure with these organizations, she has utilized an innovative and experiential philosophy to enhance business and program development. Kathy has worked extensively with not-for-profits to enhance their growth potential and business attributes. She has been associated with the Montana Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Center for Adolescent Development, Idaho Women’s Network, and the American Cancer Society, among others. Kathy also utilizes her facilitation skills to do team learning with profit corporations, organizations, and government agencies.

Thomas Saucedo

After attending Western Oregon University and earning a bachelor of science in Psychology, Thomas was looking for a way to utilize his skills and his passion for helping people lead better lives. He spent four years working with the elderly who experienced various forms of dementia near the end of their lives, utilizing his skills as a geriatric wellness trainer to be a bright spot in their lives. Thomas loved the relationships he made during this time but the constant loss pushed him to find a new line of work where he could still help people live their lives to their fullest extent. In 2016 he found just the position where he could use his passion for helping others and make a positive impact in their lives as a job coach with TVW Inc. After meeting with his first client, he knew that he was hooked and that he would make it his life’s work to serve people who experience disabilities to find meaningful inclusive work in their community. He earned his ACRE certification from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2016, which allowed him to expand his role into the role of a job developer where he could match the skills and abilities of his job seekers with inclusive employers throughout Washington County. Since becoming the manager in 2018, Thomas has helped to build TVW Inc’s Career Development Services department and expand the positive impact that the organization can make for people with disabilities and supported employment as a field. He has conducted training at multiple conferences and for multiple teams throughout Oregon for utilizing technology for video resumes giving people the opportunity to be seen for their skills and abilities during an interview when they might not be able to articulate it for themselves during an interview. He is delighted to join the Oregon APSE Board, where he can help with planning, training and expanding the utilization of technology for the people we serve.

Mer Stevens

Mer Stevens (she/her) has provided Supported Employment services for more than 15 years and currently manages Oregon’s only employer-embedded Supported Employment program. She believes in building equitably with a focus on opportunities for people who are the most frequently overlooked and underestimated. In her free time, she publishes knitting patterns, parents four silly boys with her amazing wife, serves as Board President for Hancock Street Preschool, and tries to get outside as often as possible.

Megan Almrayatee

I’m deeply committed to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace, with a focus on creating transformative employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Born and raised in Oregon, I completed my undergraduate degree in Human Development and Family Science at Oregon State University before joining Teach for America. For seven impactful years, I taught on the Texas-Mexico border, where I worked to foster educational access and resilience in diverse student populations. In 2017, I returned to Oregon and discovered my passion for supported employment, where I found my calling in advocating for inclusive hiring practices and challenging societal perceptions around disability in competitive, integrated employment. I’ve worked as an Employment Specialist, Trainer, and manager at a local agency, where I led teams and developed programs focused on inclusive outcomes. I recently moved to Relay Resources where I to continue promoting disability inclusion and driving meaningful change as their Director of Disability Inclusion where I’ll be starting up a CIE branch of services. As a lifelong learner, I’m constantly inspired by thought leaders like Brené Brown, Adam Grant, and Simon Sinek and strive to stay engaged with the latest in research and best practices. Outside of work, I’m a proud new mom to my daughter and love sharing outdoor adventures with my family in the Pacific Northwest. I’m also an avid reader, a dedicated fitness enthusiast, and a fan of all-things PDX dining-related.

John Merrick-Russell

Hello, my name is John Merrick Russell. Employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities and the non-disabled community are important to me, as is using those cross-skill sets within each community. Person-centric opportunities are of great importance to the clients we serve and the history at hand. I am on two additional boards, including Oregon APSE. Providing people with fulfilling experiences rather than just niche community engagement is crucial throughout the services as we navigate and represent. I would like to thank the ARPA Funds for the example. Within SB810, and in a specific line item, I did my best to advocate for those to become policy advisors with lived experiences, so they can be the leaders they are meant to be. Regarding auditory and audiology issues within the disability community, the Oregon Rights to Repair was important to me to initiate throughout the industry. I thank the industry for helping to continue my legacy and for carrying on the work that needs to be done. Technology first, People first, Opportunity with freedom and independence—these are very important. Achieving full employment and outreach in community development is a passion of mine, both inside and outside the disability community. I am eager to support the organization in navigating the current transition away from traditional shelter models toward more integrated, person-centered outcomes. My best wishes to fellow colleagues and to the work that remains to be done.

Corey Jeppesen

Corey Jeppesen is the Employment Services Director at the Oregon Resource Association (ORA). In his role, Corey brings resources and training to providers across the state and advocates for policies and legislation that improve employment outcomes for Oregonians with disabilities. A proponent of the idea that there are no “one size fits all solutions,” he works to advance myriad options for workers with disabilities and champions ideas that foster self-agency in both community employment and Oregon Forward, the state’s procurement set aside program. Among his many achievements was introducing the bill that ended subminimum wages for Oregonians with disabilities. He is a recipient of both the Larry Barker Spirit of State Use and Floyd Nesse Advocacy Awards from the State Use Program Association, of which he is a board member and past president. 

Melanie Hartwig

Member at large

Sheena Cooper

Member at Large