Our Associates
Therese Fimian - President
Therese Fimian has worked in the disability employment field for over 20 years, overseeing national workforce, research and demonstration projects and programs to increase access to employment and economic empowerment for individuals with significant disabilities. Therese directed a national initiative through which several hundred customized employment positions were created and hundreds of strong partnerships with businesses were established. She has worked with national and state agencies to develop and improve strategy, policy and practice to increase interest in and access to resources and services that result in competitive, integrated employment for individuals with disabilities. Therese joined MG&A in July 2019 and became president of the organization in 2022.
Michael Callahan - President Emeritus
Michael began working as a special education teacher and a federal funds administrator in Mississippi in the early 70’s. Michael made early strides in the disability field directing a camp for deaf and blind children, starting the first group home in Mississippi for people with disabilities coming out of a state institution, and running a sheltered workshop that employed people with disabilities. Marc Gold and Michael Callahan worked together for many years and developed a close relationship that enabled Michael to fluidly and successfully fill the role of president of MG&A following Marc’s untimely death in 1982, and Michael has maintained that position to this day. Since assuming the role of president at MG&A, Michael has consulted throughout the US, Canada and Europe in the area of supported employment. He received a doctorate degree from Syracuse University with a focus on vocational rehabilitation. He edited a popular "how-to" book on employment for persons with severe disabilities, Getting Employed, Staying Employed (1987) and co-authored of Keys to the Work Place (1997) a text on systematic instruction and natural supports in supported employment. Over the years, he has published numerous articles, chapters, manuals and curricula pertaining to employment of persons with disabilities. Michael played a fundamental role in the development of customized employment, and helped to establish terminology that is widely used in disability employment to this day including the term “Discovery”. Michael also made great strides working with the United Cerebral Palsy Association's (UCPA) from 1987-2000. After decades of groundbreaking contributions to the disability employment field, Michael retired as president of MG&A late in 2021 and continues to train and provide consulting services for the organization. He currently lives in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.
Read more about Michael Callahan here.
Katie Banzhaf
Katie Banzhaf began her career with MG&A in 1981 after completing her Master’s Degree at the University of Cincinnati. Her first position with MG&A was as a Regional Coordinator providing training in Systematic Instruction in Ohio. In 1982 she became an independent consultant with MG&A providing training in Systematic Instruction throughout the United States, Canada, Greece, Great Britain and Sweden. Katie is currently the Executive Director of STAR, Inc., Lighting the Way, a Norwalk, CT based non- profit agency supporting individuals with Intellectual and developmental disabilities. She is proud of the wide range of community based services provided including birth to three, family supports, residential supports and employment services.
Pam Bossert
Pam’s career began as a Special Education teacher in Pennsylvania and transitioned to MG&A in 1980 as a job trainer in the Austin Project in Texas at Motorola, Inc. Pam learned Try Another Way, the foundation for Systematic Instruction and provided production training to sixteen employees with disabilities. Additionally Pam used systematic instruction to train employees with developmental or intellectual disabilities at Texas Instruments, Abbott Labs, IBM and other manufacturers in the Austin area. Following her work with MG&A in the early 1980’s, Pam joined Motorola in a Manufacturing Training Manager position. While at Motorola, Pam held various roles in learning and organization development as an internal consultant and manager at Motorola/Freescale Semiconductor. As a senior training/OD consultant at Motorola, Pam worked closely with the client manufacturing and technology organizations to improve performance through applying the systematic training strategies developed with MG&A. After leaving Motorola in 2007, Pam rejoined MG&A bringing with her added corporate and technology training and development experience. As a MG&A Associate Pam facilitates training and workshops in Systematic Instruction with state and local organizations that provide employment services for individuals with developmental or intellectual challenges and also coordinates MG&A Systematic Instruction Certification process.
Jennifer Briggs
Jennifer is President and founder of Briggs & Associates. After receiving her degree in special education from the Edgecliff Campus of Xavier University, she spent ten years working in various special education positions in Ohio and Georgia, specializing in vocational and career development for adults with disabilities. She then moved into the private sector for five years where she held project and staff management positions in two marketing and research-consulting firms. Jennifer founded Briggs & Associates in 1989 based on the philosophy that anyone who has the desire has the ability to be successful in the workplace. The company has grown to over 90 employees solely dedicated community-based supported employment, now serving over 900 people across Georgia. The company represents individuals from all walks of life, all with individually designed careers. Jennifer has presented at numerous best practice conferences, and served in a consultant role throughout her career.
Ellen Condon
Ellen Condon, M. Ed. is the Director of the Pre-Employment Transition Services Technical Assistance Center, Transition and Employment Projects and Montana Deaf-Blind Project, at the University of Montana’s Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities. Condon has worked at the Rural Institute since 1996 on Transition and Employment for youth with significant disabilities. She is also a consultant with MG&A, and she served as a Subject Matter Expert for the Office of Disability Employment Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor on the Employment First State Leadership Mentor Project. Ellen has worked in the field of Developmental Disabilities since 1986. Prior to coming to Montana her experiences included hands-on service delivery, program development and program management in community residential and supported employment programs. She received her Master’s degree in Special Education from Boston College in 1990 after completing course work in Transition and Supported Employment. At the Rural Institute she has served as the Principal Investigator and Project Director for numerous Federal and state-funded grants. She provides technical assistance, training, and on-site support to schools, agencies, and individuals and families predominantly in the areas of employment, transition, and Social Security Work Incentives. She lectures and consults with schools and adult service agencies. She and her staff have produced numerous publications on Transition issues and employment.
Abby Cooper
Ms. Cooper has 40 years of experience implementing complex systems change efforts. She has provided Technical Assistance and training on Customized Employment national and international. In 1981 she transformed a Day Activity Center into the first Supported Employment (SE) agency in Washington. Her entire career has been devoted to advancing competitive integrated employment for individuals who face multiple complexities. She has been at Statewide Administrator for Public Rehabilitation, an Executive Director, provided TA and training to 30 states and is a Subject Matter Expert for the Office of Disability Employment Policy.
Marion Curry - Systematic Instruction Coordinator
Marion Curry has worked in the field of human services and developmental disabilities since 1972. She began her affiliation with Marc Gold in 1974 when the workshop she ran in rural south became one of the first programs in the south to implement the Try Another Way technology. She later worked for MG&A as a trainer in both The Georgia Project and doing short term training across the nation and in Canada. She was an early pioneer in full integration and supported employment, converting the facility she directed in 1983. The focus of her professional career has been in designing and directing services that support people who have been devalued in being able to make contributions and share their gifts with their communities. Marion holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology/Christianity from Mercer University in Macon, GA and a masters degree in Public Administration from Valdosta State University in Valdosta, GA.
Randy Dicks - Discovery and job development Coordinator
Randy’s work in the human service field ranges from working with the homeless, to working in a rape crisis center, to working with people with criminal histories, as well as with those who experience mental health, physical, and intellectual disabilities. Although varied in experience, his work has always focused on what works best for the person receiving services. He strives to implement this philosophy every day, through customized employment. Randy has found that Customized Employment truly is a way for people with significant barriers to employment find meaning and purpose through a job in the community making real wages. Randy joined MG&A as a consultant in 2013. His areas of focus are Discovery and Job Development. In addition to serving as the Certification Manager, Randy is responsible for leading the Mentors-in-training process for MG&A.
Charlotte Guy
Charlotte Guy has worked in the developmental disability field since 1980. She has a specialist degree from the University of Southern Mississippi in Special Education and Administration. She is National Board Certified in the area of Special Education. Charlotte has extensive experience in secondary special education and community based transition programs for students with disabilities. She was the first teacher in the state of Mississippi to have a class for students with significant disabilities on a college campus. As a high school transition teacher she developed an entrepreneur class for students with disabilities. She has trained teachers in transition services design and implementation. During her tenure as a special education teacher, she assured that her transition-age students had paid jobs in the community using Discovery and Customized Employment. Charlotte is currently working as a private consultant with the Office of Disabilities Employment Policy as a Subject Matter Expert providing technical assistance to direct service professionals on customized employment strategies. Charlotte has worked as an educator in residence with the Mississippi Department of Education. She has also worked in the Jackson County Mississippi School District as an assistant special education director.
Joy Hopkins
Joy Eason Hopkins was mentored by Marc Gold and has been a consultant with MG&A since 1980. Her experience includes leading MG&A training projects in a variety of states, teaching systematic instruction and developing a direct support professional certificate program in GA's community college system that incorporated the systematic instruction training approach. Joy is an on-going advocate for typical employment opportunities for individuals with significant disabilities.
David Lynde
David Lynde is an independent mental health services consultant and trainer who specializes in the effective implementation of Evidence-Based Practices for young adults and adults whose lives are affected by mental illness. David serves as a consultant and trainer for the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center to the New Hampshire Bureau of Mental Health Services; and he is a deputy program director for dissemination and implementation resources on the SAMHSA National Registry for Evidence Based Programs and Practices. David works with MG&A on the development and implementation of employment programs. David has worked with numerous federal and state projects including the Recovery After Initial Schizophrenia Episode (RAISE) program for the National Institute of Mental Health; the National Implementing Evidence Based Practices Project for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; the Johnson & Johnson – Dartmouth Supported Employment Program; and the national Homeless Veteran’s Supported Employment Program (HVSEP) and the national implementation of Supported Employment services for the Veteran’s Administration.
Lisa Mills
Dr. Lisa Mills has worked for thirty years in the field of disabilities, in both the US and the UK. Her passion for Customized Employment began nearly twenty years ago when she was an employer at organizations that hired people with disabilities and she supervised these individuals, recognizing that customizing their positions ensured the organization could maximize the contributions of these employees, while also ensuring the employees succeeded too. At the same time, Lisa’s passion for Systematic Instruction also started as she saw the benefits of effective training on worker performance and independence. Since 2006, Lisa has been associated with MG&A. She works mainly with state agencies and other funders on supported and customized employment, discovery and job coaching service models and funding structures that incentivize the best possible outcomes. Over the past fifteen years, she has worked in more than 20 states. Dr. Mills is also affiliated with the LEAD Center and ODEP’s Employment First State Leadership Mentoring initiative and VOICE initiative. She also served as lead subject matter expert for the US DOL’s Advisory Committee on Competitive Integrated Employment of Individuals with Disabilities, during its first year of deliberations.
Nicole Rabinowitz
Nicole Rabinowitz grew up in Minneapolis, MN and graduated from the University of Kansas. She started her career as a Special Education Teacher teaching in Kansas, Costa Rica, and Illinois. She was trained in Discovery, Job Development and Systematic Instruction through MG&A when she worked at a day program in Chicago, IL. She started their first Customized Employment program in 2015. Nicole is a Discovery trainer and mentors those seeking Discovery Certification. Nicole moved back to Minneapolis in 2018 and is the founder of Inclusive Networking where she provides trainings in Customized Employment and services in Discovery, Job Development, and ongoing supports. Nicole is very passionate about supporting job seekers in finding meaningful, competitive employment as well as providing support and innovative training to employers, employment specialists and job coaches to create more diverse and inclusive work environments. She is also a member of National APSE and is on the Community Engagement Committee of MN APSE.
Milton Tyree
Milton Tyree’s work is centered on people with disabilities having access to participation in valued aspects of everyday life. A particular area of interest over the last 35 years has been the ongoing challenges around disability employment. His interest in Marc Gold’s revolutionary work was piqued in the late 70s when, as a high school special education teacher, Milt attended a session at a vocational conference featuring Dr. Gold’s new videos. He vowed then to study everything possible about TAW. In 1981 he helped develop and direct Community Employment, Kentucky’s first supported employment program. The next MG&A connection came in 1988, during Milt’s first stint at the University of Kentucky, when he persuaded Mike Callahan to oversee the development of a curriculum for Kentucky supported employment providers. His present work at the University of Kentucky’s Human Development Institute is focused on leadership development where three MG&A courses and certifications are offered as part of HDI’s Supported Employment Leadership Series. His employment efforts have also been strongly influenced by the work of the late Wolf Wolfensberger. Milt has written about implications of Dr. Wolfensberger’s Social Role Valorization (SRV) theory for employment services and developed an SRV derived supported employment leadership event.
Former Associates
DR. Teresa Callahan
Teresa Callahan began her career in the disabilities field as a teacher of students with complex needs. She taught pre-school children, elementary, middle school and high school students with special needs throughout her public school teaching career. She earned her Doctoral degree in Special Education Administration from Syracuse University. Teresa was an Associate Professor of the Special Education Department for the University of Southern Mississippi, as well as the Director of Student Services for Ocean Springs School District in Mississippi. In 2014, Teresa became an associate with MG&A. She developed the certification programs for Discovery, Job Development, and Systematic Instruction. Teresa acted as the Training Coordinator and a mentor for MG&A, and was the wife of Michael Callahan, President Emeritus. Teresa sadly passed away in December, 2021; we strive to honor her lifelong commitment to the field.
Melinda Mast
Melinda Mast is a consultant to projects that assist people with support needs into employment. She works with the MG&A Mentor program, heading up Job Development training and technical assistance. She was the Executive Director of the Bain Injury Alliance of Kentucky and currently provides assistance to programs working with veterans with TBI and other support needs. She founded and is President of the Terrill Foundation, a foundation that provides scholarship assistance to high school seniors affected by neurologic disease and/or brain injury. Ms. Mast was a partner of the South East Region ADA Technical Assistance Center; a partner in Employment for All; a project manager for Virginia Commonwealth University’s Social Security State Partnership System’s Change Initiative; and project director and key staff for several federally funded research and demonstration projects that resulted in the employment of hundreds of individuals with severe and multiple disabilities. She has served on national task forces and committees and is a frequent speaker, consultant and writer on strategies and technology for including people with disabilities in all aspects of the community.
Norciva Shumpert
Norciva Shumpert has been consulting with the Pathways to Careers Project of the Institute on Economic Empowerment with Source America. She has worked in the development and training of Customized Employment (CE) since the conception and development of CE in the Office of Disability Services in the Department of Labor. Prior to this, she facilitated a Social Security National Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD) project with multiple agencies, demonstrating Discovery strategies, general and match work experiences, and employment of youth with significant disabilities from age 10 to 22 years of age. She also co-directed the UCPA/Department of Labor’s “One Stop to Success” project, a national project designed to implement the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. She served as co-director for the Choice Access Project, one of seven demonstration projects in the nation funded as a result of the 1992 Amendments to the Rehab Act. While at United Cerebral Palsy Association, she was also project director for a 40 site national Projects with Industry (PWI) project in the early ‘90's that employed over 1,000 persons with significant disabilities. She provides training and consultation regarding employment throughout the US. She consults with schools, mental health centers, families, and other community providers or projects on issues relating to employment and transition. She has worked with several school systems and resource centers to improve employment and community outcomes for students, with Medicaid providers to offer consumers an opportunity to control and direct their services, and with funding sources to increase customer control through various fiscal options and to plan using person directed planning processes.
Steve Zider
Steve Zider worked with Marc from 1971 until Marc's passing in 1982. Steve, a principal in the development of Try Another Way and MG&A, lectured and consulted globally on the TAW system and issues impacting the consumers we serve. Steve opened all the offices across the country for MG&A. He was responsible for the staff training and management of all the projects. Steve developed Develco, Inc. that provided organizational development and training in the field. He also served as the Chief Operating Officer for Community Alternatives, Inc.(CAU) in metropolitan Chicago. Independent Case Management was the service that was provided by CAU during a thirty-three year tenure. Steve had two academic appointments with the University of Illinois and the Illinois School of Professional Psychology. He supervised students throughout his academic career and has written and published several academic articles and a chapter with Marc Gold.