I am proud to support Journey Along the Erie Canal.  My friend John Robinson will ride from Buffalo NY to Albany, NY in 17 days.  John is quad-amputee and the founder of Our Ability.  They are raising funds to support the ride.  To learn more about the ride please visit www.ourability.com or call 518-429-9256.  I have also included the Press Release below about the event.  Thanks, Debra

Journey Along the Erie Canal

With the goal of raising awareness of the ability inside all people, Our Ability will lead the largest event ever for People with Disabilities in New York State beginning June 23 with the Journey Along the Erie Canal, a 17-day bike ride starting in Buffalo and ending in Albany.

Our Ability, Inc., founded by quad-amputee John Robinson, is an organization that mentors and inspires people with disabilities through positive video stories. In 2012, Our Ability traveled to London for the 2012 Paralympics where it experienced the power of inspiration, sport and achievement.

“Our goal is to raise awareness of the ability inside all people and raise funds along the journey to support Adaptive Sports, Accessibility, Education and Employment for New Yorkers with Disabilities through the Disability Educational Forum of New York, a 501c 3 organization,” said John Robinson.

Robinson and members of Our Ability will bike, boat, run and walk across the state, looking to attract thousands to join them and support the mission of raising the consciousness with the public of the ability inside all people.

Joining them will be People with Disabilities, New York State organizations, Disabled Sports USA and local affiliates (STRIDE, Greek Peak and Cape Ability Outrigger Ohana) veterans and what’s hoped to be thousands of supporters. Each day during the Journey Along the Erie Canal, they will be collecting stories and raising awareness for People with Disabilities, all while sharing the beauty of New York State!

The Our Ability cameras will chronicle the ride providing daily video and blog updates on www.ourability.com, as well as through various social media outlets, all the while recording stories for a television documentary. These stories will focus on the inspirational people met along the way, from other people with disabilities to community leaders, athletes, war veterans, parents and children.

In a follow-up to the PBS documentary, Get Off Your Knees: The John Robinson Story, Our Ability will produce a television documentary and ‘web-episodes’ of Robinson, his family and other people with disabilities crossing Upstate New York along the historic Erie Canal.

The lead sponsor of the event is New York State Industries for the Disabled, Inc. (NYSID). For more than 35 years, NYSID – a not-for-profit member agency organization – has been meeting the purchasing needs of state and local government agencies while advancing employment for New Yorkers with disabilities.

“At NYSID, our mission is to provide opportunities for employment, an important focus for all New Yorkers – with or without disabilities. What John and his family are doing to raise awareness of accessible tourism in our state is yet another aspect of a fully inclusive life. As the Robinsons prepare to put their best feet forward from one end of our state to another, we commend their inspirational example of the human spirit.”

NYSID acts as a “virtual storefront” for a statewide network of 165 community rehabilitation agencies and private sector business partners to employ skilled people with disabilities in production facilities and community-based jobs.

“We are thrilled that the Our Ability Tour will be taking place along the Erie Canal and Erie Canalway Trail this summer. The event will highlight the many opportunities that exist for people of all ages and abilities to experience the scenic beauty and rich history of the Canal System,” noted Canal Corporation Director, Brian U. Stratton.

“We’re in for an adventure this summer with Our Ability’s Ride! Whether you’re cheering from the sidelines or joining them for part of the trip, you’ll experience the ride of a lifetime along the Erie Canal,” said Beth Sciumeca, Executive Director, Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. 

An estimated 2 million people each year are attracted to events along the corridor (Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, Annual Report 2012, Page 2).

Corporations are being invited to sponsor days along the ride to show support. Volunteers and individual donations are also welcome. To learn more visit www.ourability.com or call 518-429-9256.

Sincerely,

John Robinson, CEO Our Ability, Inc.

Update on The Second Annual Conference and Exhibition on Communications and Information Technology for People with Disabilities: Inclusion, Empowerment and Participation in Cairo, Egypt on April 2^nd and 3^rd 2013.

By Debra Ruh, Ruh Global and G3ict Representative

In April 2013 my daughter Sara Ruh (born with Down syndrome) and I were invited to speak and represent G3ict by the office of the International Labor Organization of Egypt.   We were very proud to represent G3ict (www.G3ict.org) because of the campaign it orchestrates all over the world to promote accessible Information and Communications Technologies and include people with disabilities in society.  G3ict – the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies – is an Advocacy Initiative of the UN GAID, the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development, launched in December 2006 in cooperation with the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at UN DESA. 

Sara Ruh at Conference 1

I have always been impressed with G3ict’s mission because if we do not make Information, Technology and Communications (ICT) accessible the digital divide continues to widen for People with Disabilities (PwD).   G3ict also supports the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.     “According to the UN there is an estimated one billion persons living with disabilities worldwide, making accessible and assistive ICT solutions a priority for industry, users, and policy makers and representing both a major Human Rights milestone and a considerable market driver for Assistive and Accessible ICTs.”  Source: G3ict

G3ict Logo 1

Our host the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Egypt is working on a program called Decent Jobs for Egypt’s Young People.  The ILO is fully committed to the inclusion of people with disabilities in the workforce and labor pool.   To learn more about this program and other ILO activities in the region please visit:  http://www.ilo.org/cairo/

Sara and I want to thank the ILO for hosting our trip to this wonderful international conference.  We also want to personally thank Christine Hofmann, Amal Mowafy, Heba Rashed and the rest of the ILO Egyptian team for everything they did to welcome and support us during our visit.

Amal Mowafy, ILO 1

Diverse Crowd at the conference 1

We were very impressed with the caliber of speakers, efficiency of the conference, and the amazing exhibitors in the exhibit hall.  We have visited many countries but the people of Egypt are some of the nicest, most amazing people you will ever have the pleasure to meet.

The conference hosted by H.E. the Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology presented The Second Annual Conference and Exhibition on Communications and Information Technology for People with Disabilities: Inclusion, Empowerment and Participation.    The international conference was held in Smart Village Convention Center in beautiful Cairo, Egypt on April 2^nd and 3^rd 2013.

Leaders from all over Egypt came to support and speak at the conference.  Dr. Abeer, Shakweer, Advisor to the Minister of Communications and Information for Social Services opened the conference with exciting news of how the ministry will create an education and employment program for people with disabilities.  The audience was impressed with the plan and excited to support the efforts. 

Other Egyptian leaders included Dr. Abdelsatter Shaaban, Advisor to the Minister of Education for Special Education, Eng. Saed Al-Hamelly, CEO at Etisalat, Eng. Ahmed Aly Ahmed Aly, Govenor of El Fayoum, Dr. Mohamed Fouad Gad Alla, Advisor to the President for Legal Affairs, H. E. Ambassador James Moran, EU Ambassador to Egypt, H.E. Dr. Mostafa Mosaad, Minister of Higher Education and H.E. Eng.  Atef  Helmy, Minister of Communications and Information Technology. 

It was inspiring to watch the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Minister of Communications and Information Technology and the Ministry of Higher Education on the technological development of People with Disabilities (PwD) centers at public Universities in Egypt. 

The audience cheered as the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, H.E. Eng.  Atef  Helmy presented Awards of Excellence to PwD and others supporting PwD’s in Egypt.

Sara Ruh and several award winners 1

The conference was an international conference with representatives and speakers from all over the world including Egypt, India, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Qatar, USA and others.  The conference was fast paced, interactive and innovative.    It was wonderful witnessing all the countries coming together to share ideas and support each other to include and empower PwD.  This conference continues to prove that the Middle East is committed to the inclusion of people with disabilities.   

Sara Ruh, Ohood Ali Al; Sheeb, MADA AT H 1

Topics included information about Assistive Technology, Accessibility and Universal Design.   We also spoke about different disability types including supporting people that are blind, vision loss, deaf, hard of hearing, mobility, physical, intellectual and cognitive impairments and multiple disabilities.   The focus on the conference was inclusion and empowerment.  How do we include people with disabilities in employment, education and every other aspect of society!

Sara and I spoke about our efforts to include people with disabilities in employment.  Plus we spoke about Sara’s transition from school to employment.  We also had the honor to provide a presentation about G3ict’s efforts to assure everyone has access to accessible ICT. 

Fatema Zourab and conference Attendee 1

Sara Ruh & Egyptian woman with DS 1

The exhibit hall had many amazing exhibitors from all over the region but I must confess that we fell in love with the young people from the Egyptian Association for Sophisticating the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (Asdaa).  These young people are focused on Robotic Inventions that will help people with disabilities and senior citizens.  Their enthusiasm for their inventions and their desire to make the world a better place for everyone was infectious.  If these young people are any indication of the brilliance of the youth in Egypt then it is going to be interesting to see how they change the world for the better in the future.  I would love to see Asdaa come over the United States and partner on robotic projects with Deaf and Hard of Hearing Associations.  

Asdaa and Sara Ruh 1

This conference sets the bar high for other international conferences on inclusion and empowerment.  Egypt is a lovely country and the people were welcoming, inviting and gracious.  Sara and I look forward to returning to this amazing country very soon.  We also wish them great success in their continued efforts to include people with disabilities in their society. 

What can we accomplish when we put our minds to it?  Eric Zeiberg of Connecticut believes we can accomplish anything even helping his big sister learn to communicate with him.

It is always interesting when a friend or family member creates a product to help another friend or family member.  This is a cool story about a young man that wanted to make a difference in another child’s life.  At the time Eric was in the 6^th grade and 11 years old.  One of Eric’s family friends has muscular dystrophy and has trouble speaking. She is practicing physician and writes on a simple notepad that she wants to say, and shows to people to communicate. Eric was fascinated as she wrote something on paper and showed it to others. “It could have been so much better if she could write on iPad and iPad would “speak” for her,” Eric thought. 

Eric was intrigued and did some research to discover there were no handwriting-to-text applications.   He decided to create one because he knew it could help his friend but also could help his sister Julie.  Julie now 23 was born with Autism and has speech impairments.

Eric says “Julie was my inspiration for the whole project.  She can’t communicate, and it’s

really hard for her to get words out.  This is a starting point for helping her.”  The app was finally ready on Dec. 2 with the debut of HandySpeech at Apple’s app

store, the only handwriting-to-speech iPad and iPad Mini.  The application can help anyone with speech problems including  people with Autism, Lou Gehrig’s Disease, CP, stroke, muscular dystrophy, and post-operation voice difficulties.

Plus it is easy to use.  All it takes is a finger or a stylus to write in the yellow section at the bottom of the iPad screen, then hit the speech button, and the writing turns into a male or female voice.

Was HandySpeech easy to produce?  “I started from scratch,” Eric said. “I didn’t know anything about the programming languages you use. I just had experience with computers. First I had to learn how to build the application — all the technologies and the Internet and how to code, and I used tutorials and websites to help me build it.”

Eric also gained two partners — text-to-speech software company iSpeech and handwriting recognition software maker PhatWare. 

The app provides for automatic corrections, learns user writing patterns, and allows simple finger gestures to insert special characters such as space and return.

Eric has a new version with several new features including:

• Phrases: you’ll be able to scroll down a list of phrases such as “Please wait while I am writing” or “How are you?” and click on any one, and a voice will say it.

• Speech speed control, so you can slow down or speed up the voice.

• Ability to upload the app to an iPhone.

As you can imagine Eric’s father Boris is very proud of his son’s tenacity and desire to help not only his sister but millions of other people around the world.

“I am very proud of him because he put his mind together, saw it through, and did something significant, but mostly because he shows that he cares about people.” Boris Zeiberg

The App sells for $29.99 and can write and “speak” in 11 languages, including Dutch, French, German, Danish, Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Italian, U.S. English, British English, and Portuguese as spoken in Brazil and as spoken in Portugal.

 For details, call 860-266-2226, email info@iSpeak4u.com, or visit www.iSpeak4u.com

ACCESSIBILITY LOSES A GREAT CHAMPION

Please vote for Josh to win an accessible van. He desperately needs our votes. Id you answer a question your vote counts twice. Please help me spread the word. It would mean so much to the quality of his life. Contest ends on May 10
http://www.mobilityawarenessmonth.com/entrant/josh-wilson-richmond-va/

Entrepreneur starts anew with venture to help people with disabilities

TecAccess founder begins new chapter assisting the disabled

• 

  MARK GORMUS/TIMES-DISPATCH

  Debra Ruh is founder and managing principal of Ruh Global LLC. The Hanover County-based consulting firm helps companies understand the value of hiring people with disabilities and including them in society.

2009. ALEXA WELCH EDLUND/TIMES-DISPATCH

Ruh and her daughter, Sara, who has Down syndrome, travel this week to Egypt to speak to people about preparing young people with disabilities for the workforce. Ruh says her daughter is her inspiration.

View all 2 images in gallery.

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Posted: Sunday, March 31, 2013 12:00 am

BY CAROL HAZARD Richmond Times-Dispatch

Debra Ruh, founder of Tec-Access and once named a rising business star in the Richmond area, saw her business go up in smoke in the long grinding recession.

She has started anew with another venture also aimed at helping people with disabilities.

She and her adult daughter, Sara, who has Down syndrome, travel this week to Egypt to speak to people about preparing young people with disabilities for the work force.

“It is so cool that Sara and I have been invited to speak to people in the Middle East,” said Ruh, founder and managing principal of Ruh Global LLC.

The Hanover County-based consulting firm focuses on a mission close to her heart — helping companies understand the value of hiring people with disabilities and including them in every aspect of society.

“I can continue to raise awareness and make a difference for people with disabilities. That is my life’s work,” Ruh said.

Ruh started the firm in January but mostly as a placeholder, she said, until she could figure out the direction her venture would take.

She has consulted on projects in China and Singapore.

She has heard from people in Europe and the United States who want to invest in fully accessible projects for people with disabilities and their families.

“This opportunity in Egypt just popped up,” Ruh said, noting how Ruh Global has taken off quicker than she anticipated.

She and Sara were invited by the Cairo office of the International Labour Organization, which establishes and oversees international labor standards, and C3ict, a global initiative for inclusive information and communication technologies. Both groups are part of the United Nations.

The idea for her business is timely, as the ranks of veterans with disabilities swell and as baby boomers enter their senior years, she said.

While some people are born with disabilities, others acquire them, Ruh said, adding that 46 percent of people older than 65 become at least partially disabled, many for the first time in their lives.

TecAccess, her first venture, was a testing, training and consulting company specializing in accessible information and communication technologies for people with disabilities.

Ruh’s inspiration is her daughter. Born in 1987 with the chromosome abnormality, Sara was the first known person in the Ruh family with a disability.

“Sara’s positive influence has given us the ability to have a unique and empowering voice,” Ruh said.

“Debra is a very passionate and dedicated advocate for the rights of people with disabilities,” said Thomas L. Bowden, a local attorney who represented TecAccess and Ruh.

“It is one thing to be a technician and aware of the rules,” Bowden said about federal requirements to make accessibility a criteria in making technology purchasing decisions.

“She is an outspoken advocate.”

Ruh, as CEO of TecAccess, won the rising star award in 2005 from the local chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners.

In 2007, her company was nominated in 2007 by Dell for a national Small Business Administration award. TecAccess was a runner-up.

It then was selected for Dell’s “Take Your Own Path” national advertising campaign featuring seven U.S. entrepreneurial businesses.

Ruh’s picture and story appeared on billboards across the nation, in the Wall Street Journal and other newspaper advertisements, on Fox News and CNN in 2010 — a year before the ailing economy would take its toll on her company.

It pains her to talk now about how TecAccess, which she started in 2001, held such promise but failed in the end.

Ruh said she didn’t anticipate the depth of the downturn. She had reinvested in the company, but the debt load was too much, especially when her bank, Virginia Business Bank, became insolvent and was taken over by regulators.

Ruh salvaged what she could by forming a strategic alliance with McLean-based SSB BART Group in 2011.

SSB BART, which was in a similar line of business, didn’t take on the debt, but it did hire Ruh and her 15 employees.

Company consultants train, audit and test communications and technologies for accessibility. It also provides software to test company website for accessibility.

The TecAccess entity was retained in the alliance and Ruh tried to secure business through the name, but in the end, she couldn’t make it work. The doors to the business were shuttered in June 2012.

Her employees, 11 of whom are disabled, now work for SSB BART. “I just wanted to protect my employees,” she said. “Nobody was hiring. If I laid them off, they did not have a chance.”

Ruh, 54, said she made a lot of mistakes.

“The reality is people lost money. When I think about a company failing, I think about people losing their jobs, but a lot of people lose money.

“I have the scars on my back to prove it,” she said about her experience. “You learn the most when you walk the walk.”

Ruh declined to say how much money she and her six investors lost.

She stayed with SSB BART until the end of December. “I just wanted to be on my own again.”

“We wish Debra Ruh great success with Ruh Global and look forward to collaborating with her on future projects,” Tim Springer, CEO of SSB BART, said in a statement.

“Quitting is not in the lexicon of an entrepreneur,” said Joseph T. Geiger, a Richmond resident and author of “Entrepreneurial Success: The Road to the Top — 101 Practical Business Principles.”

“For a real entrepreneur, finding a new opportunity is easy,” said Geiger, who knows about the spirit of entrepreneurs but not Ruh personally. “Hopefully, she learned some lessons and has a real business plan.”

Failure never stops an entrepreneur, Geiger said. “There are dozens of examples of famous people who failed over and over again and finally hit it right.”

Naming a few, he mentioned Colonel Harland Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame, who wasn’t successful until his 60s; the Wright brothers, who came up with the wind tunnel to test their flying machine; and Abraham Lincoln, “who tried a number of things before becoming an attorney and succeeding big time.”

chazard@timesdispatch.com

(804) 775-8023

© 2013 Richmond Times Dispatch

http://www.timesdispatch.com/business/local/entrepreneur-starts-anew-with-venture-to-help-people-with-disabilities/article_65291908-3c04-5355-ba01-22f002791b5e.html#.UVg06S0ZeW4.twitter

Many young people with disabilities are looking for employment opportunities.  Matt Shea is a 23 year old that graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in pastoral ministry from last year.  Matt has overcome more in his young life than many people and has proven that he is a very capable and determined young man.  He has the kind of qualities that would be extremely valuable in the workplace including tenacity, determination, humbleness and wisdom.    

 He enjoys volunteering at his church but is seeking a paid position.  He is will continue to volunteer on his time off because he believes that we all should make a difference in our communities.   He also feels that he would be a great employee, given 110% to any company that gave him a chance to prove his value.

 Despite many obstacles he has proven that when he makes up his mind to accomplish something -nothing gets in his way.    During a recent interview Matt Shea summed it up by saying; “I can be confident, I learned I can run meetings without waiting for someone else to take charge. I really learned what it means to self-advocate. I did that a lot in college.  I don’t let a situation define me, I define the situation.” 

 For more information check out this article about Matt Shea

Despite foster homes, disabilities, Matt Shea goes to college, eyes ministry by Nancy Haught

Matt Shea, 23, graduated from Oklahoma Wesleyan University in December 2012, quite an accomplishment for a young man with disabilities who moved from foster home to foster home. Ross William Hamilton/The Oregonian

Matt Shea, 23,  walks into a Starbucks in St. Johns, his college diploma tucked under his arm. While he waits for his white chocolate mocha, he displays the royal blue cover, stamped with golden letters OWU, for Oklahoma Wesleyan University.  Shea is especially proud of the cream-colored sheet that bears his name and certifies that he has earned a bachelor of science degree in pastoral ministry. 

Shea was profiled by The Oregonian in 2008. Back then he was 18 and had what many people thought was an impossible dream: to graduate from the Oklahoma university. Impossible, many thought, because he grew up in foster care and lived with physical and learning disabilities. 

Statistically, teens who grew up in foster homes have trouble transitioning out of them. Many don’t graduate from high school or college. They become single parents, need public assistance and, sometimes, end up homeless. The odds increase when a teenager is disabled. 

But Shea triumphed over those odds. He applied to OWU, was accepted, researched and received the financial aid to attend the private school, weathered the flurry of that first weekend in his dorm room and graduated in December 2012.  

Now he’s back in Portland, volunteering at his church, St. Johns Wesleyan,  looking for part-time work and a frame suitable for his treasured diploma. 

“I looked at college as a new adventure,” Shea says, “being able to start all over.” At Centennial High School  he’d been a shy kid, he says. 

Shea was born with Sotos  syndrome, a rare genetic disorder often called “giant syndrome.” He grew tall earlier than most boys and topped at 6 feet 1, his hands and feet are large and he has no middle knuckle in his thumbs. He sometimes stutters and takes a few seconds to marshal the words he wants to use. People who want to hear what he has to say give him a little extra time to say it. 

Shea has already started with some pastoral duties at his home church, St. Johns Wesleyan Church.Ross William Hamilton/The Oregonian

 Shea was 9 when his father died of cancer. His brother, who also had Sotos syndrome, died the summer between Matt’s freshman and sophomore year. Shea has lived in foster homes since he was 11 years old, though he stays in touch with his mother. When Shea went away to college, his pastor and his wife, Phil and Debbie Hawk, became his foster parents. Released from foster care when he was 21, he still lives with the Hawks, who treat him, he says, like family. 

It took him just a few days to find his niche at OWU. He remembers sitting outside, taking in the flurry of activity going on around him. 

“An upperclassman walked by and he said, ‘Go be social,’” Shea recalls. He took the advice to heart and started by telling a few jokes to the students he met. They laughed. He laughed. Friendships began to take root. 

Within a few weeks, the young man who hadn’t learned how to ride mass transit until he was 15 was figuring out how to balance his classes and homework, keep track of the required papers and find time to nurture the relationships that he says saw him through college. He was a student mentor for incoming freshmen, an avid basketball fan, a member of the campus social life committee, traveled to Mexico on mission trips and was senior class president. 

Not that it was easy. He admits to a few moments of doubt. 

“How can I do this?” he recalls thinking. “But I was never promised an easy ride,” he says matter-of-factly. “This is what college is all about.” He also had his share of pep talks from a few of his teachers, and people in Portland supported him with phone calls and postcards. They had prepared him well. 

As a senior in high school Shea participated in the “My Life” project at Portland State University. The program studies the transition of youths with and without disabilities who are leaving the foster care system. 

Alison Turner,  senior research assistant at PSU, became Shea’s coach. She helped him approach life’s hurdles, large and small, as a series of mini-tasks. Then she helped him create a step-by-step plan for each task. Like many others who worked with Shea, she knew that his overarching goal was to go to OWU. 

“He was so determined to make it work,” Turner says. “I remember saying, ‘Let’s get a backup goal in case this doesn’t work.’ But then he started doubting me.” So Turner kept working with him. She helped him figure out what kind of accommodations he’d need in college. “He can’t really type,” she says, but if someone else does the typing, he can dictate a profound paper.” She spent hours on the phone setting it up with OWU. 

“Matt was never a project. He was a person,” says Kyle White,  vice president for student development at Oklahoma Wesleyan. He says professors at OWU made some accommodations for Shea: gave him a little more time on some assignments, offered helpful feedback, let him correct some of his work. 

“It’s our job to teach,” White says. “We don’t compromise on what students learn, but we can compromise on how they learn. 

“People forgot that Matt had much of a disability,” White says. “He lives an idea we try to instill in students. We want them to be confident. When you’re confident in the way God made you, you know you can handle new things. Matt doesn’t think it diminished him that other people helped him when he needed it.” 

Back at Starbucks, nursing his mocha, Shea knows precisely what he gained from going to college. 

“I can be confident,” he says. “I learned I can run meetings without waiting for someone else to take charge. I really learned what it means to self-advocate. I did that a lot in college. 

“I don’t let a situation define me,” he says. “I define the situation.” 

http://www.oregonlive.com/living/index.ssf/2013/03/foster_homes_disabilities_math.html

By Debra Ruh 

Ruh Global is Strategic Communications & Digital Marketing firm helping corporations strategically include People with Disabilities (PwD).  Our firm allows organizations to connect and integrate the community of PwD, their families and other stakeholders including Wounded Warriors and Baby Boomers that are acquiring disabilities for the first time in their lives.  

 We are fully committed to including people with disabilities in every aspect of society.  One of our international clients is considering a destination resort that would be fully inclusive, accessible and universally designed. 

Their plan would be to welcome all travelers including people with disabilities.  They have asked us to create, manage a survey about the travel preferences of people with disabilities, their friends and family.  Ruh Global will gather the data, analyze it and publish a report that we will share with the community, hospitality, tourism and travel professionals. 

We would really appreciate if you could take the survey and encourage your family, friends and networks to also take the survey.  Our goal is to assure people with disabilities are not only included but embraced by the Tourism and Hospitality Industry.  The survey can be found at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/P7F59J5

For more information about Ruh Global please visit our website at www.RuhGlobal.com

Blog Series that Highlights Successful Business Owners with Disabilities

by Debra Ruh of Ruh Global (www.RuhGlobal.com)

 Deb Dagit, President of Deb Dagit Diversity, LLC has 22 years’ experience as a diversity practitioner and has worked as a top executive in both the Information Technology and Health care fields informing both HR and business practices and strategies.

 She is known for her pragmatism, subject matter expertise with regards to all dimensions of diversity, and results orientation.  

She recently retired from her role as the Global Diversity & Inclusion Officer and Vice President at Merck, where she spent over a decade advancing the Company’s global diversity and inclusion strategies.

From an early age most people’s expectations for Deborah Dagit were very low.  Doctors told her parents when she was born that it was unlikely she would live to see her second birthday. They asserted that if she did live beyond that milestone, she would not be able to engage in any normal life activities.  Educators were similarly pessimistic about her ability to learn.  Her first two years in school she was segregated with other children who were considered too disabled to participate in a regular classroom, in an environment that was in essence a babysitting service for children with a disability.

Deb’s working-class single mother knew that although her daughter was physically fragile, she was also bright and capable of learning.  Deb had learned how to read before Kindergarten, and was described as precocious by most adults.  Deb’s mom pleaded with a local elementary school Principal to allow Deb to attend public school in the second grade. At that time (1966) there were no legislative policies or protections to promote school mainstreaming, and she would be the only child in her school with a disability through the remainder of her K-12 experience.

Despite more than 70 fractures and 25 major operations to repair and straighten her legs, Deb was always a straight A student and graduated from high school with honors in 1977, just before her 18^th birthday.  She was also active as a student leader and received many accolades at public speaking competitions.  She went on to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in Clinical Psychology.  She applied her academic and leadership skills to become one of the premier Fortune 100 corporate leaders in an emerging HR discipline that came to be known as Diversity.  Along the way she married her husband Dan, and they adopted three children, who also have various disabilities.  She also became very active as a community leader serving on the boards of a broad array of national nonprofit organizations.

Advocates and thought leaders for people with disabilities are often from the medical or health care community, who often consider people with disabilities as a population in need of a cure and/or relief from the symptoms associated with their diagnosed condition.  No other diverse population is subject to this type of assessment in modern society. While women, racial minorities, and gay people have historically been labeled as genotypically predisposed to be weaker, less intelligent, and or medically compromised - only people with disabilities continue to bear this burden in modern times.

Throughout her career Deb has been a compelling and vocal advocate for people with disabilities. As the only Chief Diversity Officer with a visible disability, she has often found herself in the unenviable position of being the sole voice in the room to advocate for societal and workforce inclusion for people with disabilities.

Her journey to achieving personal and professional success is all the more remarkable given the lack of belief that these achievements were even remotely possible. 

Deb has an anonymous advice column called “Dear Deb” on her website www.debdagitdiversity.com.  It is a unique resource for practitioners to seek support, affirmation, and ask questions re: how to cope with the emotional roller coaster that can come with performing diversity and inclusion roles. 

Visitors can pose questions and provide a name that is anonymous to others. Only Deb will know the original author from their e-mail address and any other identifying information they wish to provide. (e.g. signature that appears could be something like “Troubled in Toledo”)

Typical topics may include:

·         expectations of colleagues who share the same demographic affiliation as the practitioner who are requesting a primary focus on their needs and interests

·         concerns about how to respectfully address and show up as an effective ally for groups a practitioner is not familiar or confident with

·         addressing internal conflicts that can arise when what is expected in the diversity role and how a person was raised to think about and interact with people from different backgrounds creates stress and/or confusion

·         demonstrating confidence and executive presence when working with senior leaders

·         friction that can arise with colleagues who do not share a similar priority/passion for diversity work

To learn more about Deb’s firm please visit:

Please visit Deb Dagit Diversity, LLC at www.debdagitdiversity.com

To Suggest a Story or to Find out more about Ruh Global please visit us at www.RuhGlobal.com.

Ruh Global has created a survey for a client to determine travel preferences for people with disabilities and all stakeholders.  Please take this survey and pass to others to complete.  Thanks for helping us gather this critical data.  Our goals are to encourage hospitality and tourism to value, accommodate and include people with disabilities.  Please share and take the survey.  It is not only for people with disabilities but family members, friends and other stakeholders.  Visit Ruh Global at www.RuhGlobal.com  

Here is the link to the survey:  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/P7F59J5