Announcing This Year’s Strongwheeled Together Award Finalists

Our third StrongWheeled Together Awards ceremony is just around the corner. We will reveal our winners at the Abilities Expo in Fort Lauderdale on October 19^th. The categories are the James J. Peters Community Builder Award, the Brooke Ellison Community Visionary Award, and the Barry Corbet Community Voice Award. Our featured image shows King Khazm accepting a 2023 StrongWheeled Together award. Who's competing to win this year? Read on to find out!

James J. Peters Community Builder Award Finalists

Natalie Alden has actively worked in the disability rights field for 30+ years, having been staff at Disability Rights Florida for 20 years. She has also served on the Jacksonville Mayor's Disability Council for over 20 years. She is a mother of two sons and a grandmother who loves participating in adaptive recreation, baking, and gardening.

Shameka Andrews is the community outreach coordinator for the Self Advocacy Association of New York State. She founded Disability Empowerment Consulting, is the author of the children's book Butterfly on Wheels, and is the state coordinator of the Ms. Wheelchair New York Program.

Tina Guenette is a motivational speaker who currently serves as CEO, founder and people connector of her national non-profit, RAMP (Real Access Motivates Progress). President Biden appointed her to the United States Access Board, and she sits on the Rhode Island Governor's Commission on Disabilities & Aging.

Jeff Lichon has been Dow's public affairs manager for over 17 years. In 2010, he established the Jeff Lichon Spinal Cord Injury Foundation, which created an endowment at Central Michigan University to advance the discovery of a cure for SCI. Jeff is also president of the Texas Outdoor Writers Association.

Margaret Long is a former Miss Wheelchair Ohio and an advocate for gun safety, disability rights and accessible housing. She recently received a local proclamation for her work as a gun violence survivor who inspires others to get involved in activism. In her free time, she is also a tandem skydiver and paints.

Mack Marsh has advocated for over two decades for people with disabilities in employment, emergency preparedness and community access. He is one of the founders and heads daily operations for the Parking Mobility program to end accessible parking abuse.

Bob Melia is the Spinal Cord Network Coordinator at Orlando Health and the president of the Greater Orlando Spinal Cord Injury Network. He and his wife Stephanie have two children and a one-year-old great Pyrenees named Fenway.

Mark Raymond, Jr. is the founder and CEO of The Split Second Foundation. Mark is a member of several federal, state, and local boards and commissions to represent and advocate for people living with disabilities and chairman of the Regional Transit Authority New Orleans Board of Commissioners.

Brooke Ellison Community Visionary Award Finalists

Todd Hargroder

Melanie Dunston is a private mediator for the community, elders, and disabled veterans and a custody advocate for the Council for Children's Rights of Mecklenburg County.

Jen French is the past president and founding member of the North American Spinal Cord Injury Consortium, founder of Neurotech Network, co-lead on the SCI-Powered Network and co-organizer of the iBCI Collaborative Community. iBCI stands for "implantable brain-computer interfaces. She is a Paralympic medalist and an accomplished parasailer.

Todd Hargroder began his first company, ADI, in 1993, kicking off his quest to fuse advanced technology from other industries with wheelchair product designs. His latest venture is SOUL Mobility. He also teaches Assistive Technology Design at the University of Pittsburgh and is a design team member for Pitt's Healthy Home Laboratory.

Anthony Netto is a master teacher and golf professional with the United States Golf Teachers Federation. In 2000, he co-invented an all-terrain standing sports wheelchair, the Paragolfer (by Ottobock), and founded the Stand Up and Play Foundation in 2010. In 2022, Anthony achieved another milestone by co-founding and developing the revolutionary VertaCat by ATINSPO.

Blake Perkins is a licensed physical therapist, credentialed assistive technology professional, and research investigator at the MetroHealth System in Cleveland, Ohio. He is also the lead clinician at the MetroHealth outpatient wheelchair clinic, program director and founder of the MetroHealth Adaptive Life Technologies lab, and board member and technology clinician at Adaptive Technologies.

Steve Polakowski is the president of Adaptive Technologies and owner of an information technology consulting firm with over 20 years of experience. In 2022, Steve began serving as a MetroHealth Adaptive Life Technologies Lab consultant, identifying, configuring, and implementing life-altering assistive and adaptive technologies.

Riley Poor is an award-winning action sports filmmaker, cinematographer, director, executive producer, and marketer. He is a seminal documentarian of freeskiing, and he was honored with a spot in the torch relay at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Riley's work has been recognized at the Emmys. He is a pioneering universal designer who launched Wheel Pad and his consultancy, Radically Included.

Dr. Sui Zee is a practicing physician, clinical professor at the Department of Pathology at New York University Grossman School of Medicine, and director of diversity, equity and inclusion at NYU. She is actively involved in her community and promotes diversity, equity and inclusion.

Barry Corbet Community Voice Award Finalists

Adrian Arnaiz

Adrian Arnaiz is a video creator who contributes to a physical therapist near downtown Orlando by helping to teach the University of Central Florida classes about spinal cord injuries.

Cruise Bogle is a mouth painting artist, entrepreneur, disability advocate and philanthropist living in sunny Florida.

Emily Ladau is a passionate disability rights activist, writer, editor, storyteller, and communications consultant. Her book, Demystifying Disability, was published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House, in September 2021. Central to all of Emily's work is harnessing the power of storytelling to engage people in learning about disability.

Cory Lee has traveled across all seven continents in his powered wheelchair while running his travel blog Curb Free With Cory Lee, where he shares his accessible-and sometimes not-so-accessible-travel adventures with others.

Regan Linton is an award-winning actor, director, filmmaker, writer, educator, and internationally recognized leader in inclusive practices in the arts. She is a featured columnist for New Mobility Magazine and co-director of the award-winning documentary IMPERFECT. She has worked on original theatre works and innovative immersive shows, educational programs for youth, web series, and community projects.

Ryann "Ry" Mason, RN, is a seasoned disability advocate, multi-specialty registered nurse, proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community, keynote speaker, model, professional dancer, sexuality educator, and self-proclaimed loudmouth southern belle. With over 15 years of experience in healthcare, Ry has worked tirelessly to end the stigma against disabled healthcare providers.

Mary Verdi-Fletcher is the President/Founding Artistic Director of Dancing Wheels Company & School. She has performed for over 5 million people since the inception of the Company. Mary has received the Cleveland Arts Prize, OhioDance Award, and Governor's Award for Arts Education in Ohio. She serves on the Executive Board of Directors of DanceUSA and ADACleveland committee.

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