ORAHEAD Fall 2023 Conference Presenters

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Presenter Bios

Andrew Childress, Rogue Community College (he/him)

Providing Civil Rights Protections for ELA Students

Session Six

Thursday, November 2nd, 1:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.

Andrew Childress directs disability services at Rogue Community College.

Mary Gerard, Bellingham Technical College (she/her)

Providing Civil Rights Protections for ELA Students

Session Six

Thursday, November 2nd, 1:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.

Mary Gerard (she/her) is the Director of Disability Services at Bellingham Technical College.

Jesse Graf, Southwestern Oregon Community College (she/her)

Making Invisible Disabilities Visible: Understanding, Empathy, and Inclusion

Session Three, Option One

Wednesday, November 1st, 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Jesse Graf, M.Ed. (she/her/hers) is a recent transplant to the Oregon Coast, having served a as a K-12 and adult special educator with students with a wide range of abilities and needs in Washoe County School District, Nevada. Jesse served as a MTSS (multi-tiered systems of support) data coach focusing on retention and academics, as well as the WCSD union special education committee chair. Jesse is a certified ELEOT learning environment observer, ensuring accessibility, flexibility, responsiveness, and effectiveness in curriculum, instruction, and pedagogy. Jesse is thrilled to be an Oregonian and explore all our beautiful state has to offer, and is thankful for the opportunity to serve learners in higher education.

Jewls Griesmeyer-Krentz, Willamette University (she/her)

Partners in Change: Moving toward an Institutional Culture of Accessibility

Session One

Wednesday, November 1st, 10:15 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.

Jewls is the Assistant Director of Accessible Education Services at Willamette University. Primarily at Pacific Northwest College of Art, she oversees disability services and institutional accessibility efforts. She enjoys finding creative and collaborative ways to promote equity and inclusion for students and university communities. Before finding her home at Willamette University, she was at Linfield University School of Nursing in 2022 and had been an Access Counselor and Consultant at the Disability Resource Center (DRC) at Portland State University (PSU) for over nine years. Jewls serves as the President of the Board of Directors of the Oregon Affiliate of the Association of Higher Disability (ORAHEAD) and serves as a mentor for the Association of Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) Start Academy for new(er) disability services professionals. She is a frequent presenter at both regional and national conferences. Jewls received her Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling from PSU in 2008 and is a PhD candidate in Adult and Higher Education at Oregon State University. Her doctoral work focuses on international and immigrant students with disabilities, disability identity, and intersectionality. Prior to coming to PSU, Jewls had a private counseling practice and served as a commissioner on the city of Portland Commission on Disability. In her spare time, Jewls enjoys the outdoors, art, and theater, especially when shared with her family including her wife, 2 adult kids, and an old, lovable dog named, Rizzo.

Jeff Larson, Linfield University (he/him)

Listserv in Real Time

Friday, November 3rd, 9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

Jeff is the Director of Accessible Education Services at Willamette University. Prior to coming to Willamette in 2023, Jeff had been the Director of Learning Support Services at Linfield University. Prior to Linfield, he held positions with the Accessible Education Center at the University of Oregon and with Bushnell University. He has spent his entire professional career working in higher education and has a passion for student inclusion and success. He received a master’s degree in school counseling from Bushnell University and a bachelor’s degree in history from Linfield University. Jeff is also a past president of ORAHED.

Gabriel (Gabe) Merrell, Oregon State University (he/him)

Design of the Gladys Valley Marine Studies Building

Session Eight

Friday, November 3rd, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Gabriel Merrell is a certified ADA Coordinator who has been working in areas directly related to physical access, IT access, accommodations, inclusion, and universal design for 17+ years. He is a Past President of ORAHEAD, and the co-chair of the AHEAD ADA Coordinators Knowledge and Practice Community.

Alexis Morrison, Western Oregon University (she/her)

Customer Service for Disability Services Professionals

Session Three, Option Two

Wednesday, November 1st, 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Alexis Morrison, she/her, is the Program Specialist in the Office of Disability Services at Western Oregon University. She holds a master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health and Rehabilitation Counseling with an emphasis in College Counseling from San Francisco State University. Alexis was an avid consumer of Disability Services throughout her AA, BA, and MS degree programs. Since then, she has worked for over eight years supporting students and the daily function of higher education disability services offices, large and small. Over the years, she has found that the customer service skills she began building as an 18-year-old Gas Station Cashier remain at the forefront of her student support responsibilities.

Georgena Moran, Access for All, LCC (she/her)

Keynote Speaker

Session Two

Wednesday>Wednesday, November 1st, 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Georgena Moran's recently published, An Ingenious Way to Live, is a memoir of her life before and after the onset of her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Georgena’s book inspired the theme of our conference: Interconnectedness: Living, Working, and Learning in Community, as she magically chronicles her amazing and often difficult journey and articulates how “living an interconnected life is more fulfilling than she could have ever imagined possible.”

Georgena and Sharon Mitchell co-own Access for All, LLC. They are certified in the Universal Trail Assessment Process, objectively reviewing natural surface trails for information about trail conditions (e.g. grade, cross slope, obstacles, width). Together, they founded Access Recreation, bringing accessibility specialists from federal, state and city park and recreation departments to create the Guidelines for Providing Trail Information to People with Disabilities. When put in place, these guidelines will provide the public with easy access to better information on the accessibility of parks and recreation trails in the states of Oregon and Washington and beyond. This information will increase opportunities and safety by allowing trail users to make a more-informed decision as to which trails may best suit their needs and ability levels without being limited solely to designated ADA accessible trails.

Georgena is a certified Accessibility Specialist with the International Code Council. She has conducted accessibility site assessments since 2001.

Phyllis Petteys, Portland Community College (she/her)

Crack the Memory Aid Code: How Collaboration with STEM Faculty Prompted the Creation of Clear, Usable Memory Aid Guidelines & Examples

Session Seven, Option Two

Thursday, November 2nd, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Phyllis is an Accessibility Specialist in Accessible Education and Disability Resources at Portland Community College. Prior to coming to PCC in 2013, she was an Assistive Technology Specialist for 18 years, working in higher education as well as in the community.  Phyllis believes in elevating voices and she provides guidance to Student Disability Advocates, pushes for disability cultural centers and disability studies, and centers disability  justice and equity when engaging in college processes and conversations. Her areas of focus include collaborating with faculty, assistive technology, digital accessibility, universal design and supporting Adults in Custody. She has been on the ORAHEAD board since 2020.

Andrew Weaver, University of Oregon and Western Oregon University (he/him)

ASL Interpreting in Postsecondary Settings: Recent Research and Data

Session Seven, Option One

Thursday, November 2nd, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Andrew is a certified American Sign Language Interpreter currently working at the University of Oregon as the Sign Language Interpreting and Transcription Coordinator. He graduated from Portland Community College's Sign Language Interpreting Program in 2012 with an AAS in Sign Language Interpreting. After completing his interpreting degree, Andrew transferred to Portland State University where he received a BA in Applied Linguistics in 2014. While he has experienced a variety of interpreting settings over the past 11 years, Andrew has consistently worked in higher education, and it remains a passion of his. He began the Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies graduate program at Western Oregon University and is projected to finish Fall 2023. Outside of interpreting, Andrew enjoys photography, rock hounding, and spending time at the coast.