Change Not Charity

Facilitator

Laura Wilhelm is the Executive Director of Disability:IN Chicagoland, managing the program for the past 9 years. The business-to-business network is Illinois’ only association which supports disability inclusion in the workplace, marketplace and supply chain. She has 15 years of experience in supporting corporate disability inclusion efforts and has served on several local and state-wide task forces to promote employment for workers with disabilities. Prior to this, she managed a national advertising campaign to build awareness for the business case for disability employment and practiced law with a focus on healthcare and disability.

Storyteller

Karen Tamley is President and CEO of Access Living, a Chicago-based non-profit organization serving people with disabilities. Prior to taking the role, she was Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities , advancing accessibility in transportation, city infrastructure, technology, education, and employment.

Tamley was appointed by President Obama to the U.S. Access Board in 2016, a federal agency that develops accessibility standards and guidelines and served as Chair in 2019. She has received numerous accolades, including the Motorola Solutions Excellence in Public Service Award, Leadership Greater Chicago’s Distinguished Leader Award and recognition from Crain’s Chicago Business for leadership in the social services sector.

Tamley has held leadership roles on various government and non-profit boards, including Pace Suburban Bus, Dare2Tri, the Kohl’s Children’s Museum and Forefront. In 2021, Governor Pritzker appointed her to the Illinois Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes. She is also a member of The Chicago Network, The Economic Club of Chicago, the International Women’s Forum, and Disability Lead.

Storyteller

Christopher G. Bell is a retired, blind lawyer and Board Member of the American Council of the Blind. Mr. Bell played a significant role in the development of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) He is a co-author of “Accommodating the Spectrum of Individual Abilities,” a 1983 Civil Rights Commission publication setting forth a conceptual framework for the ADA.

From 1989-1990, Mr. Bell was a technical advisor to Congress and the White House during the ADA’s legislative process. Mr. Bell was the Acting Associate Legal Counsel for ADA Services at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) where he spearheaded the development of the ADA employment regulations, Technical Assistance manual and sections of the EEOC Compliance Manual.

Subsequently, Mr. Bell was the Managing Partner of the Minneapolis office of Jackson Lewis, a national, management-side, labor, and employment law firm where he headed the Firm’s ADA Practice.