Four professionals with disabilities share their journeys to accomplished careers, identifying what the businesses they worked for did to ease, or, in some cases, make more difficult, the path to success. Hearing their experiences will encourage companies to access the pipeline of qualified candidates with disabilities and become champions of workplace inclusion.  Whether in HR, corporate representatives focused on diversity and inclusion, ERG/BRG representatives, or managers who wish to lift up their entire workforce; this event provides both the motivation and the techniques to make changes that positively impact the corporate culture --- and the bottom line.

Panelists and Moderator

Moderator: Cindy Ivanhoe, M.D.

Dr. Ivanhoe is board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and in Brain Injury Medicine. She is a senior fellow in the American Leadership Forum (ALF) and currently the director of the SPASM (Spasticity and Associated Syndromes of Movement) program at TIRR Memorial Hermann. Dr. Ivanhoe is a clinical professor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and was formally a professor at Baylor College of Medicine.

She is recognized by US News and World Report Best Doctors and Best Doctors in Texas and has received awards from the Brain Injury Association of Texas, American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine for her contributions to advocacy, teaching and education, the service award from the CNS Council of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the Distinguished Clinician award by the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. She was awarded the Humanitarian Award, Professional Contribution, and Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Brain Injury Alliance of Texas. She was awarded “Physician of the Year” in 2020 by TIRR Memorial Hermann and awarded the Dean’s Excellence in Teaching award at UT Houston. She is also the 2021 recipient of the Sheldon Berrol Clinical Service Award of the Brain Injury Association of America for outstanding contributions to improving the quality of care, professional training, and/or education in the field of brain injury. She is the first physiatrist to receive the UTHealth John P. and Katherine G. McGovern Distinguished Faculty Clinical Science Award.

Jeffrey Feinstein, Marketing Manager of Oil and Gas, Riverbend Energy Group

Jeffrey Feinstein grew up in Houston, TX and is a graduate of the University of Texas. After graduation, Jeffrey entered the natural gas trading industry working for various hedge funds and large oil and gas companies. In 2018, he pivoted to oil and gas finance, joining a private equity firm – Riverbend Energy Group -  where he manages a retail natural gas portfolio company. In 2018, Jeffrey sustained a high level spinal cord injury which has placed him in the quadriplegic community. Throughout the initial recovery and rehabilitation, Jeffrey and his wife Alli realized that not only is the path to recovery long and winding, but also physically and materially cumbersome. Jeffrey, Alli, and a few close friends created the Walk and Roll for SCI to help others navigate the various stages of SCI recovery and life particular to: access to education, access to vocation, exercise equipment, and sociability. Jeffrey loves spending time with his wife and kids, watching live sports, and seeing live music.

Faith Malton, Associate at Walter P. Moore & Associates

Faith Malton is a natural born engineer. She was born missing her right arm and thus, grew up problem-solving and adapting to her environment through innovation. In 2020, she graduated Cum Laude from University of Houston with a Bachelors of Science degree in Civil Engineering and a minor in Energy and Sustainability. She now works at Walter P. Moore, an international civil engineering firm, practicing Commercial Site Design. Malton chose Walter P. Moore for their core value of sustainability and philosophy, “Driven By The Challenge.” Malton also works to help others break through mental barriers and navigate the world with limb difference through her YouTube channel, One Arm Wonder.

Some of Faith’s community engagements include speaking at the 2021 TEDxElkinsHighSchool event on Breaking Barriers, covering the front page of The Houston Chronicle highlighting the work of Camp For All, and making the cover of University of Houston’s 2020 Engineering Magazine. She has been featured in Alphalete’s What We Live For campaign and interviewed in the No Barriers Podcast, Tere Tells All, and CW39 News. To learn more about her, you can find her on Instagram @fath.malton.

Dr. Rex Marco, Chief Medical Ambassador, Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation

Dr. Marco was born and raised in California. He is an orthopedic surgeon with training and expertise in the treatment of patients with complex spinal disorders and musculoskeletal tumors. Dr. Marco started his career as a spine surgeon and musculoskeletal oncologist at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and then became a Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at UT Health Houston McGovern Medical School, where he was also the Chief of Spine Surgery, Spine Trauma and Musculoskeletal Oncology. He became the Vice-Chairman of Orthopedic Surgery at Houston Methodist Hospital in 2015 and recently returned to UT Health. He was injured in a bicycle accident in 2019 where he sustained a broken neck and now lives with C3 quadriplegia. He currently serves as the Chief Medical Ambassador for the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation where he is dedicated to finding a cure for spinal cord injury (SCI) and improving the quality of life for those living with SCI.

Brady Samuelson, Research Associate, Institute for Systems Biology

Brady Samuelson is a Research Associate at the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB). He is studying aging and age-related diseases at the molecular level in hopes to get a better understanding of heterogeneity in the aging process. Brady carries out longitudinal experiments to quantify health related deficits to give us a better insight on how we age. Doing research in biomedical science has been special to him as a person with a disability, knowing that discoveries made in the lab will translate to medicines and therapies that will in turn, decrease worldwide instances of disability.

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Program Schedule

11:00 AM- Registration begins

11:30 AM- Doors Open

11:45 AM- Program begins

• Introduction by Michelle Fredricks, Manager of Corporate Relations and Business Development, Alexander JFS
• Moderated by Cindy Ivanhoe, M.D.

1:10 PM- Q&A

Concluding remarks by Angel Ponce, Director of the Houston Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities.

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Do These 4 in 2024

1. Walk through your building to do an accessibility check.
2. Language- use the person-first language unless asked by the person with the disability to use the identity-first language.
3. Education- host educational meetings with staff that focus on disability awareness and etiquette.
4. Implement agency policy to ensure all meetings or gatherings utilize best practices for inclusion (i.e. microphones, CART, ramps, etc.)

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