Jenny Sykes

Jenny Sykes

Jenny Sykes serves as the Lead Technical Information Specialist for the the Southeast ADA Center. She has worked in the field of disability services for over twenty-five years.

Jenny has worked in community health centers, food banks, and shelters for families experiencing homelessness. In 2000, she began working specifically with individuals with disabilities as a case manager, and her experience since then has been focused on state and local government operations. She has held a variety of roles in Florida, including Supports Consultant, Supported Employment Coordinator, and Licensing Specialist at the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD), where she also coordinated Disability Mentoring Day activities in central Florida. She has served as a Senior Counselor for Florida Vocational Rehabilitation, a part-time Care Manager for an elder-care service, and the ADA Specialist for the City of Lakeland, Florida. She is certified as an ADA Coordinator by the University of Missouri’s College of Human and Environmental Science, School of Architectural Studies.

Jenny received a bachelor’s degree in Human Services from the University of Massachusetts and a Master of Science in Counseling from California State University.

Nare Galstyan

Dr. Nare Galstyan obtained a Ph.D. in Sociology and Methodology of Social Research from University of Milan and University Turin in 2019. During the 2019-2020 academic year Dr. Galstyan was a visiting researcher at the Political Science department at the University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands), the Center for International Migration Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (USA), and the Institute of Armenian Studies at the University of Southern California (USA).

Dr. Galstyan has joined the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) at Syracuse University as a Senior Research Associate to implement BBI’s evaluation of new web-based technology supporting access and use of psychiatric advanced directives (PADs) by people with mental health challenges across seven California counties. Prior to taking on her role at BBI, she worked as a researcher (policy analyst, monitoring and evaluation specialist) with several international and governmental organizations, including Ernst and Young, Save the Children International, USAID, Embassy of the Republic of Armenia, Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia and more. She specializes in applied research from international development to humanitarianism. Dr. Galstyan is experienced in program design, qualitative and quantitative methodology, monitoring and evaluation, and managing large research teams.

Angelica Deaton

Angelica is from Bogota, Colombia, where she earned her Bachelor of Law at the National University of Colombia. She also received an M.Ed. Degree in Organizational Leadership and Communications at the Belmont University of Nashville, Tennessee, in 2018. She has over seven years of professional experience in the United States, ensuring that the diversity of individuals and populations is addressed in educational and communication services that affect the health of a community. Her experience includes working with the CDC Foundation, TN Disability Pathfinder- Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center, and Alive Hospice. She also has more than twenty years of working as a legal program manager and as an attorney for Colombia’s government programs that serve low-income and underprivileged communities.

Angelica currently serves as a member of the AUCD Spanish Caucus Steering committee, identifying, and addressing barriers to language access for Spanish-speaking network members. Also, as a facilitator of Padres Comprometidos at Conexion Americas, she aims to foster a strong connection between Latino parents and schools playing a leading role in preparing their children for college. She also serves as a member of the Community Advisory Council for the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center and as a Cultural Consultant for the University of Kentucky

Jordan Enders

Jordan Enders (they/them) graduated from SUNY Potsdam with a bachelor’s degree in Archeology and History, focusing on Biological Anthropology. After graduation they served in the Peace Corps, before embarking on a life in health care developing fifteen years of experience working in and around emergency medical services where they often served as a trainer and mentor. In addition, they have six years’ experience working in grass roots organizing with the migrant worker community through the Workers’ Center of Central New York and advocacy in the areas of worker’s rights and safety, tenants’ rights, immigrant rights, disability and LGBTQIA+. They also co-founded a Syracuse based harm reduction centered community first aid organization, where they serve as a Stop the Bleed instructor for public education. In their free time, Jordan helps to run an animal rescue operation, Cuse Animal Haus, and they enjoy hiking and hanging out with their cats.

Currently, Jordan serves as a Project Coordinator at Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University, where they manage administrative tasks, assist on grant project proposals, and help with technology support issues.

Barry Whaley

Barry Whaley serves as Director of the Southeast ADA Center and BBI Director of Outreach. Funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, the Southeast ADA Center is one of ten regional centers that provide guidance, publications, research, and training on the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Barry brings extensive experience in disability employment and community integration. He previously served as Project Director of the Supported Higher Education Project at the University of Kentucky Human Development Institute, one of twenty-six original Transitional Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities, exploring supports necessary for students with significant disabilities to succeed in the post-secondary college environment. At the University of Kentucky, he also provided ADA Title I Employment Consulting and analyzed student outcome data for the Kentucky Post-School Outcome Center. He has served as a consultant for Atlas Research, providing technical assistance and training for the Homeless Veterans Supported Employment Project, and for many years was Executive Director of Community Employment, Inc., a nonprofit supported employment provider focused on integrated competitive and customized employment for people with significant disabilities. He has also worked for the Kentucky Office of Vocational Rehabilitation and began his career with the “New Neighbors” deinstitutionalization project. He is a founding board member and past president of Kentucky APSE.

Barry holds two Bachelor of Arts degrees from Indiana University and a Master of Science in Mediation, Arbitration, and Dispute Resolution from Sullivan University.

Pamela Williamson

Pamela Williamson serves as Assistant Director of the Southeast ADA Center. The Southeast ADA Center is a member of the ADA National Network and is funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, a center within the Administration for Community Living located in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Pamela has expertise on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), supported employment, disability as part of workplace diversity, building effective grassroots networks, special education services, and aging populations. She contributed to the development and implementation of four online courses: Foundations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA Basic Building Blocks, At Your Service: Welcoming Customers with Disabilities, and the ADA Title II Tutorial. She also co-authored the curricula Serving Customers with Disabilities in Air Travel and The ADA and Self-Advocacy for Youth –Train-the-Trainer Curriculum: An Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Roadmap, as well as the publication The ADA and Face Mask Policies.

Pamela holds a Bachelor of Science in Therapeutic Recreation from Georgia Southern University.

Janice Baldon-Gutter

Janice Baldon-Gutter, MS-HRE, MBA, SHRM-CP, HCRI-PHR, has joined the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) at Syracuse University as the Program Coordinator – outreach to underserved communities of the Southeast ADA Center.

Ms. Baldon-Gutter has over 25 years’ experience in human resources and 18 years teaching in higher education. She has certifications from: The Society for Human Resource Management – Certified Professional (SHRM-CP); and Professional in Human Resources (PHR) – Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI).

Ms. Baldon-Gutter has a Master of Science in Human Resource Education from the University of Louisville, Master in Business Administration (MBA) from Bellarmine University and a Certificate in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) from the University of South Florida.

Prior to joining the Burton Blatt Institute, Ms. Baldon-Gutter was a Human Resource Generalist for DuPont Chemical Company. She taught for 18 years at the University of Louisville School of Business (Economics) and currently teaches online (16 years) for Purdue University Global. She is also the author of “Caregiving A Daughter’s Story” and “The Triangle of Discrimination – Physical, Age and Disability.”

Ms. Baldon-Gutter is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. – part of the National Pan Hellenic Council (Divine 9) and the Louisville Society for Human Resource Management. She is currently learning American Sign Language (ASL) and beginning Spanish.

Fitore Hyseni

Dr. Fitore Hyseni is a Research Assistant Professor at the College of Law at Syracuse University and the Director of Research at the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI). In these roles, she leads disability and employment law empirical research and oversees the development and management of grant-funded research projects focused on improving socio-economic outcomes for people with disabilities.

Fitore’s primary research interests include disability rights and the employment and economic empowerment of people with disabilities. Dr. Hyseni serves as co-Principal Investigator and Project Director of the Disability Employment Policy Rehabilitation Research and Training Center, funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research ($4.6 million), and as co-Principal Investigator and Project Director for the Phase Two evaluation of California Digital Psychiatric Advance Directives ($2.3 million). She has led numerous additional federal, state, and privately funded projects addressing disability employment policy, workplace accommodations, financial inclusion, and housing accessibility.

Fitore received a Ph.D. in Social Science and a Master’s in Public Administration from Syracuse University, and a B.S. in Public Policy and Economics from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Jonathan Martinis

Jonathan Martinis, Esq., J.D., joined the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) at Syracuse University in 2013 as Senior Director for Law and Policy. Mr. Martinis has over 20 years’ experience representing and advocating for people with disabilities to ensure that they receive the services and supports they need and want to live full, meaningful, and community integrated lives.

BBI Chairman and University Professor Peter Blanck notes that “Martinis has devoted his career to representing people across the spectrum of disabilities, and their families and supporters, to protect their human and legal civil rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other civil rights laws.” He served as lead counsel in Brinn v. Tidewater Transportation District Commission, the first case to hold that people with disabilities have a right to paratransit transportation on a next-day basis and he was lead counsel in Winborne v. Virginia Lottery, in which the court held that the Lottery must ensure that all private businesses selling Lottery tickets are accessible to people with disabilities.

In 2013, Martinis represented Jenny Hatch in the nationally acclaimed “Justice for Jenny” case, helping Ms. Hatch secure her right to live where and how she wants, to make her own decisions, and direct her own life. Jenny’s case was the first trial to hold that a person with disabilities has a right to engage in “Supported-Decision Making,” where people work with trusted friends, family members, and professionals to help them understand the situations and choices they face, so they may make their own decisions – rather than be subjected to a unnecessary permanent, plenary or full guardianship. The “Justice for Jenny” decision is hailed nationally and internationally for the principle that “an individual’s right to choose how to live and the government’s progress in providing the help needed to integrate even those with the most profound need’s into the community” is a right guaranteed under law.

Since the Hatch legal decision, Jonathan has presented to and trained thousands of individuals, families, advocates, attorney, professionals, and service providers about everyone’s Right to Make Choices and direct their own lives, while receiving the services and supports they need to do so. He currently serves as the co-Project Director of the National Resource Center for Supported Decision-Making led by the Quality Trust for Individuals with Disabilities.

Martinis is  based at BBI’s Washington DC office, and leads BBI’s national and international efforts to ensure that older adults and people with disabilities receive appropriate supports and services, including Supported Decision-Making, to lead inclusive, independent, and self-determined lives.

Mary Morder

Mary Morder serves as Materials Development and Information Technology Support at the Southeast ADA Center. She works with a team to produce and edit ADA materials and provide support to the web developer.

Mary has more than 40 years of experience in business communications, law, and disability rights. She represents the Southeast ADA Center on two ADA National Network committees, Knowledge Translation and OMS Data Coordination. She is a member of the Georgia Emergency Preparedness Coalition for Individuals with Disabilities and Older Adults.

Mary holds a B.A. in English and Political Science from Agnes Scott College.