Los Angeles Speakers

Ryan Cavender

Technical Support & Education Manager, Stealth Products

Ryan Cavender is the Education Manager for Stealth Products and is responsibly for providing training to internal teams within Stealth as well as to customers around the world. He has spent the last seven years in various training and research and development (R&D) roles with Stealth. While earning his bachelor's degree in Kinesiology, he began working part time for a local DME supplier. During his 17 years in the industry, Ryan has had a heavy focus on technical and product education.

Workshop: Wheelchair Seating Solutions for Kids

Jonathan Delshad

Attorney, Law Offices of Jonathan J. Delshad, PC, JD/MBA

Jonathan Delshad received a JD/MBA from UCLA and is known for his expertise in California employment law. He is recognized for his years of work by Super Lawyers, a rating service provided by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. In 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020, Delshad's achievements in the legal profession for California employment law allowed him to be recognized as a top California employment law attorney. He has worked with hundreds of clients who experienced employment discrimination in the forms of wrongful termination, disability discrimination, and hostile workplace environment harassment.

Workshop: Accommodating your Abilities: California Workplace Protections

Christopher Ewing

Stroke Survivor and President/Founder, The Stroke Channel

Christopher Ewing is an Emmy Award winning TV Host & Executive Producer ("Hang On to the Dream"), an actor ("All My Children", "One Life To Live", as well as countless TV and radio commercials). He is a skilled equestrian who has competed at the international level and a motivational speaker. He is also a stroke survivor. On April 21, 2018, Christopher suffered a hemorrhagic stroke while at his television studio in Hollywood, California. After five days in intensive care at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and nearly a month-and-a-half at a rehabilitation hospital, Christopher's recovery has been called "miraculous". Because of what happened to him, Christopher has been on a mission to educate the public on stroke awareness around the world. He is the creator of The Stroke Channel, a 24/7, on-demand, television network seen on Roku and Amazon Fire TV, and "Life After Stroke", a popular radio show heard on iHeart Radio, Pandora and more.

Workshop: Life After Stroke: Help for Stroke Survivors and Caretakers

Ms. Wheelchair California Institute

The mission of The Ms. Wheelchair California Leadership Institute is to recognize the achievements of women in wheelchairs. The Institute is dedicated to improving the lives of all people with disabilities through advocacy, community building, and being lifelong learners who support each other to be our best selves. Ms. Wheelchair California is not a beauty pageant. It is a competition based on advocacy, achievement, communication and presentation. Its purpose is to select the most accomplished and articulate spokeswoman to represent people living with disabilities. The selected titleholder must be able to communicate both the needs and the accomplishments of her constituency to the general public, the business community and the legislature.

Workshop: Ms. Wheelchair California 2024 Competition

Sonny Mullen

Director of Outreach, Help Hope Live

Sonny Mullen is from the Philadelphia area and spent the first part of her career in New York City working in television. She joined Help Hope Live in 2016, first working in the Finance Department and now proudly serves as the Outreach Manager. In this role she has helped build the Outreach department with the goal of bringing Help Hope Live's mission to a wider audience. Growing up with a younger brother living with GRIN1 Disorder, Sonny has a personal connection to Help Hope Live's mission. She is happy to use her experiences, both at home and with Help Hope Live, to connect and speak with individuals in the disability community all over the country, with the goal of helping them safely fundraise for their medical and related expenses.

Workshop: Discover How to Pay for Everything You See Today

Ashley Lyn Olson

Accessibility Advocate and Blogger, WheelchairTraveling.com

Since 2006, Ashley Lyn Olson has been providing free travel information on destinations worldwide, including activities for various interests and abilities, accommodations, cruises, transportation, tours, and more as well as tips on everything from flying to packing and problem-solving so you can prepare and plan accordingly. Ashley has countless experiences traveling by planes, trains, and automobiles all over the world on her own by wheelchair. As of 2023 she has traveled to 18 countries, 27 states in the United States, and 35 of the U.S. National Parks, as well as hundreds of other destinations around the globe. Hear about Olson's Access 2 Parks Project and her recent trips to the Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Portugal. Learn about travel possibilities at destinations like New Zealand, Japan, Ecuador, Mexico, Vancouver, Alaska, and more.
Come access your world with wheelchairtraveling.com.

Workshop: Travel Your World!

Gregory Paquin

Senior Rehabilitation Engineer, California Department of Rehabilitation

Gregory Paquin, is the Senior Rehabilitation Engineer for the California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR). He works with a team of medical and driving professionals to provide driving evaluations to eligible DOR consumers to help them achieve their plan for employment. The CA DOR program has six state-of-the-art vehicles to accommodate a complete range of disabilities, from simple arrangements that would work in a car, to high technology solutions that allow a person to drive from their wheelchair, (such as using a joystick). Greg Paquin works with manufacturers and equipment installers to develop suitable and reliable adaptive devices for safe and independent driving. Prior to
taking the position with the CA DOR, he designed, manufactured and sold adaptive devices throughout the Unite States, Europe and Asia.

Workshop: Driving with a Disability

Bill Randall, MSc. Kin

Clinical Mobility Product Specialist, Ki Mobility

Bill Randall has a Master of Science in kinesiology and has amassed over 20 years of experience in the rehab industry in a variety of roles. He spent over 15 years as an ATP at Motion Specialties where he specialized in pediatrics and complex seating, helped to start NuVision Rehab Group, which today operates as Ki Mobility Canada, and spent 6 years in sales for Ki Mobility. Currently Mr. Randall serves as the Ki Mobility Product Specialist, with a focus on all Ki Mobility wheelchairs. As a product specialist, he provides Ki Mobility sales reps with onboard product training and continuing education and collaborates with the Ki Mobility clinical education team to present the product portion of enhanced educational offerings, which include both clinical and product based content.

Workshop: What You Wish You Knew About Your Manual Wheelchair, But Were Afraid to Ask

Andre Sam

Disability & Special Needs Project

Andre Sam is a comprehensive Disability and Special Needs Planner with SilverTree Special Needs Planning. Upon earning a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Arizona, Andre began a career in comprehensive disability and special needs planning. Andre has been in the industry for seven years working with individuals and families with special needs and disabilities. Andre is currently part of a non-profit organization called the Special Needs Education & Advocacy Project.  Through this non-profit organization, Andre gives back by donating his time during evenings and on the weekends sharing his knowledge by providing complimentary educational presentations to organizations and groups who have loved ones that are part of the special needs and disability community. Learn more about the Disability & Special Needs Project.

Workshop: Disability and Special Needs Planning Made Easy

Linda M. Schultz, PhD, CRRN

Linda M. Schultz, PhD, CRRN is a leader and provider of rehabilitation nursing for 40 years, most recently developing Activity Based Rehabilitation strategies. She has directed programs at an international level, including the Christopher Reeve Recovery Project at Washington University in St. Louis. She is certified by the Association of Rehabilitation Registered Nurses. Dr. Schultz writes the interactive Ask a Nurse blog, an evidence-based community forum, conducts monthly international webinars hosting discussions and questions from individuals with paralysis, and has created emergency pocket cards concerning the topics of sepsis and autonomic dysreflexia, in coordination with the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Foundation. As a researcher, Dr. Schultz focuses on the concepts of promoting bladder and bowel continence and skin integrity. She has completed a national analysis of urinary continence in the elderly population utilizing NIH data. The results of these findings have been used to establish protocols by the AHCPR.

Workshop: The Art of Complex Caregiving