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I have spent my entire life learning to thrive in a body that some consider to be deeply flawed. As someone who was born blind, and with a connective tissue disorder, I am well-acquainted with the low expectations encountered by those with disabilities.
These experiences have ignited a fire in me to help create a world in which everyone is afforded the opportunity to reach their potential without the barriers that hold so many of us back.
In 2018, I entered the University of Baltimore School of Law, with aspirations of practicing at the intersection of healthcare and civil rights law.
My involvement in Peaces of Me is an outgrowth of these efforts. Our collective passion for advocacy and the furtherance of equity and inclusion runs deep. I am blessed and honored to be part of this amazing team.
Kristy Rogers started her career in Behavioral Health upon graduating from the University of Phoenix with her Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice in 2011. Her work in the behavioral health field brought much fulfillment and joy to her by helping those without the means or knowledge to help themselves. Her true passion is promoting inclusion for all persons no matter what their circumstances may involve.
Kristy was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona where she still resides with her husband and four kids. Her youngest daughter, Kauri, was born with an unpreventable failed formation, which caused the absence of her right forearm and hand.
This was a driving force for Kristy to be part of the start-up of Peaces of Me, an opportunity to reach others and educate them with the resources available to assist in daily activities. Due to injuries, she sustained, she is now a stay-at-home mom who works daily to combat her own invisible disability while enjoying the extra time with her children. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, baking, and helping take care of their many animals. She is a passionate advocate who embraces any opportunity to help others.
After going through my experience with my daughter, as well as my own disability, I want to do everything I can to try to make changes in the system as a whole. I am a passionate advocate for others and feel it is important to make sure resources and tools are accessible to those who need them.
I wanted to help start Peaces of Me because I know that it is going to make a positive impact in the world and help spread awareness and education, as well as diversity and inclusion.
I love that at Peaces of Me, you are fully accepted for who you are, without any judgment of any kind. It truly is a place where everyone can thrive. Our team comes from a variety of backgrounds both personally and professionally which allows us to see things from many different perspectives.
The energy at Peaces of Me is incredible and you can tell every person on our team is a dedicated, passionate, advocate who wants to change the community for the better.
Dr. Schulz started her career in higher education in the early 1990s at what was then known as Essex Community College, in the Disability Support Services office. During her time in higher education, Dr. Schulz has held different positions but returned to supporting students with disabilities in 2008 at The University of Baltimore. She considers what she does as “coming home.” She continues to be a leader in her field as the current Past President of the state chapter of her national organization as well as a main point of contact for her peers in regard to the provision of accommodations.
Dr. Schulz fully believes that part of the responsibility of her position and the office’s mission, besides the provision of reasonable and appropriate accommodations, is to help students registered with the office transition to the workforce with a focus on how their classroom accommodations also make this transition.
During the course of her tenure in her current position, Dr. Schulz has given numerous presentations about reasonable and appropriate accommodations, assistive technology, and self-advocacy; all relatable to the transition to the workforce. She sponsors a federal program each fall, the Workforce Recruitment Program, that connects students with disabilities with potential federal hiring managers in hopes of finding an internship or part-time and/or full-time employment with the federal government. Recently she was interviewed by the monthly publication, Disability Compliance in Higher Education, about this program.
In her spare time, Dr. Schulz loves spending time with her family and dogs and is an avid reader.
Fred Brown is a Professor of Law and Director of the Graduate Tax Program at the University of Baltimore School of law. Fred teaches in the areas of federal income taxation and business associations law, and has published books and articles on matters concerning corporate taxation, international taxation, and fundamental income tax features such as realization and nonrecognition.
Before joining the faculty at the University of Baltimore School of Law, Fred practiced tax law with the firm of Shaw, Pittman, Potts and Trowbridge in Washington, D.C. Previously, he was an acting assistant professor at the New York University School of Law’s Graduate Tax Program.
Peaces of Me has an incredibly important mission, and given my experiences and skills, I thought that I could help with the organization. Regarding my experiences and skills, I have quite a bit of experience serving on the board of a nonprofit as well as performing administrative duties, and I am knowledgeable about the law pertaining to corporate organizations and the law in general, given that I am a law professor. So, my work on Peaces of Me allows me to use my administrative and legal skills to promote a vitally important mission that I feel strongly about.
In a broad sense, Peaces of Me is about fostering equality and fairness, which all individuals clearly deserve and have a right to, for individuals who have disabilities, physical differences, and/or chronic illness. I firmly believe that it is the responsibility of all of us, those with and without disabilities, physical differences and chronic illness, to work together to end the stigma often associated with physical characteristics that fall outside of the perceived norm.
Dr. Elizabeth Spingola is a Senior Consultant in IBM’s Cognitive and Analytics Practice. She previously was supporting the Department of Commerce as a Cloud Integration Specialist for a suite of cognitive tools to support Talent Acquisition.
Currently, she is working as a project manager and a lead accessibility consultant for the Office of Personal Management’s execution of the USA executive order on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility throughout all government agencies.
Dr. Spingola graduated with a PhD from Virginia Tech focused on Human-Centered Design in the Department of Engineering Education. Her dissertation focused on understanding and designing accessible online learning spaces for disabled engineering students. Throughout her time at Virginia Tech, Dr. Spingola advocated for and actively lead assessments and organizational change research focusing on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility through her 4 year stint at the President of the Disability Alliance and Caucus. These efforts were able to meld qualitative research with statistics and data analytics to inform organizational change and make meaningful change.
Jim is proud to serve Peaces of Me as its current Secretary, on its Board of Directors, and on some committees.
Peaces of Me organization’s co-founder and President, Daniel Hodges, Esq., met Jim in law school, during which Dan helped found and create Peaces of Me and recruited Jim, his classmate to the cause.
While Jim has always advocated for those less fortunate, with an eye on inclusion and cooperation, Jim is new to the Disability Community. With his recent diagnosis of Meniere’s and a somewhat debilitating neck injury, Jim has new purpose in helping to open the doors of opportunity to all as a benefit to all.
Jim’s legal background of more than 30 years as a legal secretary, paralegal, and now Law Clerk, has provided him with invaluable skills that he hopes to use in service to Peaces of Me. Jim is honored to be in the company of diverse, resourceful, and impressively capable and accomplished people that comprise and serve Peaces of Me.
Arielle is a disabled activist and a social scientist who is passionate about improving public understandings of life with disabilities.
Professionally, she has spent nearly 20 years conducting research on the social psychology of disability. Personally, she has spent a lifetime learning and teaching with fellow members of the disability community.
Arielle works as director of research at the American Foundation for the Blind. She is author of Just Human: The quest for disability wisdom, respect, and inclusion