Gina brings over 20 years of experience across employment, vocational rehabilitation, and professional development pedagogy to the K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan Institute on Employment and Disability. Her career has included experience at the local, state, and national level through the direct provision of vocational habilitation and rehabilitation services in Ohio, professional development of preservice and current practitioners across the country, and leadership at the national level in rehabilitation organizations.
Her key areas of interest and research focus on universal design, best practices in employment services, transition-aged youth services, assistive technology, inclusive STEM education and makerspaces for all, caregiver supports, and health and wellness.
At the Yang-Tan Institute, Gina is currently a Senior Extension Associate supporting the Vocational Rehabilitation – Training, Education, and Development (VR-TED) project, NYS Consortium for Advancing and Supporting Employment (CASE) project, and the NYS Comprehensive State Needs Assessment.
Prior to coming to YTI, Gina held faculty positions at the University of Maine at Farmington, Wright State University, and Maryville University of St. Louis. She also worked as a state vocational rehabilitation counselor, campus-based transition-aged youth program coordinator, job developer and coach, and facility-based service provider. Her experience spans multiple states, diverse geographic and demographic regions, and unique populations. She is a certified rehabilitation counselor.